My Quest for a Paper Replacement

---

Over the past year I have been struggling to find a tablet device that I could use to make my school, work, and personal life more organized.

When the Nexus 7 was announced, I thought “Man, this is it! I can use this to take notes in school and keep up to date with everything I need.” Although the Nexus 7 is a brilliant device with a strong processor and GPU, I found it only to be worthwhile when playing games, web browsing, and other media entertainment purposes. I purchased a Bluetooth keyboard thinking it would help out with the note taking, but given the size of the Nexus 7 and my large hands (yeah that’s right ladies ;D) it wasn’t comfortable. It was also limiting having only 16GB of space (which was only available at the time).

Next to be released was the new Samsung Chromebook. Of course I was the first to jump on that being the Google fanboy that I am. At a mere $250 I thought it was a great deal…and to be honest, it has served me well. It’s important to note that the Chromebook is just that, a mini-laptop equipped with the Chrome operating system that grants access to the chrome browser and everything associated with it (that’s supported). It sports a 15GB solid state drive, 100GB of free storage for 2 years on Google Drive, and has an 11” and is super thin and light. Perfect for on-the-go word processing and web browsing, and the keyboard is surprisingly comfortable. I had no issues with it until I started using it in my networking class. There would be times where I would need to write down lengthy equations or draw a picture and the Chromebook didn’t make that easy. It also is missing extensive game support and the android app market which isn’t a deal breaker as that wasn’t my intention with it, but it would be nice.

With the announcement of the Nexus 10 I thought, “Finally! I think I found my paper replacement.” But after checking out specs I realized it was just a bigger, more powerful version of the Nexus 7. So from a gaming and media standpoint, for the price it is a worthwhile device. The Nexus 10 doesn’t suit my purposes however. I needed that special “something.” I didn’t realize what that was until I saw the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 in-store.

The Note comes equip with the S-Pen, a remarkable pressure-sensitive stylus. It is capable of differentiating between both your hand and stylus, which allows you to be able to write or draw while resting your palm on the device itself. Along with this, it can have a base storage capacity of either 16GB or 32GB, and can be expanded via a microSD card (up to 32GB)…not to mention it has 50GB of free storage for 2 years on Dropbox! I picked up the Galaxy Note 10.1 and I must say, it doesn’t disappoint one bit! It comes stock with several interesting application, the most being S-Note. S-Note is probably one of the best note taking applications I have used (and I have tried many including the coveted Evernote). I was also pleasantly surprised with a mobile Photoshop that allows one to make awesome creations. I have to mention I am the least artistic person I know, but the stuff I have done with this  tablet so far makes me feel like I actually paid attention to my art class in 3^rd grade (that’s honestly saying a lot). At any rate, if you want to replace paper and have an awesome Tablet that can integrate pretty much every aspect of your life, then The Galaxy Note 10.1 is for you!

You might be wondering, what did I do with the Nexus 7 and the Chromebook? Are they Worthless? Well to be honest, I gave away my Nexus 7 as a gift because I can certainly do everything that the 7 could. Not that the Nexus 7 is a bad device, but I prefer the 10.1” screen to the 7”. As for the Chromebook, I consistently use that to this day for note taking, writing,  and bed-side web browsing. It’s a fantastic device and certainly worth having.

Shahid is a writer and game developer for One-Quest You can Email Shahid or follow Shahid on Twitter @ or Facebook

Comments are closed.