Galaxy 7 and General Tips

I bought a Verizon Samsung Galaxy Tab on the first day they went on sale, and the next morning I left on a one week vacation with only the Tab, no laptop.  Here are some tips and tricks and other things I have learned:

1. Menu key (bottom left) use it to get to settings and other options
2. Home key use to exit out of any application.
3. Back key (a bent arrow) to go back one screen.
4. Press and hold on things to get more options, i.e. on fields to get a choice of keyboard to enter data.
5. Turn OFF roaming, it is on by default and even works with maritime roaming when at sea on a cruise (don't ask, it is painful how much that mistake cost me).
6. Flash on demand.  I recomend in the browser to use the on demand setting for Flash: use the menu key -> settings -> Enable plug-ins -> On demand.  This will cause the browser to not download a flash object unless you click on it.  (faster and less data hungery)
7. Learn Swype for faster keyboard entry, you can get a tutorial under the Settings application -> Language and keyboard -> Swype settings -> Tutorial.
8. Manage downloads in the browser: use the menu key -> download manager.
9. Verizon Support knows nothing about the Tab, in fact most of Verizon is setup to support just cell phones.  If you have enough trouble they will give the support the Samsung support number: 1-888-987-4357.  I tried calling once but they were closed for the night.
10. Configure your WiFi before installing applications from the Market: Settings Application -> Wireless and network -> Wi-Fi Settings.
11. Setup email and calendar accounts, you can use the wizard: Setup application -> Setup Wizard.  Later you can adjust settings under Setup -> Accounts and sync.
12. Market (Android Market Place) use this to download applications, start with: Market application -> Apps -> All applications -> Top free (See Recomended Apps Below)
13. Good games: WordUp! Angry Birds, Mahjong.
14. Reviews and recomendations for more Apps, check out The Hottest Android Apps Site
15. For those who are real techies you can get to the Linux Shell of your tab by installing Android Terminal Emulator.  Note that many commands are disabled unless you root your Tab, but it is still cool if you already know Linux.
16. If you pinch the home page you will get thumbnails of all your screens.
17. At first some of my application only used a small part of the center of the screen.  This is because by default Android comes with a hidden setting for backwards compatability turned on.  I have found by turning this off 98% of my applications will run full screen on my Galaxy Tab and at full resolution (not streched out as the IPad does). To gain access to the hidden setting follow these steps.
    • Download “Spare Parts” application from Android Market and install it. If you visit us from the Galaxy Tab, follow this link : Spare Parts
    • Launch “Spare Parts”  and scroll down to “Compability Mode”. Un-tick the box and tick it back.
    • Reboot the Galaxy Tab.
    • Launch “Spare Parts” again, scroll down to “Compatibility Mode” and un-tick the box.
    • Reboot the Galaxy Tab.
    • Congratulations. Your apps are displayed in full screen! Note: a few old games don't work with compatability off.
18. Update: April 11, 2011 got a system update from Verizon which makes email and browser faster on my Galaxy Tab
19. You can get a free application of the day from the Amazon App Store for Android.  Some of the Apps I have purchased I could have gotten free.
20. Update- Here are some more apps I have discovered that I like: GPS Test, ColorNote, BSA Quick Guide, Andy-85, Pulse news, Stocks, TweetDeck, WeatherBug, Wifi Analyzer, PicSay, Google Sky Map, 3G Watchdog, and for fun Androidify, 2 Player Reactor, Alchemy, Bubble Blast 2, Tank Hero, Wheel to Riches Lite, Amazon Kindle.
21. More tips

Recommended Apps

Download this from the Market: File Manager, Universal Password Manager, RealCalc Scientific Calculator, Google Maps, Adobe Reader, AndroidZip File Manager

Update- Here are some more apps I have discovered that I like: AndSMB, GPS Test, ColorNote, BSA Quick Guide, Andy-85, Pulse news, Stocks, TweetDeck, WeatherBug, Wifi Analyzer, PicSay, Google Sky Map, 3G Watchdog, and for fun Androidify, 2 Player Reactor, Alchemy, Bubble Blast 2, Tank Hero, Wheel to Riches Lite, Amazon Kindle.