Samsung hopes size doesn’t matter with the Galaxy Tab 7.7-inch

The name Samsung Galaxy Tab is now pretty well set in history as the tablet Apple tried to stop. Having successfully beaten that away, the 10.1-inch version is now on sale – but have you heard of its younger, smaller sibling?

Say ‘hi’ to the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7. As the name suggests, it has a screen size of 7.7-inches, which makes it the size of the BlackBerry Playbook among others. Don’t get concerned too fast, this is actually a very comfortable and workable size.

Easy to hold in the hand, the 7.7 from Samsung reeks of quality. Metal finish, quality joins and edges and no excess baggage, this little baby is light to hold which is important for a tablet. Without doubt there are very few contenders for the tablet crown currently held by the Apple iPad, however this little thing of beauty might just tempt you with its looks and performance.

16GB and Wi-Fi only you will need to be at home, in a hotspot or tethered which isn’t too hard – in theory, but it’s certainly not as easy as just having a SIM card and getting online. Cheaper though!

There are a couple of stand out issues with the device before you go rushing out. The Android market is full of a weird and wonderful variety of apps, but there is frankly no certainty that they will all work well on this particular device. Phone apps don’t up scale and 10.1-inch designed apps don’t scale down well, so that can be a challenge, certainly something to look out for.

The other issue is my old favourite – price. You’re looking at $550 at JB Hi-Fi. I’m told if you ask nicely there might be some money off the top, however even at $500 it’s a mere $79 cheaper than the Apple RRP of its cheapest iPad.

When will companies learn – we are driven by price, and if you flood the market with a device at a reasonable price, the uptake we believe will be excellent. If you are stepping out to buy an Android tablet, I cannot let you go into the stores without knowing this beauty is out there and giving it a try, I’m pretty confident you’ll struggle to put it down.

Where: JB Hi-Fi
How Much: $543 (Haggle with them though!)