Morning folks, today on my Global TV Sunday Morning News with Shane Jones and Kevin O’Connell, I talked Samsung’s new GALAXY Note 10.1 2014 edition and the smallest and lightest DSLR cameras, the Canon Rebel SL-1.
SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 10.1 2014 EDITION
It seems to be raining tablets and iPads this time of the year. Following the launch of the 5th gen iPad Air tablet and more recently, the Android Lenovo Yoga Tablet, this week Samsung delivers its flagship tablet, the GALAXY Note 10.1 2014 edition, $599 32 GB at futureshop.ca and Bestbuy.ca.
Samsung has been a prolific tablet maker from the recent Note 3 Smartphone, the affordable Mega all-in-one, and now its Note 10.1.
What makes it unique over any other Apple or Android Tablet? It has the sharpest resolution, an effectively redesigned stylus, the ability to run two applications side by side (and save the combo) as well as dropping mini applets like a calculator on the screen. Its weight/thinness index beats everyone and the added and improved Samsung Apps like Air Command, Action Memo, Scrapbook make it the most efficient tablet. For business, it also includes Samsung’s KNOX security, similar to BlackBerry’s BES 10 of keeping work and home use separate on the same unit.
Its finish, even with the faux back stitching which I don’t mind, and light weight makes it easiest to hold for long periods of time and the screen experience is awesome, including viewing from the sides. I like being able to throw in a 64GB micsoSD card, $70, making it a cheaper buy than the iPad’s $100 built-in memory upgrades.
The third generation S Pen, finally gets it right with S Note functionality and Action Memo, Scrapbook (very cool for just storing anything you circle onscreen including origin source like web content) Screen Write and S Finder.
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The 8 megapixel LED flash rear camera is impressive in goof light, but below par in dark scenes, while the full HD vids are passable. Shooting with a tablet, often shaky, is a challenge for anyone.
It has a larger battery than last year’s model, but the higher screen resolution and processing doesn’t add much more battery life. Still, I was able to run six concurrent two-hour Full HD movies at 33 per cent brightness in Airplane all off mode, with an hour or so to spare. Better than average for keeping you busy on long overseas flights.
I can’t quite gage the dual CPU Exynos 5420: 1.9GHz Quad + 1.3GHz Quad eight core chip technology which is supposed to hold back half its cores until needed. But this Note 10.1 is not a powerhouse, despite the thoughtful 3 GB RAM and cannot stand up to the power of the iPad Air.
My take? It’s everything it should have been when the previous 10.1 version launched: Feather-light at 533 grams versus 469 grams for iPad Air and a hair thicker at 7.9 mm versus the Air’s 7.5 mm. It also has a higher pixel screen resolution of 2560×1600 compared to the Air’s 2048×1536. But if you seriously don’t care for the stylus, you can spend less for the just-as-sharp but less convenient Nexus 10 with pure Android versus the Samsung’s well though-out added apps and features.
If you are one of those Apple folks who crave for a different experience, and there are growing numbers of restless tech-types I run into, check out this nice piece of tablet engineering. The Android experience and support has been improving and can stand on its own with more Apple-only apps being ported over to the Android OS. It also gives you about 1.4” more screen than the iPad. And handles all emails including its own favourite Gmail with all your settings.
CANON EOS REBEL SL-1
Despite the growing popularity of mirror-less interchangeable lens cameras, none can still match the instantaneous experience of DLSR cameras preferred by pros and enthusiasts. Being able to see what you shoot through the optical viewfinder, compared to only a digital screen, enhances your shooting experience. Why? Because you see your subject in analog form your eye relates to. You feel that special connection to capturing life as it happens.
The EOS Rebel SL-1 has been shrunk to being 25 per cent smaller and 29 per cent lighter than its big brother, the EOS Rebel T5i. For me this made a huge different on recent long trips to Asia.
The SL-1 may not have as deep a feature set as its siblings, like no flip up screen yet this specs keep it in the enthusiast picture quality level. It’s key feature making it a keeper for serious photography is the same quality 18MP CMOS image sensor its more expensive siblings have. Check out the other features.
-DIGIC 5 image processor and self-cleaning function
-ISO range of 100-12800 (expandable to 25600)
-9-point, high speed autofocus
-Built-in flash and optical viewfinder
-3.0-inch Clear View LCD touchscreen monitor with 1,040,000 pixel resolution
-Full HD (1080p) movies
-4.0 fps continuous shooting
-Scene Intelligent auto mode for automatically optimized photos and Special Scene modes (Kids, Food, Candlelight and others) ensure the best possible photos under any conditions
-Aspect Ratio 3:2
-Multiple photo file formats including RAW with maximum image size of 5,184 x 3,456 pixels
-Compatible with Canon EF and EF-S mount lenses, including STM lenses
If you are looking for easy-to-carry, maximum quality images and shooting experience, upgrading from an older pocket digital camera or any smartphone, the SL-1 stands on its own.
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