Returned it for Surface 2 Pro for serious PDF editing and note taking - Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) General

No doubt this tablet has light weight, gorgeous screen, and lots of nice features. But, EZPdf force closes three times today and lacks the feature of simultaneous SPen freehand and finger scrolling. LectureNotes is better than SNote but is not there with OneNote. Sigh ~ for productivity, Surface 2 Pro appears to be a better choice at the moment despite its heavier weight, shorter battery life, and fewer gaming and entertainment apps. There is little fault on Samsung but the editing apps of Android tablet are not there yet.

definitely wrong about the few apps for gaming and entertainment. you've got a crapload of apps available for desktop mode and better apps at that (though that can be debated by some). but there on the modern ui side, it sucks.
android is great for "playing around" but when i need to do work or just want more power i pull out the ativ 700t.

wesleyyin said:
No doubt this tablet has light weight, gorgeous screen, and lots of nice features. But, EZPdf force closes three times today and lacks the feature of simultaneous SPen freehand and finger scrolling. LectureNotes is better than SNote but is not there with OneNote. Sigh ~ for productivity, Surface 2 Pro appears to be a better choice at the moment despite its heavier weight, shorter battery life, and fewer gaming and entertainment apps. There is little fault on Samsung but the editing apps of Android tablet are not there yet.
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Click to collapse
Comparing a $1k tablet pc using a $400 office suite ($100 for home/student) to a $500 mobile tablet using a $0.99 app should result in pretty different experiences.

I really think switching this tab (if you have it) for a surface pro is a bad choice.
This one is good at taking notes I think.
Don't know if syncing s-note with Evernote adds anything, but syncing is always good.

Use mantano reader pro, people keep saying they use ezpdf but it's rubbish and laggy, there's much better readers to try
Sent from my SM-P600 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

The Surface may do some things better than the N10.1-14 and Android because of its old-school Windows roots but holding a 2 pound tablet (the N10.1-14 is 1.2 pounds) as a means of note taking isn't for me.

Houndx said:
Comparing a $1k tablet pc using a $400 office suite ($100 for home/student) to a $500 mobile tablet using a $0.99 app should result in pretty different experiences.
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This

Just returned the Note 10.1 tonight to Best Buy which I had purchased for the wifey as her early Christmas present. She didn't like it b/c it sucked as a laptop replacement when it comes to browsers, Office editing & creation, and simple file explorer/management. She wanted a Surface Pro 2 instead but she didn't get it b/c it wasn't offered in white, it's a bit heavy for her, and the price (bang for the buck). I agree with her. Current Android tabs are still not there if one is looking for more than just ''consuming.''
Ah well, I got my $550 back.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I disagree
Sent from my SM-P600 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

optimummind said:
b/c it sucked as a laptop replacement when it comes to browsers, Office editing & creation, and simple file explorer/management.
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Click to collapse
I totally agree with you. No Android tablet can be considered a viable laptop replacement.
optimummind said:
Current Android tabs are still not there if one is looking for more than just ''consuming.''
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Click to collapse
I totally disagree with this. Here are the devices I use:
TVs with 32-50" displays
High-end home desktop with a 23" monitor
Work desktop with a 23" monitor
Work laptop with a 13" display
N10.1-14 with a 10.1" display
N3 with a 5.7" display
Galaxy Gear with a 1.63" display
Which device I'll use depends on access to it and what I'm doing. Consuming media at home the TVs win. Creating or editing large complex spreadsheets the desktops win. Consuming media while traveling the N10.1-14 wins. Sending and reviewing short e-mails and SMS the N3 wins. Looking at notifications as they come in the Galaxy Gear wins. None, at least to me, is a "slam dunk" replacement for another.
The N10.1-14 and Surface share a limitation - 10.1" and 10.6" displays aren't great for creating big complex documents (PPT, Word, Excel). Even at 13" I'd still consider my laptop limited and would prefer to use a large monitor on a desktop for any serious creation. Very few people I know (and me) consider the Surface (any form) a full-time laptop replacement. With that, it and N10.1-14 really serve double duty. Light editing and creation and consumption when away from better alternatives. I'd choose the N10.1-14 in that scenario because Surface sucks at consumption; both available sources (especially in Modern mode) and the battery life deficit when consuming compared to Android. The biggest advantage, at least to me, of the N10.1-14 as a laptop alternative when I'm traveling is its size and versatility. As a pure tablet (very light creation and consumption) it embarrasses the barge that is Surface and you can't argue with a 299 PPI display. With a BT keyboard, mouse, and Microsoft RDP I have access to full Office no differently than I would via a Surface. I have a 3G N10.1-14 so I'm always "on." Prior to the N10.1-14 I had two other Samsung 10" tablets including last year's Note 10.1 I'd rarely rely on either as a laptop alternative when traveling because faux-Office and peripheral support was such a kluge. Now I find myself relying solely on my N10.1-14 and leaving my laptop home more and more.
As for PDF editing and hand written note taking I'd still pick the N10.1-14 but agree that given a choice between S Note and OneNote I'd pick the latter; mostly because of the ability to share across a multiple OS environment. The N10.1-14 with its charger, mouse and BT keyboard takes up 1/2 the space needed for a Surface layout and about 1/3 of what my 13" laptop requires (EG: power bricks, accessories). And I double the battery life of my N10.1-14 with a 9,000mAh Samsung battery booster that's the size of a pack of cigarettes so I can get 14 hours of non-stop work/entertainment out of it which is longer than the longest plane flight.
So I'm glad your wife is finally happy. She picked a set of compromises (weight/bulk, duopolis environment (native Windows/Modern), average screen resolution, limited battery life) to get what she considers a better (but still compromised) productivity environment. She shouldn't be offended when others might disagree with her choice.

Related

Will Microsoft surface pro kill this tablet and all Android tablets?

just wondering if the release of Microsoft surface Windows 8 pro will render all the Android tablets outdated...
what would be the fate of g note 10.1, when the surface hits the shelf Feb 9th? Will you dish your note?
let's talk about its pro and cons
Will it be the finished article is the usual MS new release question .
jje
First of all, windows 8 sucks.
Ring out, Galaxy Note 10.1 is still the winner. Dont see anything useful in the surface pro and win8. too complicated for me as a win7 user, and the surface pro is too expensive. I still dont regret that I have bought the note 10.1
There's nothing to discuss about.
I don't like Windows 8 at all. This is the first Windows OS that I haven't updated my home systems to as soon as they are available. And it's not a matter of cost since I have access to 10 licenses at no cost. I installed it on my laptop and tried to use it for a few weeks and went back to 7.
While I think it's an OS that's more suitable for a tablet or phone than a desktop, I still think it's awful. I just think MS made a huge mistake with this thing.
IOW, my Note isn't going anywhere in the near future. And when it goes, it won't be for a Surface anything.
Yes. The gnote wasn't that good of a tablet anyways and the only thing appealing about it was the wacom digitizer, in which case the Surface Pro has it outclassed because you can run full fledged applications such as photoshop on it. ARM tablets are toys compared to x86 tablets but it in the future you'll still see low cost tablets from the Nexus series being popular.
Really even atom tablets today does tremendously more than what $500 android tablets are capable off and they often cost only $50 to a $100 more. And with incoming Haswell it'll address any negatives such as battery life. But with that being said atom tablets are already well within 10 to 11 hours of battery life while i5 variants are ranging around 5 to 7. Unless manufactures see this as a method of profit and start to include smaller and smaller batteries, (or razor thin ones) x86 tablets in the future will be comparable if not better in battery life while offering substantially more power.
simple answer.
NO.
Lol
Sent from my GT-N8013 using xda app-developers app
In before stupid gNote zealots attack and flame any attempt to have a honest conversation about the Pros & Cons of the gNote.
Just like before http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1869148
Because the gNote has no Cons and does no wrongs.
BBlax said:
Yes. The gnote wasn't that good of a tablet anyways and the only thing appealing about it was the wacom digitizer, in which case the Surface Pro has it outclassed because you can run full fledged applications such as photoshop on it.
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Surely using a stylus on ps touch, is 10x better than using your finger on a surface pro. Outclassed :laugh:
BBlax said:
... But with that being said atom tablets are already well within 10 to 11 hours of battery life while i5 variants are ranging around 5 to 7.
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Click to collapse
Which i5 tablets get 5 - 7 of actual use? As a previous owner of one who just ditched it for the note I am very curious. My biggest problem was by far sub par battery life.
I think surface pro is the future of the Windows branch of "PC" for the masses....even though it will take a couple of years before they are palatable. But unfortunately I also think that the market is much larger for casual users (those who initially only want web and email). IPad, Asus, Samsung tablets are going to become even more prevalent. 20 years ago only ultrageeks used computers, today grandma has a Facebook acct. There are so many people that mobile computing is being used by now.
People who want to run Photoshop and other real warez will be fulfilled by the new surface pro types that I think eventually will become laptop and desktop replacements as well. At the same time the Apple and Android apps are slowly closing the gap. There is much more complex software available for mobile platforms than there was just a few years ago. This is where many new developers have emerged and it is a market where traditional softwares are dying to get into.
Microsoft is wayyyyy to late to the game, and they will never capture the casual users. I think they will hold a smaller market of business and previous PC users who haven't yet completely jumped ship. Apple and Android are here to stay as the majority, and Microsoft unfortunately as the minority.
That being said I still use my custom built Intel Z77/i5 3570K-based PC with 32GB RAM and Samsung 830 SSDs for RAW photo editing in Lightroom and Photoshop, using MATLAB, Visual Studio, Mathematica, Sony Vegas, Handbrake, Acrobat, etc, etc, as well as an occasional game of BF3. I use my phone and tablet for everything else.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
I love my note 10.1 I look at all info on tablets cause of curiosity but so far I want for nothing my note does all I want it to be able to do
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I think my desktop is enough for windows . I dont need windows tablet . My note 10.1 enough for me outside my house
just like others have said a big NO, i'm sure you have heard recently android is growing fast in terms of market share, microsoft dropped everything and tried to catch up with windows 8, too little, too late, microsoft are not only alienating thier pc gamer userbase with such a horrofic UI in windows 8 but most gaming card drivers don't work on 8 so why should they upgrade and loose features?
lets see if anyone will take something like that outside to work and be a laughing stock, the app store is nothing compared to ios and android, microsoft will never compare to either of them, not even a child can use windows 8 properly check out youtube and see for yourself, windows 8 is overcomplicated sqeezing tablet features into a desktop is the dumbest idea i have heard in my life, what the were they thinking?
Been Waiting on Microsoft Surface Pro for Work
Well, I own a Galaxy Nexus and N7 and have owned an iPad4. I am anxiously awaiting the MS SPro because I am hoping that the stylus integration will truly eliminate the use of pen/pad of my note taking. I also look forward to the integrate of the stylus with One Note.
The MS SPro stopped me from buying a Google Nexus 10 (no pen); Galaxy Note 10.1 (pen but less than ideal integration with Google Drive - i.e., no editing of slide presentations in the Drive).
If the writing experience is good; if I can access my PowerPoint presentations within the SkyDrive and edit them with the stylus, or touch screen, or keyboard and if the integration with One Note is good, particularly using the pen .... the MS SPro may become the preferred business tablet ...
with Google Tablets occupying the purely consumption space.
VERY Good point about annotating Power Points.
So far it's been basically impossible to do on Android.
No one wants to have to convert to PDF all the time.
Until SoftMaker remakes their Office Suite to the same level of functionality as their Windows Mobile 6 version (which basically WAS MS Office) Android can never be a serious productivity tool.
So far lots of Office Suites miss a majority of functions and even LOSE document data you originally had put in the document from the official MS Office, if you save.
With the gazillions MS spent on advertising Surface RT and even opening pop-up stores in malls to sell it they sold fewer than 1MM over the holidays. Samsung canceled plans to bring to bring the Ativ RT to the U.S. because of lack of consumer interest. Surface Pro is nothing more than Surface RT with the ability to run legacy Windows apps. The devices are twice as thick, twice as heavy, and battery life is unknown. The real change in personal computing is the addition of touch screen interaction and you'll see most new ultrabooks and notebooks including it. When that happens it's really just a choice of picking the Windows device that best suits people's needs - a small light ultrabook with a touchscreen with better battery life or a heavy Surface Pro with limitations and a removable display. Legacy Windows with all of its viruses and maintenance chores really isn't a competitor to consumption devices like iPad and Android tablets. And unless something changes Surface RT is already a fail. Samsung canceling the Ativ RT and releasing updated G-Tab's next month is a pretty good that Android will be around for awhile.
well, February 9th is just around the corner.... let's wait and see if Microsoft will surprise us.
I actually have a surface rt as well. It's inferior to the Note in almost all ways, but it definitely has two advantages.
1 the type keyboard is extremely nice to use and convenient
2 native ms office support is great when you need to work with word, ppt docs, and etc
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padesy said:
well, February 9th is just around the corner.... let's wait and see if Microsoft will surprise us.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's no surprise, here's the specs from their site. In the 64GB version, because the OS and installed apps are huge, there's only 23GB left for the user. And it's already confirmed to get half the battery life of Surface RT.
http://www.microsoft.com/Surface/en-US/surface-with-windows-8-pro/specifications
So...
$999 - 128GB Surface Pro (23GB is way too little available storage)
$250 - Office 2013 license (it's not included in Surface Pro)
$130 - "Type" cover (the "touch" cover included would drive productivity users nuts)
$1,379
I don't see people lining up for it.
Here's an interesting article comparing the RT to Pro...
http://www.zdnet.com/why-im-not-trading-my-surface-rt-for-a-surface-pro-7000010132/
dhd1802 said:
Surely using a stylus on ps touch, is 10x better than using your finger on a surface pro. Outclassed :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except the Surface Pro has a full sized pen power by a Wacom digitizer.
Full HD too. No 800p crap.
299792458 said:
Which i5 tablets get 5 - 7 of actual use? As a previous owner of one who just ditched it for the note I am very curious. My biggest problem was by far sub par battery life.
I think surface pro is the future of the Windows branch of "PC" for the masses....even though it will take a couple of years before they are palatable. But unfortunately I also think that the market is much larger for casual users (those who initially only want web and email). IPad, Asus, Samsung tablets are going to become even more prevalent. 20 years ago only ultrageeks used computers, today grandma has a Facebook acct. There are so many people that mobile computing is being used by now.
People who want to run Photoshop and other real warez will be fulfilled by the new surface pro types that I think eventually will become laptop and desktop replacements as well. At the same time the Apple and Android apps are slowly closing the gap. There is much more complex software available for mobile platforms than there was just a few years ago. This is where many new developers have emerged and it is a market where traditional softwares are dying to get into.
Microsoft is wayyyyy to late to the game, and they will never capture the casual users. I think they will hold a smaller market of business and previous PC users who haven't yet completely jumped ship. Apple and Android are here to stay as the majority, and Microsoft unfortunately as the minority.
That being said I still use my custom built Intel Z77/i5 3570K-based PC with 32GB RAM and Samsung 830 SSDs for RAW photo editing in Lightroom and Photoshop, using MATLAB, Visual Studio, Mathematica, Sony Vegas, Handbrake, Acrobat, etc, etc, as well as an occasional game of BF3. I use my phone and tablet for everything else.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
Acer W700. It has a 1000mah larger battery than the Surface Pro.

Why I HATED the Surface Pro (just in case you were tempted) ...

I just had to do it. All the hype, all the articles, the lure of OneNote's full power. I had to drop $1000 on a Surface Pro just to see what the fuss was about. Hell, I could always return it but I had to know for myself.
I truly truly HATED the Surface Pro. Here is as short list of what sucks:
1) It's HOT. How hot? After holding it for 30 minutes I felt like I had grabbed a ceramic cup I heated in the microwave. My hand was actually bright red. I have no idea how any sane person could stand holding this toaster over in their hands for any period of time.
2) It's HEAVY. How heavy? Big piece of metal heavy. Also because of it's hard angles it is no fun to hold.
3) It is IMPOSSIBLE TO USE IN PORTRAIT. I mean, this tablet must be a foot high in portrait. If you are trying to type on the soft keyboard the keys are literally 10 inches from the words you are typing so thumb typing is pointless.
4) Considering this has an i5 CPU it actually lags. Scrolling on web pages stutters and dragging pictures across OneNote jerks around like mad (this may actually be a feature of OneNote as it snaps to a grid - so not a bug necessarily).
5) Firefox (if you like that browser) is a DISASTER on this. Pinch to zoom is total fail. Again a lag fest.
6) 1920 x 1080 may sound awesome but on a tablet this small it's not. Even zoomed at 150% text and icons can be tiny and very hard to click.
7) Windows 8 is a schizophrenic mess even on this. Whoever decided Metro was a good idea HAD to be high.
8) The included stylus has a hard plastic tip. Hard plastic tip on slick glass equals HARD TO WRITE. The Note 10.1's rubber tipped stylus is far better.
9) The Surface Pro is not designed to be a tablet. It is more like an ultrabook with a removable keyboard and a pen that you can hold in your hands (if you must).
Why did I write this? Well, if like me you have felt tempted by the Surface Pro and access to full blown OneNote with inking, I wanted to put your mind at rest - don't. The Note 10.1 is a far more "useable" tablet for half the cash.
I totally agree with everything you wrote. My company has given me a surface Pro to test out and I would add the following to your list:
Battery life is only about 4 hours so you are forced to have extra chargers, one for home and one for the office.
The size of the charger is huge. Its a small brick!
There is no silo for the pen! You are supposed to attach the pen in the magnetized power port which means that any little bump and you lose the pen. I give Samsung a lot of credit of delaying the release of the Note 10.1 to redesign a silo for the Spen.
The things I like about the Pro is having Office 2013 and the keyboard cover. However, I actually do not like OneNote. I prefer SNote a hundred times. There is an SNote app for Windows 8 but only for Samsung branded devices. I wish they would make it available for all.
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mitchellvii said:
I just had to do it. All the hype, all the articles, the lure of OneNote's full power. I had to drop $1000 on a Surface Pro just to see what the fuss was about. Hell, I could always return it but I had to know for myself.
I truly truly HATED the Surface Pro. Here is as short list of what sucks:
1) It's HOT. How hot? After holding it for 30 minutes I felt like I had grabbed a ceramic cup I heated in the microwave. My hand was actually bright red. I have no idea how any sane person could stand holding this toaster over in their hands for any period of time.
2) It's HEAVY. How heavy? Big piece of metal heavy. Also because of it's hard angles it is no fun to hold.
3) It is IMPOSSIBLE TO USE IN PORTRAIT. I mean, this tablet must be a foot high in portrait. If you are trying to type on the soft keyboard the keys are literally 10 inches from the words you are typing so thumb typing is pointless.
4) Considering this has an i5 CPU it actually lags. Scrolling on web pages stutters and dragging pictures across OneNote jerks around like mad (this may actually be a feature of OneNote as it snaps to a grid - so not a bug necessarily).
5) Firefox (if you like that browser) is a DISASTER on this. Pinch to zoom is total fail. Again a lag fest.
6) 1920 x 1080 may sound awesome but on a tablet this small it's not. Even zoomed at 150% text and icons can be tiny and very hard to click.
7) Windows 8 is a schizophrenic mess even on this. Whoever decided Metro was a good idea HAD to be high.
8) The included stylus has a hard plastic tip. Hard plastic tip on slick glass equals HARD TO WRITE. The Note 10.1's rubber tipped stylus is far better.
9) The Surface Pro is not designed to be a tablet. It is more like an ultrabook with a removable keyboard and a pen that you can hold in your hands (if you must).
Why did I write this? Well, if like me you have felt tempted by the Surface Pro and access to full blown OneNote with inking, I wanted to put your mind at rest - don't. The Note 10.1 is a far more "useable" tablet for half the cash.
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Click to collapse
@mitchellvii
Why don't you try out one of the Samsung Atom Tablets and let us know your experience.
The Atom editions should solve issues:
1 & 2.
If you install and Dual Boot Android 4.0 x86, then that should solve issues:
3,4,5,6,7
Thus, you can retain the convenience of the Android OS and have the power of Windows 8 without carrying more than 1 device.
I played with one at local store. Win 8 is just not a touch environment. Metro was a try and fix. Microsoft will have to forget they own windows and start thinking fresh to compete with android and crapple. Which both rather you dislike either of the two are becoming very mature and complete operating systems build around your fingers. Not a true business class os patched to try and compete. I will also add tablet software is getting better at productivity and will eventually be able to compete with the true ms type program's. The power of these device's are amazing. If you need full productive programs for now stick with a ultra book type notebook computer. The note 10.1 is the second best thing to that. There is no 3rd place device
My opinion of course conclusion is get a traditional notebook or a note 10.1 tablet
klau1 said:
@mitchellvii
Why don't you try out one of the Samsung Atom Tablets and let us know your experience.
The Atom editions should solve issues:
1 & 2.
If you install and Dual Boot Android 4.0 x86, then that should solve issues:
3,4,5,6,7
Thus, you can retain the convenience of the Android OS and have the power of Windows 8 without carrying more than 1 device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't say I agree that Android x86 is a solution. I don't even know how easy it'd be to install on the Pro. Android x86 project has come a long way but there are still issues with it, once it's as easy as just compiling it to x86 then let's talk
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
was walking around the mall and finally saw a surface pro. funny thing is i just read the ts mention the things yesterday. the thing that mostly stuck out was the weight. so first thing i did was pick it up. man that is like picking up a plate of iron... couldnt really get anything going well in the few minutes i messed with it. win8 definately not something for me. nor is carrying around an iron plate...
from a traveling salesman's viewpoint, I love it. I am able to install and run various programs such as AutoCAD (with wedge mouse), a custom estimating software...
Granted the battery life could be better, but I'm able to make sales calls and RDP for my office desktop printouts/updates on the unit without having to charge through a moderate days work. I've never had the heat buildup as described in the first post and it does not have the apps you'll find in the play store. but for a laptop replacement you can travel light with, love it.
FWIW
I think Microsoft has missed the boat. They're obviously not getting Voice of Customer, but are getting voice of Developers when they make these products. Apple figured out what MOST people want for a tablet. Android is assuredly closing that gap and raising the bar (S-Pen). I would recommend that Windows quit trying to compete but get smart and work with Android, so both can crush the Apple serpent.
I have been using Samsung's Ativ Pro for some months now... err... not using at all. It just sits there. Microsoft has missed the train of the mobile age. Because of battery issues it just cant stand by like İOS or Android, it just goes to deep sleep and you cant get your push messages from Facebook.. and no e-mail alerts. I agree it is a detachable ultrabook. I love my Galaxy note II and 10.1, and hardly use my Ipad4.
I actually like the Surface Pro, but it's definitely NOT the same as this tablet. I mean, the Surface is definitely not a.. use-anywhere kind of tablet (I mean, its main "attraction" is that keyboard which really just means that it's not in the same tablet market). So, I'd say that you have to change your expectations because it is definitely an ultrabook in disguise.
The battery life would stop me switching. With my screen brightness turned down I can get a full day at uni out of my note (~ 8 hours) which is fantastic
Mixed feelings...
The weird beveled sides are weird and makes it hard to hold.
The battery life is terrible - even for a full i5 slate.
It is chunky.
I have a Samsung Series 7 slate, which was the reference platform for Win8 and it's a lot better.
As for Win8 itself - yep.. schizophrenic is a good description. You're using desktop and suddenly you're in Metro. You're using Metro and suddenly you're in the desktop. You want to run something - and bam back in Metro - except it's not all your apps - just some of them so over to search which shows you all your apps.
Bring up the keyboard in Metro, things work ok (mostly). Do it in desktop - and it's a crapshoot as to whether it'll come up automatically - and when it does it rearranges your desktop.
Bah.
Sounds like its quite aways from general populations
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I purchased this over the weekend the surface pro 128gb version with type cover. im loving the experience with it so far. its a great and powerful device. no lag at all unlike what the op mentioned. lol
I too had the Pro. It was a very good ultra book (the best out there, in my opinion) that had a kick ass Wacom digitizer, awesome specs (the hard drive is fast as ****) and excellent style. I had it for five months and didn't regret it at all. I found it to be quite light, though obviously not as light as my Note.
It was just a ****ty tablet. Heavy (for a tab), terrible battery life and no Metro apps that are worth having. I used the Desktop most of the time, even after moving to 8.1. Shame, really; I think Metro is a fantastic platform for tablets.
I actually didn't know the Note 10.1 existed until I sold it off last week. I would have never bought it if I did, seeing how it is $500 more. The Note is so much better (right now), since it does everything my Pro did but with more battery, less weight and a Chrome browser that is actually functional. In fact, I found my Note to be easier for reading than my Nexus 7 and sold that off too! The Surface was too heavy for me to read on, and there were no apps for that anyway.
Its screen resolution kind of bites and I miss having a kickstand, but other than that I'm super happy to have sold it off.
If it wasn't for the battery life, I would have bought the surface pro over the note, although I don't plan on using the metro UI at all. I've used it for a total of about an hour and while using the regular desktop in touch mode I didn't run across any issues. Most things there an app for on android you can do through a full Web browser or there's a regular windows program for.
Part of me wants to say that if you're just Web browsing and watching movies then android is a good pick, but I'm getting fed up with pages not loading correctly when trying to browse the Internet. Half of the Web based ebooks I use for school either don't load or have issues.
From a hardware standpoint, I'm never holding my tablet straight out without it resting on something, so weight wouldn't be a issue. If I personally wanted a super casual tablet, I think a cheap 7" tablet like the Nexus 7 would be much better and more comfortable.
It amazes me how quick people are to criticize windows 8. All the metro UI really is is a new start menu that's more touch friendly. Tablet users complain there are no apps, yet have thousands of full blown windows apps they can use. Desktop users complain the start button is gone when all they have to do is hover in the same spot and it appears.
I've been researching for a new tablet or convertible to bring to school there are too many negative reviews for windows 8 for ridiculous reasons. No YouTube app? Guess what, I can play flash in the web browser. The drop box app isn't very good? Guess what, I can install the regular windows program and get two way sync. No email notifications in standby mode? My guess is you have an android phone going off right next to wherever your tablet is anyway.
Lastly, the surface pro is a hybrid device. So it isn't going to be the perfect tablet or the perfect ultra book. Its for people who want a mix of the two. For a device that's been out for nearly nine months, some of these complaints shouldn't be much of a surprise. I don't think its justified to make a thread bashing the product because you failed evaluate your wants and needs and didn't research a $1000 tablet.
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Sher The Love said:
If it wasn't for the battery life, I would have bought the surface pro over the note, although I don't plan on using the metro UI at all. I've used it for a total of about an hour and while using the regular desktop in touch mode I didn't run across any issues. Most things there an app for on android you can do through a full Web browser or there's a regular windows program for.
Part of me wants to say that if you're just Web browsing and watching movies then android is a good pick, but I'm getting fed up with pages not loading correctly when trying to browse the Internet. Half of the Web based ebooks I use for school either don't load or have issues.
From a hardware standpoint, I'm never holding my tablet straight out without it resting on something, so weight wouldn't be a issue. If I personally wanted a super casual tablet, I think a cheap 7" tablet like the Nexus 7 would be much better and more comfortable.
It amazes me how quick people are to criticize windows 8. All the metro UI really is is a new start menu that's more touch friendly. Tablet users complain there are no apps, yet have thousands of full blown windows apps they can use. Desktop users complain the start button is gone when all they have to do is hover in the same spot and it appears.
I've been researching for a new tablet or convertible to bring to school there are too many negative reviews for windows 8 for ridiculous reasons. No YouTube app? Guess what, I can play flash in the web browser. The drop box app isn't very good? Guess what, I can install the regular windows program and get two way sync. No email notifications in standby mode? My guess is you have an android phone going off right next to wherever your tablet is anyway.
Lastly, the surface pro is a hybrid device. So it isn't going to be the perfect tablet or the perfect ultra book. Its for people who want a mix of the two. For a device that's been out for nearly nine months, some of these complaints shouldn't be much of a surprise. I don't think its justified to make a thread bashing the product because you failed evaluate your wants and needs and didn't research a $1000 tablet.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said!
-Sent from my laptop running Windows 8
Sher The Love said:
The drop box app isn't very good? Guess what, I can install the regular windows program and get two way sync.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This feature was an unexpected gem for me. Before if I drew something in Sketchbook on the Note, I had to hit the share button, and pick a format to export to the cloud. Now, I just save it to my Dropbox folder (which I set as the default location), and it'll show up in on my desktop when I get home.
I've been using a Samsung Ativ 500T for a few weeks now, and I actually really like it. The main reason I bought it was I was getting tired of my Note botching all the formulas when I tried to open up an Excel spreadsheet in Polaris, QuickOffice, Google Doc (or fill in your Office Suite). The formatting also became funny on Word docs after opening in one of the above mentioned apps. I'm even able to run PS7 (I'm an amateur, so I don't need CS5 or later).
Of course this device is not perfect. As a straight replacement for a Note or iPad on the go, I still like the Note better. Screen rotation is a bit wonky sometimes on the Ativ. Although the wide screen is great for productivity, it's a bit unweildy, especially in portrait. There is connected standby, but not sure if it stays connected even in deep sleep. So, e-mails don't get come in when I'm asleep. Certain functions also don't work while in deep sleep: I haven't found a decent alarm app I can use (I used my Note as a backup alarm in case I didn't wake up to my phone).
jedah said:
This feature was an unexpected gem for me. Before if I drew something in Sketchbook on the Note, I had to hit the share button, and pick a format to export to the cloud. Now, I just save it to my Dropbox folder (which I set as the default location), and it'll show up in on my desktop when I get home.
I've been using a Samsung Ativ 500T for a few weeks now, and I actually really like it. The main reason I bought it was I was getting tired of my Note botching all the formulas when I tried to open up an Excel spreadsheet in Polaris, QuickOffice, Google Doc (or fill in your Office Suite). The formatting also became funny on Word docs after opening in one of the above mentioned apps. I'm even able to run PS7 (I'm an amateur, so I don't need CS5 or later).
Of course this device is not perfect. As a straight replacement for a Note or iPad on the go, I still like the Note better. Screen rotation is a bit wonky sometimes on the Ativ. Although the wide screen is great for productivity, it's a bit unweildy, especially in portrait. There is connected standby, but not sure if it stays connected even in deep sleep. So, e-mails don't get come in when I'm asleep. Certain functions also don't work while in deep sleep: I haven't found a decent alarm app I can use (I used my Note as a backup alarm in case I didn't wake up to my phone).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sold my note and got a 500T a little over a month ago. While I'm not completely satisfied due to the speed, it's far better than the note was for school. I knew it would be slow, but I got it to hold me off till some newer haswell convertibles came out. Glad I bought the note and 500T refurbished for under $360.
In my opinion, Onenote is much better than anything on android. Especially being able to print full webpages to it. It helps when most of my accounting homework is online based. I can print to onenote and have detailed notes and the problems worked out. I could even get these pages to load correctly on my Note.
I just pre-ordered the Surface Pro 2 for my wife. We got the 256GB option. She wants to be able to consolidate her notebook and Note 10.1 into 1 device. She's a mechanical engineering major and will be running CAD, Matlab, etc and also has a lot of Office oriented and online homework. I think mainly she wants a computer where she can take equation heavy notes on without having to worry what to do on which device and forget about file syncing. Her current notebook is heavy @ 5lbs. Does this seem reasonable or are we asking for a $1500 headache? I keep saying it's going to a heavy tablet. She keeps saying but it's going to be a light notebook. Notifications don't matter since she has an Android phone. We're selling her Note 10.1 to a friend to help finance the Surface Pro 2 so that won't be available to her. I'm excited but nervous at this point.

Note 10.1 vs Win8 tablets with pen for studying

I'm looking for a tablet to assist me in my mechanical engineering studies. I have a laptop and a Galaxy Tab 7.7. The laptop is too big and I havent found any good apps to edit pdfs on linux and the 7.7 is too small.
We get all scripts as pdf and some of them have gaps that we fill in the lecture. Atm I print the scripts on paper. I'm thinking of getting a tablet to organize the huge influx of information and reduce the amount of stuff I have to print out and keep in "real" folders.
So there are a few options:
Note 2014, LectureNotes for organizing, ezpdf/repligo for editing of pdfs
Windows 8 Tablets like surface pro, lenovo tablet 2 or sony tap 11. I'm not familiar with the metro app ecosystem and don't know if there are great apps like LectureNotes or ezpdf. The most expensive option.
Continue to print on paper. Cheapest, but not editable, searchable or reusable etc.
I have seen a few students with Note 10.1's and only one with a microsoft surface. The Note owners seemed to be happy with their way of doing things. Though I haven't spoken to the guy with the surface, it seemed like he only used it for viewing pdfs.
I'm particularly interested in the comparison between windows tablets and the galaxy note for note taking, pdf notes and general usefulness for studying.
I admit I haven't put a lot of time into the Win8 devices, but my general impression is that they are very slick, well made, but massively overpriced and terribly lacking on the software side.
Rather than giving a direct comparison, what you could see is if there is anything that the 10.1 can't do that you'd need. By my counting, there isn't. Annotating and marking up PDFs? No problem. All the cloud syncing and printing you could ask for? Got it. Fantastic organization by way of LectureNotes? Mmhm. The screen is sharp, the pen works just dandy, and there's scads of apps for you to create, edit, organize, and make use of all of your PDFs.
I can't say with certainty how good a win8 tab would be, but I can say that the the 10.1 2014 would do everything you could possibly ask of it.
{Diemex} said:
I'm looking for a tablet to assist me in my mechanical engineering studies. I have a laptop and a Galaxy Tab 7.7. The laptop is too big and I havent found any good apps to edit pdfs on linux and the 7.7 is too small.
We get all scripts as pdf and some of them have gaps that we fill in the lecture. Atm I print the scripts on paper. I'm thinking of getting a tablet to organize the huge influx of information and reduce the amount of stuff I have to print out and keep in "real" folders.
So there are a few options:
Note 2014, LectureNotes for organizing, ezpdf/repligo for editing of pdfs
Windows 8 Tablets like surface pro, lenovo tablet 2 or sony tap 11. I'm not familiar with the metro app ecosystem and don't know if there are great apps like LectureNotes or ezpdf. The most expensive option.
Continue to print on paper. Cheapest, but not editable, searchable or reusable etc.
I have seen a few students with Note 10.1's and only one with a microsoft surface. The Note owners seemed to be happy with their way of doing things. Though I haven't spoken to the guy with the surface, it seemed like he only used it for viewing pdfs.
I'm particularly interested in the comparison between windows tablets and the galaxy note for note taking, pdf notes and general usefulness for studying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have either but I've used a Windows 7 tablet and last year's Note 10.1 and the big difference for me was that while both had Wacom, Android is just way more usable via touch than Windows. Windows 8 is more touch friendly to be sure but the software ecosystem just isn't there yet (in terms of touch friendly apps). Like the above poster said, there really isn't much you can't do on a Note 10.1. The one wildcard is Onenote, it's seriously the best thing Microsoft has ever made and there really isn't anything equivalent on Android, but I can live without it really. It would be cool if android note taking apps had the functionality of Onenote but in terms of just using it like an advanced paper notebook they're totally usable. It'd be cool to be able to search through notes and stuff (some app may allow this, but I haven't found one yet) but it's still much easier to find things in a digital notebook than a physical one.
{Diemex} said:
I'm looking for a tablet to assist me in my mechanical engineering studies. I have a laptop and a Galaxy Tab 7.7. The laptop is too big and I havent found any good apps to edit pdfs on linux and the 7.7 is too small.
We get all scripts as pdf and some of them have gaps that we fill in the lecture. Atm I print the scripts on paper. I'm thinking of getting a tablet to organize the huge influx of information and reduce the amount of stuff I have to print out and keep in "real" folders.
So there are a few options:
Note 2014, LectureNotes for organizing, ezpdf/repligo for editing of pdfs
Windows 8 Tablets like surface pro, lenovo tablet 2 or sony tap 11. I'm not familiar with the metro app ecosystem and don't know if there are great apps like LectureNotes or ezpdf. The most expensive option.
Continue to print on paper. Cheapest, but not editable, searchable or reusable etc.
I have seen a few students with Note 10.1's and only one with a microsoft surface. The Note owners seemed to be happy with their way of doing things. Though I haven't spoken to the guy with the surface, it seemed like he only used it for viewing pdfs.
I'm particularly interested in the comparison between windows tablets and the galaxy note for note taking, pdf notes and general usefulness for studying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As a fellow mechanical engieer working and going to grad school, this is how it has been working for me.
I use ezPDF and see note. You can take snapshots of pdfs with ezpdf and paste them into s note.
Good luck.
Sent from my SM-P600 using XDA Premium HD app
{Diemex} said:
I'm looking for a tablet to assist me in my mechanical engineering studies. I have a laptop and a Galaxy Tab 7.7. The laptop is too big and I havent found any good apps to edit pdfs on linux and the 7.7 is too small.
We get all scripts as pdf and some of them have gaps that we fill in the lecture. Atm I print the scripts on paper. I'm thinking of getting a tablet to organize the huge influx of information and reduce the amount of stuff I have to print out and keep in "real" folders.
So there are a few options:
Note 2014, LectureNotes for organizing, ezpdf/repligo for editing of pdfs
Windows 8 Tablets like surface pro, lenovo tablet 2 or sony tap 11. I'm not familiar with the metro app ecosystem and don't know if there are great apps like LectureNotes or ezpdf. The most expensive option.
Continue to print on paper. Cheapest, but not editable, searchable or reusable etc.
I have seen a few students with Note 10.1's and only one with a microsoft surface. The Note owners seemed to be happy with their way of doing things. Though I haven't spoken to the guy with the surface, it seemed like he only used it for viewing pdfs.
I'm particularly interested in the comparison between windows tablets and the galaxy note for note taking, pdf notes and general usefulness for studying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am currently/was wondering the same thing. I'm an engineering student and I want to use a tablet for note taking and reading/annotating papers. I considered a Surface pro or a lenovo win tablet with a pen. Mostly because of OneNote. While I haven't used it, I'm sure it is the most mature note taking app there is. I don't know how touch friendly it is (i.e. I don't know if OneNote has a Metro-mode), but if it's like the other office apps, I wouldn't want to use it without a mouse.
The biggest problem with Windows tablets, like it has already been said, is the lack of apps. My brother just bought a Windows tablet (the HP Envy x2 or something), which has full windows, a keyboard dock and no pen. He has a metro app to look at pdfs and hilight them (I think it's almost literally the only pdf app in the app store that supports some level of editing) but he can't write on them (with the keyboard).
You can always say you'll use the full-windows apps, not metro, of which there are plenty, but I just can't imagine that being fun to use with your fingers.
Besides note taking, I also want to use my tablet recreationally. Some browsing, RSS reading, gaming etc. For that, android is just better, hands down.
In terms of sycing, I thought maybe a win tablet might be easier to mangage, but as it turns out, android is probably easier. I can sync files with my Windows laptop via SugarSync and stuff like RSS feeds, podcasts and all that is easier to sync accross android devices.
I have now ordered the Note and am awaiting it anxiously. (it's not available yet where I live)
I hope that helps your decision process along, let me know to what conclusion you come.
In this excellent review (see link below) of the Note 10.1 the reviewer mentions "better going for the 2014 Note 10.1" for people who make notes. Professional artists are better of on a Windows device because of the much larger software base. She reviewed both the 2014 Note 10.1 and the popular Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 (linked in article).
http://www.mobiletechreview.com/tablets/2014-Samsung-Galaxy-Note-10.htm
The_Maverick said:
I am currently/was wondering the same thing. I'm an engineering student and I want to use a tablet for note taking and reading/annotating papers. I considered a Surface pro or a lenovo win tablet with a pen. Mostly because of OneNote. While I haven't used it, I'm sure it is the most mature note taking app there is. I don't know how touch friendly it is (i.e. I don't know if OneNote has a Metro-mode), but if it's like the other office apps, I wouldn't want to use it without a mouse.
The biggest problem with Windows tablets, like it has already been said, is the lack of apps. My brother just bought a Windows tablet (the HP Envy x2 or something), which has full windows, a keyboard dock and no pen. He has a metro app to look at pdfs and hilight them (I think it's almost literally the only pdf app in the app store that supports some level of editing) but he can't write on them (with the keyboard).
You can always say you'll use the full-windows apps, not metro, of which there are plenty, but I just can't imagine that being fun to use with your fingers.
Besides note taking, I also want to use my tablet recreationally. Some browsing, RSS reading, gaming etc. For that, android is just better, hands down.
In terms of sycing, I thought maybe a win tablet might be easier to mangage, but as it turns out, android is probably easier. I can sync files with my Windows laptop via SugarSync and stuff like RSS feeds, podcasts and all that is easier to sync accross android devices.
I have now ordered the Note and am awaiting it anxiously. (it's not available yet where I live)
I hope that helps your decision process along, let me know to what conclusion you come.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have never used it personally but OneNote is available for Android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.office.onenote
The_Maverick said:
I am currently/was wondering the same thing. I'm an engineering student and I want to use a tablet for note taking and reading/annotating papers. I considered a Surface pro or a lenovo win tablet with a pen. Mostly because of OneNote. While I haven't used it, I'm sure it is the most mature note taking app there is. I don't know how touch friendly it is (i.e. I don't know if OneNote has a Metro-mode), but if it's like the other office apps, I wouldn't want to use it without a mouse.
The biggest problem with Windows tablets, like it has already been said, is the lack of apps. My brother just bought a Windows tablet (the HP Envy x2 or something), which has full windows, a keyboard dock and no pen. He has a metro app to look at pdfs and hilight them (I think it's almost literally the only pdf app in the app store that supports some level of editing) but he can't write on them (with the keyboard).
You can always say you'll use the full-windows apps, not metro, of which there are plenty, but I just can't imagine that being fun to use with your fingers.
Besides note taking, I also want to use my tablet recreationally. Some browsing, RSS reading, gaming etc. For that, android is just better, hands down.
In terms of sycing, I thought maybe a win tablet might be easier to mangage, but as it turns out, android is probably easier. I can sync files with my Windows laptop via SugarSync and stuff like RSS feeds, podcasts and all that is easier to sync accross android devices.
I have now ordered the Note and am awaiting it anxiously. (it's not available yet where I live)
I hope that helps your decision process along, let me know to what conclusion you come.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, if you guys can afford or get over dropping 1K on a tablet than the surface pro is the way to go.
Don't get you mind set on "apps." as an engineer, being able to run and execute programs relevant to your fields is more important.
For me, I won't be able to run Catia V5, Solid works, MATLAB, C++, EES, etc on a android tablet. If I didn't drop 1K earlier on my laptop I probably would have got a surface pro 2 so that I wouldn't have to carry so much.
But the note 10.1 has served me well. I got it because I already had a laptop that was cad ready, the note also charges over USB and was at a good price.
Sent from my SM-P600 using XDA Premium HD app
My main requirement for a tablet is the ability to highlight PDF’s and add sticky notes/annotations for studying; the ability to write notes and have it be as close to a paper/pen experience as possible; and the ability to watch movies and shows in HD while on flights, etc.
If I was sure that the Surface Pro 2 could do all of those things better than the Note 10.1, I’d spend the money. But I’m not sure it can. After struggling for years using a fat stylus on the iPad, the S-Pen on the Note 10.1 seems perfect.
Is the Surface Pro 2 better at these things than the Note 10.1?
Han Solo 1 said:
My main requirement for a tablet is the ability to highlight PDF’s and add sticky notes/annotations for studying; the ability to write notes and have it be as close to a paper/pen experience as possible; and the ability to watch movies and shows in HD while on flights, etc.
If I was sure that the Surface Pro 2 could do all of those things better than the Note 10.1, I’d spend the money. But I’m not sure it can. After struggling for years using a fat stylus on the iPad, the S-Pen on the Note 10.1 seems perfect.
Is the Surface Pro 2 better at these things than the Note 10.1?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have the Surface Pro 2, but those things you mention (movie playback and taking notes, with LectureNotes) are precisely 2 strongpoints of the 2014 Note 10.1. Furthermore it will be a lot lighter in weight, cost far less and drain far less battery. I would recommend it in a heartbeat for those items you mention.
Edit: I highly doubt the Surface Pro giving you a better movie watching experience. I would put money on it...
As someone that owned last years Note 10.1 and owns both the current 10.1 and Surface Pro - I would much rather ink on the Note 10.1.
I really like One Note. Unfortunately, it seems to me like Microsoft doesn't feel the same. I feel like they could/should take One Note and turn it into an Evernote competitor. I see a lot of potential in the software, but no love.
For work, a couple months back, I was trying to take notes on the go while working with a 3rd party vendor using my Surface Pro. I am probably in the minority of people that actually like Windows 8. For me though, on the go, holding the Note 10.1 in one hand and trying to ink vs the Surface Pro is night and day. The Surface Pro is just far too heavy. But it fills that void when I need something extremely portable that will run full blown Photoshop, Quark, etc.
stinger108 said:
I have never used it personally but OneNote is available for Android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.office.onenote
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never used it myself either. I might check it out once I get my Note. But the fact that it hasn't been mentioned in all the LectureNotes conversations on here tells me that it might not actually be comparable. Does any one know whether OneNote on Android supports the SPen?
SlimJ87D said:
Honestly, if you guys can afford or get over dropping 1K on a tablet than the surface pro is the way to go.
Don't get you mind set on "apps." as an engineer, being able to run and execute programs relevant to your fields is more important.
For me, I won't be able to run Catia V5, Solid works, MATLAB, C++, EES, etc on a android tablet. If I didn't drop 1K earlier on my laptop I probably would have got a surface pro 2 so that I wouldn't have to carry so much.
But the note 10.1 has served me well. I got it because I already had a laptop that was cad ready, the note also charges over USB and was at a good price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The price is also prohipive, you're right, I didn't even consider that.
I was in the same situation as you were. I bought a X1 Carbon a year ago, which I use for MATLAB and the like. Had good options been available then, I might have gone with a hybrid. Although for that I'd go with one that has a transformer like dock, such as the Lenovo ThinPad Tablet 2. But I like that my laptop is 14". Only 10" or 11" would be too small for me.
Ettepetje said:
In this excellent review (see link below) of the Note 10.1 the reviewer mentions "better going for the 2014 Note 10.1" for people who make notes. Professional artists are better of on a Windows device because of the much larger software base. She reviewed both the 2014 Note 10.1 and the popular Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 (linked in article).
http://www.mobiletechreview.com/tablets/2014-Samsung-Galaxy-Note-10.htm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well "a much larger software base" means Pro and not RT and the Pro tablets are certainly a bit bulkier and heavier than the Note due to the hardware and battery to keep the thing running. I am also not sure how battery life compares between say the Surface Pro vs the new Note.
wingdo said:
Well "a much larger software base" means Pro and not RT and the Pro tablets are certainly a bit bulkier and heavier than the Note due to the hardware and battery to keep the thing running. I am also not sure how battery life compares between say the Surface Pro vs the new Note.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Verge tested both tablets and rated battery life the same. They rated performance of the Note much lower, which for movie watching and drawing / taking notes it most certainly isn't. The 2014 Note 10.1 can playback 2 full-HD movies (of 5+GB) simultaneously without hickup of any kind. I used MX Player Pro for that, with NeoN-driver, together with the built-in video player of the Note in pop-up mode. The beautiful screen together with the decent stereo speakers is managing to keep me away from gearing up my high-end home theater system for 2 major movie titles in a row (Monster University and Despicable Me 2).
To return to the matter of speed, the Note is the fastest ARM based tablet currently available, but will in all likelihood be slower than the processor in the Surface Pro 2. Reading about fans kicking in during heavy use though has me running away from any such option.
{Diemex} said:
I'm looking for a tablet to assist me in my mechanical engineering studies. I have a laptop and a Galaxy Tab 7.7. The laptop is too big and I havent found any good apps to edit pdfs on linux and the 7.7 is too small.
We get all scripts as pdf and some of them have gaps that we fill in the lecture. Atm I print the scripts on paper. I'm thinking of getting a tablet to organize the huge influx of information and reduce the amount of stuff I have to print out and keep in "real" folders.
So there are a few options:
Note 2014, LectureNotes for organizing, ezpdf/repligo for editing of pdfs
Windows 8 Tablets like surface pro, lenovo tablet 2 or sony tap 11. I'm not familiar with the metro app ecosystem and don't know if there are great apps like LectureNotes or ezpdf. The most expensive option.
Continue to print on paper. Cheapest, but not editable, searchable or reusable etc.
I have seen a few students with Note 10.1's and only one with a microsoft surface. The Note owners seemed to be happy with their way of doing things. Though I haven't spoken to the guy with the surface, it seemed like he only used it for viewing pdfs.
I'm particularly interested in the comparison between windows tablets and the galaxy note for note taking, pdf notes and general usefulness for studying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here again I will share with the op my notes I just took.
Sent from my SM-P600 using XDA Premium HD app
One thing i did on my note was take screenshots in excel (kingsoft office) then put them into my s notes and annotate on top of it. Its not as good as annotating directly in excel but it works ok.
I went to my local computer store and spend about 45 mins writing on the Note 2014 and also had a look at the surface pro 2. My handwriting looked comparable to the screenshots posted, not as nice as on paper with a pencil, but far better than anticipated.
A lecturer actually uses OneNote on a lenovo laptop with a stylus. It works really well and I like that you can easily add blank space in between lines if you run out of space. Sadly the surface in the store didn't have internet so I couldn't have a look at the metro apps store and there wasn't much apps to play around with. The surface feels a bit like a laptop with a small touchscreen and a detachable keyboard to me.
The surface has optional pen input but still is not focused on making the most out of the pen. Samsung's app package on the Note on the other hand is designed to maximize on the stylus. I need a tablet mainly for reading and taking notes and for anything more demanding I have a powerful laptop.
So I will most likely get the Note. Still pondering if I should spend 500€ on wifi only or 650€ on the lte version, which I think doubt I will really make use of on a 10 inch tablet.
{Diemex} said:
So I will most likely get the Note. Still pondering if I should spend 500€ on wifi only or 650€ on the lte version, which I think doubt I will really make use of on a 10 inch tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are able to tether using your phone's data, save your money and get the wifi model. That's what I did. All I have to do is hit a button on my phone and I have fast internet access on my Note 10.1.
Han Solo 1 said:
If you are able to tether using your phone's data, save your money and get the wifi model. That's what I did. All I have to do is hit a button on my phone and I have fast internet access on my Note 10.1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
The_Maverick said:
I am currently/was wondering the same thing. I'm an engineering student and I want to use a tablet for note taking and reading/annotating papers. I considered a Surface pro or a lenovo win tablet with a pen. Mostly because of OneNote. While I haven't used it, I'm sure it is the most mature note taking app there is. I don't know how touch friendly it is (i.e. I don't know if OneNote has a Metro-mode), but if it's like the other office apps, I wouldn't want to use it without a mouse.
The biggest problem with Windows tablets, like it has already been said, is the lack of apps. My brother just bought a Windows tablet (the HP Envy x2 or something), which has full windows, a keyboard dock and no pen. He has a metro app to look at pdfs and hilight them (I think it's almost literally the only pdf app in the app store that supports some level of editing) but he can't write on them (with the keyboard).
You can always say you'll use the full-windows apps, not metro, of which there are plenty, but I just can't imagine that being fun to use with your fingers.
Besides note taking, I also want to use my tablet recreationally. Some browsing, RSS reading, gaming etc. For that, android is just better, hands down.
In terms of sycing, I thought maybe a win tablet might be easier to mangage, but as it turns out, android is probably easier. I can sync files with my Windows laptop via SugarSync and stuff like RSS feeds, podcasts and all that is easier to sync accross android devices.
I have now ordered the Note and am awaiting it anxiously. (it's not available yet where I live)
I hope that helps your decision process along, let me know to what conclusion you come.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a metro onenote but not as good as the full office version, which as a student the op should get for decent price.
Have been using tablet pc s of various makes since 1997 and in the op case would say either the note 10.1 2014 or a s/hand x220t lenovo, last one with the great keyboard, either should be similiar money the x220t maybe a bit more.
Or why not consider the first note 10.1 maybe afford both that way?
Sent from my GT-N5100 using xda app-developers app

Need help to decide what to buy

Hello, because of my job, I need to use my 15" MacBook Pro daily. However, I also want to buy a tablet so that I can read/annotate pdf files while on public transportation and on the bus stop. In my current city, I spend about an hour each day on the bus and 30-50 minutes waiting at the bus stop. On the evening and perhaps sometimes on the weekend, I prefer to bring a lighter tablet with me.
Every 2-3 months, I stay in another city for a week or so. In that city, I spend about 2 hours on public transportation daily. During the summer, I stay in another country for about 2 months.
At the beginning, I was considering to buy the Note PRO 12.2. However, after trying the wifi version two times (no LTE version in my city yet), I don't find it attractive. For example, a bit heavier, without rooting can't have several windows stacking on top of each other likes Windows OS, not all apps can be multi-tasked, large screen but same resolution as the 10.1 2014, virtual keyboard taking half the screen, etc. Also, if I get a Note PRO 12.2, I have to carry it with my 15" laptop when I am traveling.
So, it seems that my choice is 10.1 2014 or Note PRO 8.4" when available. Is this the right way to think? I hope to make the purchase in about 2 months as I have delayed the purchase since last December.
Although being able to view two pdf files side by side is good, I cannot test it because only one local store has the device. They don't allow connection to the internet. I can't test the device by downloading some pdf files.
I have my note pro in a bag that I carry with me for college and when I am on the bus. Only difference between the note pro and the note 10.1 2014 other than the screen size is the multi window, the note 10.1 can only do 2 windows while the note pro can do up to 4. If you use pen window, you can cheat it and possibly go to 6-7. You can also do that on the note 10.1 as well. If you are looking for a pen tablet, I'd go with the note 10.1 2014 or the note pro, if you plan on wanting portability, then you can go for the tab pro 8.4 . I believe all pro series does come with Hancom office, which is like Microsoft Office. That's what sold me to get the note pro. Prices for all of them went down on amazon.
Sent from my SM-N900P using XDA Premium HD app
Thanks. I do need the pen. Too bad Samsung has not made the Note Pro 8.4".
I dunno man, I am not the type of person who is motivated to convince others to buy something I did just to feel better about my own purchase decisions. That said I would suggest considering a surface pro 2 for a few reasons:
You mention window stacking as opposed to side by side. Text and interface item scaling in multi-window can behave oddly in some apps that you force to do it once rooted.
You mention comparing pdf documents of the same type at the same time; out of the box you can do this with windows but you'll have to force android to do it and I personally haven't tried it so I'm not sure how well apps behave when you do.
You want to do heavy PDF annotation. I've spent a lot on pdf applications and can never find one that works well for this. The best that I have found FOR ME is Easy PDF. I do engineering plan reviews and the plan sets I open for review can have hundreds of sheets (300 sheets that are 24"x36" are not uncommon). All of the apps that I have tried work slowly and are clunky with my large files.
The thing is, aside from size none of the other complaints you have about the note pro will go away when you switch to a smaller note tablet.
At least with the surface pro you are getting a full fledged OS that out of the box will do much of the things that you want. Virtual keyboards though are by nature par for the course with tablets (and the tab pro has size options on the keyboard just like other Android devices have) although with the surface there are some elegant keyboard case options. It's all subjective of course, I don't like large keyboard cases that increase the size of the tablet so much that they look like netbooks.
All that said I do enjoy my note pro and I am satisfied with my sacrifices on the productivity side (plan review) which are outweighed by the entertainment value of the device. I simply love android and customizing my android devices.
Edit:
Just want to add that I fully realize that just because I can't do everything that I want to do with regards to productivity applications doesn't mean others can't do what they want to do. A lot of threads end up getting filled with debates over what works well and what doesn't but at the end of the day while there may be some basic commonality among workflows everyone has different needs so the only way to truly know is to try to use the device yourself. Retailers with flexible return policies are a great way to do that.
Let me try to give you some quick conclusion for the 3 tablets that you would choose from :
based on what you gave above and the common usage of your tablet it will be for reading mostly and a slight pdf editing if that happens so with that its better to go minimal and handy and get the tab pro 8.4 as it will be your best choice for reading and the slight editing etc
( all pro versions come with hancom office so you will get all the goodies with whatever tablets you choose) .
most of our usage for a tablet is multimedia consumption and that likes to be on a big screen for better entertaining experience and in your case if you wish to have the reading and multimedia both in a pretty portable size then go for the note 10.1 2014 edition or the tab pro 10.1 ( if you don't need the s-pen ( you got to keep in mind that the three tablets note 10.1/tab pro 10.1 / tab pro 8.4 have a pretty slight price difference and the choice will be up to you etc) .
*** transportation where you stay will also be important : if its not overcrowded and every time you will be able to have a seat and not so tight in crowd or standing then any of all the tablets will be very fine for you as after all if you are sitting you will find a nice way to hold your tablet somehow comfortably .
12.2 : after you finish your day and resting at home it will be time for media or nice relaxing reading and that size is the best when it comes to the in-house usage as you will always find a comfy way to do whatever you need with your tablet weather if you put it on your lab or a table or on a stand or on a pillow in bed and so on .
so here is my advice to you : think of your tablet needs in-house and out-house usage before you make a decision . Good luck with your pick.
Hope i helped you make your choice.
Depends on what kind of pdf you read. If they are novels or similar format, 8" will be fine and can be held in one hand comfortably. If it's double column or technical stuffs, 12.2" is almost like a full size hard copy. It is a high price for this single purpose however, even though it does well. I have not tried the 10" so can't comment. Personally, I bought the 12.2 mainly for pdf but only because there is no alternative at the moment. Couldn't care less about all the gimmicks that comes with it. Maybe I should get the Tab Pro and save $100.
hajime_android said:
Hello, because of my job, I need to use my 15" MacBook Pro daily. However, I also want to buy a tablet so that I can read/annotate pdf files while on public transportation and on the bus stop. In my current city, I spend about an hour each day on the bus and 30-50 minutes waiting at the bus stop. On the evening and perhaps sometimes on the weekend, I prefer to bring a lighter tablet with me.
Every 2-3 months, I stay in another city for a week or so. In that city, I spend about 2 hours on public transportation daily. During the summer, I stay in another country for about 2 months.
At the beginning, I was considering to buy the Note PRO 12.2. However, after trying the wifi version two times (no LTE version in my city yet), I don't find it attractive. For example, a bit heavier, without rooting can't have several windows stacking on top of each other likes Windows OS, not all apps can be multi-tasked, large screen but same resolution as the 10.1 2014, virtual keyboard taking half the screen, etc. Also, if I get a Note PRO 12.2, I have to carry it with my 15" laptop when I am traveling.
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Click to collapse
Hi, I believe I am in a very similar position to you. As a student, I have a MBPr 15" for most functions and a Note 10.1 2014 for PDF annotation. The normal workflow on my note 10.1 2014 is to take notes on it or annotate PDF's on it and then have that sync to dropbox and then viewable on my phone or MBPr later on to supplement studying. The Note 10.1 2014 is a good device but I haven't rooted it so I haven't been able to use my old Note 10.1 1st Gen Workflow of having Lecture Notes open next to EZPDF. It was always cramped when I used it this way too so I'm hoping the Note 12.2 Pro fits my needs. It comes in today so I'll be able to update you later this week.
Yoshi1221 said:
Only difference between the note pro and the note 10.1 2014 other than the screen size is the multi window ...
Sent from my SM-N900P using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well ... there's is the screen which is 44% bigger ...
muzzy996 said:
I dunno man, I am not the type of person who is motivated to convince others to buy something I did just to feel better about my own purchase decisions. That said I would suggest considering a surface pro 2 for a few reasons:
You mention window stacking as opposed to side by side. Text and interface item scaling in multi-window can behave oddly in some apps that you force to do it once rooted.
You mention comparing pdf documents of the same type at the same time; out of the box you can do this with windows but you'll have to force android to do it and I personally haven't tried it so I'm not sure how well apps behave when you do.
You want to do heavy PDF annotation. I've spent a lot on pdf applications and can never find one that works well for this. The best that I have found FOR ME is Easy PDF. I do engineering plan reviews and the plan sets I open for review can have hundreds of sheets (300 sheets that are 24"x36" are not uncommon). All of the apps that I have tried work slowly and are clunky with my large files.
The thing is, aside from size none of the other complaints you have about the note pro will go away when you switch to a smaller note tablet.
At least with the surface pro you are getting a full fledged OS that out of the box will do much of the things that you want. Virtual keyboards though are by nature par for the course with tablets (and the tab pro has size options on the keyboard just like other Android devices have) although with the surface there are some elegant keyboard case options. It's all subjective of course, I don't like large keyboard cases that increase the size of the tablet so much that they look like netbooks.
All that said I do enjoy my note pro and I am satisfied with my sacrifices on the productivity side (plan review) which are outweighed by the entertainment value of the device. I simply love android and customizing my android devices.
Edit:
Just want to add that I fully realize that just because I can't do everything that I want to do with regards to productivity applications doesn't mean others can't do what they want to do. A lot of threads end up getting filled with debates over what works well and what doesn't but at the end of the day while there may be some basic commonality among workflows everyone has different needs so the only way to truly know is to try to use the device yourself. Retailers with flexible return policies are a great way to do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These are all good points. My main use is pdf annotation and lecture notes and pdf annotation is really clunky. But the problem with surface pro is bad battery life and having to use windows 8 (which I hate for most other things). I got the note 10.1 2014 because it was half th eprice but the pro 12.2 is almost as expensive. Samsung is just milking early consumers though as they already lowered the price by $50 and given the bill of materials is probably only like 250 for this thing (given it uses all of the same components as a note 10.1 2014 except for the screen), I'd say they have plenty of room to pricecut versus an Intel-based device.
wlachan said:
Depends on what kind of pdf you read. If they are novels or similar format, 8" will be fine and can be held in one hand comfortably. If it's double column or technical stuffs, 12.2" is almost like a full size hard copy. It is a high price for this single purpose however, even though it does well. I have not tried the 10" so can't comment. Personally, I bought the 12.2 mainly for pdf but only because there is no alternative at the moment. Couldn't care less about all the gimmicks that comes with it. Maybe I should get the Tab Pro and save $100.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are intel-based alternatives such as the ultrabooks and laptops that have digitizers as well as the surface-pro. The Sony Flip 14 is about the same price but much bulkier. You're right, nothing does come close in terms of lightness and mobility in terms of battery life but it's an expensive price Samsung is charging right now. Mine is coming in the mail and if it doesn't live up to expectations, I expect to stick to my note 10.1 2014 or maybe even go to a Sony Flip 13.
I really wish Samsung would pay for the guys behind iannotate to make a good version of their program for Android. It's probably the number one use of everyone I've met with the device to read and markup pdf's. Ezpdf is ok but lacking the ease-of-use for a flagship program.
Thanks. Please do update your experience with the PRO 12.2 We are indeed in a similar situation. I plan to use the tablet mostly for reading academic research papers. I would be good if I could have two papers shown side by side. However, as the screen resolution is fixed, doing so just require me scrolling and adjusting the windows size. I too use ezpdf. It seems that we cannot open two pdf using ezpdf. When we swipe across the screen, the page on which window is going to change? I once considered Surface Pro 2 but it is quite heavy especially if I carry both my 15" MBP and the tablet.
Not all apps support multiple instance and as far as I can tell EzPDF is no exception. So what one would do is just force it and another PDF reading application to be multiwindow enabled using something like pen window manager and then use two different PDF viewers to get the side by side action going. Then its just a matter of doing your gestures on one side or the other.
As a test I just did two documents side by side in EzPDF and Adobe Reader. Works like a charm.
You know if your annotation is going to be light then the note pro may very well suit your purposes provided you're not akin to rooting it (and living with the consequences thereof).
hajime_android said:
Thanks. Please do update your experience with the PRO 12.2 We are indeed in a similar situation. I plan to use the tablet mostly for reading academic research papers. I would be good if I could have two papers shown side by side. However, as the screen resolution is fixed, doing so just require me scrolling and adjusting the windows size. I too use ezpdf. It seems that we cannot open two pdf using ezpdf. When we swipe across the screen, the page on which window is going to change? I once considered Surface Pro 2 but it is quite heavy especially if I carry both my 15" MBP and the tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just wanted to give you a little insight of my experience...i ordered the note pro LTE p905 and had it delivered...i actually bought the wifi model first but was unhappy with the performance of the exynos processor and wanted the snapdragon 800​...i have a mac book pro I bought a few months ago as well but much prefer a tablet. ..i already owned the note 8.0 and 10.1 2012 and was waiting the the pro and I have to say the experience is unlike anything else...the screen size and clarity offer a laptop size and feel, with similar functionality all packed into a 12.2 inch galaxy note 3. I find I use the s pen 50x more than I ever did on my 8 or 10 inch note tables, the new s pen and improvements to the digizer hardware helps as well. I'm a college student in my senior year of my biochemical degree and the pro has already completely replace my MacBook pro, mini windows 8.1 laptop and smaller note tablets. The size, speed, new on screen keyboard, s pen, and insane battery life make the note pro LTE by far the best device I've ever owned and I currently own and develop roms for several of these below
Galaxy note 1 i717
Galaxy note 2 i317
Galaxy note 3 n900a
Galaxy mega 6.3 i9205 white
Galaxy mega 6.3 i9205 black
Galaxy note 8.0
Galaxy note 10.1 2012
Galaxy note pro LTE
Mega
megalomanic14 said:
I just wanted to give you a little insight of my experience...i ordered the note pro LTE p905 and had it delivered...i actually bought the wifi model first but was unhappy with the performance of the exynos processor and wanted the snapdragon 800​...i have a mac book pro I bought a few months ago as well but much prefer a tablet. ..i already owned the note 8.0 and 10.1 2012 and was waiting the the pro and I have to say the experience is unlike anything else...the screen size and clarity offer a laptop size and feel, with similar functionality all packed into a 12.2 inch galaxy note 3. I find I use the s pen 50x more than I ever did on my 8 or 10 inch note tables, the new s pen and improvements to the digizer hardware helps as well. I'm a college student in my senior year of my biochemical degree and the pro has already completely replace my MacBook pro, mini windows 8.1 laptop and smaller note tablets. The size, speed, new on screen keyboard, s pen, and insane battery life make the note pro LTE by far the best device I've ever owned and I currently own and develop roms for several of these below
Galaxy note 1 i717
Galaxy note 2 i317
Galaxy note 3 n900a
Galaxy mega 6.3 i9205 white
Galaxy mega 6.3 i9205 black
Galaxy note 8.0
Galaxy note 10.1 2012
Galaxy note pro LTE
Mega
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the experience. Could you please let me know what improvements are there?
"the new s pen and improvements to the digizer hardware helps as well."
The Surface Pro 2 is over a third of a pound heavier than the Note Pro with a much smaller screen. As a size to weight ratio consideration, the Note Pro blows away Surface Pro 2.
The purchase decision is getting more difficult after Office for iPAD is announced. I want to be able to read both pdf and PowerPoint presentation files. Annotation on pdf files is required but would be nice if I can do the same thing on PowerPoint. Some PowerPoint files include animations. So far, I only found an app called "Presentations" by SoftMaker that can run the animations. Didn't have a chance to test all the features before the expiration of the trial period. Too bad the Air has no stylus. Are the 3rd party ones not as good as the S-pen?
The inclusion of pressure sensitivity to active stylus devices definitely improves the control one has over handwriting with the result looking more natural. Since the tip of active stylus pens is fine they really are better suited for note taking that requires packing more information in a given amount of space. I would liken it to being able to write comfortably well on narrow ruled paper vs wide ruled. You can do note taking and annotation well with capacitive stylus though.
hajime_android said:
The purchase decision is getting more difficult after Office for iPAD is announced. I want to be able to read both pdf and PowerPoint presentation files. Annotation on pdf files is required but would be nice if I can do the same thing on PowerPoint. Some PowerPoint files include animations. So far, I only found an app called "Presentations" by SoftMaker that can run the animations. Didn't have a chance to test all the features before the expiration of the trial period. Too bad the Air has no stylus. Are the 3rd party ones not as good as the S-pen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you are getting the iPad air then go with this stylus as its the one of the best in the market http://www.lynktec.com/TruGlide-Apex-Fine-Point-Active-Stylus-p/lttg-0011.htm . i was getting the air first but i wanted the bigger size anyway but i was going to get that stylus for the iPad air after very long search and here is a video showing you a demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS9YlgvKrjE
and here is a full unboxing and review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3v3sTqqWTg
muzzy996 said:
The inclusion of pressure sensitivity to active stylus devices definitely improves the control one has over handwriting with the result looking more natural. Since the tip of active stylus pens is fine they really are better suited for note taking that requires packing more information in a given amount of space. I would liken it to being able to write comfortably well on narrow ruled paper vs wide ruled. You can do note taking and annotation well with capacitive stylus though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How bad is writing using capacitive stylus compared with the S-pen? Seems similar to me.
For those who have used the Note 10.1 2014, PRO 12.2, Air, how do they compare in terms of annotations? I do know that on IOS devices, you can write a phone number on the screen and have it stored in the phone directory. This is just a minor feature.
I agree that the 12.2 exceeds any tablet ever. It's a piece of art in a way. I sold my macbook air and replaced it with the 12.2. I also have the note 10.1 2014 edition and the note 8. Hancom office is great in the 12.2. I use h word and it's totally compatible with word for the mac on my mac desktop. Btw, if anyone needs a case for the big guy, I got the moko from amazon for about $10 and it's perfect. For writing I'll use it with a bluetooth keyboard and bluetooth mouse. I'll probable get a case - keyboard -- the logitech pro -- if I need to travel AND work, but mostly I see using it at home where I work.
Hello, considering to get the PRO 12.2 or 10.1 2014 this week. I have a few questions:
1. Under the split keyboard, is it more difficult to type on the PRO 12.2 than on the 10.1 2014?
2. Have you guys found out the advantages of having a USB 3.0 on the PRO 12.2?
3. Besides the DPI and weight, are there things that the 10.1 2014 is better than the PRO 12.2?
4. How is the battery life if watching the same videos for hours on both devices?
5. How is the charging rate of both devices from 0% to 100% while being used or unused? Is the LTE version better?
6. Some people said that the 12.2 has a larger real estate. It has the same resolution as the 10.1 2014. So, it does not has a larger real estate I think. Right?
7. For multi-windows, if we open 2 windows, the amount of things that we can see is less on each window. If we open 4 windows, the amount of things that are displaced is even smaller in each window. Can anything be done on this?
8. Can the PRO 12.2 and 10.1 2014 be connect to a projector?
9. Besides a bigger screen, what is the point of buying the PRO 12.2 compared with the 10.1 2014?
Diogenes5: how is your experience? I am considering to buy either the Note PRO 12.2 or 10.1 2014.
Thanks
Just because resolution is the same doesn't mean you cant comfortably fit more information on screen. On the contrary, if pixel density is such that that things can be zoomed out on multiple windows then the additional screen size of the 12.2 can be an advantage over the 10.1, even without the advantage of rooting and adjusting lcd density settings.
Screen size positives go beyond just fitting information on the screen though, such as having larger areas to write on when taking notes or having a more comfortable viewing distance, or having a more natural sized landscape keyboard.
On the flip side the larger screen means more weight which goes beyond just the weight in your bag but also stress on your wrists during extended use handheld.
I just got the Note Pro from work in addition to my Note 10.1. If I had to choose just one I'd go for the 10.1 because the weight makes it a better all purpose tablet. Gaming is better because the weight of the 12.2 is more fatiguing and the size makes some on screen controls awkward.
The full size keyboard on the Pro makes typing a breeze - it's the first on screen keyboard that allows me to type with two hands just like a physical keyboard. The larger screen makes it much easier to take handwritten notes. Video is impressive and more immersive, and it is the best comic book and magazine reader ever made - nothing ever seems cramped or requires zooming.
If you can handle the extra 8 ounces, the Pro is a no brainer. But after using both, the size and weight of the 10.1 is perfect.
Or you can get both!

[Q] First Tablet: To Note or not to Note (researcher life doubt)

Dear all great experts, hope you may take a few minutes in helping a tablet newbie,
I'm about to have my first ever tablet, going from a Samsung S2 were i was cleverly reading pdf's and making notes (...better if i was living in Lilliput, I know). Well, my every day life is that: reading pdf's, making notes, writing, browsing the internet, making presentations, travelling with the technology for work reasons, occasional gaming (mostly my son) and I'm doing it all with a laptop and the Samsung S2.
:cyclops:What I look for in the tablet: great battery life, great and quick response of the system, compatibility for office programs like word, excel, power point (btw: is the Office suite 7 +PDF&HD of great value for me if I need to go back and forward android/windows/android?)
Now my doubts taking into account my needs: should I get the a) Samsung Note 10.1 2014 edition, b) Samsung Galaxy Note PRO 12.2, c) an windows based tablet, d) an hybrid...
All answers all welcome and thank in advance:good:
monicaereis said:
Well, my every day life is that: reading pdf's, making notes, writing, browsing the internet, making presentations, travelling with the technology for work reasons, occasional gaming. . .
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I have experienced with all 4 options you mentioned: Note 10.1, 12.2, Surface PRO 3 (Windows tablet), Sony Multi-flip 15" (Windows touch screen tablet). They all have active digitizers for hand-writing function. I'll try to give you my overall impression on these.
1. Windows vs. Android
Let's talk about the OS first. Assuming you are a Windows PC user, it is nice to have a Windows tablet as it can potentially replace your laptop. It may allow you to have/do everything on one device. The hardware of a Windows device is just more convenient for everyday task: a powerful processor, USB port(s), HDMI output of presentations, a physical keyboard (as a type cover for the Surface). When it comes to software, it is full Windows 8 and you can use it to run any Windows compatible software.
Android on the other hand, shines in making your tablet a better MOBILE device, due to the thousands of apps in Google Play, all designed for mobile devices (messenger/VOIP apps, media player, games). Not only you get a much greater selection, these apps are better in quality, and built to run more efficiently on slower hardware. Windows 8 apps just cannot compare. For example, you won't find one app that can play a 1080p mkv movie. You have to use the desktop version of VLC. More importantly, very few Windows app can take advantage of your stylus pen. Microsoft Onenote is the only good one in my opinion. I am yet able to find a good pdf annotator that effectively allows hand writing, although regular mark-up with type font using keyboard works fine. In contrast, Android have many option of note-taking apps that take advantage of the s-pen (Papyrus, My Script Smart note, Samsung S-note). For PDF annotation, even the Adobe Reader on Android works really well, allowing drawing/marking with pen.
Bottom line: If you want one device that does it all, Windows tablet is better. But be prepared to be limited in app availability. You often find yourself doing what you wanted to do in some inefficient ways, especially when it relates to the use of the pen.
2. It's all about portability
This point is obvious for tablets vs. touch screen pc (hybrids). A less obvious point is the ac adapter. The more powerful hardware of any windows devices require a more powerful charger (e.g., 12V, 19V). Android chargers tend to be 5V, and thus are much more compact. You phone changers may even work, though slowly.
Finally, a point about Note 10.1 vs 12.2. Bigger generally is better when viewing the screen, but is less portable. Some people like the 12.2"; others find it too big to carry around. For me, I found the 12.2" Pro heavy and awkward to use when I am not in front of a desk. One thing to keep in mind is both devices have the same resolution of 2560 x 1600; i.e., same amount of content, just enlarged on the 12.2" screen compared to the 10.1" screen. However, if you root the tablet, you can change the resolution of the Note Pro to fit more content of the larger screen.
Great advices!
ikeny said:
I have experienced with all 4 options you mentioned: Note 10.1, 12.2, Surface PRO 3 (Windows tablet), Sony Multi-flip 15" (Windows touch screen tablet). They all have active digitizers for hand-writing function. I'll try to give you my overall impression on these.
1. Windows vs. Android
(...)When it comes to software, it is full Windows 8 and you can use it to run any Windows compatible software.
Android on the other hand, shines in making your tablet a better MOBILE device, due to the thousands of apps in Google Play, all designed for mobile devices (messenger/VOIP apps, media player, games). (...) More importantly, very few Windows app can take advantage of your stylus pen. (...)
Bottom line: If you want one device that does it all, Windows tablet is better. But be prepared to be limited in app availability. You often find yourself doing what in what to do in some inefficient ways, especially when it relates to the use of the pen.
2. It's all about portability
(...)Finally, a point about Note 10.1 vs 12.2. Bigger generally is better when viewing the screen, but is less portable. Some people like the 12.2"; others find it too big to carry. One thing to keep in mind is both devices have the same resolution of 2560 x 1600. (...).
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I agree with what you say... at only one answer from my question I'm almost ready to decide to android and to note 10.1. Have you had or seen a review of that android app Office suite 7 +PDF&HD? Because if I'm going android, this one look capable of helping me with my office documents. Any other app you might know?
monicaereis said:
I agree with what you say... at only one answer from my question I'm almost ready to decide to android and to note 10.1. Have you had or seen a review of that android app Office suite 7 +PDF&HD? Because if I'm going android, this one look capable of helping me with my office documents. Any other app you might know?
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Click to collapse
I edited my post above to include a comment on PDF annotation with Android tablets. Generally, most PDF reader apps work well as a reader, with the exception for very large files; e.g., a 200-page thesis with lots of HD figures. The slow processing power of your Android tablet will choke on these. When it comes to annotation, the common choices are iAnnotate, ezPDF reader, and Adobe Reader. My favourite is Adobe Reader. It is relatively fast, and allows all my basic needs of underlining, highlighting, adding text box, and hand-drawn objects. Most importantly to me, all annotations show up when I open the edited file on a desktop pc (Windows and Mac).
As for office apps (Word, Powerpoint and Excel equivalence), there are many choices in Google Play store. Many offer free versions to try. As far as I know, most if not all, won't take advantage of the s-pen. So you can just refer to general reviews of these apps (not specific to tablets with s-pen). Kingsoft Mobile Office is my favourite as a completely free app. One important thing to point out is, your Note 10.1 and Pro will come with a copy of Hancom Office suite. For the 10.1, you need to do a search in Samsung App store to see them. The Hancom Office received very good feedbacks as a Microsoft Office alternative (Google for review). Speaking of Microsoft, they do offer an Office app for phones, which will work on tablets if you sideload it. The apps work quite well on tablets, even as a phone version. But I dislike the fact that you can only save files to the Microsoft cloud (not locally); and is optimized for those with a 365-Office subscription. Microsoft is rumoured to be working on a tablet version of Office, and already released a beta version to selected test users. It is safe to say that for Office needs on the Android platform, it will only go from very good to even better with time.
To answer your question, you should be able to find one of the many Office apps that will satisfy general Office needs. On the other hand, if you want advanced functions; e.g., PowerPoint presentation with the latest animations, you'll have to experiment it with the various apps out there. Your safe bet is always going back to a full Windows OS.
You might want to reconsider Note 10.1 vs Note Pro 12.2.
The only reason for me to not get the 12.2 would be price, if you are on a budget then maybe take the 10.1.
I own and use both the Note 10.1 and Note Pro 12.2. The 12.2 is an all around better device, the screen is more comfortable to write on and batterylife is better.
Regarding pdf annotation on windows: One of my professors uses pdfannotator in class, it seems to work pretty well for him. I haven't tried it myself.
RE: Office compatible apps on Android
Hancom Office is actually pretty slick, and it's available for free on the Note 2014/Note PRO.
ikeny said:
To answer your question, you should be able to find one of the many Office apps that will satisfy general Office needs. On the other hand, if you want advanced functions; e.g., PowerPoint presentation with the latest animations, you'll have to experiment it with the various apps out there. Your safe bet is always going back to a full Windows OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
by the end, I see that most of my questions are for inexperience, but gladly, android is a world for it self and solves every little problem
I've decided
My decision is made. I'm going for the 12.2 Galaxy Note Pro (wifi+4G), mostly because I'm grabbing and awesome promotion here (602€). But for the future, the 10.1 (wifi+4G) was also a good call (508€) given the similar characteristics, but my mind and wallet were already prepared for the regular price of a 10.1 which would be 640€.
I've attached a pdf of a comparison between both if someone might be interested (some Portuguese language in there but perfectly understandable).
And Thank YOU for the great advices: @blindmanpb, @diemex, @ikeny!
monicaereis said:
Dear all great experts, hope you may take a few minutes in helping a tablet newbie,
I'm about to have my first ever tablet, going from a Samsung S2 were i was cleverly reading pdf's and making notes (...better if i was living in Lilliput, I know). Well, my every day life is that: reading pdf's, making notes, writing, browsing the internet, making presentations, travelling with the technology for work reasons, occasional gaming (mostly my son) and I'm doing it all with a laptop and the Samsung S2.
:cyclops:What I look for in the tablet: great battery life, great and quick response of the system, compatibility for office programs like word, excel, power point (btw: is the Office suite 7 +PDF&HD of great value for me if I need to go back and forward android/windows/android?)
Now my doubts taking into account my needs: should I get the a) Samsung Note 10.1 2014 edition, b) Samsung Galaxy Note PRO 12.2, c) an windows based tablet, d) an hybrid...
All answers all welcome and thank in advance:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is my office apps and I wrote this using with stylus handwriting recognition which is kinda flawless now.
I forgot to install hamcom office. I reflashed the rom as i do a lot of experimenting and that's the only reason i dont have hancom. Hancom is one of the best.
Buy the Note Tablet and you will not regret it. Buy an apple or windows and you will cry for many coming months.
Ups I forgot to attach the screen shot.
monicaereis said:
Dear all great experts, hope you may take a few minutes in helping a tablet newbie,
I'm about to have my first ever tablet, going from a Samsung S2 were i was cleverly reading pdf's and making notes (...better if i was living in Lilliput, I know). Well, my every day life is that: reading pdf's, making notes, writing, browsing the internet, making presentations, travelling with the technology for work reasons, occasional gaming (mostly my son) and I'm doing it all with a laptop and the Samsung S2.
:cyclops:What I look for in the tablet: great battery life, great and quick response of the system, compatibility for office programs like word, excel, power point (btw: is the Office suite 7 +PDF&HD of great value for me if I need to go back and forward android/windows/android?)
Now my doubts taking into account my needs: should I get the a) Samsung Note 10.1 2014 edition, b) Samsung Galaxy Note PRO 12.2, c) an windows based tablet, d) an hybrid...
All answers all welcome and thank in advance:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any Note would be great for notes, so one of these tablets would definitely meet those needs and both are great tablets!
Whether to get the 10.1 or 12.2, depends on your preference of screen size really. The two basically have the same hardware and screen resolution. The 10.1 will be slightly more portable and maybe easier to hold though. The 10.1 also has little accessories support from large companies like Logitech. You can still find accessories for the 10.1, but they're basically Chinese unbranded stuff and there's nothing super high quality.
A Windows tablet will be more expensive and more Windows laptop-like, especially if you get something like a Surface with a full version of Windows on it. In fact, with a Windows tablet, you may not even need a laptop depending on the tablet you get. My friend has a Surface 1 and it acts as his laptop now.
On an Android tablet, you can use Hancom Office to do your MS Office stuff. It works great, but occasionally, it can be a little trickier to do stuff than on an actual computer and using MS Office. On a Windows tablet, you CAN use the actual MS Office.
Personally, I prefer Android only because they are cheaper and because I use my tablet more for recreational purposes. If I needed a work laptop though, I'd probably sell my Android tablet and upgrade to the Surface 3 or something similar. It'd be more compatible with the workplace. You can use MS Office and any other software you might need.
I voted Note 10.1 because it is a very good consumption device and a great size to carry and hold. Depending on your mix, the Surface 3 could be a better fit - especially if you do a lot of content creation. I am considering picking up a bluetooth keyboard for the note.
Note FTW
I would recommend the Note 10.1 for portability, but then I prefer my old Note 8 for size and weight and if it had a better screen I would not have bothered with the Note 10.1
If they made a Note Version of the Tab S 8.4, I would snap it up!
That said, I have TWO Note 10.1, I got sick of my missus using mine so had to buy a second one.
AS for Office suites, I measure them by their spreadsheet ability because thats what I use most.
Not many office apps have spreadsheets that can edit conditional formatting. Hancom office does it along with pivot tables. WPS office (formerly known as Kingsoft Office) also does it, all the others do not.
No office suite on iOS does both conditional formatting and pivot tables, not even MS Office for iOS.
To me that puts Hancom and WPS a class above the rest. If you are used to the menus interface in MS Office, Hancom Office comes pretty close to that and works best with the s-pen. WPS office more designed for finger operation rather than stylus.
as for windows tablets, I have 2 surfaces (RT1 and Pro1) and while they are great in their own ways, I most often grab my Lenovo Thinkpad 8 tablet when I need windows. It is just a great size and fits in jacket pockets and the screen is even sharper than the Pro. Best thing of all, it charges using Micro USB so I can carry 1 charger for both phone and tablet(s). I also have a Samsung Ativ 700T i5 tablet, but it gets no love and only comes out when I need i5 power and a big drive (I've swapped a 500gb msata SSD into it).
If you use MS Onenote, they have updated the Android version and it now supports inking and works really well with s-pen.
All that said, I grab my Note 10.1 most of the time as it is the weapon of choice for a road warrior.

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