Tab or Note?

[ShaggyKids]

Hi,

I've been considering a new tablet, right now looking at the Galaxy 10 size and wondering what you folks have to say about choosing the Tab or the Note version? I *think* want it in WI-FI only, that's what my Nexus 7 is (which will go to hubby IF I do this). One of them seems to really push the pen that comes with it, but I don't do any drawing so don't think I need that but since I've never had anything like that maybe you could shed some light on it's usability for other things? I don't like the idea of having to carry a pen around with me either.

I'm looking over at Swappa cuz I don't need to spend the $ on a new one. I'm not a huge user of my Nexus 7, but I love having it around so don't want to give it to hubby and be without a tablet. I can't see spending full price cuz I'm not a "use it alot" person. The Notes are all higher priced so I'm guessing their is something higher end about them or a reason why the big price difference.

The straight WI-FI is not 4G so assuming it's 3G which doesn't thrill me, I'd rather have 4G. Do I *need* the 4GLTE or is 4G good enough?

I'd also like to have a white one vs. black one but could live with black. Neither seems to have a big color choice.

Those of you who've had 7 and 10" tablets - do you have a size preference and why or why not?

Anything else you can contribute would be appreciated, thanks much.

Deb

 

[ledfrog]

The question really comes down to whether you want more phone with the feeling of owning a tablet or do you want more tablet to go along with your phone? I've battled this for a long time myself and after owning and selling two iPads over the years, I still couldn't figure out why I wanted/needed a tablet. So instead, I would get phones with bigger screens so I could have something close to a mini-mini tablet. But then I was sitting on the couch one day and wanted to do some basic web browsing and my phone just wasn't cutting it so I had to go drag out my Macbook (which is only 13" too) and I felt like that was too much!

That's when I realized I wanted something a bit more portable than my laptop, but larger than my phone. The Note was out because I knew I didn't want that big of a phone and I couldn't justify it's sole use as a tablet. So I was going to go with a Nexus 10, but then I still couldn't justify the price tag for something that I may only use a few times a week or while I'm traveling. Plus, being 10 inches, it's not much smaller than my Macbook, so I finally arrived at the Nexus 7. I love it, but sometimes I find it to be a bit on the slow side. However if rumors prove to be true, we may see a new like of Nexus tablets toward the end of this month!!

 

[ShaggyKids]

I don't need a phone, I have an S3 but like you it's not big enough for some things, like reading on my Kindle app for example. I've managed to get myself all kinds of confused between the Tab and the Note and now I just hit the Samsung site and they're now advertising version 3 you can pre-order. I don't need the latest and greatest tablet but I'd like something that at least has Jelly Bean on it. The one I'd been looking at over on Swappa has Gingerbread so that must be an older one. I don't know if it will upgrade to JB or not.

 

[hllon4whls]

I have both a nexus 7 and a Note 10.1, so I think I can help you.

First of all - WiFi is WiFi and 4g/3g are cellular connections (LTE is 4g). The two techs are not related. You get a 4g tablet if you want anywhere portability - anywhere there is 4g or the tablet can drop down to 3g. With progress being made on LTE deployment daily, coverage is good and expanding. If you dont want to take the truly mobile, WiFi is fine. For my use, 4g is very convenient, but I drop it on WiFi at home.

I'm a huge Nexus 7 fan. Price is right and size (to me) is nearly perfect. The 10 tab gives more desktop space but the same resolution as the nexus 7. The 10 inch tablets are less portable than the 7 inch tablets and it takes some getting used to as in holding while reading in bed, or carrying around. Without a case the 10.1 is good for weight, adding a case adds heft and thickness. I do like to prop it up and I have a case that allows me to prop it on a table. The reason I have two is very simple, one is company provided - Note 10.1 and the nexus is mind (2 actually and a Galaxy Tab OG). I use citrix (virtual windows desktop) on the 10.1. The increased screen real estate is very helpful with Citrix.

S_Pen. IMHO, a toy at best. There is a handwriting note taking app that is ok; not very accurate. A cool pen game also comes with the tablet (can still use finger), but overall the pen does any value that would sway your decision one way or the other. There may be some drawing/artistry application where that comes in handy, but for day-day tasks, I see no benefit. The pen docks flush in the tablet, so you don't need to expend any effort to carry it. I tried it the first few weeks and I don't use it now - it just stays docked in it's little port.

Samsung Note 10.1 vs Tab 10: Reportedly the Note 10.1 has better GPS performance. I don't own the Tab 10inch but I can tell you the Note GPS performs fine. It also allows two apps to be run at once, which can be useful at times. Asus also has 10.1 and 7 inch tabs with similar specs to the Note 10.1 -s check them out if you are interested in more options. The Note 10.1 has an SD card slot and can also read usb flash drives with a special cable/adapter. The Samsung line of products uses a proprietary charging port and power adapter. The Note and galaxy tabs both use the same interface for charging. My original galaxy tab 3g/WiFi charger works fine on the Note 10.1 and visually are identical. The Note 10.1 has a newer processor and more Ram - theoretically faster than the tab.

Coming from a Nexus 7, there are a few 4.2.2 things that are not available in the Note 10.1 which runs 4.1.2. I've had to remember the 4.0/4.1 days and its not that big of a deal. I actually group icons on 4.2 and could not do that with 4.0/1 that comes on the note 10.1. I just received the update on the note 10.1 and I am on 4.1.2 as of today. I have the Verizon 4g/WiFi version BTW.

 

[ShaggyKids]

Thank you you've been a great help. I'm thinking now the 10 inch might be a little big. I just found out there's also an 8 inch which is now interesting me so I'm kind of looking at that too. Sitting here reading and replying on my Nexus 7 really tends to give me the idea that the 10 inch would probably be too big. I really hate being so indecisive ;-)

 

[hllon4whls]

You can always head to your nearby B&M stores to see what size fits you. Both sizes (7-10) have their merits; as I may have not fully mentioned, the 7 inch was too small to comfortably run Cirtix (imagine running windows 7 on a 7 inch screen). The 10 inch works great for that application. I pick both up at home depending on my mood - Nexus 7 is still a good value and I've had zero issues from mine - both of them actually.

Happy shopping. I agree there are a lot of good choices and it is a tough decision.

 

[starbuckk]

Tab vs Note probably comes down to the SPen. I'm not drawing much either but I love the spen for note taking. I stopped taking notebooks to meetings and tossed my post its Annotating and moving around the screen is lots easier with the pen too. If you are mostly just ereading and web surfing, Tab might work fine for you.

About needing 4g, consider paying for tethering on your cell phone instead of adding a new service plan for a tablet. Probably cheaper, and unless you are almost always needing connection outside of WiFi range, it will likely suffice.

About color, if you go with the Note, the white, AFAIK, is only available in 16gb. The small price difference between 16 and 32 is well worth the extra cost. The 16gb only has about 12gb usable memory and not everything can be pushed to a card.

Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk HD

 

[bluzman]

When it comes to Note vs Tab, I opted for Note because of multi-window feature. Being able to have multiple apps/windows open and simultaneously accessible like on a PC is very useful. As for the S-Pen, it seems to be a major "decider" for students/professionals who need to capture and annotate class/meeting notes and pdfs...much more than a novelty item. For me, I use the pen to annotate and sign documents without ever having to resort to paper...also very useful.

 

[ShaggyKids]

I think that's prolly what I'd go for first, the Note. I don't need the pen. I started leaning towards an 8" tablet but I can see now the direction I need to go in is not be so concerned with size - price is what is going to be the determining factor. Right now I can get a 10.1 on Swappa for quite a bit less than an 8".