A few questions from an overwhelmed geek girl

Hi everyone,
I just bought my new Galaxy Tab S 10.5 and now I'm on to buying accessories. I'm a bit sleep deprived from going down the internet rabbit hole reading reviews and such on the accessories I'm considering (among job stress - woot). I'm not trying to be a schmuck (I swear) by posting this I'm just trying to consolidate my thoughts and get quick input from you awesome people. If the post is deemed inappropriate please nicely message me and I'll delete it. I did try searching for keywords for brands/products before writing but I realize this product is newer so there aren't a million in depth reviews of a million products.

Mainly I bought this tablet because I'm going on a trip out of town and I need to be able to show off my portfolio (I'm a graphic designer) on a few agency interviews in 3 weeks in addition to entertaining myself at the airport and on mass transit on my trip. Otherwise I would have waited until it went on sale or xmas to be honest.

On a day to day basis I would like to do the following with this tablet:
- surf the web
- watch movies
- read
- do light word processing/office/email stuff
- sketch

What I plan on buying I tried to post links to everything but apparently I'm too new a user and had to remove them:
- a case
- screen protector
- bluetooth keyboard
- stylus
- micro sd card

Case:
For a case I'd love to have something very similar to what I currently use on my old Nook Tablet and love Speck FitFolio (speckproducts.com/tablets/nook/fitfolio-for-nook-hd.html) since it has some protection along the edges and closes shut. At the least I want to add some kind of decent edge protection along with a cover that stays close (with magnets, a band, etc). I don't want something as bulky as an otterbox (which doesn't make a case yet for this anyway) and I do want something that covers the front and back.

As far as cases go I've read a ton of reviews on here about the Samsung Book Cover and it seems that most people like it. My main concern is that there is no edge protection and the cost. I've also read about the Poetic Slimbook and that is more mixed but that at least offers some edge protection. Another one that I saw on Amazon and looked interesting is the RooCase Origami case. I'd love some thoughts from you all considering the specific goals for the case.

Screen protector:
I've always been afraid of wet application screen protectors but from the reviews I've read they seem pretty straight forward and perhaps a bit more awesome than the static cling types I've been using. I'm not dead set either way. The Zagg is the one I'm most familiar with but they aren't making one yet for this tablet it seems. The ones I've seen for the tablet are the ArmorSuit Military Shield and the Skinomi® TechSkin . A few others I read about on the XDA forum are the AmFilm and the iLLumiShield.

Bluetooth Keyboard:
Don't need anything fancy but I like that the 2 I've seen and like so far have a cover/case that can be manipulated into a stand.
- Logitech Tablet Keyboard
- Microsoft Wedge Mobile Keyboard

Stylus:
It seems the S Pen won't work on this tablet since it's not a Note series so I want something that's better than the chubby typical stylus I already have. I haven't messed around with these in a long time so it seems I need a capacitive stylus. I will have a screen protector on this so it needs to play nice with it.

I would like to do some drawing and the best app I've seen is the AutoDesk SketchBook app (yes I realize the iPad has so many more awesome drawing apps than Android but I felt for the amount of time I would be spending drawing vs the trade-offs of getting an iPad it wasn't worth it).

The Adonit Jot Pro seems to be popular but will it scratch my screen?

Then there are the other stylus with a thinner, more pen like point that I think I like, such as the Dart Precision Touch but I don't think I can shell out that much for something that isn't mandatory for me to function day to day and the Samsun C Pen but it seems that is getting mixed reviews.

Ok, that's my seriously long post. If you've read this much I salute you and will consider it a mitzvah so thank you!!

Dawn aka GraphixGurl

gcappa said:

I have the Logitech BT keyboard. Although it works perfectly, you have to install batteries. And I always forget to turn it off when I finish, and the batteries are always drained next time I use it. The device needs to turn itself off after awhile. Maybe there is a way I'll have to look into it.

I also heard the Samsung pen for the galaxy S3 works perfectly.

And there's tons of cases and screen protectors on ebay. I'll be ordering the glass one soon from Asia.

Best tablet ever.

---------- Post added at 08:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:23 PM ----------

I mean the stand alone BT keyboard, not the attached case/keyboard that Logitech sells. Unfortunately they don't sell it for 8.4 inch tab.

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Good point about the keyboard battery. The Microsoft one can shut off when you replace the cover but from quick googling it appears the Logitech one has to be shut off.

Do you mean the Samsung C-Pen? The reviews look mixed online so I was curious how other people liked it.

skeeterpro said:

Tempered Glass screen protector....a must in my opinion. Bit more costly but well worth it. Such as this.

As far as a case....I have this one for my 8.4 and love it. YMMV.


HTH

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I ended up going with the Skinomi Tech Glass - I've never dealt with these so hopefully I won't screw it up. A few people mentioned building a hinge with tape to help put it on (along with being in a steamy bathroom). If anyone else has any hints about applying this I'm all ears. I've put on screen protector films before but it is stressful. A few of the companies mentioned by you guys don't have protectors for the tab s yet since it's so new.

Roocase said:

Regarding the cases between the Origami and Poetic slimline LifeHacker did a pretty unbiased review of a few including a few others that might help. Although they are for the Nexus 7, they should be relatively comparable on the features & specs for your Galaxy Tab S 10.5 tablet.

On some of the others I've checked out.

Screen protector you'll definitely want to go a 9H Tempered Glass for the protector. Checking specs for AmFilm and the iLLumiShield, I don't see a hardness level listed, so I can't really say if if it has max level scratch and abrasion resistance, nor for the Skinomi® TechSkin or ArmorSuit Military Shield. Of course the touch screen sensitivity definitely matters too. Even though through checking reviews, the iLLumiShield seems to be the most popular, so with that many happy people, it might be a good one to go with!

Bluetooth keyboard, the Anker® Bluetooth Ultra-Slim Keyboard for Galaxy Tabs seems to be a really decent seller, low in price and high in reviews, so this may also be something to check out.

Not really too familiar with stylus, so perhaps some others could chime in =)

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I ended up going with the Poetic Slimbook and the Logitech keyboard. Hopefully they'll hit the mark.

I appreciate all the help! Mitzvahs all around.