[Galaxy Tab 10.1 General] yahya.hamid:
This guide will basically answer the following questions:

What to do for the tab case?

How to screen protect?

Best Email app

Best Office Application for tabs

How to make Whatsapp work on honeycomb tablets?

What is the best video format for galaxy tab?

Is your screen coming out. Are you alone?

How to download YOUTUBE VIDEOS HIGH QUALITY

Which is the best weather application for 10.1 inch tabs

What is the best wallpaper size?

Which is the replacement of the task calendar for honeycomb

OK so after the news that Vodafone ditched 10.1v for 10.1, most users are left on their own. Some are stil getting 10.1v from vodafone in some areas and others having it may have some issues. So I decided to compile some facts about the tablet. Screen shots are in here and in second thread.

Some of the tips below have been borrowed from some other threads for recompilation purposes and the credit goes to these people. Some of the other tips come from me and I would be glad to update them as I get to explore it more.

So lets start...

Hardware

The hardware of Galaxy tab 10.1 is well..heavy...but the plus side is that it is so very handy to grip. The curves at the back side make it so easy for the hand to hold them. I let couple of my friends hold it and they stated the heaviness does not feel due to the grip. Its so easy to hold this baby for longer times and thats a big plus. The downside in the hardware is that the screen is a little coming out from the top right corner. If you press the screen from the other three corners it wont go in. But the top right corner it is flimsy and loose. Press it and the screen visibly goes in. Seems like samsung forgot to glue it. LOL

SIM SLOT

One weird thing i noticed about the 10.1v was the PUSH needed to insert the sim inside the tablet. Initially i thought this was a fault but trust me , its not. Read a couple of threads on it and realized people were having problems. The solution is simple, once u insert the sim in get some thin key or your credit /atm card and just puch the sim in as much as you can. and VOILA it stays there.

So anyone using 10.1v and had to replace the sim for some reason dont think you got stuck cuz the sim really needs a big push to settle in.

The Casing

I did not get a casing for the galaxy tab. and as i found most people does not. The solution is to get an acer iconia flip cover. It suits completely on the galaxt tab and gives three different options for tilting the screen which are really useful for video, reading and other work. The only thing required for acer iconia cover is to reveal the headphone socket of the tab and thats easy. There is a slot in iconia cover almost at the same place. Just use your scissors and continue to cut it along the already made slit vertically. Once the handsfree socket is visible stop cutting. Now you can either remove the loose portion by either cutting it horizontally or letting ti stay there. I preferred letting it stay there cuz that gave the original look and stil made it easy for me to fit the handsfree when needed.

Fortunately, the galaxy tab 10.1v adopts to screen rotations so that gives u the option to put the charger slot either at the top or the bottom of the sliding case. I prefer it at the bottom for two reasons. First it avoids any dust going in and second it makes me charge the tab taking it out of the cover which i have heard is actually good to avoid heating issues.

SCREEN PROTECTOR

As was with the cover, the tab i had did not come with a screen protector. The solution again is simple. Get an apple ipad screen protector. Place it on the screen and align from one side vertically and horizontally. The other side will have the Apple ipad central button gap. Let this side flow out and cut horizontally to separate the ipad's round button from the screen protector. Thats it. Apply. Be careful not to cover the camera with the screen protector. Now use the screen protector in all its glory to avoid screen issues.

Apple screen protectors are reusable and washable. But be careful not to wash off the tablet when you wash them.

SETTING UP

Ok enough of the hardware info. Now for the software. Insert the sim. Once you switch on the tab, its a WOW. Honeycomb first look is really nice and the screen is really HD.

We all have to go through the honeycomb setup wizard which is a breeze actually and i will not dwelve into it since this guide will take on the useful issues only and not old ones.

However as a tip, once you go through the wizard.....RESTART....yes i know you are anxious but trust me RESTART.

Once you restart, the first thing that I usually do is to set up a lock screen password. Just hit settings in apps menu and hit

"Location and Security" and in there "Configure lock screen ". Setup your favorite way to unlock the screen and chill. Now you can show your tablet to tons of people without feeling a problem they will enter your tablet.

In the same "Locations and Security" tab you will notice "Owner Info". Hit it and you can enter your personalized message to appear on the lock screen. Kinda nice tip to setup your tab look good.

You may also notice an option "encrypt tablet" . I would not hit on it since i feel that it slows down the tab. Choice is yours if you are living at a place where you need to protect your data and theft is common the best choice is to encrypt.

First Things THE MAIN SCREEN

The first thing you would notice is that there are five screens for honey comb. The choice is yours how to arrange them but I would share the useful way to do it without losing on the beauty of the wallpaper in the tab.

The most useful application shortcuts I feel to place on the main screen are 6

Calculator

Calendar

Officer Application (which one comes later)

Email (or K9)

Settings

Browser

Thats not all. There is some more useful things you may wanna put on the main screen. Like weather. But for that you need two things. First I assume your 3g internet settings are auto detected by the tablet but if they are not set it up and SECOND goto market to download ASTRO file manager free. Once downloaded goto settings, applications and click on unknown sources.

WEATHER

Dont waste your time on other weather applications. Just move onto one of the threads in this forum where you have the SIGNED WEATHER application from asus transformer. Download the signed version and click on downloaded app from astro from above and bang you got the best weather info that suits the 10.1 inch screen and looks pretty nice. Installation can be done without root and by simple clicking. No need to change permissions or manual copying since I did not and mine works fine.

NOTES

Next comes the Notes. I spent months searching for the right application. I wanted a widget with transprent background that can hold my meetings and notes and reminders of different things. I did not like the stock calendar widget due to limitations of reminders in it for some task due but not done on due date.

Download "Simple Notepad" application from android market and if you can configure it correctly, you can get something like in my screen shot.

Notice the transparency, the sleekness and usefulness of this widget. I use the widget 3 x 2. You can use one of your own choice.

WALLPAPER

No matter what I did, EXACT resolution match to fit in full screen wallpaper without zooming was not achievable. The closest to optimum resolution was 1920 * 1408 strange but yeah this one works. Problem is you cant find images that resolution in abundance and resizing will destroy the image aspect ratio. If some one wants to try this, he can.

I, however went for a really useful free application from android market. "Multi picture Live Wallpaper". This has excellent abilities especially having different wallpapers for each screen full size without zoom. the best part is the cross fade option that smoothly transitions the wallpapers into one another and you can have different wallpapers for your different screens depending on your mood.

The wallpapers in the tablet are okay and not mouth watering so not go ahead and download 1900*1200 or 1280*800 and they will suit correctly without zoom using the app above.

EMAIL APP

Stil k9 is the best. Simple because the email client stil does not have "select all" option for mailbox. This is really ahndyt o delete bulk emails from trashcan.

Also you have no option to download a preview message and hence once you click on a message the entire is downloaded with attachement in one go.

In K9, you can either download the attachment or leave it. So those people on high cost 3g connections, dont use this email client.

Download k9 and associated with it is the the "Message Center" application from market to identify unread emails in the k9 mail box. So on your main screen you have the unread count which is very handy.

QUICK OFFICE HD

DOnt waste your time here and all the HD fancy things with it. When you receive an email with attachment in excel word or powerpoint you cant view it in there, and surely cannot download. This is because of a known issue that Quick Office is not a PLUGIN for default email client of honeycomb. So the attachments are pretty uselss to download since you got no option to view them.

For those who want to use quickoffice stil, they need to download a kind of work around. Download and install "Download all files" or similar download software for android and instal. Now when you open your emails with attachments you will notice the "VIEW" and "SAVE" button next to the attachement and now you can open it.

For those who dont want this, like me, just instal "ThinkFree Office". Its by far the best and supports freezing windows and panes in which format i usually receive my attachments. Please purchase the full application if rquired it really is far ahead than quickoffice in my opinion. Plus it has the native ability to open email attachments.

WHATSAPP

Ok so you need Whatsapp. After tons and tons of searching and finding nothing, I finally managed to install Whatsapp and solve the contacts not appearing issue.

I will here like to notify that I emailed the whatsapp people and they stated that whastapp is not for tablets. Strange, cuz it works on internet and tabs are all about internet messaging. So heres a guide to instal Whats app.

EXISTING ANDROID WHATSAPP USERS

Existing ANDROID whatsapp users trying to switch to galaxy tab 10.1v there is good news.l You can do that in easy steps. But if you have already tried whatsapp on tablet without any success then you need to first remove the account from accounts and sync under settings and then uninstal the application in your tablet first before the points below.

Make sure you have the latest whatsapp version in you old android phone and the contacts you want to transfer or talk to in 10.1v whastapp ar ein the original whatsapp application you are using on the android phone. Please also make sure you have some messaging going under these contacts.

Goto settings of whatsapp in your original android phone and check the last back up that was made. This is i think under the option "MORE" This date should be fresh. If not you gotto wait for the autobackup. Else backup if there is an option in your version.

Now take out the SIM and put in 10.1v tablet

download whatsapp from the whatsapp web site. Dont bother going to market...its not there.

Once downloaded instal.

When it comes to verification of your account, it will give a failure to send sms or somethign like that. Dont panic. Just click on retry.

Now you will see a roughly 10 minute time clock. Make sure your 3g or wifi is on. Let the 10 minutes pass.

Bang you will see a SMS received from whatsapp and it will shwo int he SERVICE INFO icon at the bottom bar of your tablet

Whatsapp will recognize it automatically and move forward. It will now auto backup your account under this number.

It will ask to restore backup and you do restore. and thats it. All your contacts and conversations are there. and you can WHATSAPP.

NEW WHATSAPP USERS

Well you guys need an android phone. and you gotto register whatsapp in there. Add your contacts and make some messages. Then follow the above procedures.

MESSAGING

Incoming sms messages work from anyone and they are clubbed in service info application.

YOU TUBE

Download tube mate not from the market but from the web. and that will help you download nice high definition movies. Dont bother downloading above 720p.

VIDEO PLAYBACK SIZE AND RESOLUTION

I tried everything. 1280 * 800 and the 720p one too. I could not get a fullscreen playback from tablet. So i reverted to SOUL MOVIE....a nice small free player to play in full screen with multiple options. Very nice give it a try.

I tried downloading 1080p youtube videos, they either stutter or somewhere in the end it says "Cannot play this video. Contact your Phone Maker". There are many thread son limitations of 1080p playback on tegra and i wont go into it. Hope this gets resolved in 3.1.

So the best way is to use third party encoders like 4videosoft to convert your downloaded youtube or movies to 1080p videos and then use a bitrate not more than 5000. Anything above that and you are inviting trouble. However, hionestly 720p is equally good too.

GOOGLE TALK

Works nicely with video. WOW thumbs up.

This needs to be updated pretty frequently, but to start with, one must have

ASTRO

DROPBOX

UNRAR

SOUL MOVIE PLAYER

WHATSAPP

Moon+reader for ebooks...well did i miss on ebooks here.

Now some Pics

I will keep updating this thread. If anyone has something to share /add, please share and will be added to first post.