Hitechnex: Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition)

Review: Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 [2014 Edition] is loaded with features

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">
<b><i>Galaxy Note 10.1 is loaded with features—multi-window, smart stay, air view, etc—but Too many features also mean the device, at times, does tend to lag but, fortunately, this lag is not frustrating</i></b></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgo0wSe6DSihUIMvWx6Nz-M4ImeJOIr4zVfxr6fmYgmHc4S04FEZLef39qIMNq17ZSJ9B31EavZrJgavvr6tm5m4Cdi57c0VyfWbYma3Rix8P49-SCmYzw50eRaMMMJlfXxjRyvQTztwHq/s1600/M_Id_456212_Samsung_Galaxy_Note.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgo0wSe6DSihUIMvWx6Nz-M4ImeJOIr4zVfxr6fmYgmHc4S04FEZLef39qIMNq17ZSJ9B31EavZrJgavvr6tm5m4Cdi57c0VyfWbYma3Rix8P49-SCmYzw50eRaMMMJlfXxjRyvQTztwHq/s1600/M_Id_456212_Samsung_Galaxy_Note.jpg" width="320" /></a>Although Samsung may be bracing for its weakest smartphone profit growth this year since 2007 as arch rival Apple challenges its domination in China's $80 billion market—according to Reuters, from January 17, Apple will make its phones available via China Mobile through which Samsung has been successfully selling smartphones for seven years, hurting the Korean company's sales—Samsung continues its strong grip over the Indian market. And though new players such as Micromax and Gionee are eating into the sales of established players in India, products from companies such as Samsung are seeing increasing interest among the buyers. In fact, according to Google India Zeitgeist—which tracks the year's major events and trends based on Google searches—the Samsung Galaxy S4 was the most searched for mobile device in the country in 2013.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">
This year, one mobile device that just might enter the Google India Zeitgeist list is the recently launched Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 edition). Promising what the company calls the "best viewing experience", the new Galaxy Note 10.1 boasts of extremely high WQXGA resolution with crystal clear viewing quality and big screen. In fact, the resolution offers the user utmost viewing experience and full HD contents are fully supported without compromising quality. This is one tablet in which every image and video is displayed more vividly and more sharply than many other similar devices. The Galaxy Note 10.1 also allows magazine-like experience via its 10.1-inch large screen. You can create your own menu screen by pinning your most used and loved apps, websites, videos, files, and folders to your screen. Then, there is enough screen space to do multiple tasks simultaneously. For example, you can activate two apps at the same time, and you can also draw or scribble while you are doing something else, like watching a movie.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">
This tablet also gets a new exterior design. The extra space from the bezel is removed, making it smaller in size and lighter in weight without a reduction in the screen size. Then, the leather-like back cover gives the Galaxy Note 10.1 a more classic look. It has got a very solid build quality and is easy to grip. But while this tablet is fairly light at 547 gm, it remains heavy enough for single-handed usage—more often than not, you have to use both hands to operate this tablet. Sadly, there is no case or cover included in the box that can ensure ease of operation.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">
One can also compose and manage notes easily and quickly on this tablet. For instance, you can quickly scribble notes and then the S Note will edit the same and convert it into digital text. The S Pen that this tablet comes equipped with has a very comfortable grip and is light. As soon as you take the S Pen out of its slot, a feature called Action Memo appears on the screen. This memo connects you to seven things that you are most likely to do—call, save contact info, send SMS or email, search web and location, add tasks. The S Pen itself is a wonder—if you hold it like a pen, the rubberised tip gives a very 'pen-like' feel when writing on the screen and the handwriting recognition is just brilliant!</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">
This tablet has another fine feature called the Scrapbooker, with which one can easily collect and organise a variety of content, including webpages, YouTube videos, videos on device, etc, in one place called the Scrapbook.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">
The front of the screen has two capacitive keys to the left and right of the home screen button in the middle, but because the tablet is wide enough at 243 mm, operating those keys with your thumbs, while holding the tablet with both hands, can be an issue at times. There is a speaker grille on each side of the tablet and the sound is loud yet clear. The Galaxy Note 10.1 has a front and a rear camera, both of which are at par with cameras on other tablets in this segment.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">
The Galaxy Note 10.1 is loaded with features—multi-window, smart stay, air view, etc—some of which Samsung users might already be aware of, but people coming from iOS or even vanilla Android may have to climb the learning curve. And once you get a hang of things, this tablet can be</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">
extremely productive. Again, too many features also mean the device, at times, does tend to lag but, fortunately, this lag is not frustrating. Mention must be made of the 8,220 mAh battery which lasts very long even with heavy usage. Priced at R49,990, the Galaxy Note 10.1 can prove to be a very productive tablet for professionals. It is, indeed, among the few tablets we hate to dislike.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">
<b>Estimated street price: Rs 49,990</b></div>
<div class="fb-like fb_edge_widget_with_comment fb_iframe_widget" data-action="recommend" data-send="false" data-show-faces="false" data-width="500" fb-xfbml-state="rendered" style="background-color: white; display: inline-block; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; position: relative;">
<span style="display: inline-block; height: 20px; position: relative; text-align: justify; width: 500px;"><iframe class="fb_ltr" id="f2e83e36a4" name="f17c96eb04" scrolling="no" src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?action=recommend&api_key=&channel_url=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.ak.facebook.com%2Fconnect%2Fxd_arbiter.php%3Fversion%3D28%23cb%3Df289c5decc%26domain%3Dwww.indianexpress.com%26origin%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.indianexpress.com%252Ff356946f78%26relation%3Dparent.parent&colorscheme=light&extended_social_context=false&href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indianexpress.com%2Fnews%2Freview-samsung-galaxy-note-10.1-is-loaded-with-features%2F1216976%2F3&layout=standard&locale=en_US&node_type=link&sdk=joey&send=false&show_faces=false&width=500" style="border-style: none; height: 20px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; width: 500px;" title="Like this content on Facebook."></iframe></span></div>
</div>

Review: Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 [2014 Edition] is loaded with features

Galaxy Note 10.1 is loaded with features—multi-window, smart stay, air view, etc—but Too many features also mean the device, at times, doe...

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) Review

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/gadgets/samsung-galaxy-note-10.1-635.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #3e9599; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; outline: none;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/gadgets/samsung-galaxy-note-10.1-635.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; padding: 0px;" /></a></div>
<br style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 20px; outline: none;">
</div>
<div class="description" id="HeadContent_FullstoryCtrl_fulldetails" style="background-color: white; color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 20px; outline: none;">
Remember when people used personal computers - desktops and laptops - to check email, view video and keep tabs on Facebook? Back in that far-away era, I'd have several windows open for Web browsers, a word processor, a photo editor and sometimes a reader for PDF documents.<div style="outline: none;">
I miss that capability on mobile devices, particularly on full-size tablets with a decent amount of display space. With iPads and Android tablets, I'm typically limited to one window displayed at a time; other apps run in the background, out of sight. With Windows 8 tablets, I can run two windows side by side, but I'm constrained in what I can do with them. It gets better with the Windows 8.1 update due out next week, but it's still not the free-for-all I had with PCs.</div>
<div style="outline: none;">
So I marveled at a pair of multitasking features that come with Samsung's new tablet, formally called Galaxy Note 10.1 - 2014 Edition. Sporting a 10.1-inch display, measured diagonally, the Note tablet goes on sale in the U.S. on Thursday at a starting price of $550.</div>
<div style="outline: none;">
The first of the multitasking features, called Multi-Window, has been available in Samsung devices for about a year, but it works with many more apps now. You can run two apps side by side, such as Facebook on one side and YouTube video on the other.</div>
<div style="outline: none;">
Like Windows 8 tablets, you're limited to just two apps. You can change how much of the screen each one takes, a capability coming with Windows 8.1, but you can't choose to have a window take up just the top left corner, the way you can on PCs. In addition, Multi-Window isn't a universal feature. Apps for Netflix and Hulu won't work, for instance. You currently have about 18 apps to choose from, including Facebook and a variety of Google and Samsung apps.</div>
<span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline; outline: none;"><img alt="Galaxy-Note-10_1_635_multi_window.jpg" class="mt-image-center" height="423" src="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/gadgets/Galaxy-Note-10_1_635_multi_window.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; display: block; margin: 0px auto 20px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: center;" width="635" /></span><div style="outline: none;">
With that limitation, it's nice that Samsung Electronics Co. is supplementing Multi-Window with a feature called Pen Window.</div>
<div style="outline: none;">
With it, simply draw a box on the screen with the included stylus, and choose one of seven apps to open in a new window. Do it again and again until you open all seven apps, if you wish. That's nine in all, counting the two with Multi-Window. Each Pen Window app appears in a window that floats over your main app (or two apps if you use Multi-Window). You can move that window around on your screen and resize it, just as you can on PCs. Need a break from it? Just minimize it into a small dot and move it out of the way.</div>
<div style="outline: none;">
Like Multi-Window, you're restricted in what apps you can use with Pen Window, though I expect more to get added over time. For now, Pen Window on the tablet works with YouTube, the calculator, the alarm clock, your contacts list, the Web browser and two chat apps - Samsung's ChatOn and Google's Hangouts. I like the fact that you can open all of them and keep them out of the way in a minimized state. That way, it's just one click when you need the calculator and one click when you're done.</div>
<div style="outline: none;">
The iPad doesn't do that. Amazon's Kindle Fire doesn't do that. Other Android tablets don't do that. Windows 8.1 won't do that - at least not in the tablet-style viewing mode that Microsoft prefers you stick with. You'll have to go to the classic, desktop mode to resize windows, which defeats the purpose of having Windows 8 or 8.1. Windows 8.1 will go further than Multi-Window in letting you run up to four apps side by side, but that works only on larger screens, not portable tablets.</div>
<div style="outline: none;">
Beyond multitasking, the new Note tablet offers a My Magazine mode giving you personalized highlights, such as news topics of interest, content from your social media feeds and suggestions on things to do and see, based on your current location. It's a good concept, though Facebook isn't available through it yet.</div>
<span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline; outline: none;"><img alt="galaxy_note_10_1_635_with_stylus.jpg" class="mt-image-center" height="423" src="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/gadgets/galaxy_note_10_1_635_with_stylus.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; display: block; margin: 0px auto 20px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: center;" width="635" /></span><div style="outline: none;">
The new tablet also gives you quick access to the tools you can accomplish with its stylus. Pen Window is one. Another feature lets you add notes to a screenshot of what you see. Another lets you clip a section of a Web page and store it with a Web link.</div>
<div style="outline: none;">
Unfortunately, not everything worked. Text recognition was poor. I'm supposed to be able to jot down an email address or a phone number with the stylus and have that handwriting converted into a contacts entry. But the device constantly confuses the letters "o" and "l" with the numerals "0" and "1."</div>
<div style="outline: none;">
Pen Window also is more difficult than necessary to set up. You need to take out the stylus for an Air Command tool to appear on the screen. You choose Pen Window, then draw a box on your screen with your stylus. Then you choose the app you want to open. Do all of that again to get additional apps, after figuring out how to get Air Command again with your stylus already out. It would have been simpler to have a button on the home screen that you can tap with your finger or stylus.</div>
<div style="outline: none;">
In addition, Samsung could have done more with the apps in minimized state. Google's chat app is reduced to a circular icon. It could have flashed or changed colors to notify me of a new chat message, rather than make me open and close it regularly to check.</div>
<span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline; outline: none;"><img alt="galaxy_note_10_1_635_back.jpg" class="mt-image-center" height="423" src="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/gadgets/galaxy_note_10_1_635_back.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; display: block; margin: 0px auto 20px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: center;" width="635" /></span><div style="outline: none;">
The tablet's back is still made of plastic, but it feels like leather - an improvement over previous Samsung devices. The tablet does feel heavy, at 1.2 pounds, but that's still lighter than the 1.4 pounds for the full-size iPad. If you want light, wait until early November for the large-size version of Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX. It weighs just 0.83 pound.</div>
<div style="outline: none;">
Samsung's tablet is also pricey - the $550 starting price tops the iPad's $499 and the Fire's $379. Of course, neither the iPad nor the Fire includes a stylus.</div>
<div style="outline: none;">
One more complaint: Although the tablet uses the latest version of Android, 4.3, it doesn't offer that system's feature of letting multiple people share a device with separate profiles.</div>
<div style="outline: none;">
With the Note, it's clear some of the functionality we've long associated with PCs is coming to devices we're just getting to know. There's more to be done, including support for multiple users, but I'm glad Samsung is leading us in that direction.</div>
</div>
</div>

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) Review

Remember when people used personal computers - desktops and laptops - to check email, view video and keep tabs on Facebook? Back in t...

Review: Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 [2014 Edition] is loaded with features

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) Review

Popular Posts

Labels

Blog Archive