ASUS Vivotab Smart ME400 VS Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

SamMaster

Member
Jun 26, 2010
157
81
101
Greetings,

I want to get a tablet for my wife at our anniversary. She would need it mostly for note taking, vewing / underlining PDFs / EPUB file, and maybe a few games (like the Stargate SG-1 game for tablets under development). She would also use it as her music player. Browsing and e-mail are an afterthought, and she is concerned about the file management capabilities of android devices (she is very ordered, you should see how she managed the folders on the home computer)

I've been looking here and there for a good one, and I have stopped on 2 different tablets (see title).

The Note is good for notes (obviously), and has a folder accessory to protect it when being carried.

The VivoTab Smart is a full OS so we can use both tablet and legacy applications (something I like very much).

Both cost about the same, both are capable of alternative browsers (we use Firefox, I dislike Chrome's interface), and I wonder about the gaming capabilities of either.

I am at a point where I require the pool of knowledge here to discuss the best option for her.

Thank you in advance. :)
 

dagamer34

Platinum Member
Aug 15, 2005
2,591
0
71
At this point, I'm not sure I can recommend any 10" Android tablet, since none of them have really had any real success, thus fewer apps are specifically developed for the form factor (one problem that a Windows 8/RT app doesn't have).

The VivoTab is a decent device, though I would play around with one in the store. The sad thing is that it doesn't come with a stylus/digitizer like the Galaxy Note 10.1.

Since it's a gift (implying you can't wait), I would go with the ASUS VivoTab. Would I buy it for myself though? No, simply because I think Windows 8 is built for hardware that doesn't exist yet (next-gen Atom for better performance, next-gen Core for better battery life).
 

SamMaster

Member
Jun 26, 2010
157
81
101
She won't need a whole lot of apps to be honest, and the note comes with a few I think (the note taking one for instance), so that in itself is not much of an issue.

Whould there be any other recommendations by the way?
 

hans030390

Diamond Member
Feb 3, 2005
7,326
2
76
I got to play around with a similar Windows 8 tablet at Fry's (an Acer with same CPU as the Asus ME400). It was surprisingly smooth and zippy feeling, even compared to my Surface RT that I already thought performed well.

I think Windows 8 is a much better tablet OS than Android, especially with the non-RT version. It takes a bit of time getting used to some of its UI design paradigms, but it's an awesome OS, IMO. Even the desktop mode works surprisingly well on tablets.
 

Ravynmagi

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2007
3,102
24
81
I have the ASUS ME400. It's my second Windows 8 tablet. Had the Samsung 500T before, but found it was too big and slippery to hold.

The ASUS ME400 is $100 cheaper than the Samsung and most other Windows 8 Atom tablets. This comes with some sacrifices, no digitizer, no pen, no full USB port, no rotation lock. That stuff I was okay giving up (kinda miss the digitizer and pen though). I really love the lighter feel and smaller size.

Unfortunately one problem with ASUS is surprisingly their driver support absolutely sucks. It's been sucking hard with the TF810 tablet and the ME400 apparently is no different. The drivers seem to be a bit behind. And the ASUS Live Update tool doesn't even work for a lot of us.

I contacted ASUS about the Live Update not working for me and they told me there is nothing they can do about it until they "officially" release the Live Update tool.

I hate to say this, but if you want a good tablet that just works without hassle. Get an iPad. The iPad has lots of apps, great for gaming, web surfing. Has a really nice speaker great for watching YouTube and videos without needing to use headphones to hear (speaker in the ME400 suck hard by the way).

I have an iPad 4, so I don't mind too much that I'm beta testing this ME400 for ASUS. And I do like have full Windows on a tablet. But I'm not too crazy about the state of the drivers or ASUS software and support. Samsung had much better driver support, but I hated the glossy plastic back and the rather large size and weight.
 

dagamer34

Platinum Member
Aug 15, 2005
2,591
0
71
I have the ASUS ME400. It's my second Windows 8 tablet. Had the Samsung 500T before, but found it was too big and slippery to hold.

The ASUS ME400 is $100 cheaper than the Samsung and most other Windows 8 Atom tablets. This comes with some sacrifices, no digitizer, no pen, no full USB port, no rotation lock. That stuff I was okay giving up (kinda miss the digitizer and pen though). I really love the lighter feel and smaller size.

Unfortunately one problem with ASUS is surprisingly their driver support absolutely sucks. It's been sucking hard with the TF810 tablet and the ME400 apparently is no different. The drivers seem to be a bit behind. And the ASUS Live Update tool doesn't even work for a lot of us.

I contacted ASUS about the Live Update not working for me and they told me there is nothing they can do about it until they "officially" release the Live Update tool.

I hate to say this, but if you want a good tablet that just works without hassle. Get an iPad. The iPad has lots of apps, great for gaming, web surfing. Has a really nice speaker great for watching YouTube and videos without needing to use headphones to hear (speaker in the ME400 suck hard by the way).

I have an iPad 4, so I don't mind too much that I'm beta testing this ME400 for ASUS. And I do like have full Windows on a tablet. But I'm not too crazy about the state of the drivers or ASUS software and support. Samsung had much better driver support, but I hated the glossy plastic back and the rather large size and weight.

I'd have to agree. None of the tablets seems to really be "it" at least, not at $500. Apparently the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2 is a good choice, but it's $679 with a stylus and ships in 4 weeks.
 

hans030390

Diamond Member
Feb 3, 2005
7,326
2
76
I actually just ordered the Asus ME400 and got it in yesterday. Didn't get to play around with it much, but the Live Update tool worked just fine for me. So far I'm liking the tablet quite a bit.
 

lopri

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
13,298
678
126
What is the difference between Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Note? Digitizer?
 

Ravynmagi

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2007
3,102
24
81
I actually just ordered the Asus ME400 and got it in yesterday. Didn't get to play around with it much, but the Live Update tool worked just fine for me. So far I'm liking the tablet quite a bit.

Mine worked fine for the first 2 days, then just stopped. And it hasn't worked since. I did a refreshed and reset Windows and neither helped. Unfortunately a reset restored it back to stock and now I got all the original old drivers back on and can't update the drivers at all.

The Live Update is nice when it works. But it shouldn't be the ONLY way to install new drivers. I'm pretty much SOL on updating drivers until ASUS can fix whatever is preventing some of us from using Live Update.

Doesn't help that ASUS's customer support attitude is "go pound sand until we are ready".
 

Roland00Address

Platinum Member
Dec 17, 2008
2,196
260
126
What is the difference between Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Note? Digitizer?

Quad Core (note) vs Dual Core (Tab)
2gb Ram (note) vs 1 gb
Digitizer (note) vs none
2 programs side by side (note)
Note is a little bigger so you need to get a case made for the note for the tab cases will not fit. Same screen size but just bigger bezels.

There are rumors that we are going to see a note 8 inch as well as a new Galaxy Tab announced sometime near MWC. Who knows if these rumors are accurate though.
 
Last edited:

hans030390

Diamond Member
Feb 3, 2005
7,326
2
76
Mine worked fine for the first 2 days, then just stopped. And it hasn't worked since. I did a refreshed and reset Windows and neither helped. Unfortunately a reset restored it back to stock and now I got all the original old drivers back on and can't update the drivers at all.

The Live Update is nice when it works. But it shouldn't be the ONLY way to install new drivers. I'm pretty much SOL on updating drivers until ASUS can fix whatever is preventing some of us from using Live Update.

Doesn't help that ASUS's customer support attitude is "go pound sand until we are ready".

In what way does it not work now? Will it just not open or start? Does it say there are no updates available when there should be? And if it's the latter, how would you know whether it actually had updates or not if the Live Update tool is the only way to check? This would be from a non-reset/refreshed OS installation, of course. Just curious as to exactly what the problem is, because I have certainly heard of it happening for others.

I do agree that the Live Update tool is...less than stellar. I am just happy I did not run into these reported issues like many others...
 

Ravynmagi

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2007
3,102
24
81
In what way does it not work now? Will it just not open or start? Does it say there are no updates available when there should be? And if it's the latter, how would you know whether it actually had updates or not if the Live Update tool is the only way to check? This would be from a non-reset/refreshed OS installation, of course. Just curious as to exactly what the problem is, because I have certainly heard of it happening for others.

I do agree that the Live Update tool is...less than stellar. I am just happy I did not run into these reported issues like many others...

Double clicking the Live Update tool immediately pops up an error saying "Cannot connect to server". I click OK and it closes. I no longer see the app ever open anymore.

I talked to ASUS a couple times regarding this and they were zero help and didn't seem to even know anything about this application.

I did a full factory reset 3 times. So the tablet has returned to the original state it was in when I opened the box, yet the Live Update tool still won't work anymore. The only thing that is different now is I have the newer BIOS (factory reset doesn't revert the BIOS of course). So I'm wondering if perhaps something is wrong with the BIOS.

I still think it's a decent tablet. But I'm kinda annoyed with ASUS and this Live Update tool, and I'm uncertain if Live Update will ever work (if the BIOS is indeed horked, then I'd have to do an RMA and that sucks with ASUS), so I decided to just return it for a refund to Amazon.

I think I'll just sit out of the first round of Windows 8 tablets. Things are pretty rough at the moment (which I understand is to be expected). My experience with ASUS drivers and customer support though will make me think twice before buying an ASUS tablet though.
 

lopri

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
13,298
678
126
Quad Core (note) vs Dual Core (Tab)
2gb Ram (note) vs 1 gb
Digitizer (note) vs none
2 programs side by side (note)
Note is a little bigger so you need to get a case made for the note for the tab cases will not fit. Same screen size but just bigger bezels.

There are rumors that we are going to see a note 8 inch as well as a new Galaxy Tab announced sometime near MWC. Who knows if these rumors are accurate though.

Very nice. Thank you for the info. With lowered prices, Galaxy tablet (both the notes and the tabs) line looks very enticing. I suppose the notes have proper palm rejection mechanism for hand writing?
 

Ravynmagi

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2007
3,102
24
81
Very nice. Thank you for the info. With lowered prices, Galaxy tablet (both the notes and the tabs) line looks very enticing. I suppose the notes have proper palm rejection mechanism for hand writing?

I assume it probably works like the Samsung Ativ Smart PC tablet. When the pen gets close to the screen, it ignores touch input and only recognizes the pen. Also the Samsung note taking apps lets you disable touch input in the app so you won't have to worry about if the pen is close enough before resting your palm.
 

SamMaster

Member
Jun 26, 2010
157
81
101
I think I'll end up with the ME400 finally. My wife isn't interested in the android OS; she rather have a full OS (hence win8). I'll just wait before updating the BIOS as per Ravynmagi's warnings.
 

Chocu1a

Golden Member
Jun 24, 2009
1,386
79
91
Love, Love, Love my Note 10.1. Buttery smooth, love the wacom digitizer for drawing & hand writing notes. By far my favorite tablet.
 

sequoia464

Senior member
Feb 12, 2003
870
0
71
I think I'll end up with the ME400 finally. My wife isn't interested in the android OS; she rather have a full OS (hence win8). I'll just wait before updating the BIOS as per Ravynmagi's warnings.

Don't know if this is available for you, but until the 23rd (tomorrow) Staples has a $75 off coupon on most windows based devices, Surface is excluded.

I just ordered a ME400 for $425. Had to call customer service to get the coupon applied. Nice savings. The online code is 70921 if you're interested.
 

SamMaster

Member
Jun 26, 2010
157
81
101
OK, so an update:

I was able to get it at a local store for 20$ off. At the same time, we ordered a 64GB microSDXC card and a OTG usb cable. In view of Ravynmagi's troubles, I looked for and found a place to download drivers and Liveupdate. Interestigly, there is a new Liveupdate version available on the me400 website (no drivers, just the live update). I did all updates, let windows update do its things, and so far my wife is LOVING the tablet, especialy since she can use firefox and winamp on it, and she has a total of 100GB of storage available (36GB from internal plus SDXC card). And the OTG cable works well for if we need to attach usb devices on it.

It is a very nice tablet for the price.