The new Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 inch tablet is exactly what I have been looking for in a tablet, with a few minor quibbles. It is a tad heavy, but still not too terrible. The MSRP however, is quite steep. I have a new laptop now, which I will post about another time, and it has emboldened me to write more blog posts, but the back issues are still relevant, and a tablet I could use to be productive while laying on my bed is still the holy grail of my personal computing experience. Having said that, the solution must be attainable, and a $750 price tag has left me gasping for breath.
I can fully understand that the Galaxy Note Pro’s market is the high end of tablet computing, which in part makes the tablet what it is, a device that can cater to all parts of the tablet using spectrum. I can understand that Samsung has a winner of a device, and wants to be adequately compensated for their work, but I fear they have priced themselves out of the reach of the average consumer, and certainly out of my reach, since my back precludes any form of remuneration for a full time job, I am left with an income that makes me fall short in being able to purchase this device at this time. I will be receiving some funds back from my tax returns, but it would have been much easier to purchase this device at what I felt was the high end previously: $500-$600, set by the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition.
There are a couple bright spots in the situation that presents itself… a refurbished model for the 10.1 2014 is selling for $450 at Newegg.com, an option I may well avail myself of, but the extra 2 inches of screen real estate is truly compelling, as the Pro is now sufficiently large to handle true productivity chores, while small sizes may well not be up to the task of laptop replacement. The other is that the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 is now actually worth laptop prices, in my estimation, though I would have gone lower had I been pricing this model, since I would have priced it to move… Android will never become mainstream in the tablet world as long as companies price out a large portion of the market, and since I am a fan of the Android ecosystem I find this mildly depressing.
In the end I feel I will purchase the 12.2 inch model, to be honest. I have been mulling the 10.1 2014 for a while, but when the difference is $250 between cutting edge technology, and last years model, it helps to bite the bullet when considering that this is a long term purchase. Plus, I can finally let the other member of my household use the Nexus 7 2013 without worrying that I have no battery to do my own tasks, and take out a significant hurdle to my computing experience.
Other than the 12.2 inch screen and the S-Pen, a few notable specs that make this device compelling:
– 802.11ac HT80 capability… I like that this tablet is near future proof when it comes to connectivity. While I am sure there could be improvements, this is the best connectivity spec I have ever seen in an Android device.
– 750g weight. While on the high end, I have owned an even heavier tablet in the Galaxy Tab GT-P1010 (7 inch), so I am aware that working from bed is possible at that size, however I am not so pleased that I will have to continue to have the Nexus 7 as my movie and music consumption device, the weight difference and portability is significant. On the plus side, I can take my Nexus 7 out of the house once I have another device… if it is lost or damaged I can still compute.
$750 is a high bar for me to reach, I hope that the unit will be worth it, and there are other expenses to consider as well, such as the SD card and the inevitable replacement S-Pens, since I tend to be forgetful. 
Steven A, on computing and life... 