I'll start by saying that I previously acknowledged tablets as being mostly a novelty device but could also see some of the media benefits also.

My birthday is in two days and my fiance surprised me by saying I could have any tablet that I wanted and of course I went into 'research mode' and looked at the Samsung tab 1 and 2, iPad 1, 2 and 3, the Asus tf300 and both transformer tablets. All of them have their positives and negatives, although I was never going to get an iPad is I'm not an apple fan, I'm always inclined towards power under the hood rather than the 'look its shiney' approach.

The galaxy note 10.1 offers the power, the looks and the functionality that anyone could possibly desire. Some review sites say this tablet is cheap looking and feels worse, I implore you to ignore them, its usually apple fans who say this, even I was a tad worried but the moment I held it in my hands I knew I'd made the right choice.

Amazon's listing of this product is wrong at the moment, this is indeed the quad core, 2gb ram and 16gb internal storage. I almost purchased this from another company due to poor listing but i have informed Amazon of their mistake and hopefully they will alter the listing.

One thing I do like on this tablet is the use of the pen, I've downloaded a free app called sketcher off the play market and it's brilliant. I would recommend people to download the Google chrome app straight away as the built in internet app can throw a few hissy fits now and then and chrome seems to work nicely on this tablet.

Now, onto the screen, I cannot believe that some reviewer websites said it wasn't good, are they looking at the back of the tablet, the pre loaded video shows how vibrant it truly is, the viewing angles are very good also, cannot complain at all.

Just for anyone who is curious, the pre loaded Photoshop app only allows editing from what I can tell, you can't start sketching in it, but it's free so have a play with your photos and it's a nifty little app. (someone has informed me that you can in fact create work from the PS app as well)

I would recommend that when you get this brilliant tablet you also order a 32GB micro sd card that is class 10, you've then got a lot of storage space for films, music and pictures you want on the go.

I've only had this tablet for about 4 days now and I haven't been able to make the most out of all the facilities it offers such as the multitasking split screen, and from what I have researched it is the only tablet on the market that truly multi tasks.

On a foot note, no need for a kindle anymore, downloaded the app and works great.

All in this has been a great purchase for me, and I'm very happy I took the plunge, who needs a laptop anymore!

EDIT 15th September - I have now been using this device more and more each day, I set up "Peel Remote" which comes pre-installed o nthe device which enables you to turn on, change channels, volume up down on many many TV's and blu ray players, i linked it up to two LG TV's very easily and also a Sony Blu Ray player. I'm a bit disappointed that it doesnt work on Playsations 3's but it is still a possibility for an update in the future!

I've carried out a few different battery life checks. I charged my Galaxy Note 10.1 up to 100% before i went to sleep at midnight and by morning (8 hours later) it had dropped to only 97%. That very day i used it very sparingly to just check the time and to do a quick browse whilst at work between 9AM and 5PM and the battery only dropped down to about 90%. Yesterday I used it a lot at work, setting up routers, browsing the web, watching some videos on youtube and netflix, the Note started the day on 52% and by the time I had gotten home It was still on 35% even though I'd not been cautious with it.

Pretty much what I'm saying is the battery seems excellent to me, I couldn't be more happy with it.

I've been spending a lot of time trying to fill up my 32GB Micro SD card with digital copies of the blu rays i possess and 99% of them have gone across very easily, my only fripe is that digital copies provided are not 720p or 1080p so im looking into some blu ray ripping software and a converter so I can at least play my films in HD otherwise having such a lovely screen is pointless!

EDIT - I have now put Avengers 1080p onto my tablet now and wow, it looks SO good on this tablet, and the best thing is, i wasn't suprised, i expected it to be good and it looked as great as i anticipated. The audio is the best ive heard on any tablet so far and actually much better than most laptops on the market (excluding the HP laptops with the beats audio)

I have ordered a 3rd party Case since my last edit and it seems to be sufficient for now until the official Samsung case is released, which i would imagine will be very well put together... Read more

I've owned many tablets from the original Samsung 7 inch tablet to the Asus transform tab and prime, and I've enjoyed them. Truth is I traded in the prime, which I loved, for this tablet because of two features, the s pen and multi app split screen and pop up.

I use both features every day at work, and although multi app is limited to a number of apps they are the ones you need in a work environment at least. I often need to read a power point or excel while taking notes, or while doing that may need to check a diary date or do a quick calculation. This is the only tablet that can do that smoothly, in fact even better than a computer, in fact more efficiently than a computer, note pad, calculator, diary combo. Because of multi tasking it actually works where many tablets just make those every day tasks harder.

The pen works very well, especially since note taking can be locked to pen mode only. Handwriting recognition is the best I've seen, only annoyance is spacing, it should auto space after the last word in a stream, butt otherwise it can be as fast as writing, and I've tested it with ten friends and no matter the writing style it gets close enough you can see it would work.

I'm comfortable with the screen, weight, look, the speakers are excellent.

In terms of accessories I'm waiting for the official book cover, and I got the sd card / usb and hdmi adaptors, warning, the usb adaptor would not power an eternal usb drive, the way my prime could.

Truth to tell, I miss the Prime for a few reasons, but none that can compete with the functional everyday value of the pen and multi screen. So I'm very happy with the tablet.

I have updated this review after owning the tablet for a week or so.
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Before you rush out and buy a 64Gb micro sdxc card...

I bought a Scandisk 10 speed 64Gb micro sdXC card to boost memory but the card would not mount at all in the tablet! I have a 16Gb scandisk sdHC card that mounts no problem and the 64GB card mounts fine in my Galaxy s3 smartphone!!???

I have used the smart phone to format the card....no joy in the tablet! (so much for buying a matching set from the same manufacturer)
I have formatted the card using windows 7...No Joy still won't mount in the tablet!
Fomatting with windows XP (sp3) formats the card to Fat32 at around 27 Gb and the Galaxy Note 10.1 then mounts it. BUT if i then reformat the card using the Galaxy Note 10.1 it unmounts and again can't be mounted.

I suspect that 64Gb SDXC cards can not be used on the Galaxy Note 10.1 and since you can only buy a 64GB card as sdCX perhaps the manual is wrong?

I have called Samsung who are calling me back. I hope they take the issue of Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 potentially being retsitricted to 32Gb cards as opposed to 64Gb seriously. I had two more 64Gb cards on order with Amazon and have cancelled them until i know what's happening!

Still a great tablet if it's limited to 32Gb cards but even better if 64Gb cards work!
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This is one seriously cool tablet.

Before buying i went round and round in circles trying to find the "perfect" tablet and my conclusion was that there simply isn't a perfect tablet. Thay all have their pros and cons and it really depends on what you want for your money.

Normally i buy grey or black but since it was a Birthday present and being 46 i thought i'd show my kids that i can get "down with them!" by getting a white tablet to go with a matching Galaxy S3 32Gb mobile in white too!

I have read that the plastic back on the Samsung Note 10.1 is flimsy but seriously, don't worry about it, it's not a problem unless you want to hold it between your feet!

My main concern was the ipad got better write ups for it's screen, camera and video quality. OK, perhaps the ipad has it beat there, but in all honesty having opened and used the Samsung i am totally convinced i made a good call (when you get one play the demo HD video (stunning!).

I'm not a huge Apple fan, I like the fact that i don't follow the crowd and in this case it's not to my detriment. If you get a Samsung, sure the crowd may be able to talk "apple" but when you pull out your Samsung you'll be able to do things that leave them standing! Why else do you think Apple are so worried about the gadgets that Samsung are churning out now?

Great service too!! Ordered on Friday and paid