Samsung note - anyone have one??

[Colinevan]

Hey guys, I love my iphone 4s but its slightly too small for watching netflix,youtube and prolongued reading of internet pages. ( i have long periods of time waiting so kill the time with my phone).

I recently had a quick go and was impressed with the note and read up on all the facts and figures and even watched a lot of youtube vids on mods you can do (3d wallpapers, usb connectivity etc etc ) To cut a long story short i have a second phone contract with unlimited net and i have a nokia n900 ( this will be replaced by something like the note.

Has anyone got one? do they like it and whats the general opinion on the handset.

I have my own opinion that its enormous, maybe looks a little silly when using as a phone but its perfect for reading forums and watching liveleak, youtube etc etc. I still have my iphone for everyday use - this is simply a multimedia use device.

On a plus side as the note 2 is out soon, its available very cheaply from £330 unlocked or on contract cheaply if you shop around.

Thanks in advance.

Ps - if anyone is interested in a n900, feel free to pm as it will be for sale cheaply lol.

[Philim]

I Have had one for 6 months in addition to my work phone

Pros
Best web surfer available. Once you have used it your iphone will feel tiny
Screen is very good
Stylus is useful
This has now replaced my laptop for 90% of things
Surprisingly good battery life
Now has ICS

Cons
People shout HELLO dom joly style
The phone is large but i think ahead of the trends. Most phones are getting bigger

[Shaun_TLR]

I loooooooooooove mine. After 3 weeks you ll forget how much bigger it is. Ive never had domy joly experience ! Just get one you wont regret it.

Might be worth waiting a month as you may get a cheap note given that the note 2 is imminent........

[jim76]

Had mine 6 months, would never go back to a 4 inch screen again.

Only thing to say is DON'T upgrade it to ice cream sandwich. There is a bug in the Samsung code that occasionally causes the phone to discharge rapidly ( 70% in few hours). Wait for the jelly been version, or stick with ginger bread as that is fine.

[Colinevan]

Had mine 6 months, would never go back to a 4 inch screen again.

Only thing to say is DON'T upgrade it to ice cream sandwich. There is a bug in the Samsung code that occasionally causes the phone to discharge rapidly ( 70% in few hours). Wait for the jelly been version, or stick with ginger bread as that is fine.

Yeah iv read a few stories along them lines , even though ics improves smoothness and gpu performance it does hammer the battery. I also didn't like the horror stories on a lot of people bricking there handset when updatin the firmware. I recently had problems with my n900 that required a re flash. I suppose apple are quite good when it comes to new operating systems lol.

The note for me fits the bill perfectly but does seem a little temperamental and complicated if you want to mod kernels etc but I do like messing around with things and this in theory will be my first android handset.

The Nokia ran Maemo which never really took off but I loved the fact you can run megadrive emulators and play games on the keys of touchscreen. I just want a bigger screen now for when the iPad is too big ha ha.

One last thing, has anyone actually bought there handset outright?? I ask as most of the sellers on eBay only give a 1 year warranty and are not helpful when it comes to bricking the phone if it's not a uk model. I believe most of he handsets are Malaysian stock and Samsung uk are not very helpful when it comes to warranty on grey imported handsets.

My only other option is get one on contract as they are cheap at the moment from £22 with unlimited net and free handset.

Thanks again .

Col.

[Colinevan]

I Have had one for 6 months in addition to my work phone

Pros
Best web surfer available. Once you have used it your iphone will feel tiny
Screen is very good
Stylus is useful
This has now replaced my laptop for 90% of things
Surprisingly good battery life
Now has ICS

Cons
People shout HELLO dom joly style
The phone is large but i think ahead of the trends. Most phones are getting bigger

Dom joly it is then ha ha !!!

[jimmy]

The battery life I found to be worse than an iphone and don't bother with the extra batteries off ebay as they are naff - get a proper samsung battery if you want a backup.
I don't think its quite as slick as an iphone - the google maps occasionally goes a bit nuts and the torch sometimes doesn't work and the phone needs a reboot, but for the most part it's great.

It's nice to be able to drag and drop my music - I bought a 32gb micro sim to put media on, and once you've found some decent apps you can do stuff.

I've still to find a music player thats any good though - I need one that reads from a MUSIC directory, because unless I'm missing something they seem to read everything thats remotely related to a sound file and lump it all together.

Same with podcasts - I've yet to find a nice way to get podcasts on there to listen to. I used to just use my iphone and download them over wifi from itunes but I've little idea how to go about it on my note.

I don't think I'd swap for an iphone5 though since all the things I wanted to get away from the iphone still hold true - its good for music and stuff, but anything else the note is much better.
If I want to run some torrents or do some FTP etc, it's all possible.

[jim76]

i'm fairly sure if you root the phone for flashing custom ROM's etc then this will void any warranty, including Uk ones?

To be honest, i've noticed no difference in performance with the ICS update, apart from the random battery drain every now and then. It adds a few new useful features like data tracking which warns you when you are near your contract limit, but there is nothing there that you would say "yes, i must get ICS".
better to stay on a stabled gingerbread. I wouldn't have upgraded if i knew of the battery issue.

[Col]

blah...Same with podcasts... blah

I have KiesCast on my S2 for podcasts. Works great.
Available through Samsung Apps

[damo666]

Best phone i have ever had by a long way but wait for the note 2.

Ive had one since release day and will be getting the note 2 . I flash new software nearly every month sometimes weekly. The fastest rom is cyanogenmod 9 but the samsung based S pen apps dont work so you have to use other apps from the market. Cyanogenmod 10 (jellybean) is nearly at daily use stage for most people but when i used it it was still in alpha stage. If you find it lagging etc try a different launcher as touchwiz is the problem in most cases. Also use opera mobile (not mini) as your browser .

Head over to xda developers for all development info.

[chrispattinson]

I've still to find a music player thats any good though - I need one that reads from a MUSIC directory, because unless I'm missing something they seem to read everything thats remotely related to a sound file and lump it all together.

Same with podcasts - I've yet to find a nice way to get podcasts on there to listen to. I used to just use my iphone and download them over wifi from itunes but I've little idea how to go about it on my note.

Music from music directory - I like "MortPlayer"

Best podcast App I found, with Google reader nitegration "BeyondPod"

Both very good apps.