Unlike Apple iOS found in the iPad, Android 4.x is highly configurable. Between the system settings functions and the more open operating system, you'll find hundred of free apps to customize your desktop exactly as you please. If you want news and information streaming in one window, next to your Twitter feed in another window, next to gmail in another window, you can do it. There are hundreds of thousands of other combination and permutations, and it's one of the areas in which Android shines far above iOS on the iPad.

By default, the Samsung Hub circle of apps appears on the main screen. Hub makes app recommendations and acts as a general launcher into various app categories, among other things. I tried Samsung Hub for as long as I could stand it, then killed it off my home screen. Its seems to be, in a sort of low-end way, Samsung's take on Apple's Genius concept. But where Genius in iTunes and on the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad uses extensive logic and programming and the vast knowledge base maintained by Apple, Samsung Hub just sucks. Immediately after writing this, someone looking over my shoulder at this review poked me in the back and declared, "Hey! I happen to really like Samsung Hub." Well okay, and maybe you should give it a serious look yourself to make sure I'm not just being unreasonable.

Value

Less expensive than the iPad, just as much fun, almost as good a content consumption device, same irritating touch keyboard (sorry - I just hate touch keyboards even though I use them several times every day), a more configurable desktop and user experience than the iPad, an enormous number of available apps in Android Market (but still not as many as you'll find in the Apple App Store), smooth and responsive operation (but not quite as smooth and responsive as Apple's slick iOS operating environment), and highly versatile. I call it a good value.

I'd like to find whomever it was that decided to put a screenshot icon amid all the others on the bottom home screen control panel and cuff him on the ear, because I keep accidentally brushing the icon, whereupon the system makes a screenshot and then presents me with it. Curse, delete photo, go back to what I was trying to do. The Chrome web browser is fast - very fast - but its bookmark implementation for both accessing/selecting existing bookmarks and saving new ones is clunky. What's worse is that the bookmarks implementation doesn't remember your last position in the list. What that means is tapping the bookmark icon at the top right corner of the browser, tapping the bookmark folder, tapping a subfolder and then tapping a saved bookmark gets you to the web page you want, but the next time you tap the bookmark icon again you'll find yourself at the bookmark folder which means you again have to tap it, then the subfolder you want, then the actual link to which you want to browse. Clunky! Fix this! Apple's implementation of bookmarks in the Safari browser app in iOS on the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad is vastly better (although Safari itself is a noticeably slower browser than Chrome). Sigh.

The rear-facing camera (the main camera) is a 3 megapixel waste of time. Image quality with a held-rock-steady Tab 2 of a properly lit subject is reminiscent of digital images from 14 years ago - noisy, poor color depth, blown out highlights, and no modifying control over auto-exposure. At even this mid-range tablet price point, the camera should be at least 5 megapixels, and should offer at least twice the dynamic range, twice the lens quality, significantly more color depth and faster operation. Samsung already owns a well-established and respected camera division, so there's no excuse for this fail.