A month with the Galaxy Note 8

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For what seems like an eternity in the fast-paced tech world, I put off buying a tablet.

They were too bulky to take everywhere and didn’t seem to offer features I needed that my smartphone couldn’t handle (I’m clearly not a video person!). But when the 7″and 8″ models hit the market – and I still struggled to write with the phone’s tactile keyboard, my geek side started whining “I want”.

After doing my research, l shortlisted two models: the 2013 Nexus 7 made by Asus (l’m a fan of their laptops) and Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8.

The Nexus’ screen is HD, which is great if you work with graphics, images and videos. But I found I had to adjust the default font size  or to zoom to read comfortably. Also, the Nexus’ storage is not expandable since it does not have an SD slot. As the Google rep explained, the company is pushing for 100% cloud data storage. When client confidentiality is critical to your business, you want to have full control over your data.

 

What sold me on the Galaxy Note 8?

1. Optimal size: 8″ is the right compromise – easy to carry around and enough screen to read, write and surf comfortably.

2. The S-pen: After a deplorable experience in the last century with the Palm Pilot, I had serious reservations about this gimmick. After testing it for about an hour, I was over the moon. The pen and its software are so powerful, l can’t begin to list everything you can do with them. Heck! I’m writing this post in bed with the S-Pen and the WordPress app (test run- my blog’s custom CSS may not be considered).

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3. The split screen feature: You can run two applications at the same time, adjust the space each takes up on the screen and switch between them as you see fit. My own favorite combinations are email | calendar and internet search | notes.

4. Reviewing work: You can transfer a Word file (even a Wordfast bilingual file) to the tablet, open it with Polaris, make changes, save and transfer back to your PC seamlessly and without a glitch.

I’m still discovering all it can do.It is an amazing tool that has already boosted my efficiency.

It you are considering buying a tablet, take a look at this one. It comes in a Wi-Fi only version, 3G or 4G. Wi-Fi is almost omnipresent, it did not seem wise to pay the hefty premium for 3G or 4 G. One can always connect the tablet to a cell phone via Bluetooth in a pinch.

 

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