Samsung SM-P200/P205 (Tab A with S-Pen, 2019)

Without a doubt EMR is the best, but I'm too picky about all of the rest of the experience as well.

Honeymoon? I don't even get past the "I do's" anymore! SGo definitely lasted longer than the GTA8. It's important I can get it open and be writing quickly both in meetings and at my desk during phone conferences. The only solution was to turn off security when in the office and remember to re-enable when out. Not a good solution. Also, I have concerns about the screen size. I LOVE the 8" form factor and weight, but with 1/4 of screen taken up by the OneNote menu bars, it didn't leave a lot of room for writing.

 

I guess you get what you pay for. $285 for almost good enough Moleskine substitute vs, what, $700 for the Mini with LTE and Pencil? Oh, that would be the absurd v.1 Pencil too. Methinks this isn't a large enough market for Samsung to offer better specs or Apple to make it a note-takers dream.

 

I have this tablet. Its pretty much a compliment to my GN8 because I use my GN8 generally by habit but I also use my SM-P200 as a media consumption and drawing device, especially when my battery on my GN8 is almost dead. I find this tablet cool, but I wish the RAM was 4 GB at times

 

True Confession Time: I've reordered the Tab A 8 P205 from another source. Hopefully the GPS will be more accurate and allow me to open quickly, but even if it is not, I can't give up the writing experience of the Wacom EMR S Pen. After several meeting last week with both the Pencil 2 and using just my Spectre with the Bamboo Ink, the slip-sliding experience compared to the S Pen was just so annoying - in those long sessions I found myself fighting the pen as the session wore on (handwriting getting messier the whole time). Since note taking is my thing, I'm going to go with the GTA8 until we see what Duo can do this fall. Glad I didn't sell the tablet case - now it is time to jettison the iPad Mini 5 to eBay heaven.

 

Welcome back, but don't unpack your bag, in case you have to leave again in a haste

Sent from my SM-P205 using Tapatalk

 

I've had one of these sitting in my amazon wish list for some time now. Should I just jump in too?

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

That's a tough call. The price is right (no pun intended - $300 out the door with taxes is about the cheapest tech out there). Some thoughts:

• 8", although best portable size, is still a bit cramped because of the UI (most Android apps, especially Office 365, have ridiculously thick menus in landscape mode - taking up 20%+ of the screen - I prefer writing in landscape in OneNote).
• JUST LOVE THE S PEN: it is buttery smooth (closest thing to pen on paper in the penabled universe), quiet, and a joy, but can lag a fraction of a second behind the tip at times - not constantly
• Only 32gb storage, BUT supports up to 512gb mSDXC, and the P205 includes 4g LTE support
• Overall I found it was snappy and responsive - not the laggy performance some report - and handled Netflix, Disney +, and Amazon Prime Video very well; reading in Kindle very good
• GPS connectivity can be spotty - not all that important unless you use Safe Unlock which is based upon your location
• Screen is very good for FHD - probably because it is so small
• Android is an acquired taste if you are an experience iOS user - I liken it to Windows XP in some respects - BUT have real hopes MS will up its Android game with the forthcoming Surface Duo - it has to, right?
• BUT - after ditching it in GPS frustration, I reordered from a different vendor. Even if GPS performance is the same, I'll be keeping this one (decided to blow a $300 hole in the tech budget)

In summary - it reminds me of what the Asus VivoTab Note should have been - solid performance, reliable (no pen failures/skips/edge issues), and a great screen

 

Hmm! You really are going to stay, aren't you?

Sent from my F2 using Tapatalk

 

There's a Tab A model for 2020 on the way (I *assume* there'll be an S-Pen variant) with 0.4" more of screen and double the storage on the way. Sadly Samsung seems stuck at 3GB RAM for the mid-range.

https://www.androidheadlines.com/2020/02/exclusive-samsung-galaxy-tab-a-8-4-2020