Wootalyzer's Pricing Post! - The price of today's woot item is saved here for future reference
------------------------------------------------------------
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0
$179.99 + $5 Standard OR $8 Two-Day OR $11 One-Day Shipping
Condition: Refurbished

*DISCLAIMER* Wootalyzer! is in no way affiliated with Woot!, and this post may not always be here!

How good is this??

Description: 1.5Ghz Dual-Core Processor

Tech Specs: Dual-Core 1GHz

???


[MOD: Fixed. It's 1GHz]

Touch screen problem, I got mine and it's broken already, I can't have it repair I bought mine out of country, Samsung has no international warranty. My screen got moisture inside so the touchscreen was unusable. My Samsung is used as a paper weights now, instead of throwing it away :-(

retired51 wrote:How good is this??

its pretty decent. i have the older 10.1. now that it has ice cream sandwich, i have no complaints. its fast and smooth.

but as the guy said... you can get a nexus for just a bit more at the google store.

Oh great... if I buy this does that mean Apple will come after me too?

Maybe if I make it more square and don't use the pinch to zoom, I'll be ok...

Hmm...

Anyone know if this can be/will be upgradable to Android 4.1?

Bought one of these when it first came out. Used it for a week, and returned it.

Unless things have changed in the past few months, the IR blaster in the tab doesn't work with AOSP based ROMs. And TouchWiz manages to turn ICS ugly.

While it sucks that I don't have the IR blaster in my Nexus 7, I'm far happier with it. The 7 is replacing my TouchPad. The Galazy Tab could not.

@retired51: We just bought one last week, and love it. Fast processor and not a battery drainer like a quad core. We were considering the Nexus 7, but a few things swayed me - dual core vs. quad core is going to be mainly noticeable in battery performance, not app speed; reviews say that the virtual keyboard is better on this than on the Nexus; front-facing and rear cameras on the Tab 2; and biggest of all... expandable memory on the Tab 2, so all our movies & music are stored on a separate 32GB microSD, leaving the full on-board storage to be devoted to apps. P.S. Squaretrade offers a very good price on 2-year warranty.

[Buzzer sound]! Gotta pass on this. Why? Because you can get a better, nicer, newer (as in brand new) Google Nexus 7 for $21 more. Minus some minor onesy-twosy items (namely Samsung's rear facing camera too), the Nexus 7 is much better--processor, display, battery, OS, weight, etc.

Sorry. Woot a little flat today!

collin1000 wrote:Anyone know if this can be/will be upgradable to Android 4.1?

If you're wiling to flash custom firmware.

I have one and it suffers from keyboard issues that make it virtually unusable. An update to fix them would improve my opinion. I will be returning mine and getting something else. If you want this size tablet, a nexus 7 is worth the $20 more unless you have to have expandable storage.

Was reading the paper yesterday about Samsung's big loss in court - that includes a following case in which Apple is asking to prohibit all future sales on the Galaxy phone and tablet. I said, " I bet these show up on Woot soon". I'm a psychic!

Skip on this and save $20 more for the nexus 7, superior in every way.

its $250 to buy this new with the bluetooth keyboard dock and a usb adapter at best buy. even though i previously purchased three 10.1s from woot... this is a much better deal.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+Galaxy+Tab+2+7.0+with+8GB+Memory+-+White/6119927.p?id=1218717242729&skuId=6119927&st=galaxy%20tab%202%207.0&cp=1&lp=1

I've it for awhile. It is a great tablet and I cannot understand or share the negative comments.

My major usage: eReader, movies, light browsing and email, Skype (video).

As far as Nexus goes, it doesn't take Micro SD. If one doesn't need extra memory, Nexus would be great.

retired51 wrote:How good is this??

I have both this, the Fire, and the Nexus 7. You'll want to spend the extra $20 and get the Nexus 7.

I should add - I've never once actually needed the storage on the Tab, even though I dutifully bought and installed a card. Maybe I needed more movies that couldn't legitimately be stored in the cloud when I wasn't viewing them. I've never once needed the rear facing camera. It's not like I'm going to switch to a tablet for my photography, and it's only 3 megapixels, anyway. Not really worth the effort.

The Tab leaks battery when the screen is off. It pretty much has to be powered nightly. There's also an annoying screen capture button on the home screen that I guarantee you'll accidentally hit about 234234 times as you get used to the device.

BTW - I doubt this is being Wooted because of the Apple lawsuit. Samsung has been adding Note features to their tablet line, and this is last year's model, anyway.

I have the Nexus 7. For $20 less this comes with a better screen and a microSDHC slot, and Samsung's build quality is better than the Nexus 7's. (Ask the thousands of people who had to return their Nexus 7s to Google because the screen wasn't seated properly.) This is a little heavier and bulkier than the Nexus 7 and does have an earlier version of Android. Both are very good tablets and which you pick depends on your priorities... this is a very solid unit.

djrmsn wrote:Was reading the paper yesterday about Samsung's big loss in court - that includes a following case in which Apple is asking to prohibit all future sales on the Galaxy phone and tablet. I said, " I bet these show up on Woot soon". I'm a psychic!

And.... there are so many of them out there it's not like you can buy them up and they will be collectors items for your grandchildren! Sort of like the worst of every possible world!

lovethelakers wrote:[Buzzer sound]! Gotta pass on this. Why? Because you can get a better, nicer, newer (as in brand new) Google Nexus 7 for $21 more. Minus some minor onesy-twosy items (namely Samsung's rear facing camera too), the Nexus 7 is much better--processor, display, battery, OS, weight, etc.

Sorry. Woot a little flat today!

Its a bit more than $21, after tax and shipping from Google it is more like $225, so about $50 more, but still well worth it. It also comes with $25 play store credit, so that helps a bit.

I've had my Asus / Google Nexus 7 for a couple of weeks and it is the best tablet I have owned or used. The Nexus 7 is very fast, smooth gui, doesn't get hot, light & easy to hold (no more wrist stain with my TouchPad), etc. Google and Asus really did a great job on it, it will be cool to see how much Woot will offer these for refurbished down the road... ;)

*Engadget review of the Nexus 7
*Engadget review of the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0
*Head-to-head comparison

This could be a good choice if you're mostly interested in playing video with it.

But for me, I'd spend $20 and get Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) on the Nexus 7. I've been using Jelly Bean for a few months and LOVE it.

Check out Google Now (which is baked into Jelly Bean). It is context- and location-aware assistant. Sure, you can speak to it and it can speak an answer (which is not a rip off of Siri by the way - I've been able to talk to my Android for years). Last week it popped up to let me know that, based on my location and the current traffic, I needed to leave in 20 minutes to make it to a doctor's appointment.

Link to purchase Nexus 7 directly through Google.

menkros wrote:Skip on this and save $20 more for the nexus 7, superior in every way.

If you ignore the washed-out screen (greens are the worst, blues aren't very good either) and the lack of expansion. And the awful build quality. Other than that, you're right!

Ugh. My problem is that I filled up my iPod touch 8GB with apps and music.

Whatever tablet I buy would not be getting music on it, but might have movies and WILL have apps. I think I'll be needing the extra storage, but then again, I might not. And the Nexus looks harder to damage

menkros wrote:Skip on this and save $20 more for the nexus 7, superior in every way.

Other than the multiple RMAs due to defective touchscreens, of course.

I believe the Galaxy Tab Plus has a faster processor. That's the one I've been looking at. The Tab 2 supposedly has a "better" processor albeit a bit slower.

Here's a comparison between the two and other major tablets: http://www.theverge.com/products/compare/5147/2630/1606/2506/3767/5225

And one specifically comparing the Tab 2 to the Tab Plus: http://www.phonearena.com/news/Samsung-Galaxy-Tab-2-7.0-vs-Galaxy-Tab-7.0-Plus-spot-the-difference_id26920

I recently bought the Student Edition for $249. I own an ipad2 as well as a variety of other tablets and I'm extremely impressed with the GTab.

Performance is excellent and the micrSD slot is very convenient. Support for USB thumbdrives, USB, USB/wireless, and Bluetooth mice are just icing on the cake.

$179 for a refurb sounds like a good deal, but I think that if I didn't already have one I'd still be tempted by the Student Edition bundle.

marziah wrote:I have both this, the Fire, and the Nexus 7. You'll want to spend the extra $20 and get the Nexus 7.

I understand they're trying to push their cloud service, but I need expandable memory....

editorkid wrote:I have the Nexus 7. For $20 less this comes with a better screen and a microSDHC slot,

Samsung's 1024x600 TFT vs Asus Nexus 7” 1280x800?

How is that a better screen?

They are both great Tablets, and the Galaxy Tab 2 would be my first choice until The Nexus 7, I like the fact of knowing that the Nexus will always be one of the first to get new Android OS updates, etc. No flashing, rooting, etc. Needed (been there done that with all my other tablets, tired of it).

I've been on a quest for a tablet for a while now, and I'll summarize the long journey as much as possible.

Ipad, didn't like it, too big for what I wanted. Sold it.

Asus Transformer. Neat concept, functioned as a laptop, except Android doesnt really support laptop functions. Tablet as a stand alone was neat, but I was not wowed. Sold it.

Kindle Fire. Minamalist. Wanted the smaller form factor, but didn't think the original galaxy tab or other 7 inchers had what i wanted. Found that the Kindle Fire is Amazon's proprietary baby and can not access the Google app store (aka, Google Play) or other app stores without rooting and headache. Sold it.

Galaxy Tab 2 7" version. Pretty impressed. Definitely closer to where I wanted to be, but not quite there. Definitely beats the Fire, but cost $100 more than the Fire, so YMMV on what you want vs what you buy. Going to sell it. (Will do breakdown at bottom, since this is a Galaxy Tab 2 post)

Google Nexus 7. Same price point, better hardware inside, but doesn't exactly compete with the Galaxy Tab 2 because they are both apples (no pun intended), but one is red and one is green. I like the smoothness of the Nexus 7 better. I like the Vanilla Android experience. I don't care that there isn't a camera on the back, I never used it on my Transformer anyhow, and I always have my cell phone with a camera on me. Keeping it.

So compared to the next best thing, the Nexus 7:

PROS (the Nexus 7 doesnt have):
Rear Facing Camera
Samsung Apps (media store, app store, email, calendar, etc...)
IR Blaster/PEEL (see schedules and control your TV directly via IR port!)
MicroSD slot for memory expansion (can also swap cards if they contain movies/media)
TouchWhiz U/I - Certain elements like having access to screen brightness, wifi, and other little things by just tapping the corner were helpful, where-as on the Nexus you have to go into settings, and dig down another menu or two. On the Galaxy Tab, you never leave the page/application you're on.

CONS
Have to wait for updates - Not a major thing, but something I prefer. Some people run Android 2.0 on tablets and phones just fine with no complaints. I like to be on the bleeding edge and getting my updates immediately.
Samsung Apps - While also listed as a PRO, if you don't want/like it, it's just a PITA.
Project Butter - I'm picky, but the Nexus feels more responsive. It could be because of Project Butter with Jelly Bean (most recent version of Android), and could be that the Galaxy Tab 2 will get it too. It's not slow by any means, but having both tablets side by side for comparision, it's easy to see.
Half the processor - While debateable, it's possible that the smoothness is attributed to Project Butter, but maybe also the processor cores. Don't know, but thought it was worth listing.
Tegra - Again, this isn't really "fair", but trying to test the tablet with some Nvidia Tegra apps that I use on my transformer, I found I couldn't download or run because the Tegra system includes video code/processing that the Galaxy Tab 2 does not and will not. I game as much on my tab as I do surf the web... So that was important to me.

While I am very critical of the Galaxy Tab 2, but it is still a very solid Tablet, and a solid choice for those who need or want memory expansion or a rear camera.

EDIT: Oh, and for regular usage, side by side, the Galaxy Tab 2 has a better performing speaker, but it's located on the bottom. The Nexus has decent quality but is not as loud. But the orientation of the speaker on the BACK of the Nexus allows sound even if covered or laying flat.

Another note, the screens performed equally well, not counting gaming. Pixel density is not really a factor between these two tablets as they are about the same size, same brightness, and unless you're REALLY close (or gaming), you're not going to notice a major difference.

Shinespark wrote:Other than the multiple RMAs due to defective touchscreens, of course.

Buy it at a brick and mortar. I got mine at MicroCenter. No issues with it at all, if I had one its an easy exchange. Compusa, MicroCenter, etc. all have them in stock now.

adamms222 wrote:@retired51: ... reviews say that the virtual keyboard is better on this than on the Nexus ...

Very much so. Swype has a beta version for Jelly Bean that works in some apps and not in others. The ICS version of Swype that comes with this is flawless and wonderful. I don't understand how anyone can use the stock Android keyboard after trying Swype, and I hope they get their act together on the Jelly Bean version very quickly.

crashnet wrote:Oh great... if I buy this does that mean Apple will come after me too?

Maybe if I make it more square and don't use the pinch to zoom, I'll be ok...

Hmm...

you are my hero man. apple sucks for what they are doing. why go after samsung? they really want to go after google but they don't have the balls. as if samsung has the only pinch to zoom functionality in android phones. every single android phone i've had was pinch to zoom. not just that, but even windows phones have pinch to zoom. apple is being a sore loser because they only have a third of androids market share, and they have less market share than even one android device maker: samsung. this is an attempt to get rid of the market to create an apple monopoly. so much for 1984. apple is the guy in the big screen now!

Here's some video reviews:

Wagnbat wrote:I've been on a quest for a tablet for a while now, and I'll summarize the long journey as much as possible.

Nice post and comparison, deserving of A WORD PROBLEMS! for sure.

To further summarize, if you need expandable memory or a rear facing camera this is the tab to get. If not, highly consider the Asus / Google Nexus 7.

As far as your point of not having the IR to control TV available on the Nexus 7, many if not most mainstream services like Uverse, DirecTV, etc. all have apps to control the TV / PVR via network.

theguruguys wrote:Samsung's 1024x500 TFT vs Asus Nexus 7” 1280x800?

How is that a better screen?

They are both great Tablets, and the Galaxy Tab 2 would be my first choice until The Nexus 7, I like the fact of knowing that the Nexus will always be one of the first to get new Android OS updates, etc. No flashing, rooting, etc. Needed (been there done that with all my other tablets, tired of it).

There's more to life than pixel count. The Nexus 7 screen is widely considered to be the area where Asus did a lot of cost-cutting because colors are so washed out. You're right that it's OK... but it's still noticeably worse than most other tablets I've seen.

I'd consider this if Amazon wasn't announcing their new devices on 9/6. Wouldn't be smart to buy with that only a week away, IMHO.

We've got one, since soon after they came out. It's alright, but my son managed to crack the screen somehow. They don't seem to have much choice for repair.

Not sure it's worth it, anyway. It's not as responsive as I'm used to. Going back to Apple for the kids when the smaller iPad comes out.

theguruguys wrote:Buy it at a brick and mortar. I got mine at MicroCenter. No issues with it at all, if I had one its an easy exchange. Compusa, MicroCenter, etc. all have them in stock now.

Plus then you don't have to spend the money on shipping.