[Galaxy Tab 8.9 General] Jade Eyed Wolf:
This is not necessarily a response specifically to you KitF, more like a general response on the whole subject of phone calling on tablets as a whole.

For starters, I can confirm that the 3G 8.9 does not make phone GSM phone calls. The framework for it is there deep in root, but it seems that at some point, for some reason or another, a decision was made to disable that feature. Importing dialers from other devices doesn't seem to work either, even though the hardware itself is technically capable of GSM calling.

Ok, now that that's out of the way, onward to more subjective musings.

I should note that last year I bought the original P1000 shortly after its release. Despite any issues it may have had with lag or using a version of Android originally designed with smaller screens in mind, I still considered it to be one of the best mobile devices I have owned. In this respect, I am very excited to get my hands on, though patiently waiting for, the 7.7.

I have always been attracted to convergence devices; the thought of carrying something around that "does it all" just makes the geek in me all giddy. In all honesty, leaving my phone at home while carrying a small book sized device with me to and from work was not the least bit inconvenient. My bluetooth would easily take care of the occasional phone call, and SMS was a very welcomed experience on a much larger screen, especially with my big hands! When you've become used to responding to texts on a much larger screen, you realize just how pampering an experience that can be once you go back down to a "normal" phone! On top of that, I placed some velcro on the case I had for it, and stuck it to the dash in my car, right over the stereo. So, off the top of my head, my Tab filled in the roles of: Phone, Tablet PC, Music/Video player, GPS, eReader.

So, for me, my old P1000 actually did replace my phone for the majority of the time, becoming my dedicated communications device. However, if ever I needed to "go lite" that was only a SIM card swap away. Very easy.

"Well, if you liked it so much, why did you sell it for an 8.9 instead?"

Well, a couple of reasons really: Despite everything I loved about the P1000, it was still basically a phone big enough to be considered a tablet. It didn't have Honeycomb, so some apps felt a little awkward on it, especially when you had to consider that even the version of the OS itself wasn't designed with screens that big in mind. Also, the Hummingbird SoC, though it may still be one of the best single-core chips out there at the moment, didn't quite have the horsepower needed for the the tasks expected of the device, hence it was very laggy and slow a lot of the time. I sold it because I wanted a proper tablet, with an OS designed from the ground up for larger screens, and I wanted a device with enough horsepower to do what it is expected of it with a reasonable amount of proficiency. At the same time though, having played around with the 10.1 in stores, I didn't want something quite so large. The 10.1 just felt awkward to me, and other 10 inch devices, like the Xoom and the Transformer simply felt flat out cumbersome. For now, the 8.9 seems to satisfy my expectations from a tablet device as well as I could hope for.

"So what about the 7+ and/or the Note?"

There are a couple of deciding factors for me waiting on the 7.7 instead of jumping all over a 7+ right now. The screen is the biggest one for me. The 7.7 has an 800*1280 resolution compared to the 600*1024 of the 7+, which basically is the exact same screen as the original. Also the 7.7 is SAMOLED+. Done and done. I'm sold. The other factors, like being thinner than a Galaxy S2, metal construction, and GSM phone abilities all just come as a bonus to me at this point.

As for the Note, it's very cool, don't get me wrong. I have been VERY tempted by it. However, it seems to be more of a huge phone than a tiny tablet. On top of that, considering that I already have the Galaxy S2, which for me has hit the form factor sweet spot as far as phones go, it would seem a little too indistinct to have a 4.3" phone and a 5.3" tablet. It'd be like, "Here's my phone, and here's my ta-- I mean larger phone..." Does that make sense? If I'm going to have two different devices, they might as well be obviously distinct from each other.

Now finally, GSM phone calling abilities on tablets:

Why would I want them? Simple: Options.

I like having the option of needing only have one device with me, and choosing what device that is depending on the situation. I like having the option of a much larger keyboard for my SMS.

On a side note, with respect to VoIP services such as Skype, GrooveIP, Qik and the like, they are all great services if you happen to be connected to a decent WiFi connection while you're at home or in a Starbucks or something. However, as far as being substitutes for honest-to-god genuine dedicated phone services like GSM, frankly, they suck. I mean, even if you have a solid strong 3G connection, you're still likely to run into issues with stuttering and latency delays.

In any case, I can hardly wait until the 7.7 is available. Until then, I'm actually quite happy with my GT8.9/SGS2 "dynamic duo." As for texting on a bigger screen, I downloaded Tablet Talk, which has pretty much filled in that hole.

I hope this rant was at least informative :P