In a stupendous omission, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 has no facility for searching emails. In fact, there's no systemwide Search button on the Galaxy Tab as there are on all Android smartphones such as Motorola's own Atrix. By contrast, the iPad 2 displays the search box at the top of the message list and lets you constrain your search to the To, From, or Subject fields.

Getting to the top of your email list isn't so obvious on the iPad 2, though it is easy: Tap the top of the screen. On the Galaxy Tab 10.1, there is no fast-jump capability, although you can find it on Android smartphones such as the Atrix.

In general, Android devices favor small text that is hard to read for my middle-aged eyes, and there are few controls to ameliorate their youth-oriented design. The iPad 2 lets you specify very readable sizes for the text in its Settings app. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 provides zoom controls at the bottom of your email window, but they appear only if you begin scrolling through the message. However, the zoom settings are retained for your other emails, except -- and unlike the iPad -- where the email's HTML formatting specifies a fixed size, which overrules your preferences.

Both devices support multiple accounts and universal inboxes. I prefer the way the Galaxy Tab 10.1 navigates among email accounts: Tap the account name at the top left of the Email app to summon a pull-down menu listing each account and the Combined Account, which shows a universal inbox. The iPad 2 also has a universal inbox, as well as an inbox for each active account. Below the inboxes are a list of accounts that, when opened, show all the folders for that account in a nice hierarchical display. I don't think the iPad needs the two lists; the universal inbox followed by the individual accounts would be just as easy and less cluttered. This is a case where the Galaxy Tab 10.1's UI surpasses that of the iPad 2.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 separates Google email into the separate Gmail app -- a longtime Android OS behavior imposed by Google. Although you must have a Google account to use the Galaxy Tab, you don't have to work with Gmail if you don't want to.