Well, the main thing to understand here is that "there is more to computing than Microsoft Windows Explorer." Yes, you can drag and drop in Windows Explorer -- and generally ONLY Windows Explorer -- and if that's all you need, then there's no big deal. Again, you're talking about Media Transfer Protocol, where the Note 10.1 shows as a DEVICE, not a DRIVE.
But if you want to use any other file program other than Microsoft Windows Explorer, you will find they just don't support MTP. They don't "see devices" -- they need to see "drives." With USB Mass Storage, the tablet would show as a "drive," and you could use any file program you wanted.
I'm also coming to Android from a 64-gig PlayBook, and I always connected it to my computer with the USB cable and USB Mass Storage mode, and then I ran a synchronization program, which read my computer's drive and the PlayBook's drive, found which files were different, and gave me several different options for synchronizing the files and folders. But, that program simply will not "see an MTP device" -- it needs to see a "drive," which it would if only the Note 10.1 had USB Mass Storage support. But it doesn't.
Dragging and dropping will work for some needs, but when you start getting five files changed on the computer, and seven changed on the tablet, and then perhaps get to the point where you might have a dozen different file versions on each device, then simple dragging and dropping can be tedious at best, and easy to make a mistake and wipe out a ton of work you just did by overwriting a new file with an older one. That's why people have written wonderful programs to synchronize files quickly and easily -- but none of these programs "see MTP devices."
Media Transfer Protocol is a gift from Microsoft, and it is associated with Windows Media Player. Thus, Microsoft Windows Explorer supports it, but the rest of the file tools on the planet just don't support it at all. So, the tools and the processes I've been using for the past several years just ground to a stop with the Note 10.1, just because Samsung decided not to include it in the tablet's software. I also have Samsung's Galaxy Note (the original) phone, and it DOES include USB Mass Storage mode. Why on earth would they choose to leave it out of the Note tablet?? Though as far as I understand, they've phased it out of all their new phones, so I guess I'll avoid OS updates like the plague on my phone!
At any rate, that's what I'm getting at. Perhaps I'll root the dang thing and then install a third-party program that'll give me USB Mass Storage.
As for the move from PlayBook to Note 10.1, I'm otherwise quite happy with the big Note tablet. I definitely learned that I wanted the bigger screen, and the PlayBook always kind of coughed up blood whenever I clicked on an Internet link. And then there was the lack of apps, and the lack of basic software development, like not providing any means of organizing web bookmarks. Then, in the end, the abysmally slow bootup was just maddening -- the PlayBook tablet takes longer to boot up than my computer does. And with a tablet, you really need a "grab it and go" swiftness to it. If there's a disappointment to the Note 10.1, it's that the PlayBook has MUCH better speakers -- the PlayBook is worth listening to all on its own, and the Note 10.1 really isn't. So, lack of USB Mass Storage mode and speakers that don't make it to the PlayBook's level are the only nits to pick, from my perspective.
thoots
