In my quest to lighten my work backpack, I've been through Netbooks, ultraportables, tablet PCs, modern tablets, and even hooked up my smartphone to an external monitor and Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Results have been either unpractical or under-powered.
Earlier this year, I "upgraded" from the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 to the Tab 2 10.1. With no major changes in processing power or in any other relevant category, the only benefit I got from the move was an SD card slot, which allowed be to supplement the small 16GB internal storage. The move was a step back in one very important aspect (for me at least), the Tab 2 10.1 would not stream archive videos using the MLB At Bat app--very confusing considering the relatively unchanged specs from the original Tab.
Anyway, armed with Samsung's optional keyboard dock and now a Logitech Bluetooth travel mouse, traveling light was finally achieved. I thought I was in geek heaven--until I picked up the Galaxy Note 10.1.
Oh man, was I in for a pleasant surprise. But first the disappointments. The first let down was my own fault, I should have preordered the black and not the white one. Secondly, looks may be deceiving and you may assume otherwise from the 10.1 moniker but the Note 10.1 is physically larger than both its 10.1 Tab predecessors. Slightly thicker and wider, it does not fit in docks, cases or other Tab 10.1-specific accessories. Luckily, Samsung has built compatibility into its keyboard dock which originally came with two docking inserts for the 10.1 and 7 inch tablets. Neither of these fit the Note 10.1 but if you remove it completely, the Note will fit the opening. Prop it up with something on the back, my monitor in this case, and you're good to go. If you're handy with a rotary tool, you can probably take enough material off the dock insert meant for the Tab 10.1 to make the Note 10.1 fit and have a less ghetto solution.
Performance should be no surprise for you readers. So many sites have been gushing over its specs and performance since its announcement--to try to write something original would be fruitless. What I can say is that the multitasking and almost zero lag input (keyboard, pen) is giving my MacBook Air more shelf- than work time.
What I do want to say is that this is the tablet Thai school children should have gotten instead of the budget friendly ones. While there are arguments against putting such a pricey device in the hands of children, but the benefits are endless in my mind. For what they are used for, the Note 10.1 coupled with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse could easily replace the shared computers which most Thai schools now have. It would mean that computer classes could be more than a once a week affair. With its pen, I've managed to get my son to actually like practicing handwriting on Note 10.1--it was a struggle of wills and patience to get him to do simple exercises in the dozens of activity books we've bought for him.
The Note's Multiscreen feature essentially splits the screen into two sides and allows you to run compatible built-in apps. Quite useful but I would like to see third-party apps run in this mode as well.
The redesigned pen comes with several replacable tips for you to chose from with varying hardness. The pen on the Note 10.1 is now more rectangular than tube-like as seen on the original Note but does have the textured button to make locating it and clicking it much easier.
Though the screen's pixel density has not received an upgrade, I still have no complaints about it. Samsung has also included Smart Stay, which prevents the screen from turning off if it detects you looking at it. While this feature was first seen on the Galaxy S3 smartphone, it feels much more useful one a tablet, which sits on your desk while you ponder what to write next or reading a lengthy email without scrolling.
How chip designers are managing to shove four tiny mice and their tiny running wheels into such a small form factor still amazes me but they seem to keep up with almost anything I throw at it. Watching a video in multiscreen mode while typing up this blog post doens't seem to slow things down too much . While I have not done too much multi-layered editing with Photoshop touch, I don't see how even that would slow it down too much considering it is "optimized" for tablets and is not the full-blown desktop version.
It's funny to think how just a few years back, you'd purchase similarly priced Netbooks with dual-core processors and maxes out at 2GB of RAM for the same price. Sure you'd get at least double the storage but if you slide in one of the availble 64GB microSDXC cards into its slot, the Note 10.1 suddenly becomes a device that can surpass the capabilities of yesterday's Netbooks. The difference is that with its capabilities and compact size, you can take with you on vacation to store, edit, upload and share your photos.
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