The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 that just landed on Verizon beat the Motorola XOOM to market as the world’s first 4G LTE tablet.  It also managed to sneak in at cheaper price points, a lighter weight, skinnier build and with varying storage sizes and colors.  At first glance, it’s pretty obvious that this would be the tablet to jump on over the majority of the other offerings, for many of the reasons I just listed.  The thing we really need to look at here though, is whether or not this tablet is worth the 2-year contract that you will be asked to sign in order to avoid paying an outrageous full retail price.    

We finally decided to give the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 with 4G LTE a spin even though it has been available from Verizon for a couple of weeks now.  The device, as many of you know, is exactly like the WiFi versions that have been in retail stores for a month or so, but packs that extra special 4G radio, making your mobile life outside of home that much faster.

We got a hold of the white 16GB version ($529 on 2-year contract) and will be putting it through the proper tests over the next few weeks to help you decide if you should pick one up or wait to see what the holiday lineup will look like.  If it’s anything like the our special edition I/O version, we’re more than likely have some nice things to say about it.    

We couldn’t possibly just leave you hanging with a simple unboxing of the limited edition Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 that we just received at Google I/O, so we took it for a quick spin in a “hands-on” video.  You might be surprised to find out our thoughts on how it compares to the Motorola XOOM.  While it’s way too early to declare a winner in this battle, we’re definitely impressed by this new Honeycomb tablet.  

As you may have heard, all attendees at this year’s Google I/O received a limited edition Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and we decided to unbox it real quick for you!  Unboxings may not be the most entertaining things on the planet, but there are only 5-6,000 of these in the wild and you likely won’t see it in stores.  So this may be the only chance you have of seeing one.  And damn am I impressed with it so far.

Finally, right?  After almost a month with the device, we’re ready to put together our thoughts on the Motorola XOOM, the world’s first Honeycomb tablet.  This tablet deserved a lot more than those quickie 2-day press reviews we saw around launch time, especially since it introduced the world to a new tablet operating system.  Or should I say, the only tablet operating system?  We didn’t want this to come off as one of those barely-there overviews, so instead, we took our sweet time with it.  We really wanted to blend the XOOM into our every day lives and see if it could keep up.  Did it?  Let’s find out.  

Well, here we go folks.  The Motorola XOOM is available, we were handed one while at the Blazers/Lakers game last night, and somehow found a quick 10 minutes at 2:00AM to whip out an unboxing.  Apologies for the darkness and raspy voice, but it was one heck of a game.  We’ll have so much more throughout the day, so keep it here.  

This review seems about 2 months overdue, but at the same time feels like perfect timing as we gear up for next week’s CES and who knows how many Android tablets from who knows how many different manufacturers.  The Samsung Galaxy Tab was the first “real” Android tablet to hit the market and according to rumored sales numbers, was a giant success, but has it already run its course?  With Honeycomb, Tegra 2 dual-core processors, 10″ beasts, and rumors of other unicorns just days away from becoming a reality, is this still an option for anyone looking to buy an Android tablet?

I’ve had the Verizon version of the Tab for almost 2 months now and feel like I know the ins and outs, but I’m still trying to grasp the idea of it being a “must have” device.  The following review will look almost identical to the review we did on the T-Mobile Galaxy Tab over at Android Life, but with some VZW specific comments.  My opinions on it haven’t changed since doing that review, so the big difference here comes down to timing again.  Should this be your first Android tablet knowing that there are so many others just around the corner?  

We got our hands on Verizon’s Samsung Galaxy Tab on Friday and wanted to take you through a quick unboxing of it before we really dive in deeply and help you decide if this should be your big holiday purchase.  After just a few minutes of time with it, we’re definitely pleased, but we have a long way to go before we can give you a thumbs up or down.  And of course, this will be followed up by a full review, some tricks you’ve already started to see and so much more.

Enjoy the unboxing!