What Is the Difference Between the Apple iPad & the Samsung Galaxy Pad?
By Solomon Poretsky
Since its release in 2010, the Apple iPad has enjoyed a dominant position in the tablet computer market, accounting for over 61 percent of worldwide media tablet sales in 2012, according to IT research and advisory company Gartner. However, Android tablets like Samsung's Galaxy Pad are rapidly gaining ground. The Samsung Galaxy Pad is one of the higher-end Android tablets, and competes directly with the iPad.
Processor
The iPad uses a proprietary processor designed by Apple. Its A5X chip has two processing cores running at 1 GHz, and four graphics processing cores. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, on the other hand, uses an off-the-shelf NVIDIA Tegra 2 chip, also running at 1 GHz.
Display
The Apple iPad comes with one display option -- a 9.7-inch screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio and a resolution of 2048-by-1536 pixels. Samsung makes the Galaxy Tab in a few different display sizes and styles. The 7-inch version has a 1024-by-600-pixel widescreen, while the 7.7-inch version uses an Organic Light Emitting Diode screen with a slightly higher 1280-by-800-pixel resolution. Samsung's largest tablet, the Galaxy Tab 10.1, has a slightly larger screen than the iPad, but has a significantly lower 1280-by-800 widescreen resolution.
Connections, Cameras and Sensors
The iPad and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 both have 3.5-mm headphone and microphone jacks and 30-inch dock connectors. Smaller Galaxy Tab tablets have a connection for a removable memory storage card, letting you upgrade their memory. Every tablet has a front-facing camera, but the iPad's 0.3-megapixel camera lags behind the Galaxy Tab's 1.3- to 2.0-megapixel cameras. The iPad 5.0-megapixel rear camera has a higher resolution than those on the Galaxy Tab, which range from 3.0 to 3.2 megapixels, although some Samsung units add a small LED flash. Both types of tablet have built-in accelerometers, gyroscopes and ambient light sensors.
Operating System and Software
Samsung Galaxy Tab tablets run varying versions of Google's Android operating system and work with the Android Market, also known as Google Play Store. iPads run Apple's iOS and support the App Store. While the iPad has viewers built in for Microsoft Office files, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 comes with Polaris Office preinstalled, letting you both view and edit business documents right when it comes out of the box.
References
Writer Bio
Solomon Poretsky has been writing since 1996 and has been published in a number of trade publications including the "Minnesota Real Estate Journal" and "Minnesota Multi-Housing Association Advocate." He holds a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from Columbia University and has extensive experience in the fields of financial services, real estate and technology.