I read a review of this phone in PC World and immediately decided I needed it. I had been using the iPhone 4, but felt the screen was too small for some things like remote access. I loved my Galaxy Tab 7″, but it was a little bulky and I rarely carried it around. The Galaxy Note has a 5.3″ screen and is billed as a phone/tablet. I figured if the phone was big enough to act as a tablet, that would solve my problem of having to carry a phone and a tablet (which I kept forgetting to carry). Also, my wife had just bought me a Kindle Fire so the usefulness of the Galaxy Tab was shrinking. My theory was I could buy the Galaxy Note to replace my Galaxy Tab and have the Kindle Fire for things I needed a larger screen for like books and movies (plus Hulu was not available for Galaxy Tab but is for Kindle Fire). Things worked out pretty much this way.
One thing to know about the Galaxy Note that was mentioned in the PC World review was that the phone is very large and might be a little difficult to hold for long periods. I totally agree with this – in the beginning. At first, going from an iPhone to the Galaxy Note was a huge deal (pun intended). My hand became weary from holding it. But now I don’t even notice the size and haven’t had a problem using it for long periods of time.
I have used the included pen a little and was impressed with the handwriting recognition. You can use it to send text messages (slowly, but it works). I also bought a drawing app but haven’t tried it yet.
The size is great though. VNC is much easier to use as is surfing the Internet. Even reading a book on it is ok (I can’t believe when I see people trying to read books on an iPhone). Oh and it’s also 4G (unlike the iPhone currently).
If you want the biggest phone around or want a phone and a tablet in one, check out the Galaxy Note.