If you are a student or have a need to take notes, the you MUST absolutely check out the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet. The Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet is absolutely fantastic for taking notes.
Good Stuff Happens in 1:1 Meetings: Why you need them and how to do them well
The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 – A Must For All Students
1. The Samsung Galaxy
Note 10.1
A Must For All
Students
5.0 out of 5 stars THE Tablet for Students, but Great for All, August 18,
2012
By B. Price
Update: Updates usually go at the end but I just want to point out that I ordered this Samsung
Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet immediately when Amazon posted it with 1-day shipping and as of
8/30/2012 I haven't had any issues as a few users seem to have reported.
First the bad because there isn't too much.
* Keyboard - I'm used to Swype on my Galaxy S so I can't stand the default keyboard of the
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2. Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. Even though it has a Swype-like option, it isn't as intuitive as
Swype is. Search on Google to find out how to install Swype if you're interested.
And now...
Good Stuff
* Hand Written Notes
- S Notes - Contrary to what my review initially said, this program DOES export to PDF and
also JPG. It has templates for various types of productivity. My favourites are the ruled paper,
the meeting template (date, time, attendees, meeting notes) and the recipe template (I can
imagine this being very useful for the kitchen, propped up in the case).
- Papyrus Beta - This free application is very nice and similar to S Note but has normal paper
templates such as College Ruled, Wide Ruled, Narrow Ruled, Blank and 4 different Graph
Paper types.
- ezPDF - Costs $3 and is what you'll probably want to make annotations on lecture slides
and whatnot.
- SOME applications allow you to rest your palm on the tablet while writing, others are not as
well written. This all depends on the author of a specific app.
- SOME applications have nice erasers. Sometimes you can press the button on the S Pen to
erase instead of write and sometimes you can just use your finger to erase while using the S
Pen to write. This all depends on the author of a specific application.
* Hand Writing Instead of Typing
- The default keyboard has an option that lets you hand write in any input field instead of
typing. Long-press the settings (gear) button on the keyboard to select the T button which
enables hand writing on this Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1.
* Multitasking - It's limited to their six programs (S Note, Internet, Video Player, Polaris
Office, Gallery, Email) but those are some good options. As expected, it puts any two
windows side-by-side and works seamlessly. Hopefully that functionality will be expanded to
other programs.
* GPS - Fast and accurate. I am currently on the first floor of a two-story apartment building
about ten feet away from the outer wall (sliding glass door) and Google Maps had my
position within 40 meters almost instantly after turning on the GPS receiver. Within 35ish
seconds it had my position accurate to 10 meters.
* S Pen - Comfortable to hold (I'm a 5'10" tall guy and have normal sized hands). There's an
odd button on the side which adds extra functionality with certain gestures. I have no idea
how it works because I'm pretty sure the S Pen isn't powered in any way, but it's more than
just a stylus.
* Screen
- The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1’s screen is very sensitive. After seeing the teachers in my
two summer classes trying to use touch screen laptops during lecture I'm glad to have this.
I'm able to write better than they were and with good accuracy. I'm looking forward to taking
notes on it next semester.
- After reading a lot of reviews/experiences, I've seen one account of somebody that had
"light bleed" around the edge when watching a video in a dark room but nobody else has had
issues and I haven't.
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3. - It doesn't have ridiculously high resolution like the latest iPad, but it doesn't need it. Very
few desktop monitors have a resolution as high or higher than 2048x1536 so why does the
sub-10" little iPad need it? IT DOESN'T - the picture on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is
great.
* Build Quality - Standard Samsung quality. The case has a lot of plastic and the back gives a
little if you push on it but it definitely feels solid. I'm going to get a case for it whenever
Samsung decides to make an official case available so it doesn't really matter either way.
* Speed
- It is very smooth on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. I updated about 10 apps at the same
time in the market, an operation which would nearly cripple my Galaxy S until it was done,
and I couldn't tell any difference in the smoothness of the Galaxy Note 10.1. While I was
exploring I ended up having 15-20 applications open at the same time but again I couldn't tell
any difference.
- Coming from a Galaxy S phone and hardly ever using a tablet before, I'm amazed by how
fast this thing boots/restarts.
* Wifi - No complaints. It connects quickly with the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and hasn't
had any issues.
* Sound - Good, loud and scared my cat when I started something on Google Play. She
looked around like she does when our surround sound is on because she doesn't understand
what was making such a noise. I can't tell any difference in quality between it and my laptop
when watching the same video on both (the laptop was ~$1700 before a coupon).
* Everything Else - I'm extremely critical - ask my wife - and I got the bad stuff out of the
way in the beginning. The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is a solid tablet and worth the money.
* Rooting Friendly - Check out the forum for this tablet on xda developers for info. This
device already has developers that say they'll work on it and I'm sure more will sign up
because the Note 10.1 stands out among the crowd.
Update 1:
* Universal Remote / IR Blaster
- Works well enough on my Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. I'm going to sell my Logitech
Harmony One universal remote because the Peel application works but could be nicer. With
my Harmony One I could set up custom activities like Listen to Radio on my Onkyo receiver
but the Peel application only has standard actions like watch Bluray. I can still set it to play
the radio but it's buried in the menus.
- Great cable TV interface. We don't watch/have cable, but if you tell it what service you
have the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 will tell you what is currently playing, what will be
playing and provides customized content based on the preferences you specify. It works with
DVRs so I imagine you can manage all of that from the Peel application as well.
Update 2:
* Battery - I went through my first battery pretty quickly because I left the WiFi on
constantly and was playing with it a lot. Since then I charged it fully, unplugged it and plan to
turn the WiFi off whenever I set it down.
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4. Currently, it is at 78% and says it has been on battery (unplugged) for 1 day, 5 hours and 13
minutes. The culprits that have drained it are 77% screen, 12% Android system, device idle
5%, Android OS 5%, 2% media server. I used it some, not a lot, before I unplugged it and
went to sleep and haven't used it much yet today aside from making a couple sample videos
of my cat and figuring out what apps are good for note taking. Not sure why the percentages
add up to 101%...
Update 2.5:
* Battery - 36% at 2 days and 53 minutes. Culprits are 72% screen, 12% Android system, 4%
Android OS, 3% device idle, 3% Chrome, 3% GO Launcher HD, 2% Swype, 2% media
server. I've been forgetting to turn off the WiFi some since yesterday and did a good bit of
data transfer and restarting to try to get a certain application to work. Between my wife and
me we used our Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 a good bit yesterday for general purposes as well.
I don't know what to think of those percentages adding up to 104% but it probably isn't
important.
Note: When setting up the SwitchMe app (see below) I screwed something up on my tablet
that I couldn't fix so I did a factory reset and had to set everything up again. That wiped the
running stats so I won't have any more updates about the battery.
* Extended Battery Life - Apparently by disabling Google+ and some of the default/Samsung
apps that come with the device the battery will only go down 6% in 48+ hours if left alone (in
standby). Search "xda Awesome battery life - inadvertently achieved" on Google to find the
thread about this.
Update 2.8: I charged my Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet on Saturday and on Thursday
morning (4 days 20.5 hours later) my battery is at 29%. Culprits: 64% screen 10% Android
system, 6% Chrome, 5% device idle, 5% Android OS, 3% facebook, 3% ezPDF, 2% Swype,
2% Gmail. I've used it so far to take notes during 3 lectures, periodically for other work
(emails/facebook/other communication), some random entertainment at school and some
home use. If I had charged it on Sunday I'm pretty sure I could go all week at school without
charging it again.
Update 3:
* Cameras - The cameras work very well. Both the front 1.9MP camera and 5MP camera
fully live up to their specs.
* Writing Sample - I also uploaded a writing sample that's worth checking out. They're all in
the User Images for this product.
Update 4: THE BEST ONES
* The Wife - Now that I've set it up the way I like it she won't put it down. She agreed that
she would clean the kitchen but she won't get off the couch. You may not want your not-so-
techie spouse to love it, but at least my wife won't be complaining that I spent $550 on it and
then another nearly $100 on accessories.
* SwitchMe App - When set up properly, if your Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet is rooted,
this free application will give your Android device multiple profiles. I can have my home
screen WITH MY GOOGLE ACCOUNT on my profile and on her profile she can have a
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5. completely different home screen with completely different applications WITH HER OWN
GOOGLE ACCOUNT. Having an Android device with two separate profiles that each have a
different default Google account is pretty amazing.
Note: If you're going to use the SwitchMe app, DO NOT clone one profile to create another.
Just set up a completely new profile.
Update 5: Apology
After somebody in the comments asked me to try S Note again I realized that I had
overlooked some of the features of S Note and bashed the multitasking feature. S Note is a
useful program that does export to useful file types so I have edited my review accordingly.
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 - Product Features and
Technical Details
Product Features
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, 10.1 inch Display,S Pen included
Samsung Tablet 1.4 GHz Quad-Core Processor
2 GB RAM Memory, 32GB On-Board Memory
Camera Front: 1.9 MP, Back: 5 MP
Processor, Memory, and Motherboard
Hardware Platform: PC
Processor: 1.4 GHz Tablet Processor
Number of Processors: 1
RAM: 1 GB
RAM Type: SDRAM
Hard Drive
Size: 32 GB
Manufacturer: SSD
Type: Serial ATA
Cases and Expandability
Size (LWH): 7.09 inches, 0.35 inches, 10.32 inches
Weight: 1.31 pounds
Power
Battery Type: Nonstandard Battery
Wireless
Wireless Type: 802.11bgn
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6. What Other Owners Thought Of Their Galaxy Note 10.1
5.0 out of 5 stars THE Best Tablet, August 25, 2012
By Jack
First of all, I'm actually handwriting this review on my Note! Cool. Bottom line is this tablet
delivers on what it's designed to do. Handwriting recognition isn't perfect, but it does work
amazingly well. This is the only tablet I've had interest in due to the S-Pen. I don't like
software keyboards so I love being able to write everything out. The only downside is the
display's resolution, but it's more than good enough and everything else is superior to every
other Android tablet or iPad on the market.
5.0 out of 5 stars Just got it and loving it!!!!, September 3, 2012
By Ruperta Lemon (HOUSTON, TEXAS, US)
I got the Samsung Note the day before school started so I did not have much time to fiddle
around with it. Either way I took it to class and figured it out quite smoothly. I love this
tablet. It is really great for students! I love the multi screen function but I wish it allowed you
to use all or more of the apps in that mode.
The S Note app is the best. I use it religiously! I have really bad handwriting but surprisingly
enough it is able to transfer my handwriting into text. I'm still learning everything on here
little by little and it is really easy to use. I'm so glad I waited for this tablet because it is the
best!
5.0 out of 5 stars Hasta la vista ipad...., September 4, 2012
By Daniel Silvano (Colombia)
I am a graphic designer, and i find this tablet the perfect way to expose my projects, and the
S-PEN magnificent tool to select modifications in the graphic. More than just a tool,
formidable for creativas !!! HIGHLY RECOMENDED.
5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing device!!!, September 4, 2012
By Dimitri
Owned this device already for few weeks. Just an amazing one! The S-Pen is gorgeous for
meetings and making certain notes. Now i don't need to carry my notebook on meetings at
all. Despite the low resolution screen (in comparison with competitors) it looks gorgeous
(guess nobody looks at tablet screen with a magnifier). I also own new iPad and I can proudly
say that with functionality note 10.1 blows iPad away! For my needs iPad stays as an
entertainment device. Moreover, new quadcore on note 10.1 is superfast. No lags noticed at
all. Battery life is amazing, it only drains at the end of the second day heavy usage.
This is the best pick for those who are looking a tablet for business needs + multimedia
purposes.
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7. 5.0 out of 5 stars I used this tablet for 2 days and I fell in love with it!, August 23, 2012
By Andrey Dunmire
My husband bought it for my b-day gift, and I got this yesterday and used for 2 days, omg I
fell in love with this tablet pc.
I love ps touch and s note with S pen! I love drawing and writing with it and editing photos
with ps touch, it is awesome. and I love watching movies with studying languages, s note
with multi screen is very helpful! Thanks Samsung, you guys made a great tablet with a great
idea!
I bought 32 gb one, and I am about to use it with my 32 gb SD memory card too. Just so
amazing to use it.
In summary, if you are a student or someone who needs to take notes:
You will enjoy the luxury of handwriting down your notes on an electronic tablet
instead of using your pen and paper notebook
You can immediate covert your notes and they can become a part of the assignment
that you can submit. Don’t need to retype.
A central place to store not only your written notes but also annotation on your pdf
files
You will have ability to share your notes and collaborate closely with your fellow
students especially if you are doing a group project
You can draw and write equations
It’s better than the iPad with amazing battery life so that you can take out the Galaxy
Note 10.1 knowing that that the battery will not run out on you
With all this amazing features and feedback, the next question that pops up is where should
you buy the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet?
Where To Get Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1?
You can get the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet at most electronics stores. However it is
easier to order online. Many online merchants sell the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 but I
would like to recommend buying it from Amazon. The reason is due to Amazon's refund
policy whereby you can get refunds for the product you purchase if it is not up to your
expectation (check out the details at Amazon).
Even though most of the owners of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 found it to be a fantastic
tablet, don’t take their word for it. Check it out yourself.
Like I mentioned earlier, if you find that the tablet is not up to your expectation, then just
return it. I bet most people, once they got their hands on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1,
they will find it very hard to part with it. This is what I found out from taking to owners of
the Note 10.1
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8. Check out the link below for FANTASTIC
discounts!
(Discounts and offers are subjected to change by the merchant without notice. So, hurry…)
Click here or the button below NOW to buy Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 from Amazon.
If you still need a more information, click on this link for extensive and comprehensive information
on the Gaalaxy Note 10.1.
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