One week with the G-Note

[DAS]

It's been one week with the GNote and I still absolutely enjoy every bit about this phone.

For those who think it's too big, I would say you only have to use it for any length of time, and your opinion is likely, (not guaranteed), but likely to change. The extra screen size comes in so handy for viewing email, web pages, reading Kindle e-books, playing games, and taking notes.

I have only one wish for this phone that would make it perfect for me personally. I wish this phone had the ability out-of-the-box to multitask. The G-Note is the ultilmate business phone and allows me to have one device when I'm mobile and moving from meeting to meeting, but the downsize is unlike my dedicated tablet (Tab 7.0 Plus) there is no way to easily switch applications and jump back and forth between recently used apps like you can in Honeycomb. If the GNote had that one feature this phone would be perfect for me. It will eventually get this feature when it's upgraded to ICS, but until then it's the one downside I have with the phone. However, it's not a deal breaker, and the GNote is still my phone of choice.

The only other issue is with AT&T. I switched from Sprint to get this phone because I was so excited when Samsung announced this device back in September. I was waiting for it to come to the states and was hoping, praying it would land on Sprint but instead it landed on At&t. I paid for the device off contract and since At&t has a 30 day return policy I am taking advantage of the full month to get a real sense of the phone. As I said, after one week I am fully convinced this is the phone for me, but I'm not convinced this is the network.

At&t's rates are so high from what I'm accustomed to that I am torn as to whether to return the phone before the return deadline and sadly go back to my smaller device and the need to carry two devices, and hope it comes to Sprint soon; keep it and wait for it to eventually land on Sprint and then sell this unit on Ebay or Craigslist, or bite the bullet, keep it and pay the monthly At&t charges?

No matter which decision I make I am going to use the GNote as my daily driver, I just need your help (anyone) to opinion or thoughts on what you would do in my situation?

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

They say you pick the network first and then the device. The price difference between sprint and att is substantial, but is the service better or worse for you with either one?

Also, Sprint hasn't announced what it's next high-end phone is going to be. I'm sure it'll be something great, but we just don't know what that is yet. There's currently nothing in Sprint's line-up that comes close to the Note. The real question to ask, then, is if the service is the same (att probably has faster network speeds either way) is the extra monthly cost worth having a higher-end device?

Also, Sprint will be getting the Galaxy Nexus at some point this year, just not sure exactly when.

 

[DAS]

Thanks for the input Kevin!

In conversations here in the office I have, as you mentioned, come to see that one of the biggest advantages to At&t over Sprint is the network speed. As you point out it will boil down to is the speed of the network worth the additional cost.

I have been a customer of Sprint for over 10 years, and still have my line (while I decide what to do) with my Epic Touch GS2. I was happy with the speed of the "NOW" network since I was using the phone for text, calls, reading email, and navigation. I also never had to worry about a tiered plan because with unlimited data (albeit slow) I managed. However, when it came to the heavy lifting like streaming Netflix, Pandora, or downloading large work files & presentations I would use my wifi Tab 7.0 on my home netwrok or wifi spots like McDonald's.

With this device, and its beautiful large screen display I can see taking advantage of At&t's network speeds and not having to rely upon my home network or McDonald's to download large files. The problem is the trade off is that I no longer would have unlimited data, so I would likely be forced to use my home or McDonald's still to stream multi-media content and avoid overages.

There is no way to know it, but I know that if I knew the G-Note was surely coming to Sprint then my choice would be a no brainer. The Galaxy Nexus is a nice phone (my boss has one and really likes it), but the G-Note is the phone for me.