hora, I’m probably getting the Note II as well when I can find a grey one. What’s happening on the 17’th?

Let’s all live in mud huts and wear hair shirts, wailing and bemoaning consumerism, why don’t we!

oooh, yes pleease..!

Will there be sexy hippy chicks, and and, getting mullered and repetitive beats..?

If so I’m in like Flynn 😀

17th is when 3 get theirs. Apart from their callcentres that sound like something off of Phonejacker its the best speeds/connection/tarrif for me

Let’s all live in mud huts and wear hair shirts, wailing and bemoaning consumerism, why don’t we!

will each mud hut come with its own straw man?

One thing regarding the Note2 versus the S3 – if you value the stylus, etc then will be tied to waiting for Samsung to provide updates to the Note OS – whereas with the S3 you can also update yourself if need be – I am thinking of longer term ownership.

I was thinking about a Note2 – the extra screen size is certainly useful and makes ‘using’ sites more viable, but I might just settle for an S3.

The S3 has the same screen resolution as the Note2, but the pixel density is greater as the screen is smaller. The Note2 has more memory and the processor is 1.6Ghz instead of 1.4Ghz, making it snappier.

TurnerGuy – I know however side by side the Note2 just seems to have greater clarity. Mad.

Never had a problem getting updates for the first gen Note, usually from SamMobile, so didn’t feel the need to venture into the world of custom roms. Good review of the Note 2 from an Apple fan here (also mentions the iPhone 5 so almost back on topic) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojjQ6ESRT5U&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Odd that he goes on about how it is “already ahead of the iphone”, then the first thing he does is benchmark it and geek out over the CPU speed and “insane performance”, but for some reason he doesn’t mention that the iPhone 5 absolutely hoses the Note 2 in side-by-side benchmarks.

Not that it matters, Apple have never been about CPU specs and purposely don’t publish them, but it does make me question the reliability of his review a bit.

TurnerGuy – I know however side by side the Note2 just seems to have greater clarity. Mad.

“the Samsung Galaxy Note II uses a completely new Super AMOLED matrix with three subpixels per pixel. It’s an unusual matrix for sure, but it might be the sign of things to come for future Galaxy flagships.

from here

also the Note2 seems to be doing better in ‘drop-tests’ than the smaller S3, which is interesting.

drop-tests

I keep looking for a decent 4:3 android tablet I can put an anti-glare cover on for reading technical PDFs, as the graphics get a bit messed up on an e-reader plus the lack of color doesn’t help. but that might be a better option for me. Archos have one out although the spec is low.

The review seemed quite reliable to me. Clearly someone that appreciates a better product when he sees one 😉

Clearly someone that appreciates a better product when he sees one 😉

It’s a nice bit of kit and no mistake.

I’d probably consider one if I wasn’t already walled-up inside the Apple garden (and I knew someone handy with a needle and thread to make all my pockets much bigger 😉 )

I’m not fashionable enough to have pockets that small so have no problem with the Note’s size. It’s interesting how quickly you adjust to carrying a larger device around. Whenever I use what most people consider a normal size phone, it feels tiny to me. You just need to get used to holding something bigger than 4″ in your hand 🙂

Depends, your own or other mens? 😯

I’m not fashionable enough to have pockets that small

Neither am I. But I take my iPhone out my jeans pocket when I sit down. Not (as some wags say) to “show it off”, but purely because I don’t like having it sticking into my leg and getting all sweaty. So I think something bigger than that would irritate far more.

I’m just not used to having more than 4″ in my trousers.

It wouldn’t fit in my business suit pocket either, which only just fits an iPhone.

the iPhone 5 absolutely hoses the Note 2 in side-by-side benchmarks.

don’t think the margins shown on those graphs qualify as ‘absolutely hoses’, or even ‘hoses’.

However imho Apple will always have an edge based on the fact that they have big usability labs and they actually take notice of them…

Apple Maps uses 20% of the data download required by Google

Tech Radar

don’t think the margins shown on those graphs qualify as ‘absolutely hoses’, or even ‘hoses’.

Okay well put it this way, you said the 1.6GHz Note2 was noticeably snappier than the 1.4Ghz S3?

Looking at those figures the iPhone 5 has at least the same margin over the Note2 as it has over the S3.

So maybe “hoses” is too strong, but it is “noticeably snappier” on the straight CPU thrashing and really quite a lot faster on the 3D stuff (more than twice the framerate on one of them).

Not that it matters. I agree with Apple’s view that benchmarks are a crap way to grade a phone. Getting into number wars doesn’t help.

I wouldn’t have mentioned them at all, but I think it puts that YouTube reviewers comments about the Note2 being “already ahead of the iphone” with “insane performance” into some context.

Apple Maps uses 20% of the data download required by Google

Possibly because Apple Maps have 20% of the detail that Google has 😀

Actually it seems he is comparing vector to bitmapped, but I thought Android already had vector-based Google Maps?

Actually it seems he is comparing vector to bitmapped, but I thought Android already had vector-based Google Maps?

And some people think computer scientist apple fan boys are dull and geeky…you show them soldier 😉

re the benchmarks- plus Samsungs camera doesn’t come with the purple fringing that comes as standard on a Iphone5 😆

iP5 Camera.

Click on this and have a look at the full size pic….

Untitled by PeterPoddy, on Flickr

It’s a pic of a crap thing, but I think you’ll agree its a bloody good quality one!

And some people think computer scientist apple fan boys are dull and geeky…you show them soldier

😛 For the benefit of the Arts and Humanities students:

vector: a line is described by two points (4 numbers, so maybe 8 bytes)
bitmap: you just get a picture of a line (so maybe 1000 bytes)

Samsungs camera doesn’t come with the purple fringing that comes as standard on a Iphone5

Odd thing to get worked up about that – purple fringing is pretty common on most cameras, even SLRS. Combination of chromatic aberration and lens flare.

I’m sure Samsung have reinvented optics though.

Sorry I don’t know about benchmarking but walking towards, picking up and the first 5mins- first impressions count for me. The iphone5- I thought it was a dummy phone when I walked towards it. The NoteII just blew me away.

Based on hora’s instincts, I’ve made my decision, it’ll be the 5 all the way. I can live without the flash, because iOS7 will have it. 🙂

I haven’t read the last few pages but does the fact that T mobile / EE are now selling the Samsung 3 LTE (4g capable) change anyone’s mind? There’s also a an HTC One X LTE on thier website…

Take a look.

I thought it was a dummy phone when I walked towards it

Wow, so light you thought it was hollow? Impressed!

😉

In a sort of related note, this post from Coding Horror might be of interest to smartphone/tablet fans The PC is Over, his main point being that PCs are practically stationary in development terms but smartphones (on all sides) are improving exponentially.

From your original link Graham, don’t the Samsung products score higher on the geekbench tests?

And none of those tests are benchmarking the important functions: Speed of grot access and how close to booze I am at any given time.

^ Why do you think Im raving about the zoom/clarity soo much?

This may have been covered, but I drove up to Snowshill Manor today, and I used the turn-by-turn guidance on Apple Maps. It worked really very well indeed, giving me clear directions all the way, and taking me along a nice shortcut straight to the Manor. One issue, and this affects Android as well, and that is trying to get a route when there’s no data connection, as it has to access the map server. CoPilot obviously has a big advantage there, as all map data is native to the device, but giving routes and directions from the in-built Maps really impressed. As an aside, I’m travelling down to South Devon Saturday, and Apple Maps gives me directions right to the gate of my destination; Google Maps couldn’t even find a location or a road, despite trying postcode, place name, you name it. Fail.

From your original link Graham, don’t the Samsung products score higher on the geekbench tests?

Yep. Samsung wins the 2 number crunching tests (integer and floating point), the iPhone wins the other 2 (memory speed and streaming)

memory speed and streaming

Phew.

Its still a very narrow phone to its length. The ‘block/square icons on the 5 accentuate the narrowness as well (to me).

Now then, with the 5 become STW’ers new ‘Five’? i.e. the phone version that all STW’ers talk about/have? 😆

I think the summary is fair and best sums up both phones are for different markets/folk (kinda obvious but still good/fair):

http://www.product-reviews.net/2012/10/04/galaxy-note-2-superiority-visualized-vs-iphone-5/

Bottom-line: We like the comparison that Sortable have done and find it interesting, but doing an iPhone 5 vs. Galaxy Note 2 comparison is like comparing chalk to cheese. Both of these smartphones are for different markets, and Samsung’s Galaxy Note 2 really shines for those people that don’t want to buy a separate tablet

Yeah I think

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 2 really shines for those people that don’t want to buy a separate tablet

is probably right on the money. It is too big as a phone for me, but that’s because I have a tablet for big screen stuff. If you were only planning to buy one then it makes more sense.

I wonder how quick the Blackberry/playbook combo is for internet and iphone5/ipad interface is compared to a standalone unit?

I imagine its seamless?

@hora

iPad/iPhone – I use this set up a lot as my iPad is WiFi only. The interface is relatively seemless, relatively as sometimes it takes a tiny bit of fiddling to get the “personal hotspot” connected. The web broswing on the iPad is identical in speed to the phone which is of course driven by mobile signal strength. It’s one of the reasons I somewhat regret not waiting for the 5 as I could have had 4G.

At my prior job web access was tightly controlled so I used phone/pad to check sites. I use phone/pad to read news articles on the train each day.

Yeah you shouldn’t notice any delay when tethering to a smart phone compared to using built-in 3G.

Tethering uses either Wifi, Bluetooth or USB – all of which are waaay faster than 3G speed so there is no bottleneck.

Hmmmmmmmm Blackberry playbook and a blackberry 9900