Just picked up a Galaxy Tab S

[desura]

I installed samsung kies per your suggestion and...eh, I don't see the point.

I have no idea how to debloatware the samsung. What are the worst offenders?

 

[Ravynmagi]

Going into Kies would be to look for updates. Sometimes you can get updates that way faster than OTA.

Not sure if this is the debloating that was referred to earlier. But on my Note 3 I went into Settings, Application Manager and you can turn off some apps and features you don't need. Though there are some things that still can't be turned off this way. Here is an example of all the crap I was able to turn off on my Verizon Note 3...

BlurbCheckout
Cloud (Verizon)
NFL Mobile
PEN.UP
Polaris Office 5
Samsung Link
Samsung Print Service Plugin
Slacker
SNS
TripAdvisor
Verizon Location Agent
Verizon Support and Protection
Verizon Tones
VZ Navigator
WatchON
Yahoo! Finance

Obviously some of that is Verizon bloat and some Samsung. I can't uninstall any of this, but was able to turn it off and prevent it from loading into memory.

If you root, then you can install Titanium Backup should be able to freeze and I think even remove more stuff. I haven't gotten around to rooting my Note 3 though.

 

[desura]

I'm becoming very fond of this tablet. I can't believe now that I put up with the venue 8 pro for so long. Steve Jobs had it right when he said that tablets shouldn't be smaller than 9.7 inches.

I don't really game, but websurfing is fast enough. Video simply looks amazing. I've been watching HBO go lately and it is very nice. For writing documents, it is extremely good with such a high resolution screen.

It makes me wish that I had picked up like an iPad 4 earlier.

 

[Dari]

I hate to start a new thread but I have to ask this: Does the $25 that Samsung gives you expire? I have no idea what to buy with that credit in the Google store.

 

[desura]

I hate to start a new thread but I have to ask this: Does the $25 that Samsung gives you expire? I have no idea what to buy with that credit in the Google store.

I have no idea. WHat is this?

 

[Geekbabe]

I hate to start a new thread but I have to ask this: Does the $25 that Samsung gives you expire? I have no idea what to buy with that credit in the Google store.

Just redeem the credit, get the code & put it into your Google Play account, the credit will then be there when you decide to buy apps.

 

[tornadog]

I was looking for a thread for this tablet. I got it same as the OP and like its features but the drawbacks are more glaring because of the price tag.

In Chrome the scrolling is not at all smooth. It is better in the android browser.
Also in perfect comic viewer which is what I use 90% of the time, swiping from page to next is terrible. My old Galaxy Tab 2 did a better job at it.

Also I feel the display is overkill because neither the videos nor streaming takes advantage of it.

I am still within the return period, so thinking of giving it back and getting something cheaper. Any recommendations?

 

[desura]

I was looking for a thread for this tablet. I got it same as the OP and like its features but the drawbacks are more glaring because of the price tag.

In Chrome the scrolling is not at all smooth. It is better in the android browser.
Also in perfect comic viewer which is what I use 90% of the time, swiping from page to next is terrible. My old Galaxy Tab 2 did a better job at it.

Also I feel the display is overkill because neither the videos nor streaming takes advantage of it.

I am still within the return period, so thinking of giving it back and getting something cheaper. Any recommendations?

Display is certainly overkill, but at the same time it is the biggest best AMOLED display out in the tablet world right now.

 

[RockinZ28]

Just redeem the credit, get the code & put it into your Google Play account, it will then be there when you decide to buy apps.

Where did you get the code? Was this from a direct from Samsung pre order or something? Looked around yesterday, got the free movie and book from google play.

 

[stlc8tr]

Where did you get the code? Was this from a direct from Samsung pre order or something? Looked around yesterday, got the free movie and book from google play.

A code was sent to me once I registered my TP8.4 using the Samsung Apps app.

 

[bigboxes]

I got mine on the 10th. Good lord that display is beautiful! Can't dream of it being overkill. Slowly tweaking it. Got flash to work with it on Sunday. As a techie I realize that Samsung took some shortcuts given the price point. For what I will use it for it works fine. I'm just working on installing a WiFi tether for my phone and then I'll be all set for when I'm on the road. Rooted the phone last night. Not sure if I will root the tablet. Would like to uninstall a lot of that bloat, but it's not like I'm going to run out of room as I purchased a 64gb SD card to hold tv shows and movies. I've got my phone for all the other tasks.

 

[RockinZ28]

A code was sent to me once I registered my TP8.4 using the Samsung Apps app.

Tab Pro? Saw no such promo for the Tab S. Kinda seems weird they'd give google play credit when they're pushing their own cap at you.

In regards to the original question, if you've redeemed the code and have the Play credit, it shouldn't expire. Still have $12 from when I bought a N7 and returned it a long time ago.

Also, seems I got boned on the Marvel Unlimited trial. Used boat browser to open the app's link, sent me to a subscription page after creating an account. Did it a 2nd time, figured maybe that's how it's supposed to be, it does say you need to sign up with a cc for the trial. So it charged me instantly for a month subscription. They don't even have a call number, email only. Probably have to do a chargeback.

Tried it in Chrome after this and the Web page popped up with the trial...

 

[stlc8tr]

Tab Pro? Saw no such promo for the Tab S. Kinda seems weird they'd give google play credit when they're pushing their own cap at you.

Yeah, I guess no Play credit for the Tab S. Samsung figures the Tab S is so good, they don't need to throw in as many goodies.

https://www.samsung.com/us/register-for-your-galaxy-perks/#tab-s

 

[luv2liv]

any other tablets from samsung or manufacturers coming this year with the same incredible screen?

 

[Ravynmagi]

any other tablets from samsung or manufacturers coming this year with the same incredible screen?

So far they've released nine tablets this year...

Tab Pro 8.4
Tab Pro 10.1
Tab Pro 12.2
Note Pro 12.2
Tab 4 7.0
Tab 4 8.0
Tab 4 10.1
Tab S 8.4
Tab S 10.5

Only two are AMOLED display... I guess they could very possibly refresh the Note series of tablets with AMOLED displays this year despite them only being a few months old. But I'm not holding my breath waiting on more AMOLED tablets from Samsung any time soon.

 

[s44]

I'd expect a holiday-period AMOLED Note refresh, about when the 10.1 2014 came out in 2013 (haha, yes). But it would only make sense if/when Exynos 6 (A57) is ready.

 

[vbuggy]

I think it's side-grade. Better display, worse processor. So probably shouldn't feel any remorse.

I was set on the Tab S as a replacement to the Note '14 with the useless (at least in comparison to my Windows tablets) stylus - since I've ended up using it in exactly the same way as any other non-digitiser Android tablet, I figured I'd swap it with the best screen and forego the stylus.

I'm not getting a worse processor, am I? It's the same Snapdragon and GPU, isn't it?

 

[Eymar]

It should be the same exact processor Exynos 5 1.9Ghz in the Note '14 (wifi edition). If there is a Note '14 with LTE then that would have Snapdragon 800 (which is faster than Exynos 5).

 

[Ravynmagi]

I was set on the Tab S as a replacement to the Note '14 with the useless (at least in comparison to my Windows tablets) stylus - since I've ended up using it in exactly the same way as any other non-digitiser Android tablet, I figured I'd swap it with the best screen and forego the stylus.

I'm not getting a worse processor, am I? It's the same Snapdragon and GPU, isn't it?

Tab S uses the Exynos 5420 "octo-core" processor, though only 4 cores can be active at once. The CPU tasks I think the Exynos 5420 and Snapdragon 800 are pretty close that you won't notice any difference. Unfortunately for graphics the Exynos 5420 is a definite step down and that probably will be noticed.

Considering the high resolution of the tablet, I really would have liked to see Samsung stick with the Snapdragon 800 for that extra GPU power. But I am sure it was cheaper to use their own processor.

Most reviewers have noticed the down step in the GPU with some UI lag, but still seem to overall love the tablet.

 

[vbuggy]

Yeah, I guess I was mistaken. So it will be a trade down GPU-wise? The 10.1 has an Adreno 330 if I'm not mistaken - how does that fare IRL against whatever's in the S?

I wonder if I'm best off waiting the two weeks it'll take for them to release a successor lol

 

[Ravynmagi]

Yeah, I guess I was mistaken. So it will be a trade down GPU-wise? The 10.1 has an Adreno 330 if I'm not mistaken - how does that fare IRL against whatever's in the S?

I wonder if I'm best off waiting the two weeks it'll take for them to release a successor lol

GPU performance seems to be between the Adreno 320 and Adreno 330. So it's not like it's far behind or anything.

Unfortunately Anandtech only had one benchmark that had the Snapdragon 800 in with this Tab S and in 3DMark is showed the Tab S about 13% slower in that GPU benchmark than the Tab Pro 8.4 (which has the S800 with Adreno 330).
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8197/samsung-galaxy-tab-s-review-105-84inch/4

"The bigger problem really seems to be GPU performance. The Exynos 5420 integrates ARM’s Mali-T628MP6 GPU, which just isn’t competitive with Apple’s PowerVR Series 6 implementations. The bigger problem is that the GPU doesn’t seem quite cut out to driving the high resolution display. UI frame rates are typically smooth but I definitely noticed some dropped frames. The device is by no means unusable, I’m just spoiled by how good everything is at the high end of mobile that even mild deviations are noticeable."

 

[desura]

Yeah, I've un-retired my Dell Venue 8 Pro, which was almost sold but will be sticking around a bit longer. The Venue 8 Pro is actually slightly faster than the Galaxy Tab S...

Working with multiple tablets is pretty boss. The Tab S is primarily a video tablet anyways, so speed isn't of upmost importance.

 

[vbuggy]

I suppose I'll be waiting in that case - I'd like that display but not with a performance hit. With Samsung I expected later to be better at first, guess not.

 

[jacktesterson]

I'd have to disagree. Certainly Touchwiz is the worst looking of the bunch, but in terms of functionality Samsung isn't half bad. Also I prefer to have Snapdragon CPU instead of Samsung's Exynos.

Touchwiz sucks.

 

[Red Storm]

Touchwiz sucks.

I was talking about function, not form.