Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 makes its debut but is it worth it

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 has finally appeared six months after its initial preview at Mobile World Congress (MWC).  The tablet comes complete with an included stylus and the ability to give you a split screen view.  You can watch a video on one half while taking notes on the other.  Both provide some novelty and value but is it enough to justify the $499 price tag?

According to Engadget’s review of the new device, it certainly isn’t worth the virtually $500 price tag for the 16GB version.  Yes, the Galaxy Note 10.1 has some nifty features but it also has some serious deficiencies.  Those deficiencies are enough that the price is too high.

The tablet starts out with some rather nifty specs.  It is the only tablet out at this price point with 2GB of RAM.  It has a very fast proprietary quad core Exynos 4 processor running at 1.4 GHz. The devices multitasking capability is so far unsurpassed and its split screen ability is fantastic.  The included S-Pen is a nice touch and the tablet includes several programs that make very good use of it.

In spite of these outstanding features, Samsung severely hamstrung the device with a several inferior specs.  The camera is a middling 5 megapixel rear camera that takes poor pictures. The 1280 X 800 screen resolution is not enough to compete with the same priced iPad’s retina display or the new Asus Transformer Pad TF700’s 1920 x 1200 resolution. It comes with Ice Cream Sandwich and not the latest Android OS version of Jelly Bean. To finish it off, the Galaxy Note 10.1 has a cheap plastic build with creaks and squeaks.

Meanwhile Android Authority reports that you can get the Asus Transformer Pad TF700 with its Tegra 3 quad core processor, 32 GB of memory, superior screen resolution and build quality for $499. Techradar’s review of the top of the line Asus tablet talks about its excellent build quality, aluminum back, gorilla glass, 8 megapixel camera, excellent display and overall great feature set.  Well except for the speaker which is on the back. 

For the money, at least at this moment, it looks as if ASUS has the better 10.1 inch tablet at the $499 price point.  As always, visit your local gadget store and try them both out.  Like with all devices, some of it comes down to personal preference.