Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Released

Samsung's Galaxy Note 8.0 arrived on store shelves earlier this week. After spending a couple of minutes with one, I paid $399 to walk out with the brand new tablet. That price gets you a 16 GB version of the 8-inch tablet running Android 4.1.2, which doesn't have mobile broadband connectivity. This is a Wi-Fi only model that, unlike the international version, has the cellular voice capabilities stripped out.

People are comparing this to the iPad mini and also the Nexus 7, but there is no comparison, as this has the S Pen digitizer stylus. It is a premium price for this feature, but I love the S Pen, I'm sick of capacitive styli, and I was happy to pay for this feature. If you aren't interested in getting a digitizer stylus, then there are a lot of 7-8 inch class tablets for a lot less money. If you want a tablet with this feature that's less that 10 inches, this is your baby.The Note 8.0 uses the same Micro USB cable and 5V 2 Amp charger that came with Galaxy Note 2. I'm used to the proprietary connection on larger tablets, so this was an unexpected perk.

I have found that the S-Pen comes with an incredible utility, even if you are not a student. By pressing and holding on the microphone symbol beside the space bar on the Samsung Keyboard, you will see a box pop up with several icons. Clicking the one with a capital T and a pen on it, changes the input method in any App so that you have a scratchpad in the bottom to hand write. This is then changed into text.For extended emails or blogging, this is useful..link.

With the Quad Core processor on this, it puts the Nexus 7 to shame. I'm able to multitask a minimum of 9 different apps with no noticeable lag or significant power drain.The latest thing I've noticed, but did not mention yet, will be the Smart Stay feature(under Display settings, default set to on). It makes sure that the screen never turns off while you are looking at it: so in case you have a 30 second screen timeout to save battery power you can read uninterrupted.

Overall, I love the device-not surprising, given my long-standing preference for small slates. But I'm already thinking where this revolutionary product would fit into my life. Since it doesn't have integrated 3G/4G or cellular voice, it can't replace my Note 2.0. However, it provide a better note-taking experience than my phone and it replaces all of the functions of my iPad mini. It offers more functionality, thanks to the S-Pen and IR blaster.Still, part of me feels this is more of the same from Samsung. I wish the display had a higher resolution of 1920x1080 to make it really stand out against the iPad mini. Again, I'll follow up with additional thoughts as I spend more time with it. Then I'll decide if the Galaxy Note 8.0 fits nicely into my device rotation-or if it's going back to the store.Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0.