Please tell me the Good and the Bad onthe Note 2.

[johnmcd348]

OK, I've been a little interested in this device for the past couple of months when First read about it coming out. I'm a Windows user and have been for many years so this will most likely be my first Droid phone. I'm with Sprint but still want to hear from others who are using this device no matter what company you're with. I'd like to hear all the good point and all the Bad points about this device so it could help me make a decision on whether or not to get this phone. What I would like to avoid in the thread are comments about how great one thing is and that Windows Sucks and all the other stuff that happens in threads like this. But, I really do want your honest opinions on the device. I have large hands so I don't think it'll be too big for me to use comfortably. I came from using PDA's for years so the idea of the stylus is what really has me interested in it. Having large hands also came with large fingers so I've always relied on slider style phones since making the Smartphone dive, so this will be my first on screen keyboard phone.

How is it ad far as smoothness of the OS while switching apps, moving to different screens etc.

How well does it handle memory usage? I like a lot of podcast and music listening on my current device, an HTC Arrive that I upgraded the memory on to 32gb so it would handle the capacity.

I'm new to this and have limited Android experience right now so bear with me please.

Thanks

 

[hummingbirdhill]

You may benefit from reading a Note II .pdf user guide on the Samsung site. The Note II's technology is amazing. I think someone's attempting to visualize it without being familiar with android os would be impossible.

I used the HTC Fuze (WindowsMobile), and currently HTC Inspire as well as an iPAQ (yes, still!). The Inspire and then my Toshiba Thrive tablet thoroughly broke me in on android. I loved my WinMo devices but when the mobile devices' direct sync of Outlook with my local client puter was taken away, I reluctantly migrated to android. Now, two years later, android wins (for me).

One of the major Note II items I appreciate is the file manager; another is the ability to mark up Word/Excel/PowerPoint/.pdf docs with the S-pen. (For a college professor, both of these features are absolutely invaluable.)

Happy decision-making

 

[johnmcd348]

Thanks for the input. I started with the iPaqs also and loved them, but I moved on to the Dell Axim x51v's and it wasn't until about 4 years ago that I finally went to a smartphone to converge my phone and PDA because I felt that the phones of the time just hadn't caught up to the abilities that my PDA had. I've watched a few videos over the past couple of months and read as much as I could find as for reviews and such. I've played with ICS a bit since my wife has a Samsung Epic4G and we do have a couple of tablets that my wife and son both play with so I'm not completely new to the OS. I'm just not intimately knowledgeable about it. Turh be told, I'm not that familiar with WP's newer OS after moving from WM about 2 years ago. If Sprint had any WP phones, I'd probably stay with it, but they just aren't supporting the platform anymore.

I'm really interested in the actual hands on uses, like you stated, the ability to edit docs, .pdf's, and other things with the stylus is a plus. After moving to the WP OS, I really missed the stylus and the ability to take quick notes and such. That's what got my interest when I started looking at a replacement for my Arrive. I'm looking for the real hands on, real world users input on the device. I've been somewhat jaded over the years from just reading reviews only as I've found too many always taught things like this as the "Next Greatest Thing EVER". And, as I'm sure you've seen on the forums, you get a lot of fan boy reviews of things like this and chances are, they probably haven't even touched one.

I really appreciate the input.

Thanks

 

[munnarg]

The good? Everything.
The bad...I don't have one in my hands yet lol.

Seriously though, you can check out this hands on review. I find her videos to always be the most informative and unbiased.

 

[hummingbirdhill]

P.S. The onscreen qwerty kb is a huge +100 for me! (You mentioned you haven't used one yet.)

 

[rakeshraja]

Hi

It got only plus points for me.

Two minus points which I really dont care are
(1) You cant use it with one hand specially calling, typing.
(2) Samsung's latest models dont have ability to install apps on sdcard. So high memory version is good.

Battery life and speed is super duper supreme fantastic great better best...yes its great in short

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Markster1]

Hi

It got only plus points for me.

Two minus points which I really dont care are
(1) You cant use it with one hand specially calling, typing.
(2) Samsung's latest models dont have ability to install apps on sdcard. So high memory version is good.

Battery life and speed is super duper supreme fantastic great better best...yes its great in short

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

You must have small hands. A large handed person like myself would have no problem dialing with one hand.

On point 2, it's not Samsung limiting that, it's the jelly bean operating system.

 

[nelonez]

The good: everything
The bad: nothing

No regrets here....

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[johnmcd348]

Thanks. I don't think the size will be an issue with me. I wear a size 9 surgical glove, let's just say I'd never make a good Proctologist........

I've been reading a little bit on Point 2 and I'm somewhat confused as I've never read anything definitive about it. They say you can't load programs onto the SD Card, but I've also read that it's only use is to load music and podcasts to. I've read that it actually incorporates the SD card into the usable memory. Another version is that it's only used to store data, again like music, podcasts, document files, etc. I'm new to this so I'm trying to learn before I make the jump. I will say that doesn't really strike me a a great idea and a little short sighted if the device only comes with a 16gb main memory. I had 16gb in my HTC Arrive and the first thing I did was swap out the card for a 32gb card due to my many podcasts and apps that I use from day to day. I can work with 16, but I've always found that, just like a regular computer, the more memory it has to freely work with, the better the system works.

I did read about a side loaded app that would allow you to load programs onto the SD card with the newer OS's, but I really don't want to root my phone and risk any reliability issues with it. I rely on it for work so anything I could potentially do to it that could be detrimental is out for me.

Thanks again for all the input. I really appreciate it. Please keep it coming.

 

[doublebullout]

Regarding document markup:

Is the S-pen markup saved with the document file so that the markup can be viewed on any other device or computer that opens the file? If the markup is only visible on the Note 2 then I don't see the value in this feature.


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[alikoyyy]

Thanks. I don't think the size will be an issue with me. I wear a size 9 surgical glove, let's just say I'd never make a good Proctologist........

I've been reading a little bit on Point 2 and I'm somewhat confused as I've never read anything definitive about it. They say you can't load programs onto the SD Card, but I've also read that it's only use is to load music and podcasts to. I've read that it actually incorporates the SD card into the usable memory. Another version is that it's only used to store data, again like music, podcasts, document files, etc. I'm new to this so I'm trying to learn before I make the jump. I will say that doesn't really strike me a a great idea and a little short sighted if the device only comes with a 16gb main memory. I had 16gb in my HTC Arrive and the first thing I did was swap out the card for a 32gb card due to my many podcasts and apps that I use from day to day. I can work with 16, but I've always found that, just like a regular computer, the more memory it has to freely work with, the better the system works.

I did read about a side loaded app that would allow you to load programs onto the SD card with the newer OS's, but I really don't want to root my phone and risk any reliability issues with it. I rely on it for work so anything I could potentially do to it that could be detrimental is out for me.

Thanks again for all the input. I really appreciate it. Please keep it coming.

Hi John. Yes I dont think size will be an issue. I use 6.5 to 7 gloves and I find the phone extremely usable especially once one handed operation is activated.

I got the 16gb version with my data plan which gave me roughly 11gb to work with. I've downloaded a lot of apps including MedScape and Epocrates which require lots of memory, the usual social networks, a handful of news aggregators, photo apps, games, and utility apps like polaris and adobe. I still have around 8gb free. All my media are on an SD card though. I think if you do that 16gb is enough for apps, though you always have an option to get the 32gb or 64gb version. I don't find it a negative, because in my experience, phones work faster and smoother with apps in the internal memory rather than on an SD card anyway.

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[alikoyyy]

To answer your main concern:

THE GOOD
1. You don't have to root if you don't want to. TouchWiz is surprisingly usable and even NICE on this thing. I was planning to root but I decided not to because the experience was good as it was anyway
2. The S pen. It actually works well and with the Note2 it has become an integral part of how the phone works rather than just an add-on
3. Multitasking is helpful. I don't actually use it all the time, but when I do im thankful it's there
4. That screen is gorgeous.
5. It's fast and fluid
6. The battery life is impressive! A whole day with regular use and about 8-10 hours of awake/screen on time. That's with wifi and/or 3g on. Im never offline.
7. Jellybean and GoogleNow out of the box!

I could go on and on if I had to think about it but off the top of my head those are what I have.

THE BAD
1. Well it is big. You get used to it and I can now operate it with one hand but it takes some maneuvering.
2. If you own another phone it will feel miniscule after using the Note2. I have an Xperia P (on another carrier) and even though I didn't have problems with it before after getting this im having difficulty typing messages. I know this is not really an issue of the Note2 but I just have to tell you, in case you have more than one phone. It's hard to use a smaller phone after this!
3. No dedicated shutter button. Since the phone is so big it would have been nice if I didn't have to fiddle with the screens every time I wanted to take a shot. But I'm nitpicking. Seriously this is a great device. GET IT.


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[johnmcd348]

Thanks. I went by my local Sprint store this morning to have a look at it. It was definitely larger than anything I've ever had before. Makes my old HP 4705 and Dell Axim x51v look tiny. I won't even compare it to my current Arrive just out of envy.....
I'm still not 100% certain about it yet, but the chances are still pretty good.

Any other input?

Thanks again.

 

[StylusPDA]

Hi, John,

Since your stylus use history sounds similar to mine, you might find you will be very happy with the Note 2. I started out with a Palm in the 1990s, so was used to a stylus from the start. I moved onto the Compaq iPaq on Pocket PC and then two more Windows Mobile HTC devices as the years went by, each with a stylus. I have been holding out for the Note 2 and could not be happier. The stylus is just as precise as the old resistive styli I got used to, plus it has a nice hover-over feature with the S pen in which a small circle appears on the screen, reminiscent of a mouse cursor hover-over. Switching from app to app is quick. As far a memory usage, I just copied a large amount of music to the device for use when not connected, and I have lots of memory left. I plan to move over a microSD card from my recent device and can always store more music and other files there. I have found it strange that people have complained about the largeness of the Note 2, even before it came out, and I have small hands and am super happy with the size. It very true that even after my few days of ownership, my previous device seems tiny. The display is sharp and beautiful to behold (get a screen protector and apply it immediately).

Summary: fantastic device and worth the wait!

 

[MrMLK]

3. No dedicated shutter button. Since the phone is so big it would have been nice if I didn't have to fiddle with the screens every time I wanted to take a shot.

Have you ever tried Camera Zoom Fx? It allows you to program all your buttons.

 

[alikoyyy]

Have you ever tried Camera Zoom Fx? It allows you to program all your buttons.

Really? I think im going to try that. Thanks!

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[ScandaLeX]

I'm another who came from the true stylus era. The moment I heard this phone was coming to Sprint I knew I was getting it. I don't have any more to add that the previous poster hasn't already said; her thoughts are spot on.

I do everything with the S-Pen. Having used Palm Pilot, Treo, Tungsten T|3 and any phone with a stylus, the S-Pen just feels right at home.

I thought my previous phone (Epic 4G Touch) was awesome. The Note 2 is in a class by itself.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

[johnmcd348]

Cool. Thanks

 

[maxburn]

Bad, it's a pretty expensive phone at the moment.
Also the AMOLED white balance is better but still no where able to reproduce accurate whites.

 

[ScandaLeX]

Bad, it's a pretty expensive phone at the moment.
Also the AMOLED white balance is better but still no where able to reproduce accurate whites.

Have you tried assisting your screen? If not, it may make a difference.

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