Review: Laptop features costly in new Samsung Galaxy Note Pro - Financial Express ~ Electronic Gadgets

Associated Press | New York | Updated: Mar 20 2014, 13:00 IST

Samsung Galaxy Note Pro's screen measures 12.2 inches diagonally, giving it about 50 percent more surface area than Apple's 9.7-inch iPad Air.

SummarySamsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 tablet blurs distinction between a laptop and a tablet computer.

Its on-screen keyboard has capabilities that are more common with laptops, and its screen is larger than what many laptops have. People can run several apps side by side, and multiple users can share the device with separate profiles.

Samsung also tries to make the Note Pro something professionals can use on the road, while leaving the laptop behind. It's packed with business tools such as a WebEx virtual conferencing app, a one-year subscription to Bloomberg Businessweek's digital magazine and one year of Wi-Fi access on airplanes through Gogo.

It's an impressive lineup of features. Unfortunately, it also has a price tag that exceeds that of many laptops - $750 for the base model with 32 gigabytes of storage, and $850 for 64 gigabytes.

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If your primary reason for owning a tablet is to consume content, such as video, music, books and magazines, the Note Pro isn't for you. There are plenty of cheaper options out there.

The Note Pro is for those who want to mimic a laptop experience, yet don't want to purchase -or carry- a laptop.

Its screen measures 12.2 inches diagonally, giving it about 50 percent more surface area than Apple's 9.7-inch iPad Air. The Note Pro is also larger than another tablet billed as a laptop replacement, Microsoft's 10.6-inch Surface Pro 2. It's also cheaper; the Surface Pro 2 costs $899.

With the Note Pro's larger screen, television shows and other content come to life. Digital magazines are closer in size to printed editions - though one drawback is that some magazines haven't been designed to be that large, so text looks fuzzy blown up.

The larger screen also means having an on-screen keyboard that comes closer to replicating a physical keyboard. Keys are spaced in a way that I can type with all 10 fingers, the way I learned in high school eons ago. On smaller tablets, I have to inefficiently peck with two fingers.

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