Ditto what joytest said.

The N2 has 2GBs of RAM and a Quad core. To put that into perspective, my old 5 year old laptop (which is 12 inches and weighs 4kg) has ONLY 2 bloody cores and the SAME amount of RAM - and it could not only run Vista smoothly, it could play some of back then's more demanding games at low with no issues.

The N2 has more powerful specs and can fit in your pocket...

Android has been OPTIMISED for low resources. Gingerbread can run smoothly on a crappy Xperia X8 with 168MBs of RAM and a darned slowpoke 600MHz single core processor with zero issues (at least until you load crappy coded RAM suckers like WhatsApp and Facebook).

In short, if you can stand...
1) The size.
2) The fact you're using LAST YEAR'S best.
3) The fact that, like Windows, performance depends on what you stuff into it.

... then you will enjoy the Note 2. Otherwise, get an fruit phone and never worry about lagginess because Apple won't allow you to slow the phone down to begin with.

For a good price on an SME Ori set, cheapest I've found is from a kiosk at the Mines top floor, at the very end near the HTC store. Slightly below 1.5k for a brand new, SME set with free SP and a Mercury jelly case.

This post has been edited by Eiraku: Oct 16 2013, 06:45 PM

I've been on Note2 for 6 months now. The phone no lag and I install lots of stuff.

Value for money not depends on you. If you can afford it, invest in flagship phones because you can sell it for pretty good prices before the warranty expires. Of course, it would mean you have to be able to afford a new phone every year. Lol...

I have a kid too. student also. If you tend to go for sports like swimming where you must leave your phone in a locker or with someone else, I suggest get something basic. Note2 tend to get stolen due to its second hand value. Get a better Tab and a basic phone.

This is actually VERY sound advice. If you can't afford to buy OR simply don't want the hassle of carrying two things at once the Note 2 is great. But, if you're in a "high risk" environment like college dorms, remember that a top end phablet (or even a top end phone for that matter. Doesn't matter if it's "last year's best", still considered top end lol) is a theft magnet.

Though also to consider is the fact that if you have 2 devices, you will have to take care of both. If you only get one... you get the drift. It all depends on your living conditions and the environment around you.

But to summarise, you can't get better than the Note 2 for a phablet below 1.8k. Especially with the SPen. Nothing else in the market even comes close unfortunately.

This post has been edited by Eiraku: Oct 16 2013, 06:41 PM

Thanks everyone for your opinion.

I'm using 2 ancient devices: bb bold 2 and ipod touch 2nd gen. As I'm currently studying overseas, my gf will buy it in malaysia (in January, during winter holidays), and my college mate will bring it over to me. The prob is, my gf isn't so tech-savvy, and I'm afraid she might get a not "geniune" one.

Please read POST 4 dude....

Note 2 have been the perfect phone for me. in fact, i don't feel the need to upgrade to Note 3 yet and even recommended Note 2 (instead of Note 3) to my bro-in-law who is thinking of upgrading his original Note 1st model. what more with Official 4.3 rumoured to be coming soon, Note 2 seems to be the best options for those who don't really need the latest model.

You are basically right. I still have my Note 2 despite having gotten a Note 3.

Note 2 is used for the company line, and serves its function very well and also as a backup device in case Note 3 conks out.

I see. If you could name a few flaws/weaknesses/defects of the note 2, what would it be?

Not to be rude but You are definitely one lazy fella, aren't you? Doesn't matter if you are truly 'innocent' or a 'newbie' or doesn't even know a single thing about smartphones, countless of reviews are a click away in Google. Even by reading joytest's first post, you can already get the gist of it. LEARN TO GOOGLE PLEASE.

Read page 1.

By the way, I've been using sme note 2 gray colour set since December last year. It's very useful, I might say, especially with apps like office suite. I use the multi-windows function quite a lot too. Two apps running simultaneously, namely colordict and also office suite during my lecture. (im studying in Germany now by the way) combo-ing it with the super fast net speed(unfortunately mine is not lte set), it really helps me to go through the day with ease. never regretted once buying note 2 .

Going to stray a bit from the discussion here. Though I'm in a dilemma of whether or not to get note 10.1 2014 edition. Here in Germany I have the opportunity to sign plan and get the device for only €1 and only pay monthly €20-50 for the LTE data(based on which data quota I choose) and also ya(going to stay even further away from original discussion here) , the hotlink thingy about having unlimited data(but of course throttled speed) is long ago implemented in Germany. Almost all telcos are offering unlimited Internet data with throttled speed.

WhatsApp, Viber and even Skype works well after I ran out of my 300Mb quota. 300min/sms + 300Mb quota for only 8euros per 30days.

Prost to you then.

$1 (no euro key ah) sounds worthwhile whichever way you slice it. How long is the contract period?

Sehr schone.

Guys,if continuous using note2 with data on, how Long is the SOT?

Minimum 4 hours.

Standard contract plan. 24months.i like how telcos in Germany promote their products. Their promotions are based weekly. One random week, you could get yourself a high end smartphone for only 1euro and good data+flat rate package. Another week, they'll just throw in last year's 10inch tablet + a high end smartphone combo with data package below 40-50euros per month.

I'm on jpa scholarship. My other course mates who are also jpa scholars signed up for various phone package. Three signed up for ip5.5more signed up for htc one. O2 or either Vodafone. (lol. What a waste of tax payers money right)

The reason why I didn't so? Coz my note 2 still rocks! Haha. Using it with otg cable for wireless mouse and also logitech Bluetooth keyboard k810.will upload picture here when I got moos.

finally I use nova launcher after facing touchwiz gonna 1 year in note 2 =.=
but 1 things I hate, when scroll until the apps end, scroll again will go to widget page
how to stop it ??

Check drawer settings or something like that. Should be able to turn off the Widget page. At least that's how it works with Apex Launcher.

+1

Even Note3 is the latest , there isn't a much of a difference u can feel from Note 2 unlike Note 1 vs Note 2 . Example , Battery life in Note 1 is pathetic

finally found it, called isolate apps ...

hmm sound interesting this note 2