Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 vs Asus Transformer Infinity 700

[androidfanatic]

Hello all,

I'm looking to make the plunge into the tablet market this summer and finally buy my first tablet. I have narrowed down my options between the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and Asus Transformer Infinity 700. From the looks of it, the transformer looks to be a superior product when it comes to the specs. It has a better screen, faster processer, and nice design with good functionality (micro-USB and micro-HDMI ports; keyboard dock). All these factors are making me lean towards it.

However, also important to consider is that I am a student and will have to take a lot of notes on the tablet. The Galaxy Note 10.1 will come with a Stylus that is supposedly of good quality. Also it will allow users to run multiple applications simultaneously which looks good too. I am a bit dismayed by the screen quality though. I'm a huge Samsung fan and have a galaxy sII phone that I love.

How feasable do you think it is to get the Asus and use a stylus with it? Will the screen be responsive to writing? Which tablet do you think might meet my needs more?

I'm interested in hearing from people with more experience with tablets since I have barely ever used one! I look forward to any replies.

Thanks!

Edited to add:

Just a bit more info about me: Besides being a student and using it to take notes, I will likely be using it mostly to stream video/music... search stuff online... emails... etc

 

[leeshor]

If a 10" tablet is in your future you can't go wrong with the Infinity and the additional flexibility of the dock. There are also the other things you already pointed out. I would go with the TF700, but I;m partial to the Transformer line in general.

 

[androidfanatic]

If a 10" tablet is in your future you can't go wrong with the Infinity and the additional flexibility of the dock. There are also the other things you already pointed out. I would go with the TF700, but I;m partial to the Transformer line in general.

Thanks for your reply. My only concern is with school, we have electronic course packs and will have to label and writr stuff manually with a stylus. Will that be difficult to do with the transformer?

 

[leeshor]

Thanks for your reply. My only concern is with school, we have electronic course packs and will have to label and writr stuff manually with a stylus. Will that be difficult to do with the transformer?

The note claims to be stylus compatible as if it was the only one. I use a stylus with my Transformer all the time and a customer uses a stylus to get his customers to sign documents in the field.

 

[androidfanatic]

The note claims to be stylus compatible as if it was the only one. I use a stylus with my Transformer all the time and a customer uses a stylus to get his customers to sign documents in the field.

Good to know! Any stylus you recommend I check out in particular?

 

[leeshor]

Good to know! Any stylus you recommend I check out in particular?

When I first started using a stylus it seems like nobody else even knew they existed except maybe for the Palm devices. I have been though a bunch since then but I think the most accurate one and the one that allows for fine lines and drawing would be the Adonis Jot Pro. You can see a review here.

 

[Tom T]

The galaxy note has a digitizer layer, and much like a graphics tablet allows for more accurate input and things like pressure sensitivity. I use a couple different types of capacitive stylus with transformer and galaxy tab 7 plus, my favorite being the pogo sketch pro. The jot pro is pretty accurate but makes a bit much noise for me, and since I don't use a screen protectors I fear the hrd plastic tip might scratch my screen, although it would probably be fine.

Sent from my Sony Tablet P using Android Tablet

 

[J515OP]

For heavy notes as the primary purpose, I think you have to go with the Note (or wait for Microsoft Surface). If notes is only a part of it go for the tablet you generally prefer between the two. There are big differences in styli. While any capacitive tablet is "compatible" with a capacitive stylus they are not as good as traditional resisitve styli or digitized styli as Tom pointed out. If you do go with a capacitive stylus the Adonit Jot Pro mentioned by leeshor is recognized as being the most accurate though it has draw backs as do all capacitive styli. How much they bother you depends on the person.

Here is a good comparison of capacitive styli but you should keep in mind a digitizer will be the closest experience to pen/pencil writing.

The best stylus for iPad: we review the hits and misses | The Verge

 

[androidfanatic]

Interesting comments by all. I tried out a galaxy note smartphone/tablet in a store today and must admit the writing was so easy with that stylus. It responds so well and was so precise. I later tried to use a rubber tipped stylus on an asus transformer prime and it was alright, but I hated the rubber tips. I found it challenging to write with and thought it would be difficult to label things quickly using it. That might change if I used a better stylus like the jot pro. Notes will be a big part of what I will be using it for, but definitely not the only thing. Am I correct that a digitized stylus will only work if the tablet has a digitized screen, and if I go with the Asus, I'd have to use a capacitive stylus?

Also -- wow the Windows Surface looks like an interesting tablet too! So many good products coming out!

 

[NoteaTablet]

The note claims to be stylus compatible as if it was the only one. I use a stylus with my Transformer all the time and a customer uses a stylus to get his customers to sign documents in the field.

The Note phone has a "special" stylus, with a button. For example, If you hold stylus on screen while holding button, it puts a copy of the screen into clipboard.
I don't think the rubber-tipped sticks others call a stylus is really the same thing??

 

[J515OP]

Yes, the digitized stylus only works with phones/tablets with that specific technology. If notes are important though it is the way to go. Testing out the way you did is easy to see/feel the difference. It is really nice to write on the Galaxy Note but not so much on a tablet with a rubber tip.

The rubber tipped things are stylus but more accurately "capacitive stylus" and these are the ones that get the complaints for the reasons noted about use. Most people think of the traditional hard plastic stylus for resistive screens when they hear the word stylus (the digitizer stylus is similar to this) and not the rubber tip ones.

I haven't used the jot pro and while it does get good marks I don't think it is what I would want to use to write a lot. Plus it seems like the disc is easy to break particularly if you are getting it out and putting it back often (such as at school).

 

[Tom T]

Not to get off topic, but I think I read that only the Intel based Suface tablet will have a digitizer layer, and not the less expensive one.

Sent from my Sony Tablet P using Android Tablet

 

[androidfanatic]

Yes, the digitized stylus only works with phones/tablets with that specific technology. If notes are important though it is the way to go. Testing out the way you did is easy to see/feel the difference. It is really nice to write on the Galaxy Note but not so much on a tablet with a rubber tip.

The rubber tipped things are stylus but more accurately "capacitive stylus" and these are the ones that get the complaints for the reasons noted about use. Most people think of the traditional hard plastic stylus for resistive screens when they hear the word stylus (the digitizer stylus is similar to this) and not the rubber tip ones.

I haven't used the jot pro and while it does get good marks I don't think it is what I would want to use to write a lot. Plus it seems like the disc is easy to break particularly if you are getting it out and putting it back often (such as at school).

It's a tough call. I think I have to wait to see what the Galaxy Note 10.1" looks and feels like. I'm concerned about the screen resolution, I wonder why they didn't try to upgrade that. From the pictures and videos I've seen though, it still looks like it will be a good quality screen.

 

[MNDaveC]

The Infinity seems to have some of the same I/O bottlenecks of the Prime if you look at RL Bencmark results, where the Galaxy S3 (similar guts to the Note 10.1) screams on RL bench.

The 2GB RAM of the Note seems like it could be a huge benefit for the Note.

The Note's screen (as seen on Galaxy Tab 2) is not as crisp as even the Prime.

In the end, I expect the Note will be better all-around, particularly for web browsing. ASUS may still be a bit better for high frame rate games.