I mentioned a bit ago that I bought a Samsung Galaxy Note 12.2 Pro. My main reason is, honestly, Comixology allowing comics to be downloaded DRM-free. That severely increased my comics reading, and I started to grow tired of the slow Windows 8 tablet I was using to read comics on.
So what do I think of the Note Pro 12.2? I love the size, I love the screen. It's a little odd that the menu button beings up the recent apps list and has to be long-pressed to bring any app's settings menu. I've gotten used to it, but I'd like to be given the option to return it to it's more traditional behavior.
The screen is great, and big, and amazing for comics. I have a matte screen protector to reduce fingerprints, a cheap one I got off of Amazon and it works okay, less smeary than the one on my phone, I suspect a higher pixel density should actually should mean better a better image when using matte protectors (less pixels getting caught in the color-shifting grain of the material, that water drop effect, so it at least doesn't look so distracting). I dropped a 128 GB SD card in it and it's almost half full, mostly of comics. My Android comic reading app of choice, Perfect Viewer, is a little slow to load the library, and slow to load pages sometimes. I'm trying Komik now, which is nice. It's a little snappier though it seems to try and create thumbnails every time I open the app instead of storing them somewhere. It does have the option to get thumbnails in the background, so I don't have to wait while it's thinking about it, I can go straight to the comic I'm reading and get on with it.
Things I don't like on the tablet are mostly due to Android. Well the first issue isn't. The Note Pro 12.2 wifi model doesn't have a quick charge feature, only the 4G model does. I don't understand how different processors do or don't enable a quick charge but the wifi model charges fast enough that if it's almost dead I can plug it in and use it and it still charges a little during.
I don't like that Android is by default an "always on" OS. Always syncing, always crawling for data. The thing I loved about the Windows 8 tablet was it's sleep mode. Its normal standby is pretty good in itself, barely losing any battery power, but if it's on standby long enough it goes into a sort of hibernation mode, so it doesn't lose any more battery power but still starts back up reasonably fast. I want my phone to always let me know if there's a new email or text message, I want it to be always connected and updating and being at my fingertips. My tablet is a different type of device entirely. It is an e-reader. It's an occasional sketchpad. I don't care if its apps are up to date, I don't want it looking for emails and text messages. I'd like it to always be in deep sleep if the screen is off. I want it to have battery power when I take it out of my bag. I've disabled all the syncing I can, and wifi turns off when the screen turns off, which helps a lot.
Let's see, what else? Oh, Play Market's tablet mode is total bullshit. When it has two panes it's implemented in the worst way possible. Tap on an app in the list to the left and it tells you the app's name (which you already know from the left pane) and gives options to open, update or uninstall the app.
Oh, you want to actually see more info on that app? When it was updated, a change log, reviews, maybe a description? You have to click on the app's name or icon in the right pane to be shown all that, and it switches you to one full-screen pane. So why the hell is your interface two pane if you don't show any extra info in the right pane and prefer to show details full screen? No, really. There's plenty of room for more info it under the app's name in the right pane, so why switch to full screen to show it to me? Is it because the people who design this program never actually use it themselves? That's my bet. Then again, the app seems to like to go full screen on everything now, reviews, app description. It used to just "unfold" in the space so you could still see everything else by scrolling up or down. Did some high schooler tell Google that it's more cool to make information harder to access, and to make every bit of information live on it's own slow loading page? Well that high school kid doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. With this UI change Google did something amazing---they reduced functionality of their store and made it look less cool.
Oh, also, Google's new SD card policy is shit. Everyone but the most raging Google apologists know it. To be honest, I'd like apps to not put any caching or app data on my SD card. I'd like them to be able to see and edit files as I need them to, but I don't need a dozen folders filled with random files autocreated on my SD card every time I plug it in. You want to do this smart Google, let people choose in settings whether or not app data can be stored on the SD card. It really is that simple. Enacting a policy where apps can create their own folders at will, but they can only edit files within their own folders, well it misses simplicity and elegance by about a mile. What about a file browser? Or a photo editor? Am I supposed to keep my files organized in each app's own folder? Well what if I have a photo editor and a photo organization app, how am I supposed to manage that? Once again, does anybody who works on Android actually use it? Well in this case that doesn't quite apply, because Google's Android devices don't have SD card slots, do they? So you could probably work on that spec and not realize how completely ridiculous it is, because Google prefers to give physical storage expansion the middle finger as a general rule.
I'm an unabashed Maemo 5 proponent still, some 5 years after it has been a thing, because it was essentially what I wanted (and still want): a cool mobile interface over a desktop OS. There were proper ports of dome desktop apps, but you could also install any Debian app you wanted on it. Yes that's right, any Debian app. Not always handy on a 3.5" Nokia N900, but it would be perfect for my 12.2 Note Pro.
Of course, Maemo 5 is no more. It became MeeGo, and then became Tizen. Yeah, Tizen, the OS on Samsung Gear devices and it's rumored to be on future phones and tablets. I'm trying to temper my expectations, as I currently know next to nothing about Tizen and their philosophy.
Anyway, if you can stomach the price of the Note Pro 12.2, and if you've learned to live with Android's occasional nonsense as I have, I fully recommend the Note Pro 12.2.
David
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