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Question for Note Users

H

halfwaytree

Newbie
I am in the market for a new phone and a tablet as well.

I was reading about the Note and its large display size.

My question is.... Since you purchased this phone would you still feel the need to own a tablet, or is the Samsung Galaxy Note all you feel you need?
 
I already had an iPad at home so it's weird to answer your question. But if I did not have the iPad after purchasing the note I probably would not have purchased the iPad . It's does both jobs just fine.
 
^^ Agreed. Part of the appeal of the Note, in my opinion, was not having to pick up a tablet. It's doing a great job so far filling both roles. At first I was concerned that carrying this thing around as a phone would be cumbersome, but you really do get used to the size, and really come to appreciate it for media, browsing,emails, etc. And it's proven itself to be surprisingly pocketable too. Just my $0.02...
 
Yeah i hardly touch my transformer any more. I still use it for when i sit down to read an ebook cause it offers the most screen real estate. But for surfing the web and everything else i use my note
 
I was in the same boat as you. I already had a phone, so was considering on getting a Tablet for personal/work/school use. Gone shopping around when I saw the GNote. A big phone/micro tablet combo thing. I played with it and started to do research in it. After all that, I decided to take the plunge and get the GNote.

Well, after owning it for a little over 2 weeks, I am not really considering/craving a Tablet anymore. It does everything I need it to do. It is still awkward to hold as a phone for me only because I wear glasses (constantly bumping the temple and shifting my glasses). But I don't use the phone much anyways, so this was the best compromise of phone/tablet. It is pocketable for me, but I wear deep pocket pants and I am a slim/skinny person. I do need to handle the GNote with both hands (I have between small/medium size hands).

Each person is different and the only way of knowing is to actually try it out first. Get a feel for it and then decide. Good luck with your decision.

Overall, I am pleased with my decision and have no regrets about it. Yes, it's annoying for me as a phone, but the benefits of this device outweigh the cons and fits my needs.
 
I had a Tablet (had). I got the note and after a few days, I gave the tablet to my wife. I didn't have a desire to use/carry it anymore as everything I needed/wanted was on the Note and was able to work on the Note without issue.

The ONLY tablet I will get anytime soon is a Windows 8 Slate. :)
 
I had a ipad 2 and iphone 4 gave up both because of the wifi only and the fact that i couldn't tether to my iPhone and the iPad data plan is too expensive. so i sold the iPad 2 weeks b4 the launch of the 3 for a premium. and sold my iPhone and upgraded my plan to the note. it is superior to the iPhone 4 and browsing the internet is great but to be honest now that i have had it for a month i find myself looking at a new tablet the note 10.1 not because i need it but because i want it. i do kind of wish the battery was better on the note because i play angry birds space and draw something constantly but it's a great phone get it you will love it.
 
I bought a new iPad then a Note about a week later. If I had bought the Note first I likely would have pushed off getting the new iPad. I don't use the iPad nearly as much now. I also like the Note's screen better than the iPad's screen. And typing with Swype is far easier than the keyboard tap approach. And as far as I know, Swype isn't an option for the iPad.

In summary, get the Note and see if you still want a tablet. You may find the Note is sufficient--just get the Note first!
 
I have a tablet (Transformer) and the Note. When I got the Note, right up until today there were some websites, that I use fairly regularly when at work, that wouldn't function properly using the Note. This was a huge disappointment to me, but definitely not a deal-breaker. Despite that, I still *loved* the Note. It did 90% of what I needed very well.

Today, just because I didn't want to believe that this phone couldn't do something that my previous two Android phones could (all of them running Android Gingerbread), I decided to try yet another different browser (Opera). Voila! The sites work, but only when in full-screen mode (that's ok, I'll take it!). Failed browsers include stock Gingerbread browser, Dolphin browser, Boat browser and Firefox (still no flash support with Firefox). Opera Mobile is the only browser I have found that will work.

Now all that my Transformer has over the Note for my 'most days' use is better battery life, ICS and a physical keyboard.
 
I guess I'm in the minority on this. I think the Galaxy Note is a great phone/tablet hybrid when I'm away from home. But at home, I use my iPad 2 for things like browsing, ebooks and pdfs, watching videos. The Note has higher resolution than the iPad 2. But I prefer the square inches that the tablet provides.
 
NeoGrandizer said:
I was in the same boat as you. I already had a phone, so was considering on getting a Tablet for personal/work/school use. Gone shopping around when I saw the GNote. A big phone/micro tablet combo thing. I played with it and started to do research in it. After all that, I decided to take the plunge and get the GNote.

Well, after owning it for a little over 2 weeks, I am not really considering/craving a Tablet anymore. It does everything I need it to do. It is still awkward to hold as a phone for me only because I wear glasses (constantly bumping the temple and shifting my glasses). But I don't use the phone much anyways, so this was the best compromise of phone/tablet. It is pocketable for me, but I wear deep pocket pants and I am a slim/skinny person. I do need to handle the GNote with both hands (I have between small/medium size hands).

Each person is different and the only way of knowing is to actually try it out first. Get a feel for it and then decide. Good luck with your decision.

Overall, I am pleased with my decision and have no regrets about it. Yes, it's annoying for me as a phone, but the benefits of this device outweigh the cons and fits my needs.
Click to expand...

My sentiments almost exactly.

1. Great device as a device (i.e. part phone, part tablet; so when seen as a combo of both)
2. Borderline too big for a phone, in the traditional physical sense, but not unuseable.


Moral of the story from my perspective:

I won't again buy another phone that exceeds the 4.5"-4.7" screensize range, but if you're looking for a phone that mimicks a tablet as closely as a phone can, and at the same time outperforms most other similar devices to market currently (on the phone side), you will not regret purchasing the Note, I don't think.

-Ryan
 
Thank you all for your feedback!

I went the store to look at the Note on the weekend.

I think , for me personally, the Note will probably serve my needs as both phone and tablet.

I will be getting this phone.

Thanks again!
 
I don't know. I wouldnt get a 7" tablet and the note, or an Android tablet but for the sake of variety I have an iPad 2 and i still use it.

Personally after using the iPad the iPhone 4 seemed too tiny and cramped, the note to me seems like a great size for a phone with the kind of resolutions we can get now. I'd think reading would be solid, even with the stock web browser I find myself looking at the desktop sites instead of mobile.

Maybe I'm just a gadget guy but the more the merrier!
 
I say this phone is no replacement for any kind of tablet. To me it really feels like a nice phone, not a tablet/phone hybrid. When I'm at home, I pick up the tablet first. When I'm leaving the house, the Note will do, but ideally i'd like to bring a tablet... but that's just not practical in most cases, plus you'd look like an idiot whipping out a tablet when you're in line at a grocery store! :) I have a 7" tablet and an iPad, and even the 7" tablet feels huge compared to this phone.
 
To each their own. ;)

At home, I have a desktop with 24" screen. So that's what I'll be using the majority of time at home. Or if I need to be away, but still within my home, I have my 15" notebook. I'm currently looking at building a HTPC to connect to a 720p projector (80" screen) within a 6 month timeframe (when Ivybridge will be available). My PS3 is currently connected to it.

So I was intentionally looking for a Tablet only for mobility purposes outside the house. Not to be used when I'm actually at home because I already have tech that will be more than adequate for my uses. So the Note provided me this chance to get a hybrid device that more than suited my needs outside the house.

Because of this, I no longer feel the need for a Tablet. It's lightweight, pocketable and does what I need to do when I'm out and about. I don't use it at home except when transferring data. Otherwise, it lays dormant on my bedside table collecting dust... :p
 
For me, the cost of an iPad is still just way out there. For the price of an iPad I could buy a decent laptop with more flexibility.

When I first picked up the Note a week ago it seemed HUGE! I felt like I was fumbling around with it. I didn't know how to carry it, and I didn't know if holding this up to my head was going to make my hair fall out, or if I carried it in my pocket "my boys" would be affected. ;)

After a week though the phone seems to be shrinking. It doesn't seem outrageously big anymore. It seems normal. I guess I got used to it pretty fast. It doesn't seem so much like a "tablet". I use an earbud to make & take calls, I found that the dash mount I hardly ever used with my iPhone4 works GREAT for the note and is now my best friend. Voice talk works well for me when I'm driving where with the iPhone 4 I never answered calls in the car.

Do I miss my iPhone 4? Not a bit! Everything is so much easier to read. I can actually look at web pages without constantly panning the screen to finish the line of text at a decent zoom.

One thing I wish was better with this phone is the battery life. It's really not that good. That too I will learn to get used to.
 
I had an HP Touchpad and sold it after I got the Note.. really didn't use it much anyway. I barely power up my personal laptop anymore when I'm home.. Note does pretty much everything I need.
 
I have gone from carrying a 7" Galaxy Tab (original) and an HTC EVO 4G (4.2") to only having to carry one device, my Note. There are compromises on both ends, but shedding the huge tab more than makes up for it.
 
It's definitely all I need. I use it to read comics and news and anything I would normally do on a tablet. It's all you need.
 
JunBringer said:
It's definitely all I need. I use it to read comics and news and anything I would normally do on a tablet. It's all you need.
Click to expand...

I agree, but I admit to having the bias of never having owned a tablet myself, so if I had one at some point, who knows what side of the fence I'd be on now.

The only thing that's kept me from buying a tablet is that it's hard for me to see where a tablet would even fit in my life. I mean, I have my work-issued laptop and have always had a smartphone somewhere (and now the Note, which as we know is a whole different animal all its own).
 
I haven't owned a tablet before but my Dad has one and I have the opportunity to use it prettymuch whenever I want, but just never do.
 
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