Life with the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0

I am fortunate enough to have received a Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 (LTE). There are plenty of reviews of this device online so I will spare you from reading another specification-based review and instead will focus on my overall impressions, likes, and dislikes.
First, the obligatory unboxing pics. Please pardon my photography skills.

Overall, this is a very good device. There is a lot to like about it. It has a nice solid (if somewhat plasticy) feel. It's size is very comfortable for holding, carrying around, and viewing. It's screen is also large enough to make good use of the S Pen. The S Pen is what really differentiates Samsung's Galaxy Note line and I really like it.
I have used a number of tablets and the one area where they all consistently fail is at creating diagrams. At work, I often have to create visualizations, flowcharts, network diagrams, report outlines, etc. In the past, I've used a generic stylus but the lack of integration and pressure sensitivity always led to a subpar experience. Not so with the S Pen. Being able to capture a my thoughts visually is such a productivity boost. Aside from being able to quickly scribble my ideas, another S Pen feature that I find myself using quite often is its ability to select parts of images and objects. This works similarly to the lasso tool in most image editing applications. Just hold down the button on the S Pen and draw around the area that you want to capture. So very convenient. For those parents reading this, a big plus is that the S Pen is great with kids. Need a quick pre-dinner distraction at the restaurant? Doodle away!
There are also a number of S Pen apps available but, to be honest, I was satisfied with the default ones that came with the Note. They do a great job and Samsung has made it very easy to invoke them directly from the home screen and with the S Pen.
I really love the S Pen's capabilities and kudos to Samsung for doing a great job of implementation and integration into the device. I was even pleasantly surprised by the handwriting recognition. Originally, I thought that the S Pen was merely included as a gimmick but, having used it, I realize that it is an exceedingly valuable differentiator.
The second thing that I really like about the Note is its LTE capability. Having LTE on a tablet really improves the overall experience. In my case, I'm using Canada's Rogers LTE network and it's has been a terrific experience. In the Greater Toronto Area I consistently get excellent signal quality and fast speeds. In my opinion, it is absolutely worth spending a little extra per month for this feature if you can. True, it's relatively easy to find a WiFi hotspot but those are often slow and not entirely secure. Alternatively, many of us can tether to our phones but that can quickly drain your phone's battery. The convenience of having fast, secure, always available connectivity is especially welcome on Android where almost every aspect of the device utilizes Google's web-based services.
I wouldn't say that I have any major complaints about this device. As I said, it is very good. There are a few less-than-amazing aspects to it. First, in a world with the 1080p Nexus 7, the Retina iPad Air Mini, and other high resolution display tablets, the 1280x800 display does seem a little dated. Also, the Note's battery life could be better. The S Pen, for all its brilliance, is a little too small to be really comfortable. Lastly, I am not a big fan of Samsung's visual interface. It seems silly and childish to me. Fortunately, on Android, that is something that is easy to remedy.
As a pure tablet, there are better alternatives. I would recommend the iPad Air, Mini, or 2013 Nexus 7. However, the S Pen makes this a wonderfully unique device. The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 finds just the right size between the larger less portable stylus-enabled devices like Samsung's Galaxy Note 10.1 or Microsoft's Surface Pro and smaller devices with less screen real estate for the S Pen like Samsung's Note 3. I find that the Note 8.0 strikes a great balance between work and play, and big and small.