Any Pro Photographers? - iPad2 vs Xoom (yes, this is different) - Xoom General

First off, I'm a die hard android fan and a former iOS user (3GS). This post isn't to discuss hardware specs etc but real world use.... Again, this isn't your everyday ipad2 vs xoom thread because I can read whats on paper. Obviously there are no real world usage yet with the ipad 2 but for all intensive purposes we can use the ipad as its test competitor.
My questions stem from the use of the tablet mainly revolving around pro photography use;
I'll be using the Tablet to view pics out in the field to get an idea of how they are turning out. Although not a huge deciding factor, ability to edit would be nice. RAW support is a must (i know iPad supports, does android/xoom/3rd party software?) Use as a portfolio a must.
Most importantly native or jailbroken/rooted/hacked/etc support for USB Host. I'll need the ability to add an external media source - i.e compact flash, thumb drive, hard drive, etc... to store majority of the photos. I won't be storing any of the files on the internal storage so access from the drive is extremely important..
I can't think of any other questions right now off the top of my head but should any photographers feel the need to debate or add any info please feel free.

i have a Xoom, and I'm a graphic designer, but I'm not pro photography, but me and a friend have done pro styled shoots for a few weddings. But thats not really relevant ciponsidering you're really only concerned with viewing/displaying/accessing your data.
Both will be able to do all you're requests.
The xoom will be easier because it has a micro USB built in so an external hard drive of any type will (besides obviously flash drives that have a full USB connection) will be able to connect without an extra cord.
The ipad2 will only have the normal cord apple uses and a micro hdmi (which the xoom does too) so it requires the extra cord regardless.
The xoom also has a mcro SD slot, the I pad to will need a different purchase of a different cord for this.
I'd take the xoom for what you're wanting to do.

I'm not sure the Xoom can have an external drive connected, you might be right, but I'd be sure to check that out. In order to do that the Xoom would have to operate as a host. I've seen a few threads but no answers if this will be possible.

It's my understanding that it will be able to at one point. I'll try to find the source where I read it.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=11681725
Read that. Right here on XDA

Not a pro, but am heavily invested in photography, nonetheless. I would love a RAW viewer, even basic editor for my Xoom. A guy is working on an Android app for using Android devices for camera control. Give me an app that would use the xoom for live view, time lapse, raw view, and light editing and I would be willing to drop some cash for it...oh, and make it Canon 5d II compatible, please

Another Pro Here
I bought mine for showing pictures & album layouts, sharing my website at meetings, showing proofs at meetings, and looking up prices. I would like to be able to sign contracts digitally, use Square for payments (can I do that on wi-fi?), place orders in person, edit some pictures, and ???
Update: I just signed and emailed myself a contract using RepliGo. Awesome, now I'm loading up on wedding contracts and model releases while patiently waiting for flash. .

The camera control app information is here: http://www.camera-control.com/

Related

Getting a XOOM tablet..buy already own a laptop

Hola Guys...can somebody list some reasons to own a XOOM tablet if you already own a laptop(macbook pro)? Everyday im drooling more and more for this tablet...but I don't see a very good reason to own one if somebody have a laptop thats in very good condition...
Well.. if you didn't already figure this one out yourself, here is a list from the top of my head:
With a laptop:
1) You can't hold a laptop with the lid open in one hand and use it (for a long period)
2) You can't remove the keyboard from the screen if all you want to do is read/watch movies (it's stuck there forever)
3) You can't use the screen to navigate (you need the touchpad or "joyknob" or mouse)
4) You don't have a camera on the back to snap pictures
5) You usually have to carry an extra bag/backpack (charger, cables, mouse, ..)
With a tablet:
1) You can't read/write DVD's
2) You can't use it for high CPU/memory intensive tasks (coding, video editing, 3D raytracing,etc.)
Most people can perfectly combine a tablet and a laptop for their tasks: a laptop for coding/video-editing/burning, and a tablet for email, ebooks, twitter/fb, movies, music, (video)chatting, pictures and browsing.
The biggest one for me would have to be: you can't connect an external hard drive to a tablet.
I have all my videos on my 1tb 2.5"...
I'm planning on selling my laptop- probably wont get much for it, but keeping it seems redundant.
Sent from N1 XDA
magicdroid's list hits all the major pros and cons. For me, the major incentive is instant-on for web browsing and a few other apps.
asianxtreme - most of us just have a decent size SD card and rotate shows/movies.
OP - the one catch to all the arguments in favor of a tablet would be having the latest Macbook Air. It has instant-on and amazing battery life. I'm no Apple fan, but having one of those would easily convince me to ditch almost any tablet, as it is extremely thin and light. Of course, the pricetag is pretty unfriendly.
Dont you already have an incredible/fascinate?
asianxtreme said:
The biggest one for me would have to be: you can't connect an external hard drive to a tablet.
I have all my videos on my 1tb 2.5"...
I'm planning on selling my laptop- probably wont get much for it, but keeping it seems redundant.
Sent from N1 XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'd really want to stream anyway. Local storage is starting to phase out in a way. Everything is in the cloud or at least stored on a home media server/desktop.
SMB is used for accessing public shares... and the apps for running them from an SMB are getting better.
For me, why I want a tablet?
1. Battery life
2. Instant on (no need to wait for booting!)
3. Easy to carry and hold
4. Touch screen friendly (I hate mouse)
That's all the points, bottom line, it is for most of daily tasks and entertainments:
- Web browsing, email, movies, photo viewer, reading?, facebook, games ...
If I need heavy duty tasks like photo / video editing, coding then I will sit in front of my desktop computer.
Otherwise, just lay down in the couch or bed with the tablet!
Fast, easy and simple
For me I had purchased a G73 asus laptop, which is way to heavy for daily carry. So a tablet will be something i will use for class and entertainment purposes when i'm out and about. the laptop will remain in the house and only be carried out when I need to do some extensive work on it for class.
I decided to get a tablet when I had a crappy delivery job for 3 days and needed to enter delivery information into a google spreadsheet while driving. I tried it unsuccesfully with a 17" Toshiba X205-S9349 laptop... it was marketed as a gaming laptop so it's not a perfect example. It is BARELY a laptop as heavy as it is. It's heavier in a laptop bag then my kindle, evo, thumb drives, pens, cables, evo, and a viewsonic g-tablet in my messenger bag.
I also say DON'T SELL YOUR LAPTOP. Unless you are on a right budget, it's better to have backup devices because things break. My parents talked me out of selling my laptop and it has saved my ass on numerous occasions. Be a true geek and have a device for every occasion. Your tablet will be your everyday mobile device that can do pretty much all of what you could need on the go. It can read/edit documents... record audio(actually I'm unsure about this and can't find an answer, did they forget to put a mic on this thing?), pictures, video. It offers you full internet, which is a big deal because you can do most anything with web apps these days. Think Star Trek, or Stargate Atlantis, or any other sci-fi where they use a tablet. I really do think one day laptops will be obsolete.
We will simply have tablets with docking stations. I mean think about how capable your phone is. My HTC EVO does EVERYTHING I need on the go, except that it is too small for some things and a touch slow on some. The difference between a 4.3" EVO and a 10.1" Xoom is not just a superior UI.. its 450% increased screen area.
Stargate Atlantis is why I'm getting a tablet, it's the future.
There is no easy way to mane anything because in actuality eventhough tablets are pretty cool they have not got far enough yet to replace a laptop yet....Don't get me wrong they are close all they really need to do is make it so u can collect external hard drives and cd/dvd drives.
vamp6x6x6x said:
There is no easy way to mane anything because in actuality eventhough tablets are pretty cool they have not got far enough yet to replace a laptop yet....Don't get me wrong they are close all they really need to do is make it so u can collect external hard drives and cd/dvd drives.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's been reported that Laptops only just overtook the desktop last year. I dont think true tablets will ever support external devices like hard-drives or cd-drives. It's not the direction of technology. Yes, we need them now, but we wont in 5 years. solid state drives will hit the TB range by then if not sooner. Also, most of our pictures will be on the cloud, videos will be streamed from your home media server or you'll buy (own) the rights to stream shows/movies from the web instead of having subscriptions (think eBooks, but with movies).
Tablets will overtake laptops, but we'll still have need for docking stations, for real work, for at least another 10 years.
I think I could almost get away with using a tablet as my primary work device.
I already use Google Docs as my word processor, so no problems there.
For coding, the only thing I need is a terminal and an SSH client, since most of the stuff I do is remote using Vim.
Of course, I do need some sort of physical keyboard, when I'm doing heavy-duty stuff, so I'm hoping that something like this...
http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/keyboards-mice/e65a/
...is eventually released for tablets with the Xoom's form factor.
That said, it would be more difficult for me to lose the Gimp, which I use frequently. I am still not happy with the online graphics tools I've found. Maybe Adobe will eventually release a more powerful version of Photoshop for tablets, but I'm not holding my breath.
Xevilious said:
I think I could almost get away with using a tablet as my primary work device.
I already use Google Docs as my word processor, so no problems there.
For coding, the only thing I need is a terminal and an SSH client, since most of the stuff I do is remote using Vim.
Of course, I do need some sort of physical keyboard, when I'm doing heavy-duty stuff, so I'm hoping that something like this...
http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/keyboards-mice/e65a/
...is eventually released for tablets with the Xoom's form factor.
That said, it would be more difficult for me to lose the Gimp, which I use frequently. I am still not happy with the online graphics tools I've found. Maybe Adobe will eventually release a more powerful version of Photoshop for tablets, but I'm not holding my breath.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use any Bluetooth keyboard with the Xoom. The tablet only has to support (HID) protocol. Actually, if you go over to the MOTO website, there's a docking station as well as MOTO keyboards.
kenyu73 said:
You can use any Bluetooth keyboard with the Xoom. The tablet only has to support (HID) protocol. Actually, if you go over to the MOTO website, there's a docking station as well as MOTO keyboards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but I'm more interested in a solution that includes a keyboard embedded in a case. To me, it just seems more convenient than having to carry around a cradle and keyboard with my tablet.
Xevilious said:
Yes, but I'm more interested in a solution that includes a keyboard embedded in a case. To me, it just seems more convenient than having to carry around a cradle and keyboard with my tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hear that Google VoiceSearch v12.6 will have full speech recognition that will make keyboards and mice obsolete!
It reminds me of Star Trek IV where Scotty tries to interact with a Mac by talking to it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19BWJQ8kjrw
Xevilious said:
Yes, but I'm more interested in a solution that includes a keyboard embedded in a case. To me, it just seems more convenient than having to carry around a cradle and keyboard with my tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want a keyboard in a case.. buy a laptop
In all seriousness I do find that a little silly, though I can understand the logic and utility of such a thing. Carrying it all the time like that though, which it sounds like you want to do is well and truly a laptop. A keyboard that is dockable would be good.. but I still think a seperate keyboard is fine.. and just prop the tablet up in a folio case.
setite said:
If you want a keyboard in a case.. buy a laptop
In all seriousness I do find that a little silly, though I can understand the logic and utility of such a thing. Carrying it all the time like that though, which it sounds like you want to do is well and truly a laptop. A keyboard that is dockable would be good.. but I still think a seperate keyboard is fine.. and just prop the tablet up in a folio case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already have a laptop, and it's perfectly fine for many tasks, but it lacks a lot of tools that I would get with a tablet. I would much rather bring my laptop to a coffee shop, but when I'm traveling, I like to do some light work, and a tablet (GPS, Verizon data, e-reader) makes for a friendlier traveling companion than a laptop. If I had a tablet with a keyboard, I could have most of my tools in a single package. Without a physical keyboard, I'd have to bring my laptop along for the ride, and I'd really rather not have to bring two larger devices every time I travel.
Truth be told, there's nothing I would love more than a tablet that let me make voice calls via a bluetooth headset. With that, I'd even dump my phone.
Xevilious said:
I already have a laptop, and it's perfectly fine for many tasks, but it lacks a lot of tools that I would get with a tablet. I would much rather bring my laptop to a coffee shop, but when I'm traveling, I like to do some light work, and a tablet (GPS, Verizon data, e-reader) makes for a friendlier traveling companion than a laptop. If I had a tablet with a keyboard, I could have most of my tools in a single package. Without a physical keyboard, I'd have to bring my laptop along for the ride, and I'd really rather not have to bring two larger devices every time I travel.
Truth be told, there's nothing I would love more than a tablet that let me make voice calls via a bluetooth headset. With that, I'd even dump my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For my sake, may I ask what tools the tablet has that your laptop lacks. I don't say that as a challenge, but rather I am seeking ways to use the device that I am not aware of yet.
kenyu73 said:
You'd really want to stream anyway. Local storage is starting to phase out in a way. Everything is in the cloud or at least stored on a home media server/desktop.
SMB is used for accessing public shares... and the apps for running them from an SMB are getting better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem with this is we are starting to see the beginning of the end of unlimited data plans. So if we have to stream everything, that will come with more data use and cost.
So a tablet won't be able to access an external hard drive? Even with an app like like Astro?
I didn't think it would be possible, but I think it would be cool to have access to an external dvd/cd/blu ray burner with plug and use/play technology.
If these 2 things were possible, people could really ditch their laptops and netbooks for the tablets. Netbooks had the possibility of an external drive, which opened up the usability imo.

Time to move on. Selling my TF-101.

I've had my 32gb tf 101 for roughly a month after being one of the lucky ones to find the tablet in stores. Mine has no defects except the inevitable minor light bleed.
After trying to incorporate the tablet in my life it has become clear that tablets aren't for me. I always end up reaching for my phone. I've taken the tablet with me on my travels, on the plane with movies and music and all that great stuff. But I end up using my phone 90% of the time, my laptop for another 9% and the tablet for the final 1%. At home my tablet is very rarely used as well. It truly is a unique experience and 3.1 makes it far better. For the time that I've used it, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The display is beautiful.
I'm sure for some people it makes a lot of sense. But sadly it isn't for me. If anyone in the GTA, ON Canada wants it, feel free to shoot me a pm.
Sent from my Samsung Captivate.
Many people are making an assumption that a tablet will replace a laptop or a desktop and will become a productivity device. When people mocked original iPad and called it an oversized Touch they actually weren't that far off; a tablet is purely a consumption and entertainment device. It's understandable that $500 is hard to justify for something like this considering your phone can perform at least 90% of the tasks your tablet can, albeit on a smaller scale. Hopefully OEM's will flood the market with decent Android tablets and drive the prices down to a more bearable ~$200 range.
Personally I find myself reaching for the tablet first and settling for my phone if I absolutly must. Most of the time my phone is set to bluetooth tether. To be honest I'd probably be better off with a 3g call-capable tablet and a pen-sized bluetooth headset. I almost never carry my laptop any more. But I rarely need to work on the go (other than answering emails)
THe only reason I reach for my laptop is Netflix. Otherwise, I spend most of my time on the tablet at home
I want it. Have the 16gb version and loving it. 32gb would be great. Please shoot me a pm with price. Thanks
vernicex said:
I want it. Have the 16gb version and loving it. 32gb would be great. Please shoot me a pm with price. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Newegg had them in stock this morning.
I have a 360, a Boxee Box, and a Blu-ray player attached to my TV. All 3 have some overlapping features, but each one does something the other two can't do, and I enjoy having the different options. If one of them died, I could limp along with the other two, but I'd rather not. Point is, tablet and phone features will always overlap, you just have to figure out which task each one is better at and use it accordingly, then you'll find the tablet has a valuable place in your tech collection. I could live without the TF, but I'd rather not
I use it to read pdfs. most my books and journal articles are available in pdf format. The TF is by far the best pdf reader. I agree, you don't ready need it if you have good laptop. It's a luxury toy not pc replacement.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA Premium App
dfin13 said:
I have a 360, a Boxee Box, and a Blu-ray player attached to my TV. All 3 have some overlapping features, but each one does something the other two can't do, and I enjoy having the different options. If one of them died, I could limp along with the other two, but I'd rather not. Point is, tablet and phone features will always overlap, you just have to figure out which task each one is better at and use it accordingly, then you'll find the tablet has a valuable place in your tech collection. I could live without the TF, but I'd rather not
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What (s)he said! I have 2 PS3s at home just because I didn't want to spend money on a bluray player only. A tablet is luxury for most of us... there are very few instances where a tablet would be beneficial (e.g. inventorying, showing clients photos or videos etc.). I personally love my tablet and have not used my PC as much. And with a baby around it's great to have a neat little gadget that's portable and has nice multimedia features.
He I don't really fault people for buying a tablet and then realizing it has no place in their life. I bought a used 7" Galaxy Tab for the gf a couple of weeks ago to replace her eReader. She thinks its neat, but she hasn't used it for anything but reading and to her, it seems like a waste. So I'll probably sell it and get her the new Nook reader. Tablets just aren't for everyone.
have you ever tried one of the thumb keyboards available on the market place? They make using a tablet sloop much easier and more practical
I'm pretty new to the whole tablet world, started with the NookColor and moved onto the Transformer. I've got to say it's mostly a consumption device but it's a fantastic consumption device at that. I love the internet on the 10" screen, love the entirely useable e-mail client included, love the quality of the games available and look forward to the continued evolution of the platform in general.
I loaded up the Autodesk sketch program and found myself cheerfully painting like a kid for the first time in decades - It's not that I can't do anything in particular on a tablet vs. another device, just that the tablet seems like a good fit for many more things. A magazine looks like a magazine, the internet looks like it does on my real computer and the remote access means I've got my fully useable desktop with me anywhere there's a wifi connection.
I think the only real downside it the portability. I grew up in an era where professionals carried around day planners so this is no big stretch for me but it is unusual given today's norms. Too big to fit in a pocket and too small to justify a computer bag.
All in all though if a phone and laptop do what you need that should be all you need. I'm not happy reading stuff on my laptop and personally prefer the touch interface when on the go so tablets fit my bill - for now.
use it as an in dash display in your car. That way it is always with you in a practical manner.
Then when you need to take it out of your car you can carry it into the library/coffee shop or whatever.
newtybar said:
use it as an in dash display in your car. That way it is always with you in a practical manner.
Then when you need to take it out of your car you can carry it into the library/coffee shop or whatever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was my plan all along (still the primary reason), but then when I got my TF, I found so many other uses. Yes I have a MT4G and a laptop, but the TF makes viewing things so much easier. I have just loaded up Supernatural seasons 5 and 6, so I can get caught up anywhere I want to. I love it!
I can't agree that the TF is not a productivity tool, it is my tool of choice for email and browsing at home and Google docs app is the business. I do have the dock though which turns it into a netbook but with better battery life and screen.
So far loving it.
First to android and tablets and ive turned on my computer twice in 3 weeks...
and both times was so that i could remote into and control my music downloads as i watched tv, surfed the net, and responded to work emails.
even last night, i downloaded a "read to me" story of the 3 little pigs and watched it with my daughter before she went to bed...
then i get to surf the net in bed again.. catch up with xda, news, sports, etc..
its a convenience..
this past weekend i took it on a road trip.. my daughter played games, i used it to book a room while using the hotel's wifi, snapped a few pics in the car, and even got it to tether off an older palm treo phone...(so i had internet in the car!)
i should be receiving mines any minute now...
already owning the g2x and a laptop the sole reason for me getting the transformer is to read pdf files. Being a college student textbooks become really expensive. Now days you can get a copy of the text in pdf for a fraction of the cost or if you just search the net you can find it for free. For me reading pdf files off a laptop is really inconvenient and the battery life is nothing compared to a tablet. Therefore it made sense for me to invest in a tablet and load all my pdf text onto the tablet. I save money in the end and I don't have to lug around a bunch of heavy ass textbooks everyday. So it's a win-win situation for me.
AnyMal said:
Many people are making an assumption that a tablet will replace a laptop or a desktop and will become a productivity device. When people mocked original iPad and called it an oversized Touch they actually weren't that far off; a tablet is purely a consumption and entertainment device. It's understandable that $500 is hard to justify for something like this considering your phone can perform at least 90% of the tasks your tablet can, albeit on a smaller scale. Hopefully OEM's will flood the market with decent Android tablets and drive the prices down to a more bearable ~$200 range.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Won't happen unless subsidized, most phones are $450.
For me I've noticed that since getting this the battery on my evo lasts 3x as long. Surfing on this is much more pleasant.
As a university student, the tablet is an awesome device once you put the proper apps in it.
-a proper file manager (I've still yet to find one with drag&drop and proper shortcuts like windows explorer)
-a proper 'windows-office' like program and one that opens pdfs
-a proper video player (moboplayer)
-a proper calendar and agenda device
-a proper ebook reader (ie moonreader)
etc
The advantage of android apps is that they open much faster than if you were to run windows versions of the programs. With files are easily transferred over ftp, it is very time-efficient.
I'd say this device can easily take the place of my current netbook (and it has). The long lasting battery life and the tiny form factor (along with its lightweightness) really sold it for me
lawonga said:
As a university student, the tablet is an awesome device once you put the proper apps in it.
-a proper file manager (I've still yet to find one with drag&drop and proper shortcuts like windows explorer)
-a proper 'windows-office' like program and one that opens pdfs
-a proper video player (moboplayer)
-a proper calendar and agenda device
-a proper ebook reader (ie moonreader)
etc
The advantage of android apps is that they open much faster than if you were to run windows versions of the programs. With files are easily transferred over ftp, it is very time-efficient.
I'd say this device can easily take the place of my current netbook (and it has). The long lasting battery life and the tiny form factor (along with its lightweightness) really sold it for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try repligo readerd for a good pdf reader, you can even add notes, drraw lines and rectangles, write free hand on the pdf ...

Rant - Tablet Computing is really sucky

I have a Xoom WiFi only. What an amazing peice of kit. But it's crippled by the fact that Motorola or Google or whoever can't actually use the devices they make. I'm almost ready to throw mine in the bin it's so unusable.
- I had hoped I could use my Xoom on site rather than run round with my laptop, except I can't get files onto and off it easily. SyncToy won't play ball. I don't want to have to manually drag and drop each file in turn. Waste of time.
- Bluetooth and WiFi file transfer is just a missed opportunity
- SD card doesn't work
- Can't print reliably
- Simple features that are present on my HTC Desire are missing, like scheduling peak times for email polling so the wife doesn't get woken up at three in the morning if I forget to turn it off.
- Stupid stupid stupid stupid charger. No USB charging, which is supposed to be the universal standard. The charger is huge and the connector is so thin it'll break the first time someone trips over the cable.
- The Motorola Folio case is uggggggggly. Have these people not seen the Smart Cover for the iPad?
- I can stand the Xoom up in the folio case, but I can't charge it, because the charger connector is on the bottom. A poor attempt to get me to fork out more money for the charging dock I assume.
- Word, Excel etc, sort of work, but if you have headers and footers or anything like an automated spreadsheet, it ain't gonna work properly on Docs to Go or anything else for that matter. Good God, do these people not use the World's most dominant software?
It's great for games, and stuff though, but you CANNOT use it as a business tool; you'll spend all the time you were hoping to save in wrestling with the bloody thing.
The moral? Don't be an early(ish) adopter - I thought 6 months would be enough for Motorola to have this sorted.
TL;DR?
Rant over.
Sdcard is readable in 3.2 or u can simply root to make it fully usable
Usb charging is slow. The charger makes us can let our xoom fully charged super quiclly
The case for many ppl is nice
My bro bought it for business n he is quite happy with it
Have a lager and calm down, friend. I feel your pain.
However, you can save yourself a lot of grief by understanding that no matter what the marketing people say, a tablet is not a full laptop replacement yet, not even the iPad. You need to make some compromises if you intend to make full use of your Xoom while on the job.
First of all, lets discuss the charger. Moto opted not to allow the device to trickle charge simple because it would take far to long to fill the battery via a standard USB cable. Therefore they went for the dedicated charger which was a good choice under the circumstances. I agree I have worries to about the very thin connector, but they were working hard not to make the device too thick. THus far I have not brought the charger to the office because I have not had to charge the Xoom except for overnight. The battery can make it through a day pretty easily, so feel free to leave the charger behind and see how you do.
Next, Office apps. I agree, they are limited and are the same on pretty much every non-laptop you will try to work on. Key features are missing, other features work strangely...it gets ugly out there. Therefore, I try to restrict my Office app work on the Xoom to reading and making notes. I wouldn't try to actually create a document on the Xoom at this point, unless it was very short and/or I would be able to edit on my laptop later. I use the Polaris app that was provided with the Asus Transformer, which you should be able to find in the Xoom Apps forum here, and it actually does pretty well.
I have had good luck with Bluetooth transferring files, but it can take a while. You should try using the OTG connector in conjunction with a flash drive for larger files. It adds a step in the transfer but it works perfectly for me.
The folio case? I agree, ugly as sin. Therefore I go without a case during use since I really like the looks of the Xoom anyway. I put it into an iPad Exo Sleevecase from Waterfield (great company, great case) before putting it in my gear bag and it does just fine.
The Xoom is a fine business tool in my opinion, it just has its limitations. All tablets currently available are still at the stage where you are best off thinking of them as an extension of your laptop or desktop computer, not the whole shebang. Use it for the tasks it is suited for, and be creative with how you apply it to those tasks which are a bit beyond a tablet's skillset at the moment.
Remember, we went through a decade of clunky, useless TabletPCs before we suddenly had a burst of innovation (thanks Apple) to get to this point in mobile computing. We are still at the early stages...just think where we will be in a couple years. THAT is when tablets will really shine, and at the moment you are ahead of the curve, devising business use cases for tablets out of sheer necessity. That is not a bad place to be.
rschenck said:
Have a lager and calm down, friend. I feel your pain.
However, you can save yourself a lot of grief by understanding that no matter what the marketing people say, a tablet is not a full laptop replacement yet, not even the iPad. You need to make some compromises if you intend to make full use of your Xoom while on the job.
First of all, lets discuss the charger. Moto opted not to allow the device to trickle charge simple because it would take far to long to fill the battery via a standard USB cable. Therefore they went for the dedicated charger which was a good choice under the circumstances. I agree I have worries to about the very thin connector, but they were working hard not to make the device too thick. THus far I have not brought the charger to the office because I have not had to charge the Xoom except for overnight. The battery can make it through a day pretty easily, so feel free to leave the charger behind and see how you do.
Next, Office apps. I agree, they are limited and are the same on pretty much every non-laptop you will try to work on. Key features are missing, other features work strangely...it gets ugly out there. Therefore, I try to restrict my Office app work on the Xoom to reading and making notes. I wouldn't try to actually create a document on the Xoom at this point, unless it was very short and/or I would be able to edit on my laptop later. I use the Polaris app that was provided with the Asus Transformer, which you should be able to find in the Xoom Apps forum here, and it actually does pretty well.
I have had good luck with Bluetooth transferring files, but it can take a while. You should try using the OTG connector in conjunction with a flash drive for larger files. It adds a step in the transfer but it works perfectly for me.
The folio case? I agree, ugly as sin. Therefore I go without a case during use since I really like the looks of the Xoom anyway. I put it into an iPad Exo Sleevecase from Waterfield (great company, great case) before putting it in my gear bag and it does just fine.
The Xoom is a fine business tool in my opinion, it just has its limitations. All tablets currently available are still at the stage where you are best off thinking of them as an extension of your laptop or desktop computer, not the whole shebang. Use it for the tasks it is suited for, and be creative with how you apply it to those tasks which are a bit beyond a tablet's skillset at the moment.
Remember, we went through a decade of clunky, useless TabletPCs before we suddenly had a burst of innovation (thanks Apple) to get to this point in mobile computing. We are still at the early stages...just think where we will be in a couple years. THAT is when tablets will really shine, and at the moment you are ahead of the curve, devising business use cases for tablets out of sheer necessity. That is not a bad place to be.
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Click to collapse
I have found the Xoom to be a great substitute for a laptop out in the field. I just email the files to my work pc, or use my Passport HDD or thumb drive to save...I use dropbox for some non-secure files. Cloud print works fine if you run Chrome on your pc. My work network is locked down tight but I use Splashtop HD to sync with and remotely access my home pc, so I can use full MS Word, Excel, PP etc. I use my Moto BT keyboard and an MS BT mouse if I need do do intensive writing/editing, otherwise Tablet Keyboard Pro or FlexT9 work great. I have the WiFi only Xoom but use my Clear 4G mifi hotspot for connectivity most places I need to be.
This can work. Rooting helps--gives you a few more tools. The battery life is great, especially if you set your screen to minimum necessary brightness and set a battery-saving screen-off profile in SetCPU.
Ok, I will admit that Xoom(as with many android devices) has some bugs to work out, but Android 3.2 has done a lot of fixes that you are talking about....And as for stuff like file managers it matters what one u use.
Some good responses here, I have been on a couple of business trips and left the laptop at home, taking just the Xoom. Sync with and use of Exchange email is brilliant (as it should be). What I had hoped to be able to do is modify spreadsheets while walking round sites, I have some great Excel sheets with drop downs and the like but that is not going to be happening any time soon.
I have found Memento, a great database app that will be my work around for this, but I shouldn't be working around...
I included the iPad in the "tablet computing is sucky" title.
My issue with Bluetooth, a technology that has been with us for years, is that it insists on asking me to OK every file - if I take 100 photos on a site survey, I want them to come over to my laptop with one approval, not 100. It can take a hour, that's fine, just stop asking me if it's OK...This has been a problem for as long as I have been using a smartphone (except my Nokia N73, that had great Bluetooth.)
My frustration remains that I have been able to see the potential of mobile computing and now we have powerful enough devices to deliver it, but the software just isn't there - as usual its the back room hobbyists providing the real world solutions, the paid for software falls very short of the mark.
You talk of 3.2, I have a work device so rooting is not possible and Motorola don't seem in any rush to update me. Any ideas?
66mustang said:
Some good responses here, I have been on a couple of business trips and left the laptop at home, taking just the Xoom. Sync with and use of Exchange email is brilliant (as it should be). What I had hoped to be able to do is modify spreadsheets while walking round sites, I have some great Excel sheets with drop downs and the like but that is not going to be happening any time soon.
I have found Memento, a great database app that will be my work around for this, but I shouldn't be working around...
I included the iPad in the "tablet computing is sucky" title.
My issue with Bluetooth, a technology that has been with us for years, is that it insists on asking me to OK every file - if I take 100 photos on a site survey, I want them to come over to my laptop with one approval, not 100. It can take a hour, that's fine, just stop asking me if it's OK...This has been a problem for as long as I have been using a smartphone (except my Nokia N73, that had great Bluetooth.)
My frustration remains that I have been able to see the potential of mobile computing and now we have powerful enough devices to deliver it, but the software just isn't there - as usual its the back room hobbyists providing the real world solutions, the paid for software falls very short of the mark.
You talk of 3.2, I have a work device so rooting is not possible and Motorola don't seem in any rush to update me. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're taking pictures with your xoom, have it connected to a network (via a wifi network or phone tethering) you can use the auto upload feature that google+ has. That way you can access those pictures on your laptop as well by going to your google+ account.
I love my Xoom, even if my love for Motorola is waning, but I do have to agree to a point.
When I bought the thing, I had dreams of an all-in-one device... something that I could use as a laptop replacement but that I could also use to make phone calls.
Well, I can make phone calls using GrooveIP, but I would be lying if I said I was satisfied with this solution. GrooveIP works fine but generally kicks me out of Google Talk, which is pretty annoying given that I communicate more through chat than phone calls, so keeping it resident makes chat iffy. And speaking of GrooveIP, what's going on with the official Google Voice app for Honeycomb? I never imagined it would take Google so long to get it released.
The result? I finally decided to give up the dream and buy a new phone.
In a lot of ways, the Xoom has replaced my laptop for web surfing, but it doesn't make for a great word processor. I've purchased a few of the word processing apps available for Android, and they really aren't that great and lack key features such as auto-save. I still think that Google's official Google Docs app is the best of all available word processor apps, but even it is really mediocre on the Xoom. I think I gave it three stars in the market, and that might be one star too generous. I dislike Apple greatly, but iWork on the iPad is superior to anything available for Honeycomb. A native Google Docs Honeycomb app that doesn't rely on WebKit would be absolutely killer.
I still use my Xoom for most of my word processing, but it is a less than perfect solution. I love the size, and the tablet+bluetooth keyboard are still much more lightweight than my laptop, which makes them a more ideal travel companion. In fact, these days, the Xoom has replaced my laptop for about 85% of all my tasks, but it's still not a true laptop replacement.
I think it was unrealistic of me to expect my Xoom to be anything other than a tablet.
The first mistake was expecting it to replace your laptop + be productive as a business tool from the day you purchased it. Some things you mentioned the iPad 2 can't even do so it is what it is man.....
BUT if you use your xoom for play and your laptop for work then you won't have to worry about being stuck on your laptop charger all day long.
66mustang said:
- I can stand the Xoom up in the folio case, but I can't charge it, because the charger connector is on the bottom. A poor attempt to get me to fork out more money for the charging dock I assume.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Easy solution: turn the Xoom upside down. There is no dedicated button, dedicated top or bottom for most applications. In that case power connection is in the top, easy to charge, easy to work on the tablel. Xoom works well for me as a laptop replacement.
I won't get into a long explanation as to why uninformed people should not be posting such a thread. Here is what I will say:
True... tablets cannot fully replace a laptop or PC just yet in terms of raw power, RAM, graphics, gaming, or features. Windows has been an OS for computers for a loooong time now. Honeycomb for tablets has not been around for that long. There is a HUGE difference between a tablet, and a desktop/laptop. I'll make this very clear for you so that it's easy to understand:
[Words of wisdom]
A desktop is a powerful computer that is meant to stay in one place at all times, a laptop is less powerful desktop computer that is portable, meanwhile a tablet is essentially an even more portable laptop with less power. It's not supposed to fully replace a computer in the first place, but rather work right along side it instead. Thus, one should not say tablet computing is "sucky". Apples and bananas as they say... cannot be compared. Don't even attempt to do such a thing.
[/End Words of wisdom]
Tablets are catching up fast in terms of overall specs to match computers, it's very impressive. They are currently working on beast quad core tablets. That's a lot of power for a small lightweight device.
Re: Charging - The Xoom uses a 7.4V/24.1Whr battery, so can't use USB charging which is only 5V. The iPad2 has a 3.8V/25Whr battery, so it can. (All current HC tabs AFAIK use 7.4V batt.)
The iPad2's USB wall-wart is 5V/2A, and users report it takes 3-4 hrs for a full charge. Based on this, charging from a PC's 5V/0.5A USB port would take a long time (charge time isn't linear to current level, but we're simplifying). So practically, you'd still have to lug along an AC charger for the iPad, although PC charging exists as an emergency measure.
Re: Charge adapter - Moto Mobo is a phone vendor. The Xoom is its first tablet, and it's likely that some components were common-sourced from existing phone parts. The smallish charge adapter plug is likely one. Ergonomic issues should be ironed out for the Xoom2, which undoubtedly will be thinner and lighter.
Re: Tablet as productivity device - It'd be interesting to see how much app support ICS gets, as HC didn't get much love from devs, or consumers for that matter. The major thrusts for ICS are phone+tablet convergence and cloud computing, at least as inferred from Google I/O '11. Productivity wasn't mentioned. It'd be a step up for Gbread phones, but I don't see a big improvement for current HC users.
On the flip side, if ICS is indeed incremental, then it should be here relatively soon after 3.2. My SWAG says Oct, which would be enough time for holiday shopping. If true, vendors would likely hold their 2nd-gen tablet offerings until that time. Else, we'll see the second wave starting in Sept. Moto's Xoom2 will serve as a bellwether.
Speaking of the Xoom2, my money is on it having the TI OMAP 4460, with the 7" probably using the 4430. Both are a big step up from the Tegra 2 wrt multimedia support, and the 4460's 1.5GHz speed will make for easy marketing pitch ("it's 50% faster!"). Pricing will likely be the same as current, ie USD$500 for 32GB wifi base model, and probably $400 for the 7".
I bought a really expensive power drill but it's terrible at hammering nails and useless for painting my walls.
I'm mad and posting about it.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
hi_its_ryan said:
I bought a really expensive power drill but it's terrible at hammering nails and useless for painting my walls.
I'm mad and posting about it.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, did u try applying the paint to the drill before using it on ur wall
hi_its_ryan said:
I bought a really expensive power drill but it's terrible at hammering nails and useless for painting my walls.
I'm mad and posting about it.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 +1 +1 +1 +1
I think a tablet pc would be great OP?
my fav part of the gripe is about not using the worlds most dominant microsoft software... Of course they are not going to use it... Microsoft competes with android... Its the same as crying that your iphone cant run flash or windows programs...
I know it sucks but a tab is not a direct replacement for a laptop just yet... Theres a lot of ways to get around some of your gripes.. Like dropbox app for posting and syncing all your files to all your devices.. Docs to go.. It aint perfect but it helps... Etc...
My only gripe where I agree with the OP is the charger and not being able to charge when in the folio case...but when you consider that the battery lasts at least 24 hours with normal usage it's really not s big deal. I can get a good 5 work days when I use it to stream Pandora or Slacker over WiFi without needing to recharge.
Remote control your PC from your tablet. Then you have the best of both worlds.
brandogg said:
My only gripe where I agree with the OP is the charger and not being able to charge when in the folio case...but when you consider that the battery lasts at least 24 hours with normal usage it's really not s big deal. I can get a good 5 work days when I use it to stream Pandora or Slacker over WiFi without needing to recharge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Umm... someone already mentioned it, but... there is NOT a "correct" way to hold the Xoom, or any Honeycomb tablet for that matter. The soft keys are located on the screen itself, and will follow the screen when rotated, meaning you can hold it any way you want. Just unlock the screen rotation option, and then rotate the Xoom to position the charging port to the way that fits your needs. That is what sets Honeycomb apart from the rest. If the OP has this "complaint" he should think again before opening his mouth. It's called rotation... it's a feature. The Honeycomb developers want you to hold and position your tablet however you wish, not force you to hold it one way. Look it up, or better yet... use it.
its interesting to see the posts we have here...
personally i think a tablet is pretty close to becoming a laptop replacement... for some...
now... my laptop at the moment will probably crush many many desktops out there by a long shot (i definitely moved from desktops 5 years ago) but in saying that my battery life is HORRIBLE... i cant even go through 1 class and my charger is the size of a house brick lol but personally i love how i could whizz through a thousand, tabs, programs, music whatever with not one instance of lag and it dual boots like a boss and the 18 inch screen is amazing..
my xoom i bought it to hopefully be able to replace the aspect of taking my laptop to uni as we have alot of classes with just a powerpoint and we can type our own stuff from there (i just received my hk cheapo folio keyboard case today; as i dont see paying $50+ for one with a wire i would have preferred a bluetooth with trackpad or something) and i think im going to try and leave my laptop at home next time.. i agree the word compatible apps are sometimes uses, i cant find one where i can edit the notes section of a powerpoint but what i would really love is too have 2 programs open side by side on the one screen as this would be even easier to multitask but i will be finished uni before these will be met and then simply put my needs now/future are minimal in the 'business' area.. but this will NEVER replace a laptop for me im on it everyday for 6+ hours easy and the necessity for ease of access, large screen, etc for me negate the tablet switch for sometime if at all
for those who require specified proprietary programs your needs may never be met and if so they may only be met in the apple arena for sometime to come.. apple is the in thing at the moment and for the average joe as we all know cant understand alot of techno-babble (this may be a good argument for proprietary stuff to come out on the more tech android, but in business there are alot of people with their head in the sand)..
as for the OP i say this...
1. really consider rooting/flashing a custom rom you can always revert back to stock for warranty (i purchased mine overseas so i have NO warranty, im a poor uni student and saved for mine and honestly it was cheaper than my phone but yeh)
2. get an OTG cable (i got mine for $3 from hk) and use your flash drive for everything you want from the tablet/computer transfers (get a 32gb if you really need a large one).. that will remove alot of file transfer issues with bluetooth, etc and if you need to have constant backups then copy the file to the sdcard of the xoom to be super safe
3. have a better look in the area of printing.. i can wirelessly print from my android devices and they come out great (not good for photos) but documents come out pretty clear
4. burn the folio case, dance around it and move on try something else (if so inclined lol)...
5. the battery life is awesome.. absolutely awesome... i can go 2 full days without charge and using it all day on the train, music, wifi, internet.. bla bla
sorry for being long

Getting lrg hard drive support on Note 10.1

I contacted Samsung on Twitter about getting TB or lrg storage support on our device, stating Surface Pro does and that some work done on this tablet requires direct and larger storage capacity. They were open and receptive to exploring the option of making that happen. So if anyone else wants to make the request to them go right ahead. Can't hurt right and it may happen faster. I described my working process using Note for illustration. I like the product.
edirector said:
I contacted Samsung on Twitter about getting TB or lrg storage support on our device, stating Surface Pro does and that some work done on this tablet requires direct and larger storage capacity. They were open and receptive to exploring the option of making that happen. So if anyone else wants to make the request to them go right ahead. Can't hurt right and it may happen faster. I described my working process using Note for illustration. I like the product.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Given the existence of portable, battery-powered WIFI harddrives and RAVPOWER's portable, battey-powered WIFI SD card and USB flash drive/USB drive reader I don't see the need. I'm ordering the RAVPOWER unit from Amazon tonight. http://www.amazon.com/RAVPower%C2%AE-Wireless-External-Smartphones-Lightning/dp/B00AQUMZRA/ref=sr_1_9?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1360879507&sr=1-9&keywords=wifi+drive
Thanks
mke1973 said:
Given the existence of portable, battery-powered WIFI harddrives and RAVPOWER's portable, battey-powered WIFI SD card and USB flash drive/USB drive reader I don't see the need. I'm ordering the RAVPOWER unit from Amazon tonight. http://www.amazon.com/RAVPower%C2%AE-Wireless-External-Smartphones-Lightning/dp/B00AQUMZRA/ref=sr_1_9?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1360879507&sr=1-9&keywords=wifi+drive
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is fine for light usage, however I use Note 10 as a production device. I need to cut out the middle device and plug directly in I am producing that much work. There is a reason why Microsoft included the capability with Surface Pro some people actually use tablets to produce work. I will get this although but if Samsung comes through I'm happy with the ability to plug in a TB plus HD even better.
edirector said:
This is fine for light usage, however I use Note 10 as a production device. I need to cut out the middle device and plug directly in I am producing that much work. There is a reason why Microsoft included the capability with Surface Pro some people actually use tablets to produce work. I will get this although but if Samsung comes through I'm happy with the ability to plug in a TB plus HD even better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use my note for multiple productivity tools when I don't want to tote my laptop, incuding working on large word documents. I will be able to plug external hard drives upto 2T as well as flash drives and SD cards into the RavPower WIFI unit and acess the data wirelessly. Although they're expensive, Kingston's WiDrives offer wireless access to upto 128 GB of data without the need for a power cord (on board battery power is rated for 4 hours).
I bought a Seagate goflex Satellite drive. 500 gb and wifi connectivity. Can be a bit limited though...
ultramag69 said:
I bought a Seagate goflex Satellite drive. 500 gb and wifi connectivity. Can be a bit limited though...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once I get the RavPower unit and have had a chance to use it, I'll post a review in the accessories section. The note's a more than adequate substitute for my laptop on many occassions so l decided the RavPower purchase along with a better BT keyboard and mouse was warranted. I find myself using Kingsoft Office quite a bit.
Large drive support would be very nice indeed. I too use my GN for work, and in fact have moved exclusively to using it while out of the office. I don't find myself wanting for my laptop except in a few situations. Though i find a 64GB SD card handles my documents just fine since i am not working with super large files basically financial forcasting excel spreadsheets large word docs etc.
Just curious what types of files you all are working with that require that much space? Curious as maybe i am missing the boat on a usage for my Tablet.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using xda app-developers app
dharkenrahl said:
Large drive support would be very nice indeed. I too use my GN for work, and in fact have moved exclusively to using it while out of the office. I don't find myself wanting for my laptop except in a few situations. Though i find a 64GB SD card handles my documents just fine since i am not working with super large files basically financial forcasting excel spreadsheets large word docs etc.
Just curious what types of files you all are working with that require that much space? Curious as maybe i am missing the boat on a usage for my Tablet.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I work on legal briefs and documents as well as detailed analyses of proposed legislation and regulations. I'm most looking forward to getting a new BT with standard keyboard layout.

HELP! What do you use your tablet for?

Besides the obvious uses for the note tablet, what do you use yours for? I'm a freelance illustrator and the wacom digitizer and s-pen are what initially attracted me to the note phone, and now the note tablet, both allowing me to sketch on the go and minimizing the amount of time sitting in front of my desktop. Honestly even though I'm a huge tech person and love gadgets such as phones, i was never really into the tablet craze, especially after having a phone with a huge screen, i used a buddies iPad a few years back and didn't understand the buzz (with any apple product actually) but i started eyeballing the old note tablet as a new toy and tool for drawing and days later watched the IFA live on the computer and was sold on the Note 2014 edition, aesthetically it's great looking and has nice specs where I wouldn't have to worry about bogging it down. I love to game, avid xBoxer (when time allows) so the tablet would also serve as a good way to game while watching TV or laying in the couch without burning my phone battery up, and the drawing is awesome, but being drawing, gaming and browsing the internet, I don't know what else to use this thing for ... After dropping $600 + $60 for a 64GB sdcard and another $30+ in cases and accessories, I'm wondering if I just bought another really over priced laptop lol like I'm missing why people really enjoy the tablet, don't get me wrong I love it and refuse to give it up, I'm just looking for tips or advice on how to unlock the true potential of a tablet, like I said this is my first tablet, so any good apps? Games? Tricks? Tips? What role does your tablet serve in your life? Anything I guess that I might be missing, I've been rooting my phones for years and def plan to root this thing, and fully understand what a root can do to a device as far as unlocking extra potential, but beyond that just looking to see if I'm overlooking something awesome about tablets I could start using this for and really getting my moneys worth. Any advice is really appreciated! please excuse any typos lol I'm typing this using Swype on my note phone, and the auto correct has a mind of it's own.
Thanks.
Personally I use my pad as a more mobile laptop. I read on it, code on it, write on it... mostly read though. And games of course, can't forget about the games. Well, i guess i actually do everything on my pad, starting to get all itchy now since i broke the tf700t and am eagerly awaiting the new note. But hey, i guess you could produce some music on them as well... nothing a-grade but some snippets and loops here and there while waiting for whatever.
Mainly for communications, the rest for testing applications and gamea
Sent from my ME371MG using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
When home i use it as most probably do, Web browsing, forum reading through tapatalk, some games, social media etc. Basically a laptop replacement.
Its main purpose though is for use for college.
I use Lecture Notes extensively for note taking as well as all audios of lectures.
I found Class Buddy Pro to be great for scheduling all my classes when papers are do, when exams are etc (great app which syncs with any of your calendars) you can even attach files to the class itself (like a syllabus) and papers for assignments can be attached to the event you create for the assignment so you don't lose them (I use the paper the professors pop up on our internal web site so they are always available with me in an easy to find spot)
I use ezPDF Reader Pro for simple PDF annotations.
Mantano Reader Premium is by far the best PDF ePub textbook reading app out there. I need something which supports Adobe DRM and having tried every single app on the Play Store, I was blown away when I finally got to this one. While the interface is not as flashy as some of them, the nuts and bolts (reading, highlighting, annotating, bookmarking etc) cannot be beat.
This is my 5th tablet. I love my original Note 10.1 so much I bought this one the day a 32GB black one became available (I wanted / needed the higher resolution for anatomy books, really anything with pictures in them). Incredible piece of technology.
Since you like Wacom Digitizers, Google using the Note series as a Wacom Digitizer for a PC.
Porno and drawing porno.
if i had one of these and internet while i was going through puberty...
when i was a young chap we had to look at porn or video cassettes, uphill, both ways!
madsquabbles said:
if i had one of these and internet while i was going through puberty...
when i was a young chap we had to look at porn or video cassettes, uphill, both ways!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I had one going through puberty I would have been locked in my room for ages never once looking outside.
That reminds me, is Reagan still President?
Sent from my Galaxy Note 10.1 via Tapatalk.
I use the 2014 Note 10.1 mainly for movie watching at the moment. Also owning an iPad 4 I use that for most anything else. Email reading and email management I do mostly on my Note 3, with its indicator light and easy deletion options (the iPad wants you to Archive in stead of delete).
I'm actively looking at other uses for the 2014 Note 10.1 though. Areas of interest include: drawing, decent internet browsing, HD games, reading, and music/audio playback. This could be a great device given the right software. It already is top of the heap in some areas.
Usage of my 2014 Note 10.1 is currently hindered somewhat by the lack of a proper (slim, light weight) smartcover. Right now I'm using an iPad 1 or 2 Belkin "woolen" type sleeve (great fit), but I'm hoping for something more like my beautiful/handy Decoded iPad smartcover.
Op, its really up to what kind of illustrating you are up to do.
As of now, painting and drawing loose is more easier to do, and the results will come out quite clean. However that's the extent of Sketchbook that comes with the note10.1 itself. Generally you'd want to go beyond that for reproduction pipeline, as well as refining for details in cases of print work. HOWEVER. I consider that actual painting beyond the tablet's ability.
Note 10.1 is GREAT for sketching. I feel like it gets the idea down fast, and the first 2 or 3 stages of an illustration is completed just using the tablet - such as the grey value drawing, the base color palette, and general composition. I've yet to find an app that goes to 4K resolution and comes with a decent set of tools. Someone at XDA might point me out on this, but for my own use, I bounce back to my usual pipeline on the PC after my sketch is completed.
Things the Note is also good at, is the beautiful display. Max your colors out and brightness, and you get a 2nd monitor. There are plenty of apps that turns your PC / Laptop into a 2nd screen. Generally for viewing purposes and color / value checking. More things you can do: Use the screen as color reference, use the note as photo ref when drawing, use it as a scanner! 8MP is decent if you snap a pencil drawing and then paint on top of it, as an artist my self, I find this thing similar to be a Swiss army knife, it use it for literally everything.
On another note! Pun not intended, the note is not yet capable of doing any adobe illustrator. It's a horrible set back if you're a vector artist - or a graphic designer that intend to pump out quick samples. I feel that the apps available right now are inadequate. It's quite a shame. my current work around is using splash top and connect it to my home computer.
Previously i was a Tab 7.7 user.
Main use was surfing, and reading books and scanned manga's. I got tons of those digitally and in paper form, same with European comic books. Now the later are usually printed in a A4 format, so it all got a bit to small on the screen. And next to that PDF manuals, big fast high resolution tablets make them better to watch :victory:
So when i went looking for a new tablet, one of the things, i wanted was a bigger screen, a higher resolution, and some decent processor power. I had been eying the Nexus 10, and the LG G Pad 8.3 that was coming. Nexus 10 like all nexus lacking and SD slot, and from what i later heard also did not work with a OTG + USB drive right out the box, was not an option. The G Pad 8.3 looked nice, but i felt it might still be to small a screen for the bigger books to displace well, and readable. So when the Note 10.1 2014 came and i read the specs, and saw the price tag, i though, it might be a bit pricy but it can do everything i want it to do and more. I must say im not disappointed by it yet
So the note safes me from having the lug kilo's of paper books around, they can stay in on my shelves now
OP, since you are looking at sketching etc, check out this article. It's in French but Google translate should help, and even if it doesn't the sketches speak for themselves.
http://goo.gl/Rm7jhO
The drawings were made with Sketchbook Pro which is included on the new Notes.
My original Transformer Prime became a laptop replacement for anything that didn't involve heavy lifting (development work, etc). Once I find a decent bluetooth keyboard I expect I'll be doing the same thing with this.
My primary reason for upgrading to this particular tablet is the screen as I will be using it for photography. I pull the pics off the camera via wi-fi and then I can preview/edit them on the tablet.
I just use my table for viewing movies while traveling.

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