The Samsung Galaxy Tab may be a great tablet out of the box, but it won’t stop us from customising it to work even better, would it?
Here are three essential tips for the Android gizmo.
>>Get Advanced Task Killer
There’s a school of thought that you should not fiddle with the way Android controls how your apps multi-task. However, should you find your Galaxy Tab a little slow, just fire up Advanced Task Killer to keep things snappy. The default Samsung task manager is rather “gentle” when it comes to killing apps, and I feel it’s not as effective.
>>Get Opera Mini or Skyfire browser
These browsers are ultra-fast and they show up the built-in Chrome browser on the Galaxy Tab. The downside: no native support for Flash, though Skyfire does show some videos via a separate Videos button.
[UPDATE: I’ve just tried Dolphin Browser HD and it’s much better – faster than the default browser and has Flash as well. So, for the best of both worlds, go with Dolphin. Thanks to Peter and James (over Twitter).]
>>Get ROM to remove SingTel apps
Yes, you can remove all the SingTel apps onboard if you don’t like them. I understand that you can try bringing the device to the Samsung Singapore store at Vivocity to load the device without SingTel’s apps, but it’s always good to check before heading down.
Alternatively, if you are the DIY sort, search for SGS CSC Selector on Android Market, which lets you select which ROM you want to use on the tablet. Select XSP when prompted.
WARNING: This will remove all your user data and installed apps, and Techgoondu shall not be responsible for any damage to your device.
This review has been very helpful for me in terms of making the choice between buying ipad 2 and galaxy tab. I used to have both the 7 inch tab and ipad but I gave my ipad recently to my 10 yr old daughter. I’m thinking of buying the 10.1 galaxy tab because I’m a heavy reader but have read of oil slick (newton rings) & freezing problems. Hope you make a review of it.
@Peter, thanks for the tip. Yup, Dolphin HD is fast and also does Flash. I had uninstalled it on my Nexus One previously because I didn’t like all the extras, which cluttered the small screen. With the Tab, that’s not an issue. Am happily using it now. 🙂
@deepak: cool stuff, I’ll try out watchdog. I haven’t tried FF but had taken Skype on a quick spin. Skype runs in the background even when you’re not using it, and it’s not killed by task killers! I uninstalled it as I’m not a real heavy user, though some friends swear by it for cheap calls.
I much prefer the approach taken by Watchdog [1] over task killers. It monitors running apps & then alerts me of any CPU guzzling apps, giving me an option to kill them.
Also, have you tried the Firefox beta [2] on the Tab? And Skype? I’m curious to know how well/poorly they work.
[1]: http://www.zomut.com/watchdog
[2]: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/mobile/
I believe Dolphin HD does show Flash.