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Samsung Galaxy Tab vs. iPad, which is for movie lovers?

Since Samsung had unveiled its 7” tablet Galaxy Tab on the IFA 2010, Apple's thus-far-unchallenged iPad is now facing a competitor. There are lot of general reviews that list pros and cons for Samsung Galaxy Tab. Here in this passage let’s focus on something specific, the video playing back on Samsung Galaxy Tab and Apple’s iPad.

Pros and Cons of video entertainment on Galaxy Tab and iPad
1. Movies on Galaxy Tab vs on iPad: which one supports wider ranger of video formats?
Accepted video formats and codec by Apple iPad:
H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats;

MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats;

Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format

Accepted video formats by Galaxy Tab:
HD video content in a wide range of multimedia formats (DivX, XviD, MPEG4, H.263, H.264 and more). To be exactly, videos in MP4/DivX/WMV/H.264/H.263, and audios in MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC.

Both Apple iPad and Galaxy Tab covers several most common formats and codecs, but the Android OS enables Galaxy Tab to support the latest Adobe Flash Player 10.1, which means you can easily access the flash videos on web. There are still various video formats that are not supported by the two tablets. For instance, movie lovers will be disappointed to find that MKV videos can not be played on the slate.
Winner: Galaxy Tab

2. Movies on Galaxy Tab vs on iPad: apps that help you play any movies freely
Although neither Galaxy Tab nor iPad supports universal video formats, there are apps that can convert videos of any format, commercial DVDs and blu-ray movies into Galaxy Tab and iPad compatible HD MP4 files, i.e., the Pavtube Blu-Ray Video Converter Ultimate and iMedia Converter for Mac. The former is for PC and the latter for Mac OS. With the Blu-Ray Video Converter Ultimate you’ll be able to put blu-ray and DVD collections to Galaxy Tab and iPad for playback. If you would like to convert videos to Galaxy Tab and iPad only, then the HD Video Converter is your choice. There are customized video formats for Galaxy Tab and iPad, so all you need is to run the app, load in source video or disc, select a customized format for Galaxy Tab or iPad, and click Convert to start transferring videos to Galaxy Tab or iPad videos.

3. Movies on Galaxy Tab vs on iPad: which one owns higher-resolution display for video playback?
The Apple iPad incorporates a touch-sensitive IPS display that measures 9.7 inches across. It's undoubtedly a gorgeous screen, boasting a resolution of 768 x 1,024 pixels. Samsung has opted for a smaller display in the Galaxy Tab. It's still a decent size at 7-inches, and it gets closer to the iPad's specification with a resolution of 600 x 1,024 pixels, which looks superb on an LCD this size.
Winner: Apple iPad

4. Movies on Galaxy Tab vs on iPad: which one is more endurable for watching movies?
Apple claims a ten-hour battery life for its iPad, which compares to 7 hours quoted by Samsung for the Galaxy Tab. That means you can watch one more movie on iPad than Galaxy Tab per each recharge. This is understandable, as Galaxy Tab is smaller and lighter, there's less space for a meaty Li-Ion cell.
Winner: Apple iPad

5. Movies on Galaxy Tab vs on iPad: which one holds more movies?
There are different models of iPad own 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB storage, but Apple's device is limited to the internal space only (Except that you jailbreak and use the cydia app called iFile that allows you use an external hard drive of any size). The Galaxy Tab has 16GB and 32GB models, and supports up to 32GB of expandable storage.
Winner: Galaxy Tab

To conclude, it is controversial… Anyway, every man has his own hobbyhorse.

You may also refer to:
How to watch Blu-ray and DVD movies on Samsung Galaxy Tab?
How to copy Blu-ray discs, DVD movies and different videos to play on iPad?
How to watch Blu-ray and DVD movies on iPad (for Mac users)?
How to transfer/rip/convert DVD to iPad 720p video on Mac?
How to convert Blu-rays and DVDs to Samsung Galaxy Tab on Mac?

Apple iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab Specification comparison:

 

Apple iPad

Samsung Galaxy Tab

Image

Dimensions

9.56 by 7.47 by 0.5 inches

7.48 by 4.74 by 0.47 inches

Screen Size

9.7-inch LED IPS

7-inch TFT LCD

Screen Resolution

1024 by 768

1024 by 600

Weight

1.5 pounds (Wi-Fi model); 1.6 pounds (3G model)

0.84 pounds

Operating System

iOS 3.2 (iOS4.1 coming in November 2010)

Android 2.2 (upgradeable to Android 3.0)

Processor

1GHz Apple A4

1GHz Cortex A8

Internal Storage

16GB, 32GB, or 64GB

16GB or 32GB

Expandable Storage

None

Up to 32GB

RAM

256MB

512MB

Multitasking

No (Ios 4-style background processing available in November)

Yes

Muti-touch

Yes

Yes

Camera

None

3.2-megapixel rear-facing camera and 1.3-megapixiel front-facing camera)

Phone

No

Yes

Bluetooth

2.1 + EDR

3

GPS

3G model only

Yes

Battery Life

Up to 10 hrs of video playback

Up to 7 hrs of video playback

I/O

30-pin only

30-pin only

Browser

Safari

Chrome

Adobe Flash Support

No

Yes

Video

H.264/ AAC and MPEG-4/ AAC encoded MP4, MOV, M4V, MJPEG encoded AVI, up to 720p

H.263, H.264, DivX, MPEG-4 encoded videos

Audio

AAC, MP3, Apple Lossless, AIFF, WAV

MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC

Email

iOS Mail app

Gmail + Mircosoft Exchage ActiveSync

E-Book Client

iBooks

Readers Hub

Apps

Apple App Store

Android Market + access to non-market apps

Carrier

AT&T

To be announced

Price

$499 to $699 (Wi-Fi model); $629 to $829 (3G model)

To be announced