Samsung News Geek

For me, to define whether a particular product is good or not good, it is important for me to first set out what I need. The reason for doing this is because even if the product is excellent in a certain area or function for which I have no use, then it may be a waste of money for me. I have owned and used many tablets and here are some of the features that I was looking for in a tablet:

The device must be fast and responsive

Just the right thickness

Fast WiFi

GPS

Long battery life

Speakers that produces loud, clear and crisp sounds

Cameras On the front and back

Able to connect to external devices

Big storage

On top and above all, it must also allow me to incorporate my physical pen/pencil paper/paper notebook into that electronic gadget!

Like your regular TV, the 10.1 inch refers to the size of the screen of the tablet when measured diagonally across the viewing area - hence the nomenclature of 10.1 towards the end of its name i.e. the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. The 10.1 LCD is WXGA at 1280x800 pixels. In terms of dimension, it is 180 mm high and 262 mm wide and about 9 mm thick and comes in two colors; pearl white and pearl grey.

It weighs in at 600g for the 3G version and 3 grams less at 597g for the WiFi version. It has a 1.4GHz Exynos Quad-Core Processor and currently runs on the Android 4.0 operating system (OS) code named Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS). If you received your Note with the ICS version, you can however upgrade to the later version (Jelly Bean - JB) of the Android OS if you wish. Later shipments of the Samsung Galaxy Note comes with the JB OS.

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Here are some of the specifications on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 that may be of interest to you:

No Flash Support?
Well it has... unless the tablet you bought already comes with the Jellybean OS or you have upgraded your Samsung Note 10.1 to the Jellybean OS. It goes without saying that without Flash, you cannot watch video or movies that requires flash. This is not the problem with the Samsung Note 10.1 as Adobe Developent no longer supports Adobe Flash player for the mobile version. As such, if you need flash to watch flash enabled movies, do not upgrade to Jellybean.

Screen Resolution
Screen resolution is not HD. However I found the screen to be satisfactory even though it would have been nicer if it had been a HD screen. However I guess, every thing comes at a cost. Samsung would probably have to price the Galaxy Note 10.1 higher if it has a HD screen.

Camera
The camera only records video in 720p and it would have been nice if it could record in 1080p

Others
Some small little items that I felt personally could have been done better, for example, the accessory plug at the bottom sometimes interferes with cases and stands. However these are very minor things for me.

I just had to say this... I truly love the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and this is coming from a person who owns at least five different tablets before. I am also a heavy user of tablets; both for work and leisure. Here are some of the reasons why I love the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1:

My Wish List
Remember the items I highlighted that I needed for a tablet in the earlier section of this lens? Well, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 satisfies all of them. Yoo Hoo!

However I would like to highlight some salient features that you may want to know if you are looking for a tablet:

Stability
The stability of the Note 10.1 is simply amazing. I had only one freeze in the two weeks of very extensive use. Even on my iPad 2, I had at least 1 or 2 freeze/crush every other day or so; with the iOS known for its stability. In fact this is the most stable tablet I have used.

Speed
I found the Note 10.1 to be very smooth. Apps get updated at a very fast speed and bootup nd restarts are very fast.

S-Pen And Hand Writing Apps
The S-pen is not just another stylus. If you owned an iPad or Infinity you will find that you can never write as small on the iPad, or Infinity because the technology on the Samsung Note 10.1 is simply different. So if you need to have as close to the real pen and paper experience with today's technology, you MUST have the Galaxy Note 10.1. The program also allows you to export your writing to PDF and JPG.

Sensitive Touch Screen
The touch screen is extremely sensitive and it takes only the slightest of touch to register your input. It tracks you finger movement extremely tightly with no noticeable lag.

Split Screen
It has a split screen function. What this does is that it allows you to do two things side by side simultaneously. For example, you can read your email and at the same time search the web on the two separate screens on the same display. Brilliant! So far, no other tablet has this capability.

WiFi
Its WiFi is very strong. The Galaxy Note 10.1 has the ability to detect signals which my other could not. It is also able to use both the 2.5 and 5 Ghz bands.

Peel IR Remote
Now I don't have to use my Logitech Harmony One anymore. The Peel Remote application on the Galaxy Note 10.1 was able to replace my Logitech as a universal remote controller and I have sold off my Logitech Harmony. I have managed to set up all of my devices (TV, Cable Box, A/V Surround System, etc) with the Peel app in less than 10 minutes as the app gives you a very easy to follow set-up wizard and instantly turned the Galaxy Note into an entertainment hub! Fantastic!

Battery Life
Depending on how I use it, the battery lasts me from 3 to 10 hrs. It is a big range because if I play processor intensive games, it will consume more battery power. Watching video and ebook without surfing the net will last me about 9 to 10 hours on a full charge. I have not tried it but I guess, just reading ebooks only will probably last even longer. However, on the average, a single full charge will get me an impressive 6 hours. This includes playing games, watching Netflix and reading eBooks.

Speakers
I do not know why manufacturers put the speakers on the rear side. With the Galaxy Note 10.1, both stereo speakers are on the front and they are loud and clear. This makes watching movies, playing games and even using the Note 10.1 as a VOIP phone a very enjoying experience - not to mention the money saved on using the tablet as my internet phone.

GPS
Google Maps is fantastic on the Note 10.1. It is very fast and accurate. You can also save a map so it's available even without a data connection.

The decision on whether to buy or not to buy the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is very easy. You have seen the pros and cons of the tablet highlighted above. You have seen what it can do in the videos. You also know that it currently has the best hand writing capability of all tablets available in the market within its price range.

Hence to make your decision, you have to honestly ask yourself three simple questions:
1. Are you fine with an android tablet? If not, why?
2. Is the display good enough or you MUST really have a HD screen? (If you really need a HD display, what would that be for?)
3. Is the price affordable to you?

If the answer to the above three is "Yes", then go ahead and buy the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1.

If both questions 1 and 2 are affirmative and the answer to Q3 is no, then you may want to consider a lower memory model.

E. Yu:
"I strongly recommend you to watch all SAMSUNGmobile's YouTube videos to utilize Galaxy to its full potential. You will see why I think no other tablets can even compete with Galaxy Note."

H. Yoon
"If you are a student who needs to take notes and annotate pdf or slides, you SHOULD get the Note 10.1. With this, I am not going to bring any backpack and notes. I am reallllly happy with my new tablet!"

Carol A. Anderson
"My 8th Tablet and My Favorite by Far"

Nak
"After a week with this device I will say it is the best mobile device I have ever owned, hands down.'

Allen Alberti
"This review is going to be short because you can already read about the specs on this tablet everywhere. I have 5 tablets and have had 4 smartphones, and I have over 20 styluses (stylii?) including a Jot, Jot Pro, DAGi, and a Nomad Brush.

Simply put, I am never buying a tablet that doesn't include an S-Pen again. End of story."

Ok. So you have decided to get the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. In order to maximize the speed that you can get with your new tablet when you are accessing the internet, you need to have a fast infrastructure at your home to support it. To do that, here are three components that you will need to have to make sure that you do not have a bottleneck some where to slow things down. Remember the saying? A chain is as weak as the weakest link!

1. You need to subscribe to an ISP for a fast internet access. Normally the faster the speed you require, the more you have to pay for it.
2. You will need a fast modem to access this speed and bandwidth from your ISP. You may want to check out the Motorola SB6141 if you are using cable internet.
3. You will need to distribute and route this speed and bandwidth to your new tablet and other devices. Check out the excellent ASUS RT-N66U router.

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also don't forget to bookmark this lens...

also don't forget to bookmark this lens...