Just to be clear from the get go, this isn’t a review about the Galaxy Tab 2 as a tablet nor is it a review of Android’s new ice cream operating system. I have an iPad and I wouldn’t replace it with an Android device. The reason I got the Galaxy Tab is to replace my Archos 7 portable media player and this is what this post is about. So Android fanboys can put down their keyboards and relax.
Back in 2009 I bought the Archos 7 to use as my media player for when I traveled. Before the Archos I was watching movies on my tiny iPod screen (the classic iPod not the touch) so moving to the larger 7inch screen was a huge improvement. Not only that but my Archos also had a large 160GB drive, a replaceable battery that lasted 10 hours and would play any non-HD video format without requiring any time consuming format conversion. Over the years though I’ve started getting more and more HD files and the Archos started to choke. It couldn’t play a lot of the new formats and it also couldn’t play most of the HD stuff I threw it’s way so I started looking for an alternative.
I wanted a 7inch screen, a large hard drive, a replaceable battery and the ability to play HD files without an issue. Surprisingly I didn’t find a media player that had all that so I started being more flexible with my requirements and in the end went with the Galaxy Tab 2 with a 7inch screen. The screen size was correct, it would play any video I threw at it and the battery life was fairly decent coming in at around 6 hours of non stop video playback. But it only had 8GB of internal memory and the battery couldn’t be swapped. Two issues I figured I could solve easily. The Galaxy Tab has a microSD card for expandability and I figured I could take multiple 32GB cards with me on long trips. I also wanted a swappable battery for long trips and although I couldn’t swap the battery on the Galaxy Tab, I realized I could purchase one of those Mophie PowerStations which charge gadgets using a USB port and just run my Tab off it during long flights. Of course the Tab is also a full fledged tablet so I could if I wanted to browse the web or perform other tasks on it if I needed to.
After taking the Tab on two trips with me I’ve come to the conclusion that I made the right decision. Although I’ve lost some of the features that made the Archos 7 so great I did gain three important benefits (among others). The first is that the Tab is much lighter and thinner than the Archos 7. This makes carrying it in my shoulder bag a lot more pleasant. The second thing I also gained is a much better screen with improved visibility from all angles and better touch sensitivity. I’ve also thrown a whole bunch of video formats at it including 720p HD movies and the Tab has played every single one of them without an issue.
So if you’re looking for a great media player this is what I recommend you get. I purchased it from Amazon back in May and it cost me KD82 in total and that includes shipping to Kuwait using DHL’s Borderlinx. I couldn’t find it in Kuwait back then but they might be available here now. [Amazon Link]
25 replies on “Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 as a media player”
Great!
But u should have waited for Nexus 7, its wonderfull
and battery life is 9hrs of HD playing
Also its cheaper cost 199$
Oh Really? Last time i checked it’s limited to 8GB/16GB without external storage.
You can always wait and something else will come out.
Why Do you Hate Android So much ?
I don’t hate Android, I just don’t like using it.
Yep the Nexus 7 is what people should buy, its cheaper, and its better, Tegra 3 Quad Core Processor runs circles around whats in the Galaxy Tab 2.
If I understood correctly though the Nexus 7 doesn’t take external memory for $200 is for the 8GB one. 16GB version costs $250 and you’re limited to just 16GB. With the Tab 2.0 I can expand it endlessly with microSD cards.
That is also true, it’s the only major drawback to be honest, lack of external memory.
It’s one of the reasons why I didn’t consider the Kindle as well.
Right seeing as this was meant to replace your 160GB Archos, I see your point.
Why don’t you use the iPad instead…
iPad is 10″ I wanted 7″
iPad is limited to max 64GB I wanted more.
iPad doesn’t play HD movies unless you jailbreak and even then it’s not just a matter of dragging and dropping files.
What? Says who?
iPad + Camera connection Kit + XBMC = you know exactly what it means.
thats exactly what i meant. it’s much more easier and simpler with the tab.
Well, i’m still sticking with my iPad for video playback lol, the screen is beautiful enough.
And i am broke at the moment, my gaming pc’s back home need’s an upgrade that will set me back 300KD at least.
lol
You could, technically speaking, do that with an iPad without the need to jailbreak, there are some drawbacks though.
With apps like AVPlayerHD, its just a matter of draging and dropping the file, but it has to be done though itunes so that’s drawback number one.
AVPlayerHD will play all media formats, but it will struggle with 1080p mkv files because of Apple not allowing third party developers to access the proper hardware acceleration so that’s drawback number two.
Have you tried AVPlayerHD? I tried all of those apps and they wouldn’t play shit. You either got video and no sound, or sound and no video or choppy slow mo video with sound. No app is allowed to use Apples hardware acceleration so they have to use software acceleration and even with my iPad 3 they couldn’t play shit.
The reason you jailbreak the iPad is to you media players like XBMC that illegally uses the Apple hardware for acceleration.
Thats weird Mark I use AVPlayerHD all the time, I did try 720p MKV’s and they worked well, 1080p was unplayable. But with most of my 1080p content I just convert to mp4 and drop it into AVPlayerHD to bypass Apple’s 5Mbps limit on videos. Either way though stock Apple vs Stock android, even I have to admit Android gives a better media experience because of the lack of restrictions.
I noticed that you are watching outsourced series. I suggest you watch the movie “outsourced”. it came out in 2006 i believe. the tv series is just a remake of the same. the movie is great. the series is just about average.
Congratulations 🙂
ordered nexus 7 last night 8GB – releasing date would be mid july
now according to google – everything would be “Cloud” with this device 🙂 and one more thing “Offline” 🙂
Mark, did you play any 1080p videos?
no i dont have any but it will play them
Simple,
You could make your Ipad a media center. That’s why there’s 64 GB Ipads. Now, Let go of my android you Apple leech.(Joking)
But if you read your post, you mentioned that android device Did what the ipad couldn’t do.
You can relax, I’m not a fan, Just a bloody consumer