Good ideas, middling execution: the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 reviewed

Lack of third-party support hampers some interesting multitasking ideas.

Read the whole story

 

[obarthelemy]

The stylus is their way of trying to differentiate themselves from Apple and provide something better. Unfortunately, a stylus isn't what people want on a tablet.

One of the problems is that not only is Apple pretty good and bringing out new or emerging technologies quickly, but they bring up the support for it too. I don't know if you can do that when your device is one of hundreds on the the market and your only real control are the variances in hardware. No one's going to roll out anything to support feature X on a single new tablet in a space of many.

This all brings me back to the assumption that Samsung is content where they are. They have the resources to build excellent hardware. Start with something that feels like a million bucks and people will notice.

They keep pushing out this warmed over crap. They don't care it's buggy or an awful product, they'll just release a new one next month.

Well, once you realize that Samsung sell both a regular tablet, and this stylus one, the argument kinda changes, doesn't it ?

 

[jarvis]

What are those dragon quest slime containers you have sitting on your desk? They look awesome. Can I have them?

 

[Lwio]

David Pogue over on the NY times tech section came to pretty much the same conclusion about this device.

 

[7starmarc]

I couldn't agree more with the headline "summary" -- lots of good ideas, poor execution overall.

Samsung checked a whole lot of boxes on the features list without providing a high quality presentation or user ex, at a price tag that is too high for what you're getting. Seems to me that Samsung likes to play the spec/feature game without necessarily delivering on the overall product as well.

I know others have had better experiences, but the S-Pen was actually not that responsive for my writing. My writing samples showed evidence of skipping at times, my signature was often not captured properly -- very improtant for one of my essential use cases, completing and signing documents electronically, then exporting as PDF. The active digitzer actually did not do enough rejection of other input, when the stray touches were not on the central interaction area.

The screen was clearly inferior (in a noticeable way) when you're used to working on a 3rd gen iPad or Nexus 7.

Truth be told, this product did not represent the advances I would have expected at this point in time and price point when compared to the HTC Flyer from about 18 months ago (which I had until recently trading up to the Nexus 7, but I do miss the Scribe pen from some things).

 

[aaronb1138]

It's amusing the author attacks the price point while ignoring the extra expense and significant value of including a digitizer and stylus. Compare it to an equivalent sized Wacom pad or even the more parallel Wacom Cintiq. Or just compare to Windows digitizer tablets like the $750+ Fujitsu q55x series.

Also, the author sounds ignorant referring to inclusion of Desktop in Win 8 as multitasking enabling. Metro has native multitasking via docking apps side by side or swiping through open ones (similar to WebOS). Similar multitasking is migrating into Android, just look at the card stack system in Chrome for Android.

I do appreciate the author's frankness regarding the flimsiness of the case and instability of S Note, but the rest of the review reads like a search for more demerits than actually exist.

This isn't even a device aimed at the iPad consumption crowd, it is aimed at business users and creative types who prefer stylus interaction and have had to endure much higher priced Windows XP/7 devices. As such, the comparisons made are relatively invalid. This is a content creation platform, as such, it would be better if someone like Aurich or someone else who understands stylus tablets where writing the review. What magical powers allow the author to know the device lacks 1k levels of pressure sensitivity? Heck, the typical 256 is more than sufficient for nearly any use.

Why can't I use my toy for everyday business or school? I don't get it.

Also, I think we should just go by Best Buy's review scores going forward.

The fact that the Android fans get all irritated at the mention of the iPad, while the iPad users are happy and ignore the Android stuff should tell you something.

I've commented on my observations at an engineering and generally STEM centric university before, and the reality is the iPads as school work devices disappear the second week into the semester. Even with the best capacitive stylii, people give up in frustration. I just see them (iPads) used for facebook and e-mail during class on the occasions where someone pulls one out.

I could show firewall logs demonstrating most iPad traffic is to consumption / non-work oriented websites where corporate offices have Wifi, but I value my customers more than that.

The only industry getting work use out of the iPad is medicine where it's a convenient interface to show images and diagrams to patients.

(This comment inked on an HP Slate... waiting for Surface Pro)

 

[Gambs]

My first reaction upon pulling my store's Note 10.1 demo unit from its box was a mix of apprehension and hope. Exactly like this and every other review stated, the body is cheapy. I didn't get much creakiness over the course of my use, but the relatively weak plastic was nowhere near as pleasing in hand as the other unit I got to mess around with freely (ASUS TF700). Samsung's offering is also significantly weightier despite the inferior body materials. But I'd been anticipating the new Exynos, the extra memory, the

 

[TheVelourFog]

I say people don't want a stylus because the while the ones without styli sell by the truckload, the ones with one come stumble and fail.

It's not because it HAS a stylus, it's because they don't give you a good reason to want one. An app that crashes when you use it? Yeah OK, that'll make me spend $500.

If you are looking for a tablet device with a stylus for content creation, you're going to be waiting a while. None of these devices, stylus or not, are more than just companion devices IME.

All IMO of course.

 

[Lwio]

You have to admit, when you see the videos in this review if Apple produced this stuff people would be screaming from the rooftops.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/08/21 ... oney-grab/

Thanks to the original poster.

 

[thomsirveaux]

I'm getting pissed at always reading bad reviews about plastic stuff:
- quality is perceived, actually it's a preconception unless you can backup your negative opinion about it with facts.
- the alternatives are glass (heavy, vulnerable to shocks and pressure) and metal (heavy, frequent issues with scratching or flaking).

I'd rather have a plasticy phone/tablet that can withstand a fall, the a glass one that can't. And a died-indepth plastic that won't show scratches too much, instead of cute metal that'll look like a silver/black zebra after a few months in my pocket.

So, unless you know something I don't (and I'm curious), I think the 'cheap plastic" motto has got to stop. It's probably not only wrong, but exactly the contrary.

I got no beef with plastic, and in the review I name a couple of devices with great all-plastic construction. The Note 10.1 isn't one of them.

 

[thomsirveaux]

What are those dragon quest slime containers you have sitting on your desk? They look awesome. Can I have them?

I got them in Japan - they're filled with a weird syrupy sugar water that I imagine has more in common with hummingbird food than people food.

 

[YourOldBuddy]

This isn't competition to the iPad. Samsung has a couple of really nice tablets for that.

This is a note taking work/school tablet. Its something you might take with you to school, hence creaky and light over sturdy and heavy. SGS III was lambasted on Ars for cheapness and creakyness and it has turned out to be one of the best phones if not the best phone out there.

I have the HTC flyer and use it a lot at school but I'm probably ditching it for this. A tablet without a stylus is a toy. The only point I agree on with the review is lack of resolution but it isn't a big deal. MS gets extra points on buggy junk all the time on Ars because MS is believed to be able to fix them (even when they don't, ala WHS file system). I think Samsung will fix most of the issues with this tablet too like they did with every other Android product which wasn't hampered by hardware so far.

 

[s73v3r]

More over-priced, sub-par crap.

I realize you guys just got sued into oblivion, but Apple is making a killing with a nice device, why has no one figured out a way to make a device not a piece of shit?

I'm sure they don't have a patent on devices that are well made.

The worst part is, there's lots of good stuff in there, if only they had devoted a few more resources to developing it. I have no doubt that the next iteration of this will be a lot better, but where will the rest of the tablet market be in that year or so?

 

[s73v3r]

I honestly don't get the criticism of the display resolution. This is Samsung's Note line of products... what do you need an insanely high resolution for? Instead you get the pen thingy.

A high-resolution display will be in their next Tab product, if that's the type of use one is looking for.

Why not both?

 

[TheVelourFog]

More over-priced, sub-par crap.

I realize you guys just got sued into oblivion, but Apple is making a killing with a nice device, why has no one figured out a way to make a device not a piece of shit?

I'm sure they don't have a patent on devices that are well made.

The worst part is, there's lots of good stuff in there, if only they had devoted a few more resources to developing it. I have no doubt that the next iteration of this will be a lot better, but where will the rest of the tablet market be in that year or so?

As an Android fan it's frustrating to see companies continue to sully the name with junk. Let's see someone beat Apple to the punch, AND do a good job on the whole product.

 

[s73v3r]

Stylus is a stupid concept for a general-use tablet. It has a niche in graphics design, I get that, but everywhere else it just gets in the way of the user experience. It's also that thing you are most likely to misplace. What are they taking us back to ~2004?

As long as the stylus isn't required for actual operation of the device (other than in the sketching apps and such that are specifically designed for it), then I see no problem with it. I like the idea of having an Android tablet that one can use to draw/sketch on with an actual, quality level stylus, as opposed to most of the capacitive styluses on the market.

I do, however, have flashbacks to older versions of WinMo, where the widgets could not possibly be used with the human finger, and have absolutely no desire to go back to those times.

 

[s73v3r]

One would be crazy to spend $500 on this. Who is the audience for this? If you locked the Samsung execs in different rooms and asked them that question, you wouldn't get two similar responses. Even if I had no investment in the Apple ecosystem, this tablet would be entirely unappealing.

Samsung has sold ten million Note devices. It's obvious they're trying to broaden that market segment out to a bigger screen.

This is not really designed to be an iPad equivalent, which is why all of these tech reviews are pretty awful.

I'm sorry, but saying "it's not designed to be an iPad equivalent!" over and over again is not going to make that statement true, nor is it going to excuse many of the problems this thing has. Just because it's not supposed to be an "iPad equivalent" doesn't mean they have to half-ass it.

 

[TheVelourFog]

AT&T Tilt/8525 anyone?

edit: I'm slow, this is in response to reminiscing about WinMo above

 

[s73v3r]

I don't find the lack of NFC a con. It's a 10" tablet -- I'm not going to wave it at a payment device, and I'm not sure I want NFC anyway. Nor would I plan to take pictures with it -- holding up a device this size to take a photo would be an exercise in frustration.

No, but you might want to use NFC to transfer photos and such from your phone to this tablet. Considering Samsung has gone pretty hardcore into pushing the NFC capability on it's Galaxy SIII, it's very surprising that they haven't mandated that all of their other Android devices would have it.

 

[s73v3r]

This is the same issue I have many of the reviews for it. If the Note 10.1 is going to be marked down for being not the best build quality and having some lag; then other tablets should be marked down for not even having a stylus and the ability to have two apps on the screen at a time (even if the Note's representation of these is not the best (the stylus' pressure levels are more than even those in TabletPCs).

Why? I'd much rather have no stylus than one that is half-assed to the point of being worthless. Same with the two apps on the screen thing. Further, I fail to see what any of those have to do with the build quality. It's not like they had to make a choice between putting the stylus in and giving it a decent build feel.

On a different note; I've noticed in the comments here a lot of people are going "but people don't want that", etc. How do you know that? You certainly don't speak for me and it's almost impossible that you speak for everyone else. It also grates me that people seem to think they know all about product design, manufacture and use (the latter is even worse when they haven't actually used said product). Please stop it. You're ruining the comments.

Yet another comment from someone who doesn't understand statistics.

 

[s73v3r]

It's amusing the author attacks the price point while ignoring the extra expense and significant value of including a digitizer and stylus. Compare it to an equivalent sized Wacom pad or even the more parallel Wacom Cintiq. Or just compare to Windows digitizer tablets like the $750+ Fujitsu q55x series.

I think you'd find that is an even less favorable comparison.

This isn't even a device aimed at the iPad consumption crowd, it is aimed at business users and creative types who prefer stylus interaction and have had to endure much higher priced Windows XP/7 devices. As such, the comparisons made are relatively invalid. This is a content creation platform, as such, it would be better if someone like Aurich or someone else who understands stylus tablets where writing the review. What magical powers allow the author to know the device lacks 1k levels of pressure sensitivity? Heck, the typical 256 is more than sufficient for nearly any use.

You can say that as much as you want to, and it still won't make it true. And none of that excuses most of the corners that were cut in making the device.

Why can't I use my toy for everyday business or school? I don't get it.

Also, I think we should just go by Best Buy's review scores going forward.

The fact that the Android fans get all irritated at the mention of the iPad, while the iPad users are happy and ignore the Android stuff should tell you something.

I've commented on my observations at an engineering and generally STEM centric university before, and the reality is the iPads as school work devices disappear the second week into the semester. Even with the best capacitive stylii, people give up in frustration. I just see them (iPads) used for facebook and e-mail during class on the occasions where someone pulls one out.

And the exact same thing goes for Android tablets too. But that's a pretty limited observation, as STEM tends to require a specific set of tools, whereas many other disciplines can be far more flexible on their tool choices.

 

[jwcalla]

Why not both?

Because it costs money for a "feature" of little value for this device's purpose?

Or do you want them to sell a $700 tablet for $500 and take a loss on each sale?

Go off and design your own tablet and let us know how much money you rake in since, based on your stream of comment criticisms, you seem to know everything about how to do it right.

 

[mikiev]

The problem is just that the underlying hardware isn't fast enough and the handwriting recognition isn't good enough. These problems will be solved with time (perhaps after ARM goes away).

And it didn't work well for the Newton, or the Tablet PCs that Bill Gates was so sure were going to be the next big thing... a decade ago.

If the hardware/software isn't there -yet-, then why produce another device which they -must- know will be sub-par?

Someday the technology will exist to do this correctly and some form-over-function company will come along and introduce a tablet that people can actually use as a replacement for pen-and-paper. Of course, that company will be labeled as 'innovative' and 'ground-breaking' with a totally non-obvious user interface, and people will conveniently forget that this Samsung tablet ever existed...

And they -should- forget it, because Samsung released it -knowing- the technology doesn't exist to do this correctly... at least at this price-point. Sketching is one thing, hand-writing recognition is another thing entirely.

I wouldn't be surprised to see that the problem with handwriting recognition on mobile devices is solved the same way voice-to-text is - ala Siri/Dictation and Google = send the data to servers to be converted, and have the results sent back.

Note: Please flag this as prior art, in case anyone actually tries to patent my handwriting-to-text idea.

 

[jwcalla]

I'm sorry, but saying "it's not designed to be an iPad equivalent!" over and over again is not going to make that statement true, nor is it going to excuse many of the problems this thing has. Just because it's not supposed to be an "iPad equivalent" doesn't mean they have to half-ass it.

The Note series is not designed for the casual consumption market that is the mainstream tablet market and the one where the iPad excels. Samsung has a [now dated] Tab line of devices targeting that market.

I'm not sure why so many people are struggling with the concept. Perhaps Samsung should hire Big Bird and Elmo to do their product reveals from now on since so many just can't follow along.

 

[Again]

What I really want to know about this tablet is how good the stylus is. Could this tablet replace a cheap Wacom? If I were to give this tablet as a gift to a graphic artist would they laugh at me or would they use it to make cool stuff?

 

[SinclairZX81]

I like the concept - I could really use a tablet with a good sketching stylus. The capacitive stylus I'm using (occasionally) on my Galaxy Tab 8.9 leaves rather a lot to be desired. I'm *exactly* one of those graphic artist types who would love to be able to rough-sketch concepts with clients in a meeting, as a means of clarifying what they really want. Sometimes only pictures will do...

However....

Much as I love my Tab 8.9's hardware, it's still sitting here on Honeycomb. Samsung originally promised ICS in Q2 of this year. Then it was July. Now it's August, and with just a few days left in that month, I'd say the odds of that happening are about zilch. They're not even updating the "update" page anymore - the Tab 10.1 has been getting ICS for a couple of weeks now and it's still listed as ICS "coming". Everyone who has asked Samsung about it either gets ignored or told, "It's coming soon." Zero transparency. And no "small" updates either - no improvements, no patches... nothing. My phone got ICS and a security update in half the time I've owned my Tab. From Samsung? Zilch.

Anyone buying Samsung's B.S. line that Jelly Bean will come to this Note 10.1 "later this year" is living in fantasy land. Samsung doesn't give a rat's rectum about keeping the device up-to-date once you've dropped your cash. If you like ICS and don't mind getting Jelly Bean a year after Kiwi (or whatever) comes out - maybe - then perhaps this is something of interest. But Samsung's idea of upgrading the OS is having you buy a whole new device. Period.

For that reason and that alone, I'll never buy from them again while this behavior persists. I've learned my lesson.

 

[Yossi.Preminger]

Very disappointing, I'm really desperate for a tablet which will allow me to make engineering and artistic sketches.

Hopefully we'll see an improved version next year...

 

[ScifiGeek]

It's amusing the author attacks the price point while ignoring the extra expense and significant value of including a digitizer and stylus. Compare it to an equivalent sized Wacom pad or even the more parallel Wacom Cintiq. Or just compare to Windows digitizer tablets like the $750+ Fujitsu q55x series.

This isn't even a device aimed at the iPad consumption crowd, it is aimed at business users and creative types who prefer stylus interaction and have had to endure much higher priced Windows XP/7 devices.

Digitizers are relatively cheap:

You can buy standalone digitizer tablets of similar size from Wacom for about $80 MSRP:
http://www.wacom.com/en/products/bamboo ... nnect.aspx
http://www.amazon.com/Wacom-Bamboo-Conn ... B005HGBEYS

iSuppli has breakdown of parts and say the high price, is mainly extra profit margin:
http://www.isuppli.com/Teardowns/News/P ... veals.aspx

I would be surprised if it costs more than $20 to add this capability. The low build quality lets them reap bigger profits from those who will pay high prices for it.

Unless you are a serious graphic artist (and can make some real use of pressure sensitivity) I don't see much real need for an active stylus on a tablet this big. The low resolution of capacitive can be worked around by simple zooming in, on the big screen, as demonstrated here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaWloob8 ... re=related

I actually see more use for the active stylus on the 5" note, where you don't a have the giant screen to compensate for lower resolution input.

The digitizer is no justification for the high price of this poorly built product. The inclusion doesn't significantly benefit it's usability in any but the most extreme niche circumstances.

 

[ScifiGeek]

I'm getting pissed at always reading bad reviews about plastic stuff:
- quality is perceived, actually it's a preconception unless you can backup your negative opinion about it with facts.
- the alternatives are glass (heavy, vulnerable to shocks and pressure) and metal (heavy, frequent issues with scratching or flaking).

I'd rather have a plasticy phone/tablet that can withstand a fall, the a glass one that can't. And a died-indepth plastic that won't show scratches too much, instead of cute metal that'll look like a silver/black zebra after a few months in my pocket.

So, unless you know something I don't (and I'm curious), I think the 'cheap plastic" motto has got to stop. It's probably not only wrong, but exactly the contrary.

As I brought up in the previous story on this. Watch these two videos that can demonstrate just how cheap/crappy this plastic construction is:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/08/21 ... ld-quality

There are two embedded videos at that point that make it clear how crappy the construction is. I wouldn't consider that a pass on a $99 device, let alone $499.

 

[contextfree]

As a tangent, Windows 8 has a little-known "feature" (or implementation side-effect) that actually allows desktop apps to run in windows on top of Metro style apps, somewhat similar to the floating widgets on this device. You can see this mainly with the Task Manager in always-on-top mode, but any desktop app can do this if it's registered with the system for UIAccess (requires signing with a trusted certificate).

 

[handwrite]

More over-priced, sub-par crap.

I realize you guys just got sued into oblivion, but Apple is making a killing with a nice device, why has no one figured out a way to make a device not a piece of shit?

I'm sure they don't have a patent on devices that are well made.

The worst part is, there's lots of good stuff in there, if only they had devoted a few more resources to developing it. I have no doubt that the next iteration of this will be a lot better, but where will the rest of the tablet market be in that year or so?

As an Android fan it's frustrating to see companies continue to sully the name with junk. Let's see someone beat Apple to the punch, AND do a good job on the whole product.

Have you ever even touched the transformer line? Even with my first gen tf101 people are amazed at how cool it is docking and undocking with the extra battery life in the keyboard and all the awesome little features that beat the pants off of the iPad.

 

[AgentSmith40]

I had high hopes for this device.... so high in fact that i had already ear marked €400 for it, reasoning that they would price it competitively with the iPad.

But, instead, we get cheap plastic, a low resolution screen, jitters, crashes, and a stupidly high price point.

All in all - fail.

Disappointing. Very, very disappointing.

 

[NicoleC]

I don't find the lack of NFC a con. It's a 10" tablet -- I'm not going to wave it at a payment device, and I'm not sure I want NFC anyway. Nor would I plan to take pictures with it -- holding up a device this size to take a photo would be an exercise in frustration.

No, but you might want to use NFC to transfer photos and such from your phone to this tablet. Considering Samsung has gone pretty hardcore into pushing the NFC capability on it's Galaxy SIII, it's very surprising that they haven't mandated that all of their other Android devices would have it.

I said it on the other Note 10.1 article -- this thing comes off as 50% last year's device. Perhaps the NFC is a symptom of this. I'm sure they made trade-offs in the design and build process for various reasons, but this tablet just doesn't reach the sweet spot where I'm ready to plunk down $500 for it -- and yet I'd probably spend more money on it for the jawdropping coolness.

Perhaps version #2. I'm a diagram and note-taking freak and being able to switch from a stack of flipping through recent notebooks to searching a note database it my idea of productivity nirvana.

 

[oluseyi]

If it was cheaper this tablet would be great for outside sketching for professional artists. But at this price point it can't beat the old pen and paper.

What artists need more than anything else are dependable tools. Even if this was cheaper, it appears to be mediocre. And ugly. I've never known artists to embrace ugly tools en masse.

So, unless you know something I don't (and I'm curious), I think the 'cheap plastic" motto has got to stop. It's probably not only wrong, but exactly the contrary.

"Plastic" is not the same thing as "cheap plastic." Chew on that.

You are comparing a utility device with consumption devices.

You are inventing distinctions to rationalize your purchase.

Yes, consumption is the easiest thing to do on an iPad because it is a screen. Designing user interaction metaphors for direct manipulation is hard work, particularly for creative endeavors with UX that have evolved around high-precision pointing. A stylus massively improves input precision, but that doesn't mean a device without a stylus is consumption only. How about we put that meme to rest?

The Note series is not designed for the casual consumption market that is the mainstream tablet market and the one where the iPad excels. Samsung has a [now dated] Tab line of devices targeting that market.

I'm not sure why so many people are struggling with the concept. Perhaps Samsung should hire Big Bird and Elmo to do their product reveals from now on since so many just can't follow along.

There is no other tablet market. There are no successful "utility" tablets, nor is there a "non-casual consumption" market. If Samsung wants to target a hypothetical "productivity tablet" market, it has to create that market, and if this is the best it can do, it deserves to be laughed out of the building.

Assuming that consumers aren't smart enough when they reject a product is magical thinking. Basic economic theory requires us to think of consumers as rational. Try coming up with some more convincing argument than "consumers just don't get it."

(As an aside, you sound like people who "love their Pontiac Aztek.")

 

[oluseyi]

Compare it to an equivalent sized Wacom pad or even the more parallel Wacom Cintiq. Or just compare to Windows digitizer tablets like the $750+ Fujitsu q55x series.

Yeah, those Windows digitizer tablets just set the market on fire, didn't they?

Please don't compare this thing to a Cintiq. The S Pen is reported to feel cheap; have you ever used an Intuos or Cintiq pen, or even the Bamboo pen? Do you really want to use that cheap, awful pen for extensive sketching? How is the performance in the corners, how much jitter does the cursor exhibit? Is there tilt or rotation sensitivity, an eraser end on the pen?

I'm quite annoyed, actually, because I'm one of those people who wants an active digitizer in a tablet. I don't expect Apple to provide one, so I'm looking to the Samsungs, HTCs, Asuses and Googles of this world to step up, and they continue to provide such miserable misfires. And then people like you insist that people like me "just don't get it."

This isn't even a device aimed at the iPad consumption crowd, it is aimed at business users and creative types who prefer stylus interaction and have had to endure much higher priced Windows XP/7 devices.

Bullshit. Does that strike you as a portal designed to appeal to "business users and creative types"?

[Edit: Compare Wacom Inkling product page, Wacom community portal. That is what a bare-bones device manufacturer portal targeted at creative types looks like.]

Heck, the typical 256 [levels of pressure sensitivity] is more than sufficient for nearly any use.

Dude. Any remaining credibility you had as an artistic user was shot with that statement. A fucking Bamboo has 512 levels; my Intuos 4 and 5 have 2,048, and I can certainly tell the difference when I switch from a Bamboo (I had a Pen and Touch at the office, sold it two months ago) to an Intuos (sold my 4 Large to buy a 5 Medium and Touch).

Seriously?

 

[sonolumi]

I would have liked to see Aurich do a hands on with the S-pen and Art apps.

I know it's not likely to compete with high end dedicated devices, but as a convenient carry around device with other functionality I wondered whether it would be any good for an Artist away from the desk.

That's not to say I don't appreciate Leonardo Cunningham's Fresco test though

 

[s73v3r]

Why not both?

Because it costs money for a "feature" of little value for this device's purpose?

Or do you want them to sell a $700 tablet for $500 and take a loss on each sale?

Go off and design your own tablet and let us know how much money you rake in since, based on your stream of comment criticisms, you seem to know everything about how to do it right.

Because clearly no one can ever criticize anything, right? Calling out something as subpar is just going to hurt someone's feelings, so we should totally go out of our way to not criticize anything and just say it's great, regardless of it's actual qualities.

 

[s73v3r]

I'm sorry, but saying "it's not designed to be an iPad equivalent!" over and over again is not going to make that statement true, nor is it going to excuse many of the problems this thing has. Just because it's not supposed to be an "iPad equivalent" doesn't mean they have to half-ass it.

The Note series is not designed for the casual consumption market that is the mainstream tablet market and the one where the iPad excels. Samsung has a [now dated] Tab line of devices targeting that market.

I'm not sure why so many people are struggling with the concept. Perhaps Samsung should hire Big Bird and Elmo to do their product reveals from now on since so many just can't follow along.

It's because your concept 1). Doesn't make any sense, and 2). Doesn't excuse the many flaws of the product. Complaining about not being as good as the iPad when discussing the app catalog might be one thing, but complaining that someone is comparing it to the iPad with respect to build quality is just childish, and is giving device makers an excuse to half-ass products. I don't care what "market" the device is aimed at, there's no excuse for flimsy build quality like this.

 

[fluf]

I want to like this, hey competition is good! However, why oh why must Samsung use a proprietary power connector? If there's one thing NOT to copy from Apple, it's the proprietary connector.

Multiscreen / multitasking looks interesting. The pen I don't care about really but at least it's there as an option.

For now, I'm sticking to my first generation iPad (bought new at a discount after iPad 2 was released). For the money, there have been some interesting tablets since, but none that made me sit up and take notice (full disclosure: I like the new iPad 3's retina screen, I like the look of the Google Nexus tablet (not for sale yet here in Belgium), I think the Samsung Galaxy Note is interesting, and I'm looking forward to the windows tablets).

 

[Mr. Stinky Pants]

I really like the stylus. I used to use a Palm and I like having a stylus because I find that typing with my fingers is really error prone to the point where I wish all phones had the option of using a built-in stylus.

Maybe I should buy one to show my support for Samsung.

 

[dylane]

Stylus is a stupid concept for a general-use tablet. It has a niche in graphics design, I get that, but everywhere else it just gets in the way of the user experience. It's also that thing you are most likely to misplace. What are they taking us back to ~2004?

No, a UI which requires a stylus is what gets in the way. I know someone said "if you see a stylus, they blew it," but that doesn't make it the absolute truth. There are applications which work better with a stylus and the option to have one available is a nicety.

I'm not sure I even buy this argument. Personally, one of the main reasons I think smartphones suck these days is because the UI is too much built around fingers, when a finger is usually a pretty poor input device.

Case in point, when browsing a page like this one on a mobile device I need to zoom in to make the link to the next page of comments big enough to hit with a finger, and then zoom back out again to read the comments. With a stylus I have enough precision that no zooming is necessary. That's fine for a webpage, but mobile apps are all built now with UIs designed for a big fat finger, which means you can fit a lot less information on the screen, which means you need bigger screens to get less information, etc... I was amazed when I sat down and thought about it, how many of the incredibly awful UI paradigms that we have today can be traced down to the obsession to make it "finger friendly."