Tablets are all the rage at the moment, and no, we’re not talking about one of those ads you see on late night television.

One of the first viable challengers to the Apple iPad is the Android-powered Samsung Galaxy Tablet.

LIME kindly allowed me to borrow a demo model for a couple of days, knowing full well that a bit of a techie like myself would not be able to resist their offer.

Unlike its rival, the Galaxy uses a seven inch screen, giving it much greater portability – in fact, it is as long as the iPad is wide, closely matching the size of a paperback.

Of course, in spite of the reduction in size, it is still not something that will fit into even the biggest of pockets, so for those averse to adopting a manbag, it might be best to stick to a mobile phone.

More importantly, the Galaxy is only half the weight of its rival, and although this might not seem like an important consideration at first, try carrying any device around for long enough, or holding it in your hand, and any reduction in weight will soon be very welcome.

As for features, the Galaxy has as many of them as there are stars in the... well... galaxy.

It sports a rear facing as well as front facing camera, which means it can do video chat if you prefer to see the person you are talking to.

Another important feature is user-expandable memory through a microSD card slot, as well as full phone functionality with the use of either speakerphone or a Bluetooth headset. This is a very welcome feature, especially as it is not available on the US version of the device.

The wide adoption of the Android operating system also means that the availability of applications is likely to grow exponentially.

When it comes to connectivity, the Galaxy ticks all the boxes – WiFi, Bluetooth or mobile network. This means that while at the office or at home, you can browse the web using your WiFi network, while out on the road you can use LIME’s network for data.

Being a typical guy, I refused to read the manual included with the device, preferring instead to see how intuitive the interface is. Fortunately everything seems to be quite straight forward, and I was up and running in no time.
On my home WiFi network, the device was perfectly smooth when displaying YouTube videos, and fast when browsing websites. Although not all sites seemed optimised for the screen size, social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter were the perfect match to the device.

The device also functions very well as an e-book reader, due to the size similarity with a paperback. However, keep in mind that the gloss screen will be harder to read in bright sunlight than the non-backlit screen of some dedicated readers like the Kindle.

Of course, no review would be complete without the inevitable comparison to the mack daddy of the tablet world, the Apple iPad.

The biggest difference between the two is the size. Is this a case of ‘bigger is better’? Well, maybe. It really depends on what you want to do with the device. The iPad is great for watching movies or reading magazines, but it needs to be held with two hands, or laid down on a flat surface.

Although the Galaxy may not be quite as good for media consumption, the size makes it perfect as a reader, and much more portable than the iPad. It can comfortably be held in one hand, leaving the other hand free for typing.

Having experienced both devices, I can’t help but think that the tablet market will end up with two size standards – one for devices focussed on entertainment, and one for devices aimed at daily use, for as good as the iPad is, it isn’t a device I can see myself walking around with all the time.

The Galaxy is a different matter entirely – this is a device I will pick up in the morning and not be parted from until I go to sleep at night.

How to get one
The Samsung Galaxy Tab is available through LIME for $699 on a postpaid plan or $749 on a prepaid plan. Customers have the option of paying for the device over three months on their bill, and reward points can also be put towards the purchase, with one point equalling $1.

Data plans range from Pay Per Use, which is charged per MB, all the way up to a 7GB plan, while the AllTalk plan is a good partner for the device should you plan to make use of its mobile phone functionality as well.