Are you looking for the ultimate tablet you can get in the market today? Check out the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and you will find out why it is one of the best tablet in the market today.

1. Samsung Galaxy
Note 10.1 – The Best
Tablet Today
Figure 1 Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
By Jeorge Heslander
Are you looking for that ultimate user experience with a tablet? Well, your
timing is just right. Look no further than the newly released Samsung Galaxy
Note 10.1 tablet. Here Takashi Takahashi shares with you his experience on the
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and also the Transformer Infinity – both some of the
best tablets available in the market today.
Takashi is an experience tablet user and in this side by side evaluation, he
provides an extensive and detailed evaluation of the Galaxy Note 10.1 vs
Transformer Infinity. If that information is still not enough to help you make a
decision I have also discovered some sources of very useful information that I
myself use to make a decision on the tablet to buy; just follow those links
towards the end of this article.
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2. 5.0 out of 5 stars The
best tablet not because of S-pen nor
multitask (compared to Transformer Infinity), August 19,
2012
By Takashi Takahashi
============= Updates ================
9/3/2012
Week 2 update
1. S-pen - So I still don't use this feature, but just for fun I tried. Quickly, this is
the closest to paper as it can get. See the updated section of "handwriting".
2. Windows 8 Tablets - Since recent IFA Berlin showed several upcoming
Windows 8 tablet, I have decided to give a quick comparison to them.
3. Future Potential - During IFA Berlin, Samsung announced the Jellybean
update on the Galaxy Note 10.1 is coming "very soon (changed from this year)."
& showed many cool features of upcoming Galaxy Note 2 (handheld) device
features, which most likely be included in the Galaxy Note 10.1 as well. See
Future potential section for detail.
8/24/2012
After one full week of use, here is quick update.
1. Stability - The stability of this system is amazing. I had only a single crush of
stock browser, which at this point could even be my error of clicking pushing
button by accident. Even on the iPad 2, I still had at least 1 or 2 freeze/crush
every other day or so. So this is actually the most stable tablet/system I have
ever used.
2. Lack of HD Screen - After 1 week of use, I had hoped that I would forget
about my experience with HD Screen on Transformer Infinity. Unfortunately
this isn't the case. Whenever I browse and open a web page, I simply have to
zoom in to be able really read things, which again wasn't the case with HD
screen. So yes. It is really noticeable.
At this point, I can say basically Galaxy Note 10.1 is pretty much superior to
transformer infinity in every aspect except HD screen. However, the screen is
one of the major points; so the choice still remains to be a bit hard. But once
experiencing the stability & speed of Galaxy Note 10.1, I don't think I can go
back to infinity or any other android tablet that gives us freeze or crush every
hour.
============= Vs. Upcoming Windows 8 Tablets ============
I was actually hoping with IFA, at least one of windows 8 tablet announced be
my dream system i.e. customizability & flexibility of android, solid 8+ hours
battery life, portability, stability, speed and full HD screen.
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3. In short, no system met these criteria. The major systems are ASUS Vivo series
and Samsung Ativ series. Among these, only Samsung Ativ Smart Pro is the
only one that has full HD screen that Galaxy Note 10.1 lacks. However, this
system like other full Windows 8 edition tablets are much heavier, battery life is
mere 5 hours DVD play time, and price is over $1100.
Other tablets that are portable, and has good battery life are usually Windows
RT versions. Given how stable Android OS on Galaxy Note 10.1, stability is no
longer comparison point. Just like iOS vs. Android, it becomes applications.
Windows RT edition only runs Metro specific applications. Though they will
certainly grow, it will likely to take some time. Given the rapid change in the
technology, if you decide to buy a system with a hope that the application will
come, you may end up not enjoying your system as by the time applications
flourish on the metro market, there may be better spec systems with cheaper
price. Furthermore, it appears no Windows RT based system have stylus
support.
So in conclusion, though windows 8 tablet are not inferior by any means, there
is no upcoming windows 8 tablet at this point that can say "absolutely better"
than the Galaxy Note 10.1 or even Transformer Infinity. Both tablet have still
their own places and target audiences.
============= Original Review Below =====================
Quick background of myself, I had recently purchased Transformer Infinity as
upgrade from my iPad 2, and Samsung Galaxy 10.1 4G. It was a great tablet of
its own, but had couple major negatives for the purpose of my use. So I had to
seek for alternative. Given my relative unhappiness with Galaxy 10.1 original
and 4G, I was a bit sceptical about Galaxy Note 10.1 but decided to give a
chance. The result after 3 days of use is "amazing." This should be the
flagship/standard of Android tablet.
In the review of Transformer Infinity, I have discussed about iOS ecosystem vs.
Android ecosystem. In here, I am actually going to focus on comparing to the
Transformer Infinity, which is by many major review sites rated as the best
android tablet. And I see several people are considering the Galxy Note 10.1 vs.
Transformer Infinity.
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4. WARNING: Do not trust some reviews you read on the websites. I just do not
experience/see the issues what some reviewers are saying.
============ Summary ===============
Compared to transformer infinity
Strength
+Battery life
+Stability
+Speed
+Audio/Speaker
Weakness
-No HD screen
-Samsung's very slow software update
-UI
Tie
*Build Quality
*Overall hardware spec
*Future potential
Note: I did not mention S-pen nor multitasking here because I personally don't
use S-pen, and multitasking is good but you can do pretty much the same with
applications on the market on any android device.
Conclusion:
Do you want android tablet?
Are you ok with not having HD display?
Can you afford the price?
If your answer is yes to all three, then this is the tablet to get. Click on the
button below to buy from Amazon.
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5. If you need more detailed information, read on…
=========== Detail Review ================
1. Battery Life
This is one feature I really could not tolerate on the Transformer Infinity. It
lasted 5 hours if I use browser. If I play game, it lasted only 3 hours. Watching
video or reading ebook without any browsing is the only way to get close to 9.5
hours documented on the specification. But in reality, I always surf net, so
generally I can never get more than 6 hours from 100% full charge. Galaxy
Note 10.1's battery life is amazing. Over 6 hours of screen time I was still at
50% one time. Second time 9 hours of screen time including 2 hours of gaming,
3 hours of constant almost pure browsing, 2+ hours of local video, and rest are
ebook reading, I still have 30% battery left. This will undoubtedly gives me 10+
hours of browsing time. In fact, I am guessing this can even give 12+ hours
easily unless I play game. Even with gaming probably 8-9 hours.
Some review claims battery hours on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is much
shorter, or even compatible to the Transformer Infinity. My guess on this is they
only either compared video play and not included browsing but even then the
number won't much. So most likely explanation is they used 3G version of
Galaxy Note 10.1.
In any event, battery life on this is simply amazing. One key selling point on
Transformer series is the docking station, which has extra power. But
specifically comparing to the Transformer Infinity, I think the Galaxy Note 10.1
battery life is likely to match and perhaps even beat that of the Transformer
Infinity with docking station.
Winner: Galaxy Note 10.1
2. Stability
This is in fact the biggest selling point of this tablet. I was always under the
impression that by choosing Android ecosystem over the iOS, one thing we
have to give up is the stability. So when I initially got the Transformer Infinity,
I had a hope but the hope of stability quickly went away. Browser crushed/froze
every hour or so. Other applications also froze and crushed. In the android
world, I guess it's called application not responding (ANR) error. I don't think
the Transformer Infinity had any more of ANR than the my old Galaxy 10.1 but
definitely did not seem less.
To my surprise, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is actually extremely stable. In
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6. fact, I have used so far approximately 20-30 hours and have not encountered a
single ANR nor crush. Having stable Android system is just an amazing.
Winner: Galaxy Note 10.1
Figure 2 Click On Image Above To Buy From Amazon
3. Screen
If you have never used HD display tablet such as the new iPad, Transformer
Infinity or ACER Iconia A700, you would probably not notice. But after using
them for awhile, the sharpness of text produced by these high definition screen
are certainly noticeable. With Infinity, I can load a page and without zooming
in; I can basically read the entire page because resolution is so good. But with
the Galaxy Note 10.1, everything looks somewhat blurry so I have to zoom in to
really read.
This is a huge disadvantage of the Galaxy Note 10.1. On the other hand, the
reason why every other aspect on Galaxy Note 10.1 is better than the
Transformer Infinity is because it does not have to drive HD. If you need a HD
screen android tablet, you have to go with the Transformer Infinity. Even then,
there is not many HD specific applications right now; so you will not notice the
difference on every day use.
Winner: Transformer Infinity
4. Speed
After doing some custom tweek on my Infinity, browsing on the Infinity
became much faster (at least so it seemed). When it is at maximum speed, the
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7. Infinity and Galaxy browsers loaded pages in equal speed. I tested this by
simply going to the same site at same time for couple pages. But after couple
hours of use, the Infinity browser always seemed to slow down or crush. This
does not depend on which browser I used; stock, Chrome, Opera, Firefox beta,
Dolphin beta etc. The benchmarks sort of show this. Sunspider benchmark of
Infinity was decently fast so browser should be fast, which again it was when
working. But Galaxy Note 10.1's Sunspider result is simply in another
dimension. It's even faster than the new iPad. Since the stock browser runs so
well on the Galaxy Note 10.1, I have not really tried much else on it.
Another example is I use Mantano Reader for my ebook reading. With Infinity,
I could not open a couple files. One was 50MB, the other was 400MB. It simply
took forever and gave me ANR. If I was lucky and got it working after awhile,
it only showed a couple pages and then crush. I sent an email to Mantano asking
for fix as I could not believe with such high spec on the Infinity this can be an
issue. In fact, some files larger than 50MB opened fine on the Mantano.
Furthermore, other PDF applications such as Repligo, Adobe Reader opened
these files fine as well. So I had good reasons to blame this on the application
itself. But the same file opens instantaneously on Galaxy Note 10.1 and
obviously no crush or ANR.
So despite Infinity being fast system on its own, I have to give this one also to
Galaxy Note 101..
Winner: Galaxy Note 10.1
5. Audio/Speaker
Speaker on the Infinity was simply a weakness. So any system can win over
this. I am not expert on sound system, so all I cared was whether I can hear the
sound loud enough. With Infinity, some of my video files were only barely
audible even with maximum sound setting if there are any background sounds.
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8. This was different from any other tablet I owned. Galaxy Note 10.1 is just like
others and I have no problem hearing sounds. It is what I expected.
With Infinity I had issue on listening to video file that was on the micro-SD
using a headset. Every minute or two, I hear small but definitely noticeable
"beep beep." This was fixed by copying files locally to the device. But this sort
of defeats the purpose of micro-SD... This issue is not there with Galaxy Note
101.. So I can keep video files on micro-SD with the Note 10.1.
Winner: Galaxy Note 10.1
6. Software Update
No one can beat ASUS. Their reputation on the software update is the best of all
android tablet makers. In fact, they have already released Jelly Bean on one of
the transformer line. So it probably won't be too long for Infinity either. This
will for surely be true for OS after Jelly Bean as well. In addition, Nexus 7 is
made by ASUS and has very similar specification to Transformer Prime, so
future proof in terms of software update on infinity is the best on the market.
In comparison, Samsung is one of the worst in terms of software update. One
main reason is that they make their own touch wiz customization. The original
Samsung Galaxy 10.1 just recently got Ice Cream Sandwich. Samsung
announced that Galaxy Note 10.1 will be getting Jellybean by end of the year,
so we will get it but I don't count on the time. As far as the OS after Jellybean,
who knows what we may get it but that would be even further down the road
and it may even become irrelevant at the point.
Winner: Transformer Infinity
However, there is a catch on this. If the actual software is working perfectly, do
we really need/care about newer OS? I was looking forward to Jellybean when I
had Infinity because I thought it would make the system faster, and possibly
more stable. However, my Galaxy Note 10.1 is already extremely fast, and
perfect stability. So I am not sure if I am much to look forward to in Jelly Bean
on the Note 10.1.
7. User Interface
Transformer Infinity uses near stock interface. Their widgets are very clean. I
loved their transparent weather, and date widget. Touch Wiz on the other hand,
I don't think as pretty. Samsung Weather widget just don't fit well. This may be
personal preference though.
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9. Winner: Transformer Infinity
8. Build Quality
The actual external appearance of the tablet goes to the Infinity. The metallic
Zen design is really great. It does look like expensive tablet. On the other hand,
Samsung has plastic and I even had my port plastic broken one time on my
Galaxy 10.1 4G. Clearly, it is not common place for accidental damage as it is
simply so hard to break the piece by intention. But Samsung totally refused to
fix it and asked for $100 to fix this even though I only had the tablet for 5
months. So I am sceptical for the durability of plastic tablet.
However, quality assurance seems better on Samsung. I had to try two Infinity.
Both had light bleed, one had loose screen i.e. I can get click sound by pressing
corner, sticking button (first one was volume, second one was power).
According to XDA forum, this was very prevalent issue and pretty much most
people had one or other. On the Galaxy Note 10.1 I had none of these, and it
seemed like the forum is also pointing to the same direction with very minimal
complain on these matters.
Winner: Tie
9. Overall Hardware Specification
This is a technical aspect. No matter what the specification is, in the end user
experience is everything; however, hardware spec can definitely affect the
experience. Generally speaking two are similar with one better on one regard
but other on the other.
CPU: Tie - Atuntu scores are basically the same.
GPU: Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 – the Galaxy Note 10.1 has the best GPU in
any of Android tablet on the market right now. Still not up to the level of the
new iPad. Given it has to push less pixels compared to the Infinity, a stronger
GPU further makes difference. Having said this, I don't think there is any
application on android market currently that pushes to their graphical limit. So
not sure if extra GPU power make much difference.
I/O: Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 – the supposedly I/O issue has been discussed
on Transformer series before Infinity. But Infinity still has it. It had improved
with the latest firmware, but not solved. There is speculation that this is indeed
hardware level of issue i.e. can go only so much. The speculation is coming
from XDA developers who tested running things off of highspeed SD card gave
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10. much boost in the function when compared to local storage i.e. Flash storage is
the conundrum. This is reflected on the benchmark. The Infinity had RL
benchmark score of 80-90's with the latest firmware (originally like 120's).
Galaxy Note 10.1 has 20's. This actually does affect the daily use as you save
file, access file all requires reading and writing from flash drive. Obviously,
Infinity is not 4 times slower than Galaxy Note 10.1 but this may be the reason
why my PDF file opened fine on Mantano with Galaxy Note 10.1 but not on
Infinity.
Memory: Samsung Galaxy Note - 2GB. Since most tablets still have 1GB
memory, we won't likely to see anything that requires a 2GB memory for
awhile. So it is only helpful when opening multiple applications i.e. you may be
able to cache more application than before but otherwise, I am not sure if this
helps much.
Screen: Transformer Infinity - See above.
In any event, both hardware are the best in the market right now. If these two
systems cannot handle any more update, application etc. then pretty much
nothing else on the market can handle them any more either. So as far as
hardware goes, both are relatively future proof.
10. Future Potential
ASUS, the maker of Infinity, makes Nexus 7 and again it has similar spec as the
Infinity's ancestor Transformer Prime. So it should have good support from
Google as well as future application makers. Furthermore, recently ASUS
became of the Playstation partner. So you will likely to see Playstation games
on it.
Galaxy Note 10.1 on the other hand is made by Samsung, who makes one of the
most popular smartphone; the Samsung Galaxy Series. Since Galaxy Note and
SIII etc. uses Exynos CPU design and the number of unit sold are so high,
android software developers will/should continue support them and hence, also
supporting Galaxy Note 10.1.
Update (9/3): Samsung just recently announced it is bringing Jellybean to
Galaxy Note 10.1 "very soon." No solid time here, but compared to "this year",
this sounds much more imminent. Only the time will tell, but it would be
interesting how quickly Samsung can make the update to change its reputation
here.
More interestingly, Galaxy Note 2 (handheld) device was just recently officially
10

11. announced by Samsung. This device is very similar to the Galaxy Note 10.1. So
new features coming to the Galaxy Note 2 is highly likely to be added to Galaxy
Note 10.1 as well. If you are interested in seeing what these features are, search
for [GALAXY Note II] First Hands-on Video by Samsung on Youtube. These
features appear very unique (at least to me).
Winner: Tie
11. Handwriting
For those of you who thinks S-pen is just another stylus, it is not. You can never
write as small on iPad, or Infinity because simply technology is different. So
those who wants to have closest to the real pen and paper experience, you need
inductive pen device like Galaxy Note.
Updated 9/3/2012
Coming from the background of looking into tablet PC when still relatively new
(back windows XP era), one thing I can say to test whether stylus/pen on screen
truly work or not is write as small as you can and see if the tablet can recognize
your writing. The conventional touch screen tablet like iPad, most of android
tablet including Transformer Infinity, you will quickly notice the smallest you
can write is not so small. You have some applications to convert your bigger
drawn handwriting into smaller text, but it certainly is not same experience as
you were to write on the paper.
Since I had time with this tablet, I had a chance to try this. Well, the smallest the
tablet recognizes is the smallest I can write. So in this sense, Samsung did
phenomenal job. Perhaps, this may be the reason why they could not include
full HD screen.
Winner: Galaxy Note
============== Other less important features =================
Other things that I personally don't think much important are followings:
1. Split Screen
There are many applications on the Google Play that already allows you to
watch video, browse web, take note etc. while opening other window. So it is
nice to include as a free feature and emphasize such feature exist, but Galaxy
Note 10.1's built in applications are limited to certain applications. For instance,
I cannot use built in browser to watch flash movie while I read ebook. However,
if I buy Overskreen I can do that. And Overskreen is supported on Transformer
11

12. Infinity as well. So I don't think split screen should be decision maker for
anyone.
2. Keyboard dock
This is mainly the feature of Transformer series but Samsung also makes
keyboard dock. The Galaxy Note 10.1 version is not out yet, but it is in process.
The difference is that Galaxy Note one (probably) won't have extra battery. But
I don't think it needs that as by tablet alone it can last so long and probably even
longer than Infinity with dock. Form factor goes to the Transformer as it
attaches and closes like laptop. My personal opinion about this is, it doesn't
really make difference. If I need keyboard I can still carry it. The total weight is
the same. So another factor, I don't think should be decision maker.
=============== Conclusion ==================
Given the stability and speed, this system truly provides the real android
experience. No crush, freeze is really nice and I forgot how nice it was. Galaxy
Note 10.1 achieves this goal. Battery life is phenomenal too. Lack of HD is
definitely a minus; however, it may be necessary as even Galaxy Note 10.1
having the best GPU among all the android tablet out there right now, it still
does not match that of new iPad, and probably there is a reason why apple had
to put such powerful GPU on it. Other HD Android devices may be suffering
from relative instability (compared to zero crush Galaxy Note 10.1) because
they simply don't have enough hardware power i.e. the technology is just simply
not there. So it is a trade off/decision you have to make. But if you can give up
on the HD screen, this is the best Android Tablet on the market!
Click here or the buttoon below to buy the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 from
Amazon.
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13. If you still need more information, I have found some very excellent articles on
the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet here:
1. Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1: Why You Should Buy The Note 10.1 Tablet
Read this Squidoo article to be absolutely sure on why you should buy
the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. This article contains all the information
you need to help you make sure that you are buying the right tablet.
2. Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 – The Dream Tablet For Students
Read the above article if you are a student is looking for that tablet which
allows you to take notes, write and do things that you have traditionally
done with pen and paper but now want to do electronically. Find out how
owners of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, especially students felt about
its hand writing capabilities.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is an especially useful device if you are a
student, a corporate person who attends meeting and need to take notes or
simply if you need a tablet that is capable of supporting hand writing
amongst other things.
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