Apple’s iPad is fun, finger friendly and absolutely revolutionary, which can explain why it has had the success its had. Nevertheless, it wasn’t long until competition for the tablet market took off. Now, there’s a slate of exciting Android-based tablets on the horizon, and one unit in particular, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, is getting a lot of attention. So let us analyze why the Galaxy Tab is getting the anticipation it’s getting.

One of the biggest challenges facing Samsung was the time it would take to design an iPad-like device from scratch. Samsung sidestepped that problem by supersizing their popular Galaxy S series smartphone. The screen is somewhat smaller than the one on the iPad, but that allows the unit weighs in at an impressive 0.84 pounds. The Apple iPad weighs 1.5 pounds, and anyone who has carried it around for a day knows that that those 0.66 pounds are going to make a difference. It also provides a little more room for those on the go that want to carry their Samsung Galaxy Tab accessories and the like.

Of course, price is the most important factor in this comparison, but at this time, it’s still a guessing game. A 16 GB iPad with Wi-Fi costs approximately $500, and the unit with 3G is $100 more. Upgrading to 32 GB adds about $100 to either model. Early word on the Galaxy Tab is that it will more expensive. Samsung expects the 16 GB units to be ~$900 and the 32 GB version to be ~$1,000. All Galaxy Tabs will have Wi-Fi and 3G support, so where looking at about a $300 difference at the top end. That’s too much, but most expect this to drop before debut and then again after the early adopter phase.

Perhaps what are generating most of the excitement are factors like media support and the built-in camera. If there is an area where Apple dropped the ball, it was in the design decision not to include a built-in camera. The Galaxy Tab, on the other hand, includes two: a 1.3 MP front-facing camera and a 3 MP rear-facing camera with LED flash. Both cameras can even capture 720p HD video. Another iPad shortcoming is that Apple is Apple-centric. Android-based devices will distinguish themselves with support for Flash, DivX, Xvid, WMV, so on and so forth. Of course, the iPad can support these formats with third-party apps, but here you’re getting built-in Samsung/Google support.

For the customers that can get past the smaller, non-LED screen, the Galaxy Tab provides real competition for the iPad. However, one early report that the Galaxy Tab battery powers 4 hours of video playback compared to 10 with the iPad has us concerned. This might be a deal-breaker for some, and at the very least, it makes the choice of travel-style Samsung Galaxy Tab chargers an important one. In addition, early word on Samsung Galaxy Tab cases is that we’ll have a larger selection to choose from then we currently have with the iPad.