Samsung Galaxy Note 8

[kuru]

Hold your horses for a moment, you really want to get a crappy ANDROID device rather than the latest Win8 tablets which are almost all available with a digitizer? Compare the software, Android sucks!

Just wait a bit for prices to drop, that's what I'm doing. Samsung Ativ Smart PC, Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2 and ASUS Vivo Tab and I think Dell is making one, too.

It really irks me when someone says categorically that something sucks, when it's totally a matter of opinion.  I wouldn't touch Windows 8 with an 8-foot pole, but I'm not going to sit here any say "Windows 8 sucks!" because I know it suits some people's needs just fine, they may prefer the interface, have reasons they need that platform, etc.

Poor little irked fella, let me add "IN MY OPINION". Waste of time +1

You sound far more irked than me.    You're the one that came into an Android-focused threat telling people to forget Android and go to Windows 8.

I am the one coming into a digitizer-tablet oriented thread trying to stop ppl from buying things that do not deliver the full experience.

@ANDROID: Win RT =/= Win8

WinRT is crap and destined to die.

 

[FaeMinx]

^ In regards to these Win8 options that you say all have digitizers...

Is it Wacom? What are the pressure sensitivity levels?

And probably most importantly... by the time these devices reach a price I would regard as affordable, I might be wanting to upgrade from my Note 8 anyway.

I can only see things going on the up and up from here... Android is a force to be reckoned with, and if it continues this way (which I see no reason why it shouldn't) then desktop quality software will become readily available (alongside all the cheaper gimmicky stuck). 

I see a future where you choose your devices for their convenience - the os and software/media will be shared between them.

I see Android steamrolling over IOS and Windows - and I believe that in the end the only viable os options will be Linux derivatives or Android.

Desktop PCs will go out of fashion, as will dedicated consoles, as will old-school laptops....

In fact, I could see Tablets + peripherals / Phablets becoming all-in-one complete solutions. ... but by that time they will probably be wearable and not called tablets anymore.

I also see Arm finally killing x86 many many years from now.

Perhaps some servers will still be x86, but no.... for compatibility those will die too

 

[kuru]

Wacom, 1024;

I'll continue laughing about android in terms of productivity. And laptops will never die. Why do you think they make tablets with keyboard docks?

Edit: you can get a nice, old IBM X40 tablet with digitizer for under 150 bucks, btw.

Edit 2: AFAIK only the ASUS one has an N-Trig pen. Sadly not every program works with the N-Trig driver.

 

[Mr_Loon]

Interesting reading those comparisons with the N7, who thinks that the Galaxy Note 8 will retail for less than $350? Not me, don't forget that Samsung are looking to make a profit on the hardware, whereas Google have the Play store for their revenue stream for the N7.

Good times ahead for us gadget lovers.

 

[FaeMinx]

^ While I certainly wouldn't mind owning the laptop you mentioned...

only 2.5 hours battery life. Ram is dismal: good luck running those intensive graphics programs.

No, I think I will enjoy the Note 8 immensely - and all the artwork I create on it can be finished up on my i5 desktop + Cintiq 12wx.

As an affordable 'sketchpad' I don't think there's anything that beats it.

Of course, I am completely open to being proven wrong.

Edit: Why would anyone buy a laptop if they could get the same experience but with a detachable screen?

@Mr_Loon: I have a feeling you may be correct... but I hope they are between $300 - $370. 

 

[kuru]

^ While I certainly wouldn't mind owning the laptop you mentioned...


only 2.5 hours battery life. Ram is dismal: good luck running those intensive graphics programs.


No, I think I will enjoy the Note 8 immensely - and all the artwork I create on it can be finished up on my i5 desktop + Cintiq 12wx.


As an affordable 'sketchpad' I don't think there's anything that beats it.


Of course, I am completely open to being proven wrong.


Edit: Why would anyone buy a laptop if they could get the same experience but with a detachable screen?


@Mr_Loon: I have a feeling you may be correct... but I hope they are between $300 - $370.

2.5hrs with the standard 4-cell battery and there's an 8-cell available. And you can upgrade the RAM I guess. Would be terrible indeed if 512MB was the maximum!

But yeah, if you want a very portable one an IBM tablet isn't an option. And if you settle for sketching only, android may be enough. Please watch this video though: >Edit: about 15min you can see how very bad sketchbook mobile performs... vid also has comparison of pressure levels I think.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/bIwKg-KyZ58?feature=oembed

Edit: Proprietory linux OS, but I think it's open and there is development. Could be that it's out of production by now though.

 

[FaeMinx]

You have given me serious pause for thought. o.o

 

[SNESFAN]

That eeenote looks really really nice for notes and drawing, I can't find any places that sell them with a quick Google search. Amazon and eBay don't seem to have them either.

 

[elwing]

ho, eenote were sold? lol, I remember hearing about this during it's pre-production...

 

[FaeMinx]

That eeenote looks really really nice for notes and drawing, I can't find any places that sell them with a quick Google search. Amazon and eBay don't seem to have them either.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-ASUS-Eee-Note-EA800-Write-Notes-eBooks-Reader-English-interface-stock-/271011038875?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_146&hash=item3f1984469b

I really want one, and if I could find one being sold for $150 as Kuru mentioned then I don't think I could stop myself from buying it.

Alas, at $220 that purchase will have to wait. (hopefully there will still be some available and the price doesn't go up).

I want to wait to hear more about the Note 8's sketching abilities.

Surely with it's 1.6Ghz quad-core processor and 2gb of ram it should have no delay when doing pencil/pen sketches? (provided the image size isn't too large)

Edit: I expect the Note 8 to peform better than the Note 10.1 - but we will have to see!

I'm not so concerned about rendering large brush sizes - my art style mostly uses very small and precise brush tips.

The most important thing for me is to be able to sketch rapidly with a very fine tip - many small fast strokes, gradually building up detail.

That Samsung ATIV Smart PC (the Pro i5 version) looks very desirable... But at $1200 it's waaaay out of my price range.

It's definitely on my wishlist though.

http://www.samsung.com/global/ativ/ativ_pc_pro.html

 

[FaeMinx]

The European price has been leaked...

   ...  Sadly Mr_Loon is correct... it's waaaay over $350.

While the exact launch date and the pricing of the tablet has not been confirmed by Samsung, the European price of the upcoming slate has been leaked confirming its existence. The leaked price tag suggests that Galaxy Note 8 will be priced at around €450 (approx. Rs 32,500).

http://www.gizbot.com/tablet-pc-laptop/samsung-galaxy-note-8-ipad-mini-price-specs-010565.html

... That's about $600     Darn!   This changes things somewhat.     Not going to be a Nexus7 killer after all.

Now I need to think long and hard about this as the Note8 is now half the price of the Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro....

I think I need to re-investigate the ATIV... probably by the time I could afford it, the price will have dropped anyway...    <_<

... a pity it's so big...

 

[Garrett]

The European price has been leaked...

   ...  Sadly Mr_Loon is correct... it's waaaay over $350.

While the exact launch date and the pricing of the tablet has not been confirmed by Samsung, the European price of the upcoming slate has been leaked confirming its existence. The leaked price tag suggests that Galaxy Note 8 will be priced at around €450 (approx. Rs 32,500).

http://www.gizbot.com/tablet-pc-laptop/samsung-galaxy-note-8-ipad-mini-price-specs-010565.html

... That's about $600     Darn!   This changes things somewhat.     Not going to be a Nexus7 killer after all.

Now I need to think long and hard about this as the Note8 is now half the price of the Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro....

I think I need to re-investigate the ATIV... probably by the time I could afford it, the price will have dropped anyway...    <_<

... a pity it's so big...

Suddenly, I'm not quite as interested.. seems like the Nexus 7 is going to reign supreme at the budget end of the tablet spectrum for some time yet.

 

[kuru]

The European price has been leaked...

   ...  Sadly Mr_Loon is correct... it's waaaay over $350.

While the exact launch date and the pricing of the tablet has not been confirmed by Samsung, the European price of the upcoming slate has been leaked confirming its existence. The leaked price tag suggests that Galaxy Note 8 will be priced at around €450 (approx. Rs 32,500).

http://www.gizbot.com/tablet-pc-laptop/samsung-galaxy-note-8-ipad-mini-price-specs-010565.html

... That's about $600     Darn!   This changes things somewhat.     Not going to be a Nexus7 killer after all.

Now I need to think long and hard about this as the Note8 is now half the price of the Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro....

I think I need to re-investigate the ATIV... probably by the time I could afford it, the price will have dropped anyway...    <_<

... a pity it's so big...

So you're really considering the Pro? Then you might aswell get a Lenovo convertible laptop.. not much difference there.

Anyway the performance of the Atom SoC is enough for what you want to use it for. Also don't forget that the Pro has a battery life of about 4 hours, about a third of what you can get on the Atom... And unlike the x60t you can't change batteries (The Fujitsu Stylistic Q550 allows that, win 7 tablet with single Atom core though, still has a digitizer) plus it's thicker, makes noise and gets hot...

And if the Ativ is too big for you - I am thinking the same, but am put off by the price of - the Lenovo thinkpad Tablet 2 might be for you, it's 10 inch at the same resolution. The Tp tablet 2 only comes with digitizer layer if you buy the most expensive model with 64GB, NFC, 3G;

 

[FaeMinx]

Suddenly, I'm not quite as interested.. seems like the Nexus 7 is going to reign supreme at the budget end of the tablet spectrum for some time yet.

 Certainly seems that way.

@ $300 the Note 8 was hard to resist, in spite of limitations...

 Now, I have to pour water on my burgeoning fan-boy flames and assess all the options again. Gratification has to be put on the back-burner and productivity / practical usage needs to be the number one priority.

Will the diminutive size and lightness of the Note 8 (and it's half price) make it the more practical/productive and convenient option... or will the much larger, bulkier, and double priced ATIV with it's far more powerful processor and the ability to run all my x86 software be the best bang for my buck?

At this point, and because I personally haven't had the option to experience otherwise... I would say Kuru is correct - for productivity's sake, and because I'm already familiar with creating art in an x86 environment (I have both Painter and Photoshop, as well as Paint Tool Sai)... Then it looks like the ATIV is the option i should be aiming for. 

All this because my cellphone screen crapped out... and now I'm considering a Smart PC!

 

[FaeMinx]

So you're really considering the Pro? Then you might aswell get a Lenovo convertible laptop.. not much difference there.

Anyway the performance of the Atom SoC is enough for what you want to use it for. Also don't forget that the Pro has a battery life of about 4 hours, about a third of what you can get on the Atom... And unlike the x60t you can't change batteries (The Fujitsu Stylistic Q550 allows that, win 7 tablet with single Atom core though, still has a digitizer) plus it's thicker, makes noise and gets hot...

And if the Ativ is too big for you - I am thinking the same, but am put off by the price of - the Lenovo thinkpad Tablet 2 might be for you, it's 10 inch at the same resolution. The Tp tablet 2 only comes with digitizer layer if you buy the most expensive model with 64GB, NFC, 3G;

Thank God for you Kuru.

Now, unfortunately, I have a lot of reading to do. o.o

 

[kuru]

Turn down the volume before following any link in this post.

Good to hear my persistence over this matter, which I dedicated quite some time to researching the last few weeks, has had some effect. I fought to stop myself from getting both the Thinkpad Tablet 1 and the Galaxy Note because I saw a future that held no satisfaction. So instead of raging at an expensive tablet I just bought and going sepukku in the process I thought I would wait, something the Pandora has taught me, heh.

At the moment the wise move would be to let the manufacturers fight for my buyer's grace in terms of a) price and b)better, new models. Until then I'll try to stay groovy and look forward to drawing like a Lord on a fanless x86 machine. Let the masses run with the robot.

 

[FaeMinx]

persistence over this matter

 drawing like a Lord

LMFAO  :lol:

 

[Fzero]

*snip*... ... ... ...  because I saw a future that held no satisfaction. ... ... ... ...*snip*

Back in the day, I had a gabba techno tape that sounded a lot like this...

edit:

PS: It was this one ... not heard it in years

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/embed/0UyAaeFoXVU?feature=oembed

Sorry for OT..

 

[FaeMinx]

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Samsung-Galaxy-Note-8-0-Coming-to-Europe-in-Late-March-for-350-470-330235.shtml

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Samsung-Galaxy-Note-8.0-release-date-set-for-end-March-priced-slightly-higher-than-iPad-mini_id39883

Prices and release date confirmed!

Thankfully the $600 price is for the 3G version, which while nice to use as a phone replacement... isn't really necessary in my case.

$470 for the WiFi only version is far more agreeable... seemingly still a bit steep, but not when you consider everything this tablet has to offer over the competition... and If I need to go online, I'll just tether to my phone.

Since I last posted in this thread, I've been doing exhaustive research into all possible alternatives... and I have to say, I'm back to looking at the Note 8 as the ideal device for my needs right now.

I'm not going to go into a lot of detail, but here are my basic reasons for deciding on the Note 8:

1) The size/weight is perfect. I want a portable sketchpad/notepad I can take with me everywhere. The Note 10.1, Thinkpad 2, and ATIV are simply too large for this purpose.

2) I've already purchased a fair amount of Android software - and I would like to keep on using it, especially on the larger screen + faster processor.

3) An Atom W8 tablet may be slightly better than Android for sketching... But the only windows software I am interested in running would be my graphics programs such as Photoshop, Painter, Sketchbook... and games at about the level of StarCraft 2.

Firstly, Atom for gaming is a very poor choice - and I can absolutely forget about running SC2. In regards to my graphics programs, they will not perform well on an Atom, especially with only 2Gb of ram.

So taking the ability to run windows software out of the equation - An Android tablet is a far more inviting option.

If i'm going to get a full blown Cintiq replacement (and not just a sketchpad), then it has to run Photoshop and Painter *right*... that means an i3 or i5 with *at least* 4Gb of ram (I would prefer 8). The available solutions right now are just too damn big and heavy.... and aren't cheap either... oh and battery life is very limited... further reducing the usefulness of the tablet.

So my conclusion is to enjoy what the Note 8 has to offer... and in a few years time see how Windows tablets have progressed... and who knows; by then Android may have caught up in terms of productivity...

... S Pen apps may be thin on the ground right now, but as the number of Note devices continues to increase (as well as their popularity), I guarantee we will be seeing much much more...

Some additional points to consider:

The Note 2 can be overclocked to 1.8Ghz ... I guarantee you the same will be true for the Note 8.

I'm sure there will be a Note 8 (v2) next year based around the internals of the almost soon to be released Galaxy Note 3:

1.8Ghz+1.2Ghz Exynos 5 Octa chipset based on the big.LITTLE technology and manufactured on 28 nm architecture.

A tri-core PowerVR SGX-544MP3 graphics processing unit. @533 MHz

An improved S Pen

Possibly 3Gb ram

Edit: P.s. I already have all the Cintiq pens - Airbrush, 6D Art Pen, Grip Pen, and Classic Pen... Can't wait to try them out on the Note 8

Edit edit: Apperently, according to this article, the Note 8 WiFi only will hit the States at $350 .... ???  o.o

http://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-galaxy-note-8-0-europe-release-price-156922/

 

[erico]

The Galaxy Note 8 to be available in 3 variations:

http://www.mobilenapps.com/articles/7206/20130210/samsung-galaxy-note-8-0-three-variants.htm

Totally epic it would be!

Me too looking for ubuntu release, same reasons.

I need a good portable ´cintiq´!  

The only bad is the delay on drawing, but I can live with that.

There's a delay? That's somewhat upsetting. How do you know about this? 

Edit:

Some *epic* software to use one your Note 2 or Note 8:

http://www.tvpaint.com/v2/content/article/downloads/openbeta_link.php?id=4040&token=3c8db6610ca665b774914b2356a23f8d

Sorry , it took a while.

I tried note 2 on a few occasions, it has a strong delay just like any other phone I have seen (haven´t seen the note 8 pad yet though).

I think it has to do with the technology behind the screen.

Kind of sucks, but I can live with that.

The association with wacom is sure to bring a bright future on this front.

I have a caanoo too, altough 320x240, touch is instantaneous, just like paper, or like a cintiq.

But don´t get me bad, the note 2 can do just fine, I´m being perfectionist here.

EDIT: ipads are really horrible too.