I have to say that the lack of clear information about the S Pen input mode on the Samsung keyboard may be the biggest shortcoming of the Note 10.1. I read the S Note introduction documents and the only S Pen functions that it talked about were the productivity tools. I found S Note, using the productivity tools writing-to-text function so cumbersome that I was on the verge of returning the Note. It was while reading this forum that I found a video describing the use of the Samsung Keyboard S Pen input. That one video alone saved this device for me. I realize that nothing comes with a user manual anymore, but having to rely on what is essentially word of mouth information to learn the basic, and valuable, features of the product just doesn't seem smart to me.
Edit: Here is a link to the thread that saved me:
forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-note-10-1/202997-taking-notes.html
(OK, How do I make the link live?)