Galaxy Note 2

chrisone

So I made a change from the Apple Iphone line that I have been with for the past 5 years, to the Android family. I bought the Galaxy Note 2. First of all since it is my first Android phone and I have only had it since friday, I cannot give you much of a valid review.

First, I love this device! screen size (5.5"), stylus, thinness (As thin as Iphone 5), horse power! (1.6ghz quad core, 16gb "64gb micro SD card slot," you name it, it has it all.

2. The graphics for gaming is pretty impressive for a "Phablet."
3. For work I can VPN and RDP into my desktop and work off a pure windows environment. What is also awesome about this device is that you can plug in a video out to a monitor/TV and work off a bluetooth mouse and keyboard. (yes i know i could do this on my iphone as well) but the screen size was just to damn small and performance was terrible!
4. Reading my kindle books is amazing! i enjoy it just as much as i do on my kindle fire

Some people have these crazy setups with just the phone, bluetooth keyboard/mouse, and video out. I am very impressed with this device, even though it does look a little silly putting it up to my ear for a phone call lol!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI-Rbm-m5Kk

Gaming

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gq_ZU9p5Nk

ptilsen

chrisone wrote: »

3. For work I can VPN and RDP into my desktop and work off a pure windows environment. What is also awesome about this device is that you can plug in a video out to a monitor/TV and work off a bluetooth mouse and keyboard. (yes i know i could do this on my iphone as well) but the screen size was just to damn small and performance was terrible!

Can you clarify what you mean here? The parentheses make this really ambiguous. I take it the iPhone was too slow? Out of curiosity, which iPhone?

Overall, it seems pretty awesome for phone capabilities. A little big for my tastes, but pretty cool.

spicy ahi

I tried it out with Sprint since Verizon won't have it available until later this month. It was a great device, and I can't wait to get it with big red. The screen is big enough that I can read pdfs in landscape without having to pinch and zoom (just scrolling up and down) It was also beautiful when watching youtube/netflix videos and my younger kids could actually sit side by side and watch a video at a restaurant without world war 7 starting (with my iphone, they always fought to hold it because it was too small for them to see on the table) One thing I found really useful that I didn't think I would was the S-pen and notes app. I actually used it during a meeting to jot down notes and it took a little getting used to but by the end of the meeting I was taking notes on it with ease. Lots of positives all around, the sum of which more than makes up for "looking silly" when talking on it as a phone. Interestingly enough, I didn't get any weird stares while using it as a phone. Honestly, if you use it enough, you forget about the size being anything more than useful. The only reason I returned it is Sprint doesn't have coverage around my home (there's a big 'ol dead spot on my street and spans out three streets or so in all directions) so that doesn't work well for me as I use it as my primary phone and have had my home phone disconnected for years. Ah well, it's just another few weeks to wait for Verizon's. Already got it preordered! Bonus is, my wife is going to inherit my iphone 4S and retire her original droid x so I was able to pay for the device outright instead of having to go the subsidized route. Pair that with my grandfathered unlimited data plan and I think I'll be set phone wise for a few years.

chrisone

ptilsen wrote: »

Can you clarify what you mean here? The parentheses make this really ambiguous. I take it the iPhone was too slow? Out of curiosity, which iPhone?

Overall, it seems pretty awesome for phone capabilities. A little big for my tastes, but pretty cool.

My apologies my friend, I was a little excited and in a bit of a rush to correct my mistakes here. I had an iPhone4 and from my experience using RDP to my desktop was hard to use since the screen was so small. Honestly I have never seen anyone use an iPhone the way they are hooking up GalaxyS3 and Galaxy Note 2 devices like mini laptops and desktops. I just noticed a lot more flexibility on the Android devices.

spicy ahi wrote: »

I tried it out with Sprint since Verizon won't have it available until later this month. It was a great device, and I can't wait to get it with big red. The screen is big enough that I can read pdfs in landscape without having to pinch and zoom (just scrolling up and down) It was also beautiful when watching youtube/netflix videos and my younger kids could actually sit side by side and watch a video at a restaurant without world war 7 starting (with my iphone, they always fought to hold it because it was too small for them to see on the table) One thing I found really useful that I didn't think I would was the S-pen and notes app. I actually used it during a meeting to jot down notes and it took a little getting used to but by the end of the meeting I was taking notes on it with ease. Lots of positives all around, the sum of which more than makes up for "looking silly" when talking on it as a phone. Interestingly enough, I didn't get any weird stares while using it as a phone. Honestly, if you use it enough, you forget about the size being anything more than useful. The only reason I returned it is Sprint doesn't have coverage around my home (there's a big 'ol dead spot on my street and spans out three streets or so in all directions) so that doesn't work well for me as I use it as my primary phone and have had my home phone disconnected for years. Ah well, it's just another few weeks to wait for Verizon's. Already got it preordered! Bonus is, my wife is going to inherit my iphone 4S and retire her original droid x so I was able to pay for the device outright instead of having to go the subsidized route. Pair that with my grandfathered unlimited data plan and I think I'll be set phone wise for a few years.

I actually moved from ATT to Sprint. I now have unlimited DATA / VOICE! wow I feel so much freedom with this device and the service. With iPhone and ATT I felt so much constriction on everything I did. I cant believe I was paying a company to make me feel wrong in using a service I actually pay for. To top it off the 4g service is kicking in soon! wow I have seen friends on their 4g get speeds at around 30-40mb

You are right, watching videos and netflix is a great experience on the go

I buy books only on kindle and i have some PDFs too, the experience is just as satisfying as it is on my kindle fire

Mike-Mike

chrisone wrote: »

I actually moved from ATT to Sprint. I now have unlimited DATA / VOICE!

I did the same thing, but I have Windows Phone, but if they dont make a WP8 device I like, I'd check out the Galaxy Note....


sidenote: how do you like the Kindle FirE?

GAngel

Welcome to 2012.

tpatt100

I find myself looking to go smaller, my Razr battery life is terrible but it is a first gen one. I find myself getting tired of worrying about if I forget my charger. That was the only thing I liked about my wife's iPhone 4 was she could go all weekend no problem.

My next phone might be the iPhone 5 but I am looking at the new Nexus, don't care about 4G and I get why the new one doesn't have it was compatibility with carriers.

klhatchett

I am hoping to have this phone no later then next Wednesday, supppper excited lol, right now I have a StruggleBerry aka Blackberry and I am ready for a well needed upgrade, was thinking about going the cheaper route and getting the S3, but I think the extra 100 bucks is worth it

wd40

I have been using the Note 2 for more than a month and I find your comment about the size silly.

The speaker should be near your ear, the mic near your mouth ==> 5.5" is the perfect size for a phone

now the problem is I do not think I can justify buying a smaller phone in the future.

chrisone

wd40 wrote: »

I have been using the Note 2 for more than a month and I find your comment about the size silly.

The speaker should be near your ear, the mic near your mouth ==> 5.5" is the perfect size for a phone

now the problem is I do not think I can justify buying a smaller phone in the future.

I guess I need to get used to the size :P As I see it, 2 years from now the iPhone 6 better be something WOW because I just dont see myself leaving Android right now. iPhone 4-5s will be the same old boring design and thats 4 years of the same design with just updated specs. I wasn't excited for the iphone 5, its more power with a stretched out iphone 4 design. I dont see the iPhone 5 S being any better. It will be the typical iPhone S version release.

@MIKE-MIKE, I was looking into buying a new 7inch tablet to replace my 1gen Kindle Fire. So that is the reason why I went with the Phablet, instead of the Galaxy S3 which is what I probably would have gone with, if I didnt need to get a new tablet. The kindle Fire first gen is ok just for reading books. The internet was decent, a little slugging/sloppy. Overall device performance was slugging. It had no camera, it just felt outdated. I honestly do not need it now that i have the Galaxy Note 2.

Mike-Mike

chrisone wrote: »

@MIKE-MIKE, I was looking into buying a new 7inch tablet to replace my 1gen Kindle Fire. So that is the reason why I went with the Phablet, instead of the Galaxy S3 which is what I probably would have gone with, if I didnt need to get a new tablet. The kindle Fire first gen is ok just for reading books. The internet was decent, a little slugging/sloppy. Overall device performance was slugging. It had no camera, it just felt outdated. I honestly do not need it now that i have the Galaxy Note 2.

I was considering getting the new Fire HD for my son for Christmas, I have Amazon Prime, so I figured I could steal it from him when he goes to bed and take it to work with me