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[VIDEO] Galaxy Note Smart Dock Review

nice review of the dock. Still on the fence if this is something I'd need or just have as a cool little accessory. Given the price of this thing, still not sure. Does look quite useful I'll give it that.

Main thing for me is whether next years Samsungs will also work with it, would be very reassuring to go into a purchase knowing that...

Since I'm already invested in bluetooth gear and MHL I could pass on this, and just use NAS or something similar for getting video to the Note 2... Least then I'd know the stuff I had would probably work for several more generations of device.
 
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Great review. I don't thing that anyone could have done a better job.

I too am not sure on how I will actually use this. If it was wireless charging so that I could keep the phone in landscape mode and use my SlingBox App and watch TV (on the phone) while also working, that would be nice. I realize that if I want to watch something on TV I'll have to set it in portrait and that is OK.

We'll see. In the past when I have rushed to buy things I often ended up with something I didn't need and could have put the money to something else... like maybe another trail cam for deer season. :)
 
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The more I look at the smart dock the more I wish the back area of it had been using to recharge a battery. Just seems like so much extra space behind the phone dock.

That would have been truly awesome. Since it is not my dock and has to be returned, I can't open the back to see how much space is there and whether that could have been done.

It would only charge a spare battery very slowly though, since the Note itself slowly loses charge whilst in the dock when connected to the external disaply and it cannot output enough power to power a portable HDD if anything else is connected.

Great review. I don't thing that anyone could have done a better job.

I too am not sure on how I will actually use this. If it was wireless charging so that I could keep the phone in landscape mode and use my SlingBox App and watch TV (on the phone) while also working, that would be nice. I realize that if I want to watch something on TV I'll have to set it in portrait and that is OK.

We'll see. In the past when I have rushed to buy things I often ended up with something I didn't need and could have put the money to something else... like maybe another trail cam for deer season. :)

Thanks a lot!

I think you have to carefully weigh this up, at least while it is being priced at $100. Hopefully we'll see that drop with a bit of time.
 
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I went to a sprint store a couple weeks ago and they had it on display. That was in a remote sprint store 1.5 hours away from my house though.

I SAW THEM!!!!!!!!!
But they all were marked for the S3 so I didn't ask if they'd work in the Note 2. Besides, everyone in this particular Sprint store is pretty clueless and I didn't feel like wasting my time with them.
 
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I SAW THEM!!!!!!!!!
But they all were marked for the S3 so I didn't ask if they'd work in the Note 2. Besides, everyone in this particular Sprint store is pretty clueless and I didn't feel like wasting my time with them.

I wonder if they have a different model name, since the S3 definitely doesn't work with the one I have...
 
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Yes, both made by Samsung, but the one being reviewed is a SMART DOCK which is more expensive than the MEDIA DOCK.

I would suggest the MEDIA DOCK, that is, unless you need all the additional outputs.

Just trying to save you money.

Is that sold on the site? Can you post the link? I'm assuming it's universal.

Save money? I have 50 percent off coupon anyway.
 
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It's universal for the GS3 and the note...but check the specs.

I believe Samsung is still having their 50% off sale. Double check that and let us know.

This is coming a bit late, and I don't know how much longer
the sale will continue (it has been going since approx.10/30),
but if you go to Samsung's site you can get 50% off all phone
accessories with this code:

rE155266e

Here is a link to the Samsung Note II I1317 accessories page but
you can navigate back to the home page from there to your
specific device.


Accessories - AT&T Cell Phones SGH-I317 | Samsung Cell Phones
 
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It's universal for the GS3 and the note...but check the specs.

I believe Samsung is still having their 50% off sale. Double check that and let us know.

This is coming a bit late, and I don't know how much longer
the sale will continue (it has been going since approx.10/30),
but if you go to Samsung's site you can get 50% off all phone
accessories with this code:

rE155266e

Here is a link to the Samsung Note II I1317 accessories page but
you can navigate back to the home page from there to your
specific device.


Accessories - AT&T Cell Phones SGH-I317 | Samsung Cell Phones

Yeah, you're a little late to the party. If you look back through the accesory thread (stickied at the top), I've already purchased 7/10 accessories connected to the samsung coupon, but glad you re-hashed the information, for others that haven't been participating in the thread already and haven't seen the coupon yet.

Now, as far as docks are concerned, I'm assuming you're referring to this one:
Samsung Galaxy Universal Multimedia Desktop Dock

If that's the one you were referring to, that's FAR from the same thing. If you hadn't looked through the entire video and/or haven't looked at the photos of the Note 2 media dock vs. the universal, you'd see that there are 3 USB ports on the dock. Just to give some people a little perspective on how great that is, I have the same amount of ports on my full PC laptop! Having the ability to attach large hard drives to the Note 2 Smart dock and being to transfer files in and out from the phone is awesome. I have two 2TB hard drives and 1 3TB hard drive housing different medias that would be so great to just transfer in and out, whenever I want. It's a wired connection, which I trust more for transferring data (although wireless transfer via Airdroid works great, when in a pinch). For those that haven't seen pics, here you go:

Gallery - Cell Phone Accessories EDD-S20JWE | Samsung Cell Phones
 
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drexappeal,

No doubt the more (twice as) expensive SMART DOCK is fantastic for anyone that has that kind of use for it.

I don't. Others won't either. Many will just want a docking station with audio output. In that case the MEDIA DOCK you linked to in the above post will save you a lot of money and does a great job charging your Note II while outputting audio.
 
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drexappeal,

No doubt the more (twice as) expensive SMART DOCK is fantastic for anyone that has that kind of use for it.

I don't. Others won't either. Many will just want a docking station with audio output. In that case the MEDIA DOCK you linked to in the above post will save you a lot of money and does a great job charging your Note II while outputting audio.

Yeah, I'm not so sure that's a great generalization (e.g. others won't either). You might assume that people will think that way, but there's no real way to quantify who would or wouldn't prefer the smart dock.

I think the difference in deciding between the two would come down to 1) Are you the type of consumer that would prefer a universal dock that might be able to work with your future devices, for simple audio connection or 2) Do you want a multi-purpose dock, specific to the phone, that will allow you access to additional media you might own, on hard drives (including audio output connection on the universal dock), and also be able to reflect that on a big screen TV for videos?

And, here's the sell...There's a 50% off deal going on right now that would allow you to purchase that smart dock at the same cost of the universal audio dock's retail price. You can do that or just spend $25 less to get the universal at 50% off. While you're saving $50 on the smart dock, you're only saving a mere $25 on the universal dock (w/ less capabilities). The only way to really spin it so that the value of the universal dock is a "better value," for those that don't need the extra USB ports, is to sell the fact that you can buy 2 of those for the current retail price of the universal dock.
 
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Yeah, I'm not so sure that's a great generalization (e.g. others won't either). You might assume that people will think that way, but there's no real way to quantify who would or wouldn't prefer the smart dock.

I think the difference in deciding between the two would come down to 1) Are you the type of consumer that would prefer a universal dock that might be able to work with your future devices, for simple audio connection or 2) Do you want a multi-purpose dock, specific to the phone, that will allow you access to additional media you might own, on hard drives (including audio output connection on the universal dock), and also be able to reflect that on a big screen TV for videos?

And, here's the sell...There's a 50% off deal going on right now that would allow you to purchase that smart dock at the same cost of the universal audio dock's retail price. You can do that or just spend $25 less to get the universal at 50% off. While you're saving $50 on the smart dock, you're only saving a mere $25 on the universal dock (w/ less capabilities). The only way to really spin it so that the value of the universal dock is a "better value," for those that don't need the extra USB ports, is to sell the fact that you can buy 2 of those for the current retail price of the universal dock.

You're really tempting me lol
 
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You're really tempting me lol

Sorry...you're all the way in the PI, so that's a little far to quench your temptation...but you could always have your Uncle order for you...LOL.

drexappeal,

We are in complete agreement. Thanks.

No worries. Just didn't want people to be swayed one way or the other. Like anything else, it really does come down to people's needs, but people should be informed of their purchases, prior to jumping on "whatever is cheaper," which is the main reason I had to bring up the examples and quantification of purchases.

If this does come back in stock, I'm actually very tempted to purchase 2 for different TV's in the house.
 
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