Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
After months of plaing with various phones I got a Note II yesterday. HEre are my initial thoughts and concerns for people considering them:
1. The system is lightning fast and things work very well overall.
1.5 The speakerphone is great. People say it sounds almost the same on or off speaker. It could be louder on my end though.
2. There is no manual. I need to paend a few hours with someone who knows how things work. Some things I cannot get it to do, like turn handwriting to text.
3. The size is nice for seeing things. It fits in all my pockets just fine. However being left handed, I cannot do a lot of things with one hand. My thumb cannot reach all the way across the screen. I think there is a way to switch the "handedness" but I have not fond it yet.
4. Voice "wake up" does not work.
5. The Svoice system is as useless as Siri, only even worse. Mostly it tells you it did not understand, or it tells you it cannot do what you ask it to do. The google voice thing works better. So far I have not found Svoice to be useful at all.
6. THe Voice recognition learns and adjusts to you. When you change phones, all the learningis lost, so oyu ahve to start all over. At first is seems like crappy VR, but it is just uneducated VR.
7. Whne holding it in one hand, if you squeeze the button to turn it on, you always end up changing the volume because the button is ont he toehr side. I expect right handers will ahve the reverse problem.
8. THE E-mail and calender program is wonderful. I am not sure whther that is the one it comes with, or th one I bought for $5. Whichever one i am using, it is great. Almost as good as outlook.
9. It has a dumb tilt feature I have no figureed out how to turn off. IF I scroll through my contacts to say O, and then tilt the phone even a tiny bit, it jumps tot he beginning of my cont list. Scroll back to O again and before i can tap the contract, it tilts and jumps back to the beginning again. Grrr.
10. The camera works OK. It is nto the best phone camera I have played with, but it is not terrible. It is pretty terrible in low light conditions. I have not use video.
11. I am still trying to figure out which bluetooth device will allow me to use all of the phones features through voice commands. I think the Plantronics M1100 will do this. I am nto sure about the M55. I like the M55 conceptually becuase it stays charged for a very long time (up to 5 months). They cost abotu the same. I bought a M25, because they said it was the same as M1100, but it is not, so I am returinging it. Still looking. Suggestions welcome. I want execellent noise cancelling and voice control over all of the phone features, especially the google functions like navigation, calling, text and E-mail. If it will read text and E-mail to me that is even better. I had one for my old phne that read text messages and I could dictate a response.
12. I bought a $30 programs that supposedly allows me to read and edit word documents and maybe even PDF documents. I have not used it yet.
The idea for this thread it to provide people with a place to learn about these phones if they are considering them. PLease post your expereinces with ths phone.
2. There is no manual. I need to paend a few hours with someone who knows how things work. Some things I cannot get it to do, like turn handwriting to text.
Sadly there are hardly any companies anymore, yes Apple included, that include very much of a manual.
Usually it's 5 pages and tells you how to charge it.
Sadly there are hardly any companies anymore, yes Apple included, that include very much of a manual.
Usually it's 5 pages and tells you how to charge it.
That is basically what I got with it. Three or four little booklets (about one inch by two inces in size). One tells you not to charge it while holding it in a bathtub. One says how to turn it on and put the battery in. Another is in spanish. I quit looking at them after that. Not sure what the other(s) contain, but not useful infomration.
Place figer tip at the very top of the screen, press gently and drag it down. Drop down is task bar equivalent. Tap "rotation" and it will turn rotation off. It has several features on task bar, you may need to scroll left or right to unvaile them.
Make sure you know how to shut down programs you are not currently using. They chug on your battery. I turn mine off instant I am done with program.
Leave only minimum programs running in task bar. Bluetooth is the biggest power hog, followed by GPS.
Familiarize yourself with Settings, as from there, you can set any program the way you want it.
As soon as they will come up with aftermarket software OS fo the phone, as there is none yet, root your phone. Become the master of it.
Oh, and get yourself Voodoo Controls. You'll have HUGE sound quality improvement for music listening purposes. I use mine to stream music off TuneIn Radio, and it does matter.
That is basically what I got with it. Three or four little booklets (about one inch by two inces in size). One tells you not to charge it while holding it in a bathtub. One says how to turn it on and put the battery in. Another is in spanish. I quit looking at them after that. Not sure what the other(s) contain, but not useful infomration.
coldj, if you register on the Samsung galaxy facebook site they'll email you a coupon worth 50 percent off 10 or fewer Note 2 accessories such as the vehicle mount and a spare S Pen. I disagree that the speaker is good. I don't think it is.
But let me be clear; I love my Note 2. Meaning I really love it.
I also agree about the volume button's placement.
I'm part of the Google Plus Note 2 community. I love the S Pen, especially the custom commands (known as quick commands.) undock the pen, ignore the 'page buddy', drag down the alert bar, go to the blue icon on the far right, then the gear daisy, then add sites you like. be sure the sites aren't already bookmarks in the jellybean browser otherwise you can't create an S Pen command for those sites. to fix: redock the pen, copy the URL for the site, delete it from the browser, then undock and follow the steps above. otherwise it'll say "already exists". after you remove you'll then be able to create an S Pen gesture for any site you like. For example scribbling NYT or nyt (case doesn't matter) goes to the NY Times. that was custom by me... I didn't like the preinstalled ones so I overwrote them. I have so many custom commands now and the S Pen reads them beautifully. and they're not case sensitive. I designated the @ scribble to go to browser-based Gmail. X is calculator. cale is calendar. If it were case-sensitive I'd hate it and never use it, but because it's not - wow -great feature.
I love making PDF files with the GN2. But I hate how you need to attach a PDF first before using the Gmail app (done via My Files, so counterintuitive IMO). So, if you wrote a long email after the fact without first remembering to attach your PDF(s), it's a pain in the rear. I was told this is only a problem in the Gmail app, not the Email app. Neither is it a problem in browser-based Gmail, just the app. And the Email app is fine, but I don't use it.
I love the voice command on the camera where you can say shoot or cheese and it snaps pics finger-free! Really one of the best features.
11. I am still trying to figure out which bluetooth device will allow me to use all of the phones features through voice commands. I think the Plantronics M1100 will do this. I am nto sure about the M55. I like the M55 conceptually becuase it stays charged for a very long time (up to 5 months). They cost abotu the same. I bought a M25, because they said it was the same as M1100, but it is not, so I am returinging it. Still looking. Suggestions welcome. I want execellent noise cancelling and voice control over all of the phone features, especially the google functions like navigation, calling, text and E-mail. If it will read text and E-mail to me that is even better. I had one for my old phne that read text messages and I could dictate a response.
12. I bought a $30 programs that supposedly allows me to read and edit word documents and maybe even PDF documents. I have not used it yet.
re: 11., I saw a short demo of the app named "Speak To It" - It allows you to speak into your phone and for example add an event or birthday or whatever to your calendar. You get it from the Google Play store. This is something I plan to explore/get within the next 2-3 weeks because my calendar is important to me-- but I hate typing into it. From what I've heard, "Speak To It" is what Siri wishes it could be. I saw a brief demo - It was just a minute long, in person, and the demo was a calendar entry addition because I asked to see that specifically.
re: 12., You can simply use the preexisting S Note to compose, and then save and "export file" to create .doc, .docx, or .PDF files. It even lets you convert screenshots into .jpg files (wish it would do so automatically. sigh) via S Note. The screenshot-to-.jpg conversion is multi-step and manual, but I do it when someone I'm sending to has a preference for opening .jpg's over the screenshot default, which I believe is .png. I'm like a GN2 nerd.
Re: "Voice Assistants"
I've tried them all.
Speak To It, Skyvi, Robin, Iris... Although I see there are a few more out now.
Honestly everyone of these pales in comparo to the Google Search that is built into Jelly Bean.
Since the Note2 has Jelly Bean, does it not? Don't bother with anything else.
"What does a weasel look like?" BAM
"What was the score of the Browns game?" BAM
"How old is Betty White?" BAM
"Appointment in my calendar Jan 23rd at 9AM" Bam. Opens Calendar on that day at that time, click edit to add some details.
Beats Siri on the Apple handily.
Confused about being unable to add a PDF or anything to an Email already composed. I have never seen a problem like that in any Android phone/tab. So is there no ATTACH button in the Gmail App for Note2?
Confused about being unable to add a PDF or anything to an Email already composed. I have never seen a problem like that in any Android phone/tab. So is there no ATTACH button in the Gmail App for Note2?
the attach button on the gmail app exists, but it only allows you to attach a pic or video. if you have the foresight to use My Files and then "share" your PDF or doc or docx file (then select gmail as the share "method"), then you're fine.
but if you begin writing with the gmail app and write a long email and then, after the fact, try to use the attach button, you'll groan to see the absence of the gold-colored My Files folder. I was told the Email app shows the gold My Files folder but I don't use that app (meaning the Email app) (I just don't want to use it. not sure why) --I just use the gmail app and browser-based gmail. if using browser-based gmail and click on attach (which is a paper clip in browser-based gmail), you'll indeed see the gold My Files folder is selectable (anytime, meaning before or after writing a long email) which is cool, but the gold folder should be a choice after pressing "attach" on the gmail app too (sadly, it's not).
in a nutshell, if I write a long email in the gmail app and then suddenly remember I want to attach a PDF, I save it as a draft, then open the draft in browser-based gmail, then attach my PDF. it's a pain but who in blazes remembers to go to My Files first, then press Share (twig and berries button), then press gmail, then begin writing. I know that's not natural to me. in my world, I attach files after the fact, not before.
anyway, if anyone knows a solution, i'd like to hear it. otherwise i'll need to train myself to "share" files via My Files before writing emails. (again, it's not natural for me, but I can adapt to pretty much anything I guess.) Hopefully an OTA update will fix this. It's a pain. But I still really love the device.
Last edited by grimace8; 01-16-2013 at 10:51 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
mostly love
I was told the Email app shows the gold My Files folder but I don't use that app (meaning the Email app) (I just don't want to use it. not sure why) --I just use the gmail app and browser-based gmail. if using browser-based gmail and click on attach (which is a paper clip in browser-based gmail), you'll indeed see the gold My Files folder is selectable (anytime, meaning before or after writing a long email) which is cool, but the gold folder should be a choice after pressing "attach" on the gmail app too (sadly, it's not). 
