Take a closer look at the T-Mobile edition of the Samsung Galaxy Tab, an Android tablet competing against the Apple iPad.
Donald Bell
Donald Bell has spent more than five years as a CNET senior editor, reviewing everything from MP3 players to the first three generations of the Apple iPad. He currently devotes his time to producing How To content for CNET, as well as weekly episodes of CNET's Top 5 video series.
Here you can see the Tab's retail packaging. T-Mobile is selling the Tab at $399 with a two-year contract, or $599 without an annual commitment.
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Upon opening the box, you can see that Samsung wasted no space on the packaging. Beneath the tablet, you'll find a USB charging cable, a starting guide, and a charging adapter.
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The first difference we noticed between the T-Mobile Tab and Sprint's is the backing. The Sprint model features a white back, whereas the T-Mobile version is clad in black with a subtle sparkle finish.
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Here's the T-Mobile Galaxy Tab's boot screen.
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The preinstalled apps on the home screen of the T-Mobile Tab differ from the Sprint version. The most notable additions are the Qik video chat app, Slacker Internet radio, and Asphalt 5 racing game (full version). These same apps are available for download on the Sprint version (via the Market app), but not preinstalled. We also noticed the Navigation and YouTube apps are on the home screen of the T-Mobile version, but are tucked away in the app drawer on the Sprint model.
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The beach home screen image is another little difference between the T-Mobile and Sprint versions of the Tab. Like the choice of home screen apps, though, it's completely customizable by the user. We also noticed that the T-Mobile Tab includes five home screens by default, which can be switched between by swiping left or right. The Sprint model uses three screens by default.
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A few other T-Mobile-specific apps are preinstalled on this version of the Tab, including a hot spot finder that locates the nearest T-Mobile-approved Wi-Fi hot spot.
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Another hardware detail that distinguishes the T-Mobile Galaxy Tab from the models offered by Sprint and Verizon is the inclusion of a SIM card slot. The SIM slot uses a full-size SIM, as opposed to the micro-SIM used on the Apple iPad and iPhone 4.
You'll also notice the MicroSD card slot here, which is empty on the T-Mobile Tab but can support cards up to 32GB. Sprint's Tab includes a 16GB card, adding to the 16GB of internal memory that's standard for both Sprint and T-Mobile.
