Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

April 2014 Update: It has been over a month of usage with the 12.2 and I have to admit my experience has become more and more positive. Things I am liking is the the stellar battery life, the way apps update to work better with 4.4os, the physical durability, the screen sharpness/brightness, and the internet browsing experience. I love the multi-day battery power you get. I realize even with the screen up at 80% brightness watching Netflix all day the battery still takes forever to drain. The only App that seemed to cause Battery drain and slow recharging issue was Word-With-Friends, Blurb Checkout and HP Printer Services. Once you delete those and make use of Task Manager to curb background activity everything improves. Also keeping GPS Antenna off helps. Apps seem to be updating regularly to work smoother on 4.4os and to also support the multi window display. So now more apps can be swiped into new windows when in multi window mode. By contrast I have some popular apps on my iPhone that are only now updating to work better with last year's iOS 7. I'm finding the feel of the tablet is great for daily use. I love the faux leather back and aluminum trim. You don't necessarily need a case like you would on a scratch prone-metallic iPad. The faux leather is soft to the touch and easy to grip, yet handles daily commuting bangs and scrapes well without any signs of wear and tear. One thing I didn't expect though is the faux leather to be a bit of a fingerprint magnet. I tried using other tablets since and I now realize how great the screen is. Apart from the slight fuzziness you get when importing low res pics (or browsing the Facebook/eBay app) hi res images, websites, eBook/Adobe Reader text and colors always look sharp and bright. I even take back what I said about the 10.1 Note Pro's screen being possibly better. The 12.2 has a greater overall screen. As long as you stay away from your Grandma's 1 MP pictures and don't expect extra sharp images on the Facebook and eBay app then this tablet will make you happy. Actually if you use Chrome or Internet to browse Facebook and eBay then the images will look sharper and will scaled up properly. This brings me to my final impressions for the 12.2: the web browsing experience is second to none! I'm very impressed with the consistent speed and page layout of the Chrome and Google web apps. This is the first tablet where I can say anyone's dependence on a full desktop PC or laptop PC for internet service will be greatly diminished. The only thorn in this positive is that Adobe Flash material may or may not load on certain websites but there is an Android Flash Player Patch (not found in the Play Store/Samsung Apps) that you can install thru your web browser to work around this. Positives aside there have been some hiccups with the 12.2. There is a slight interface delay when using the S pen on certain Apps. It works perfectly in S pen native apps. I don't find myself using S pen for what I normally do on my 12.2 so it is no bother to me but still worth mentioning. Also the Android/Samsung Gallery and File Management system can get cluttered if you tend to store a lot of documents and media. Add in the automatic Facebook/Dropbox media file import and you may find yourself lost in a sea of tricky to remove pictures that you never put on the tablet. However, coming from an iOs iPhone background where Apple manipulates your media and files for you I am actually enjoying the freedom of organizing my images and files the way I want. I don't really use the Magazine but, unlike widgets, the Magazine tiles do not auto update. [Yeah I checked with Samsung and] there is 'currently' no method for selecting them to automatically refresh with new stories and content. It has to be manually done for each tile every time you open Magazine. This actually defeats the purpose of what the feature is about-quickly exposing users to new and newsworthy information. On the flip side I'm curious how battery life will fare once Samsung allows background auto update of all those tiles. Over all I think anyone who chose this tablet will be happy. I still don't know why haters still rate the 12.2 low because Samsung wants $750 for a 12.2 tablet when in the same stores Samsung smart phones, iPads and iPhones sell for $799+. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I originally wanted the Note 2014 10.1 for the holidays but decided to wait when the 12.2 appeared at CES. After seeing a some early online gadget reviews and videos I went into Best Buy held both the 10.1 and 12.2 and in under 3 minutes I was sold on the Pro 12.2. What I realized after looking at the 32GB 10.1 at $549 versus the 32GB 12.2 at $749 that for $200 more you get a lot more than just a bigger screen. After a month of daily use with my 12.2 did I make a good choice? Let's find out. PROS: The battery life is very good. I usually go all day with usage (bluetooth, wifi, apps running, screen brightness at 60%-auto brightness set to OFF) and never go below 70%. Some applications (words with friends) and widgets will drain battery quicker even if you are not directly using them so it is best to use the task and application manager in settings to see what is using your battery the most. Also GPS antenna being on all the time will kill the battery life. The first thing you will notice is that the 12.2 handles multiple tasks VERY quickly. It is not as quick as my iPhone 5S when opening heavy apps quickly like Facebook but because 99% of the time I am doing more than one thing at a time on my 12.2 any lag (minute as it maybe) is completely forgivable. In fact other than Facebook I have not notice anything to be slow on this tablet. YouTube, GPS-Google Earth/Maps, Web Browsing, Hancom Office, etc... can all run at 100% at the same time on the same screen. I had absolutely no issues with stuttering, slowing down or freezing up like some review videos have griped about. The software has updated since I took it out the box so that maybe the trick. Make sure to update your software and all the apps to get the most up to date performance. This tablet also doesn't get hot in my lap at all when doing heavy work. Netflix, YouTube, streaming Video playback is smooth, crystal clear Hi-Def and looks amazing! Images and text on Mazagine, web browsing apps, FlipBoard, emails, Adobe Reader, games, ebooks, etc... all look crisp, bright and vividly sharp. The Chrome and Internet web browsing apps are blazing fast! I never liked web browsing apps on tablets and mobile phones because it was never as quick and natural as internet on a PC or notebook but here it feels natural and fast. Pages are full pages and not scaled down versions of websites. I also found the Android web browsing experience MUCH BETTER than Safari on the iOS iPads. Contrary to some early YouTube reviews I did NOT find this tablet to be too big or heavy for one handed use. The average adult should be able to hold and use it in one hand while standing. The Note Pro 12.2 is the around the same weight as my fiancé's pre-iPadAir iPad3. At 8"+ by 11"+ inches the 12.2 Note Pro shares the same footprint as a standard sheet of paper (Go to your printer or office desk and pick up a standard sheet of paper it is the same size as this 12.2 tablet) If you are coming from an older 8" or 10" tablet then the Note Pro 12.2 will 'feel' much bigger but not much heavier. However if you are like me and never owned a tablet before while coming from a Laptop/Desktop background then the 12.2. will feel portable enough. In fact this tablet paired with the Zagg keyboard has already completely replaced my premium Lenovo Thinkpad for on the go Laptop duties. Speaking of Laptop PC Windows duties the Productivity Software that comes with the 12.2 is not the usual bloatware you would expect. In fact apps like Hancom and WebEx puts Windows Office to shame. These productivity apps put the practicality of Microsoft Office onto a tablet environment where everything runs smoothly (especially with S pen) without the costs, drama and high maintenance that you get with Microsoft Office products. I mainly use Hancom Word for writing (novels) and in this regard I recommend an external keyboard (like the Zagg) since the touch screen keyboard can hog some screen real estate. Other obvious positives to a 12.2 screen is that you can do way more stuff at the same time and this tablet does the job of multi windows smoothly. My only prior tablet experience was my fiance's iPad3 which interfaces only one app at a time. Having the 12.2 do more than one thing at once took some getting used to. It is fun and most practical. CONS: The 12.2 screen carries over the resolution from the Note 10.1's screen (why?). This means in apps like Gallery, Facebook and eBay some lower resolution photos do not scale up properly to fill out the bigger screen. Instead the Note Pro 12.2 tablet stretches out and enlarges images in these apps which results in slight fuzziness on those pictures. So if you are importing old school throw back pictures that you scanned back in 1999 then don't expect those pictures to look good here. On the Note 10.1 the same images would come out sharper on the smaller screen space. Lisa Gade at MobileTech has a brilliant side by side 10.1 vs 12.2 video on YouTube that shows this effect better than I can describe here. In fact isn't a big issue and most people who use hi-res pictures won't notice it at all. That said the camera on this tablet like all current tablets is quite crap compared to most high end cell phones or digital cameras. The camera app does have all the latest and greatest features but dont expect wallpaper quality pics. Use your samsung cell phone instead and import pics. Regarding the screen resolution I will add other apps like Adobe, Chrome/Internet, NYTimes and Magazine/FlipBoard have very crisp and clear images that are on par or better than iPad Retina's images so don't let that turn you away. My next gripe is in the box this tablet comes with nothing. You get the usb cord/charger combo, a quick start leaflet, and replacement nibs for the S pen. For $800 spent here I would have at least wanted headphones and a proper manual booklet (you have to search Samsung's website for the 178 page SM-P905 pdf file). Funny enough the SM-P905 manual when you download it has A LOT of important information regarding how to use this tablet properly. For one it warns "do not use a screen protector on the Note Tablets" which is the first thing we all buy for it. I use one anyway and it works fine with the S pen and touch controls. Be careful with where you buy your MicroSD card from. I went thru two eBay-bought SanDisk and Samsung 64gb cards, most likely fakes, that didn't work, died and almost damaged my Pro 12.2. I finally purchased the genuine Samsung 64gb card at my local Best Buy and it worked. Funny enough the eBay cards worked perfectly on my PC laptop and BlackBerry smartphone so that means the MicroSD card drive on this 12.2 tablet is very picky. One of my early concerns was out the box it took this tablet about 5 hours to charge from 70% to 100% and much longer to charge from near empty. To improve charging time I went to Application Manager->Running and deleted hidden background Bloatware like HP printer services, Blurb Checkout, etc... On kitkat 4.4 these sneaky apps remain running even after you sleep the tablet suckling away at your battery. With bloatware gone I now go from 30% to a full 100% charge in 4 to 5 hours. If that is too long for you then the LTE note pro 12.2 tablets will have batteries that charge much quicker but the downside is they will also die quicker than non-LTE models. Price was not a con for me but Samsung releases so many similarly priced tablets with a range of features that it makes me wonder if the Tab Pro 12.2 didn't come out at the same time would the retail for the Note Pro 12.2 be cheaper. Other than these minor gripes this is a perfect tablet for everyday use BONUS! ZAGG KEYBOARD REVIEW: I love that this keyboard works flawlessly, protects the screen when closed has great battery life. Also with its own leather stitched back matching the 12.2 perfectly BUT the Zagg is not a good case holder. The 12.2 lays facedown into the Zagg and clips on but the connection is loose and the tablet moves up and down inside the clips. Also removal of the tablet (as per the instructions) requires you to yank it up snapping back the holding clips open to release the tablet. The issue here is those clips are springy but still plastic and look like they will eventually break (I assume) from continued removal of the tablet. Furthermore you can easily pry or yank the wrong way and send the tablet flying across the room since it requires a bit of force. Also at $99.99 it is an overpriced keyboard accessory that isn't backlit and looks like it will wear out in a year or two of use. Already my spacebar key needs to be pressed really hard and in the center to work. I only purchased it at the time I picked my 12.2 because I needed a case right away and the only other case in Best Buy was $59.99. So I did the math and figured $40 bucks more got me a keyboard and stand for the 12.2. It does make a great stand. In retrospect I probably would not have bought the Zagg for more than $50 but I didn't really have a choice. It does its job with minimal features for the most part but do not expect a drop-proof case/holder or stellar desktop keyboard performance out of this product.