Samsung Galaxy Note Review

When I first heard of the Galaxy Note, I was pretty intrigued. Combining a tablet and smartphone seemed like a good idea for someone who didn’t want to lug around an arsenal of gadgets, however, such good ideas – if not well executed – will usually end up as another flop. I decided to ask around for opinions, especially from the early adopters, to see if I should even consider this for my next phone. Amazingly enough, I got an opportunity to review the gadget soon after.

And no, this is not compensated for so it’s based on my personal experience with the gadget.

The Unboxing  & Form Factor

When I first unwrapped the gadget, I expected the Samsung Galaxy Note to be rather heavy given it’s huge 5.3-inch screen but was pleasantly surprised to find that the smartphone was really light (178g) and packed a beautifully slim design.

+1.

However, I do feel that there was a slight letdown for the back cover. It seems like the plastic material was flimsy and would not stand up too well to rough handling. -1

Display

There are no words to aptly describe the awesome display. Boasting a HD SUPER AMOLED Display, this is no doubt the best smartphone touchscreen display that I’ve seen. Colours were wildly vibrant and vivid, images and text were highly defined and crystal clear. Reading emails, texts, and watching videos suddenly became a luxury on the Galaxy Note. It was beautiful.

Major plus. +5

Battery Life, Software

While I was reveling in the brilliant display, a small nagging thought popped up. Will the awesome display compromise the device’s battery life? There’s no point having a great gadget/phone if it’s going to run out of juice quickly, leaving me stranded without connectivity.

Fortunately, it seems like the 2,500mAh battery is more than capable of powering through at least 1.5 days per charge (based on my usage and that’s pretty heavy given my love for all things social + emails on the go). +1

The Galaxy Note operates on the Android™ 2.3.5 (Gingerbread) Platform. This was actually abit of a drawback for me given that I’ve been using the iOS for a long, long time. However, Android does provide a little more freedom for users to customise their phones, and buyers would already know about this prior purchase – hence, no issue here.

Another thing worth highlighting here: The 1.4GHz Dual Core Application Processor also made multi-tasking on the smartphone alot less painful with minimum lagging.

S Pen, S Memo

Another unique feature of the Galaxy Note is that it came with a stylus. My god, how long was it when we were using one of those things? And they don’t even work well half the time.

The S-Pen, however, gave me a run for money. I was rather impressed with the sensitivity of the S-Pen stylus and it proved to be a great productivity feature when jotting down notes during a meeting.

What’s more (and even better) is that users can use the S-Pen to select and outline an object in a picture to crop it directly!

No additional photo editing software required. This was easily one of my favourite feature. Photo-editing made easy. +1

I’m not going to go into technical specs – you can easily google that if you need those details.

All in all, I felt that the Galaxy Note performed well in all aspects and the display, in particular, was outstanding. Users, however, will need to consider if the size is something that they can get used to and fit into their lifestyle. If it’s yes on both counts, I say the Galaxy Note would be an attractive option to consider in your next smartphone purchase.

*All pictures from http://www.samsung.com/sg.

farewell 2009

Photo Creds: Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A grand total of 9 posts – that’s the final count of blog entries I did in 2009.

So, the verdict is out. I’m guilty of having neglected this space for the past one year.

As 2009 comes to a close, I feel that it’s paramount to recap what I’ve done in 2009, review how these have measured up against my resolutions for the year, and of course, set new goals and objectives for 2010 moving forward.

Refreshing my memory, here are the 2009 resolutions in short (details from here) and the corresponding updates:

1. Cut down on harmful habits (i.e. smoking) – Quit smoking, and haven’t gone back to it since November 2007! √ Check
2. Explore activities that I’ve always wanted to try – Previously, I mentioned that I have embarked on a new hobby and that was baking. I’m happy to say that I’ve tried my hand at making different pastries and desserts, and most have turned out pretty well. And no, I didn’t burn down the kitchen, not even close. Yay! √ Check
3. Nurture my relationship with my loved one to the next stage – It’s been pretty good this year, so… √ Check
4. Make further progress on my career – I’m not too happy with whatever “progress” I’ve made by my standards, so I’m going to consider this NOT done.
5. Adopt a more Zen mindset to handle whatever challenges life throws in my path, be it personal or work-related matters – Subjective, but I think I’m doing better at this, so √ Check

Alright, 4/5! That’s not too bad.

Other highlights in 2009 include…

1. First visit to Cambodia, Siem Reap – This was a country that didn’t used to feature high in my “must-visit” list, but I am now in awe of the majestic Angkor Wat. An added bonus point: Beer’s cheaper than water there too! Really!
2. First visit to Australia, Sydney – This was a solo work-trip, and also my virgin experience to the land down under. I wouldn’t call it enjoyable, but it was a self-discovery journey of sorts. I’m thankful for the experience, and also, to get to know my Ozzie colleagues better.
3. Pink Dot 2009 – Participated in a social-cause event promoting freedom to love without discrimination. A worthwhile cause! I hope the event happens again, people here need to be constantly reminded to judge less and respect more.
4. Geek-ing away – With prolong exposure substances termed “technology”, “social media platforms” and “gadgets”, I find myself increasingly attracted to these addictive elements. A most unexpected turn of events.
5. Exploring new interests and activities – Baking (pies, muffins, cakes, cookies, scones…you name it), tennis (a failed first attempt – I think lessons are in order)
6. Bad fall in office – One of the low-lights of 2009. Had a minor accident in office and sprained my neck and shoulder. Right before my holiday trip to Hong Kong too! Suey-ness.
7. Rise of “flash-mobs” in Singapore – MJ’s death shocked the world, and to commemorate his work and music, several flash mobs (adapted from the global wave) were spotted in Singapore. These are amongst the firsts to gain quite some publicity here, I believe.
8. Second visit to Hong Kong – My first visit was my grad trip, where I visit the bustling city with hall friends, in 2005. This time, I revisited this charming country with my partner – exploring new sights and revisiting familiar places that felt totally different.
9. Ris Low with “BOOMZ” and “Shingz My Life” – Need I say more? She hogged the headlines of our mainstream papers and tabloids for quite some days. A low-light, I think…?

That ought to cover most of my 2009.

Enough of looking back, we’re less than 6 hours away in welcoming 2010, and I’m going to take this time to think about what I want to achieve in 2010.

Goodbye 2009 – it’s hasn’t been an easy ride, but we’ve survived it together, thank you. Here’s to an awesome 2010!

from bimbo to tech junkie

it came as no surprise to me when people tell me that their initial impressions of me, especially after meeting me for the first 2 minutes, were somewhat of a bimbo.

even after so long, i can’t decide if this should be a compliment or an insult.

but i wouldn’t blame them. looking at it from someone else’s point of view, if i were to meet me for the first time, i might have just arrived at the same inital conclusion.

possible thought-process during an initial meeting:

face warpaint a.k.a make-up – check.

perfume – check.

looks like she might be a little vain (little is subjective, okay) – check.

clueless with serious IT stuff (like fixing own PC) – check.

conclusion – bimbotic woman. check.

plus, the fact that i’m in public relations doesn’t really help the case because it seems like most people generally misunderstand the nature of this industry. public relations, as far as these people are concerned, is an industry full of glitz and glamour, exciting events and happening parties.

yes, i wouldn’t deny that people in the public relations industry do have some opportunities to be part of such merry-making events, but the enormous amount of hard work, effort and sweat that pr professionals put in towards their work often slip by – unnoticed.

with such misconceptions, it is small wonder that some will label me as bimbotic during the inital meeting.

however, things have taken a slight change recently. although i am still in the same industry, the nature of my clients’ industries have altered substantially.

from dealing with lifestyle and consumer to enterprise technology clients, i have to say that the transition isn’t easy at all. i had to grapple with new concepts, applications and jargons which were totally foreign to me. i had imagined that the learning process will be long and painful.

but surprise, surprise…i think i might actually have formed an interest for this aspect somewhere along the learning path. i actually found some of these stuff amazing, and get this, interesting!

even i, myself, am pretty shocked at this realisation.

what happened?

from a complete technology idiot to this. who would have thought?

oh gawd, i’m a tech-geek wannabe.

but the make-up, perfume and slight vain-ness still stay. heh.

of work, work, work, work

i’m dying.

seriously.

it has been a mad house at work recently and it seems like we’re taking on more than we can handle. to make matters worse, one of my colleagues AD has been sick and now, she’s infecting me and another of our colleague.

although i’m not feeling well, i can’t take mc…i can’t allow myself to fall very sick because the workload is increasing at such an exponential speed that it’s impossible to catch up. nonetheless, i’m going to try my best…or die trying, whichever comes first. haha.

everyone pray for me that i don’t fall sick!  =(

***

to suzsays:

i’m no expert on wordpress and is new to it as well. i’ll tell you what i know and hope it will help. the steps are as below.

1. you’ve got to host your image on picture hosting website. this is NOT the wordpress website, it is another website that allow you to “save” your image on their website, something like an online harddisk. the one i’m using now is photobucket.com. it’s a free website, but comes with limited space for your images.

2. after uploading your image to the picture hosting website, urls tags will be generated automatically for you by these websites. take note of this url tags.

3. in your wordpress, go to “insert image” on the formatting bar while u’re in the ‘write post” screen. copy and paste the url tag mentioned in step 2 to the url address in the insert image box.

4. picture will be displayed exactly like your original size.

hope this helps!