a few months ago, my manufacturer's sister brought two tablets to me, requesting me to fix them. i said "of course" and took both tablets and restored both of them to their factory settings. both of them were in perfect condition; with one of them being a knockoff nugget that ran Android KitKat (i'm not too sure if it was 4.4.1 or 4.4.2, nor that i care lol) and the other was the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2012) with 3G and 16 GB of storage.
after "repairing" them and playing around with the no-name nugget, i've decided to bring both of them back to her...only for her to tell me that she was about to throw them away, but she knew i -quote- "mess with stuff like this so she thought of me", and that i could keep one of the two tablets. needless to say, i chose the smasnug over the no-name nugget.
LineageOS (formerly CyanogenMod) is a no-bullshit modification of AOSP that's perfect for That One Ancient Phone from Centuries Ago That's Lying Around in Your Closet™; and since it's community-driven, there are also unofficial ports of LineageOS for...unusual devices. *side-eyeing my Galaxy S3 Mini*
knowing that the secondhand market here is a massive joke and that i would've had to pay a good fortune for a device similar to this in a worse condition, i HAD to repurpose this thing. TWRP and LineageOS were the first things i could think of.
after some research and testing a bunch of ROMs that i had in rotation, i decided to settle on LineageOS 16, which is based on Android 9. i probably could've ran a more recent version, but LOS 16 had pressure sensitivity intact unlike some of the newer versions that i've tried; plus the newer versions were a tad bit sluggish in my experience, so i've decided to settle on Android 9. and it's absolutely PERFECT.
obviously being from 2012 and being a Samsung device, occasional stutters and struggles are a tradition. but i'm actually blown away by how responsive and stable it is unless i push the limits.
the tablet is from the Galaxy Note series, meaning that it has an S Pen built-in, so that the user can...well, take notes (it's almost like it's in the name or something). i use Squid for handwritten notes, and Markor for when i use an external keyboard (which is quite rare, but it still comes in handy). considering i've used a Galaxy Note Edge briefly before and the S Pen the phone had was quite skinny, at first i thought the grip would be uncomfortable or sort of cramped. but that wasn't the case with this device, which is amazing.
my biggest gripe with the device is the fact that the battery is cooked, and i haven't been able to find a replacement yet. which is kinda sad, but at least i have a powerbank that i carry with me everywhere lol.
the funny thing about this tablet is that it also has an infrared port for whatever reason?? reminds me of that one time i used to troll my parents by using my phone that had an infrared port as a remote for the TV. you could probably guess how pissed off they were.
another funny thing is that this tablet (along with some other Samsung devices apparently) uses a 30-pin dock connector that the iPod and the early iPhones had...except the Samsung ones are used upside down. i thought that was both hilarious and convenient, considering i don't have to carry an extra cable when i bring my iPod mini with me too.
TL;DR (i suck at writing these...): i saved a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2012) from ending up as landwaste, turned it into an e-notebook and now understand why people are raving over iPads. these are perfect for notetaking and studying (considering i can add images and attachments to my notes with ease), minus the battery!!