A Great Family Tablet – Samsung Galaxy Note 8

Samsung had had two big introductions in the last couple of months, the Samsung Galaxy 4 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 (called 8 because it’s an 8 inches tablet).  I am an avid Android phone user but my main tablet is my iPad.  So I was curious to see how well the Samsung Note 8 would fit into my life as a family tablet, and wondered, would it compete or complement my iPad use..after all, do we really need two tablets?

What I found out was that no one really NEEDS all these electronic gadgets (Yikes!  Did I really say that???).  But one of the ways gadgets help us is to make our life easier.  In using the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, I have found it a welcome addition to our family, complementing our digital family life very well.

Before I go on, let me just give you a few brief important features…

• 8″ LCD Screen
• quad core processor – process video fast!
• ability to split screen and use two apps at once – way cool!
• 8 megapixel camera – very good for a tablet
• 1.4 megapixel front facing camera – not bad!
• Has NFC which means you can “bump” the Note with your Note 2.0, Galaxy SIII, or Galaxy S4 to share pictures & videos (love this!!!)

 

The Galaxy Galaxy Note 8 has become a part of our normal routine resulting in helpful uses such as a

• Problem Resolver – the kids no longer fight over the iPad
• Shopper’s Dream – comparison shopping on the spot!
• Colorful way to see my calendar at a glance

 

Mom!  When is it My Turn to Use the iPad!  

If I could tell you how many times I heard that question, I’d be rich!  Now, I never hear it, in fact, now I hear, ” Mom, when can I use the Note???”  Which cracks me up.  See, years ago when we bought our iPad 2, many of my kids favorite games were only on iOS, so getting an Android tablet didn’t make sense.  But now, almost all of them are available on Android.  My daughter was thrilled to get her own Smurfs, Muppet Theater, Bakery Story, Pet Hotel, Dream Park, Hair Salon, Pet Salon, etc. on the Samsung Note 8.   And my son has fun new extensions of some of his favorite games on the Note that he wasn’t aware of.  No more sharing game coins, dollars, and diamonds.  Both are happy.  There is peace in the house.

 

 

A Shopper’s Dream

I have never taken my iPad 2 with me to the store.  It’s too big, doesn’t fit in my purse well, and with all that screen space, I’d be fearful that I’d drop it and break it.  But with the Galaxy Note 8, it’s a breeze.  It fits nicely into my purse and  fits very well into one of my hands.  And with the dual screen feature, I can compare sites and keep an eye on my email or watch YouTube videos explaining the benefits of the product I’m looking at.  I always use Amazon.com as my main price comparison website.  Pricegrabber.com is another favorite to see a bunch of prices at once.

Now you’re probably thinking, do I have 4G service on my tablet to conduct my price comparison?  No.  A good number of stores offer free WiFi nowadays and if they don’t, I can activate my T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy III phone as a WiFi Hotspot, so I can get my tablet online.  It works great, though it does take a couple of minutes to set up.  But you don’t have to set it up in the store, you can do it at home before you leave.

As you can see in the above pic, the menu slide out on the left-hand side.  You can choose one of these apps and slide it onto the main screen of the tablet to split your screen into a dual window.  Cool, huh?

 

I CAN’T WAIT to take the Galaxy Note 8 on the ultimate shopping trip with me…Black Friday!  There are so many ads and early bird specials going on.  Having a larger screen than my phone and using the split screen feature will be a dream to use as I rush around from shop to shop to find those awesome bargains.  Think I’m kidding?  See CNN Money’s article I was featured on entitled “7 Strategies of a Black Friday-aholic.”

 

I will use the split screen feature to show both my schedule from my calendar and the ads from the store I’m visiting.  Slick!  Again I will use color coding to show me helpful info. at a glance.  Red indicates must go to, pink indicates a store I want to go to for my daughter, blue indicates a store for my son, and orange means the store has good deals, make them if I can, but it’s not a priority.

 

Keep My Schedule Clear

            

I absolutely LOVE how my Google calendar looks on the Galaxy Note 8.  There’s so much more space on the Note 8 compared to my Galaxy SIII phone and all my appointments appear in color, color coded to my liking.  On my iPad, my Google calendar shows in black and white.  I love using colors to help me see in a quick glance certain types of appointments over others.  Just a tap on each item to get all the notes behind the appointment.  I loved using the Galaxy Note 8 while at the  BlogHer  blogging conference a couple of weeks ago.  At a quick glance, I could see my top favorite seminars at a given time.  Unfortunately, all three were happening at the same time.  This happened throughout the day.  In my calendar,  I show all three seminars, but I highlighted my top choice in Pink.  I would start with this one and duck into the others if the first one wasn’t as good as I hoped.  I also found the Note 8 great for keeping track of all the nighttime parties occurring throughout the city.

Now, some pro’s and con’s…

• comfortable in your hand
• the split screen feature is very handy, allowing you to use two apps at once
• the quick menu offers you access to your favorite apps, whether they are already opened or not
• more compact than larger tablets, easier to stow away, fits nicely in a purse
• the price is reasonable for a tablet

• the battery doesn’t last long – only a day with heavy use
• although you an charge the Note 8.0 through your USB drive on your computer, it takes a long time.  Power outlet charging recommended
• the split screen doesn’t work with having two websites open at a time or even two games, it only works with specific apps

The Samsung Note 8.0 sells for $377.99  and is available through Amazon.

As I said, I have a 10″ iPad with a rather large protective cover and keyboard attached.  It’s a bit heavy and I would dread taking it with me to shop to comparison shop.  I do not hesitate with the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.  It’s lightweight, fast, and easy to use.  My phone is nice, but the Note 8 has a great screen size and I can see more information on one page.  And with the split screen, I can open two apps at the same time to make things even easier.

I also use the split screen on the Note 8 to keep an eye on your email.  I like to keep both of my email accounts on a split screen to save time from going back and forth to check my email.

I love to use various apps when I comparison shop for gifts for the kids or others.   And my kids no longer fight over just one tablet in the house.  And as I mentioned in the Features above, with the NFC “bump” technology, I can easily bump photos/videos to my Galaxy Note 8 to show to them to friends/family when they visit to show them our Summer activities.

WIth the split screen capabilities and the fast quad-core processor, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is a hard Android family tablet to beat.

*  I was given a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 in exchange for my honest opinion, which coincidentally, are all my own.