[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] mkumar12345:
I have had the Galaxy Note 10.1 since August 13th, so more than a month now and I have to say it's one of the best tablets I have ever owned.

Here are my impressions with some minor cons that need to be ironed out:

1) Amazing Screen, approaching Super AMOLED Plus levels (I owned a galaxy tab 7.7 that I sold to buy this one).

Minor Con: It does appear pixelated, especially the home screen folders and apps.

2) Amazing battery life (I have seen screen-on times upto 11.5 hrs and even with wi-fi always on and pulling in email from 4 accounts, it doesn't seem to consume any battery at all when the screen is turned off)

Minor Con: After an update pushed by Samsung it affected battery life slightly, although I am still getting 10 hrs of screen-on time with a lot of web browsing, videos, sometimes both at the same time using pop-up play.

3) Multi-tasking is powerful. Loving the ability to read a PDF/PPT and take notes in S Notes

Minor Con: S-Notes auto brightness increase after the latest update is killing my retina and is seriously annoying. Also, that giant scrolling/panning page makes S-Notes unusable in split screen mode. Hope these issues are addressed promptly through an update.

4) Brilliant S-Pen: I don't use notepads anymore. Seriously. I take notes everywhere, in meetings, jot down ideas, practice sketching. It has made me more productive in general. Coupled with its light weight and long battery life it's a god send. I will never buy any mobile computing device that doesn't have a Wacom pen functionality ever again. Once galaxy note 2 comes out on verizon I am replacing my galaxy nexus on launch day.

Here is the fly in the ointment though. Windows 8 is coming. And for anyone who has ever tried OneNote with a Wacom pen, knows its just unparalleled in terms of inking and makes S-Note, as powerful as it is, look like a hack job. Since Microsoft has had a long time to perfect it, they have taken it to another level that's just hard to touch for any new entrants.

Also, Windows OS will allow me to run my office software (I plan to get the x86 versions and have no interest in the RT version) and do programming (I write software as a hobby) while giving me much of the same multimedia functionality as Android OS. Granted Windows 8 won't nearly have as many apps or games as Android, but it has most of the essential things that I use and need from the get-go.

Currently, I am leaning towards the Samsung ATIV Smart PC as it will have S-Note also (apart from OneNote), so I can port all the notes that I have created on my galaxy note 10.1 to it, although it doesn't look as sleek as the Asus Vivo Tab.

What will I be sacrificing if I get a Windows 8 based convertible tablet like Samsung ATIV Smart PC or Asus Vivo Tab?

Cost is definitely a factor, but the productivity gain offsets that. What else?

Battery life: Not so much with Intel second generation Atom (both devices are rated for 13.5 hrs of battery life, 10 hrs of video)

GPU prowess: Galaxy Note 10.1 will definitely trump integrated Intel HD whatever in the Windows 8 devices. So if playing games are important, note 10.1 is a better choice.

Apps: Android OS has far more number of apps. Not much of an issue if you just want productivity apps, but fun apps are lacking in the Windows 8 store as of now. It might change when it actually releases, but it will definitely take some time to come up to parity.

Anything else?