Comments on: Smart Dock turns Galaxy Note 2 into an Android computer

By: david

david — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 19:25:45 +0000

now all smasung have to do is make better tvs than panasonic. Time for some THX samsung tvs. the note two is a work of art.

By: iWannaTOUCHit

iWannaTOUCHit — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 20:57:32 +0000

@ Wally Wanks…. THIS IS WHAT I WANT TOO… i already have the ACER T232HL 23″ touch monitor… (using it with WINdoze 8 presently) i have seen vids on YouTube of using a bigger external monitor with the dock and a simple hdmi cable… BUT I WANT TOUCH… and the touch commands are sent over the USB cable AND the SMART dock has USB ports (fingers crossed !)

can anyone verify that this works before i buy the Samsung SMART dock
(and we will see just how SMART is it ??)

By: peteunderwood

peteunderwood — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:09:19 +0000

So I purchased the Dock with the hopes that one day, I will be able to just walk around with my phone and plug it into keyboards, monitors and mice…. I think we are close to that, but not quite there.

The good, the bad and the ugly:

The Good – You can actually do this. I have a wireless keyboard, mouse and HDMI – DVI cable plugged into a monitor. It works right off the bat…. there is nothing to setup and configure.

The Bad – The price. A little expensive (considering the ugly to follow). Also, I haven’t figured out how to enable the phone speakers… so unless I am plugging directly into a speaker through the docking output, I have no sound. Also, movies appear very clear on the youtube video demo of this thing…. I am just no seeing that (because of my HDMI – DVI cable?).

The Ugly – The resolution. 1080 sounds good, but not for a computer replacement. Everything is gigantic on my computer monitor…. absurdly so. And the brightness is just not there. The usual crispness is gone….. so unless you want someone three isles over to see what you are typing, I think the “laptop replacement” scenario is not viable. Even RDP into another computer is pretty ugly.

So unless you are make a powerpoint presentation on the fly, or want to watch NetFlix in a hotel room (which you could technically buy a mini-usb to HDMI cable to do), then this thing is a paper weight.

-Pete

PS – If anyone has a way around the resolution issue, I am all ears.

By: jeffroks

jeffroks — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 15:37:03 +0000

Can you give an update after.using this? So many reviews just explain what it is supposed to do, but no tests. Some early reviews say rooting your phone is required for full functionality of the dock? Thanks.

By: Mitra

Mitra — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 11:11:12 +0000

It seems that the success of Galaxy Note I was a good reason for Samsung to develop the next generation “Note II”. The new model looks similar to the company’s previous model, as the software and hardware are more developed. Like the previous model, Note II is equipped with a 5.5-inch SuperAMOLED display. The screen is 0.2 inches wider than the previous model, but unfortunately, the pixel density is much lower. The internal memory capacities are 16, 32 and 64 GB, while all three models support up to 32 GB microSD memory card. The camera has no changes, and the same two megapixel front camera, and 8 megapixel back camera are available on this model. While comparing the OS we can see that Note II is equipped with Android 4.1. This phone’s quad-core processor is the same as the previous model, but with higher frequency “1.6 GHz Cortex-A9” which is expected to provide better performance. Mali-400 graphic processor remains unchanged, while RAM has been extended from one to two GBs in Galaxy note II. Meanwhile, the same as Note 10.1, Note II is also equipped with Samsung’s new pen. Finally the extension of 600 mA battery on this phone in comparison to the previous model “Note I” is the last awesome added feature on this model as mentioned at http://www.fisooloo.com/product/Telecommunication/Cellphone/Samsung/Samsung_Galaxy_Note_II_N7100.

By: swashata

swashata — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 10:04:18 +0000

Actually for me the combination of a simple flip cover with stand along with an OTG cable nd Wireless keyboard mouse combo solves the problem

By: Mohd Jamil

Mohd Jamil — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:26:58 +0000

How to order?

By: Cory

Cory — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 07:49:00 +0000

This is close to what you were asking. I’ve hooked up my Note 2 wirelessly via the AllCast Share device that transmits hdmi output through the phone’s wifi connection. All this and a special app that is needed allows me to control the phone and all of its functions while it sits there wirelessly transmitting, the technology these days is getting serious…

By: Wally Wanks

Wally Wanks — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 21:25:40 +0000

I want to use MHL or the dock to control a larger Touch Screen, so I can just touch it, and work the phone, has anyone tried that? Imagine you have the dock next to your bed, with a 21 inch touch screen monitor sitting there. I want to touch the monitor and have it work the phone! Make calls or text or control the play of a movie. Not using a mouse, but another touch screen!

By: Valerie Gremillion

Valerie Gremillion — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 04:11:40 +0000

Hi Kevin, this is EXACTLY what i was hoping they would do – a quadcore 1.6 Ghz is more computer than anyone had a few years ago, OF COURSE hook it up and use it like one, people!

BUT! a question for you- I ordered the international version Galaxy Note 2 from Amazon a couple of weeks ago as !!*&%&^!! Verizon’s version was not available yet -i assume they are making it LESS great, as usual. Now I’ve found that Verizon’s radio insures that i CANNOT use this phone on Verizon at all! No one at Verizon knows anything useful, and Samsung now redirects buying a Verizon version to a Verizon site, so I can’t even ask questions of Samsung. My question relates to your earlier column on Straight Talk – can i use the Note 2 that i’ve bought on that network using the sim card? I don’t care about LTE but i sure as hell would like to use this phone internationally as well as locally.
I’m almost at the point of keeping the one i have as a mini wifi tablet – now you’ve shown me how i can, thank you!! Cuz yes it IS that cool, but I’m worried how much functionality Verizon will be deleting on ‘its’ version. Any thoughts on this? Thanks for your great info.