Basically, Galaxy Note is a bigger and slightly better version of the SGS2:

- It has the same but slightly better SoC. (smaller manufacturing process) So it runs at 1.4GHz instead of 1.2GHz by default while being just as efficient.

- It has a Wacom-based tablet digitizer and a stylus. Basically, it's a combination of passive and capacitive touch screen. Currently, it is the only phone which provides the best of both worlds. Stylus is extremely accurate and is pressure sensitive. (128 levels of pressure) So it is actually just as good or better than the N900 even with a stylus. It also has some system wide gestures with the stylus. (such as taking screenshots, back, menu etc) Did you watch the youtube video I linked on my first post on this thread? =)

- It has a much better screen for browsing web, reading emails, feeds, watching movies, reading comics, VNC/RDP etc. This is also a killer feature really. 1280x800 resolution screen definitely make a huge difference to the overall experience.

I still think SGS2 is still one of the best Android phone overall. (if you want a 4.3" screen sized phone that is) All it's lagging behind is screen resolution. BTW, I actually bought my parents yesterday the HTC Sensation (as I could get it super cheap) which has the same LCD as the HTC Amaze that you mention. (and practically the same SoC but just underclocked) It's good but I would still prefer the SAMOLED+ of the SGS2 over the SLCD of the HTC. Once you get used to the AMOLED's Pioneer Plasma-like blacks, you just can't go back to a standard LCD that easily. =P Also, not sure when HTC Amaze will get an official ICS upgrade. But SGS2 will get it very soon apparently. (well, Q1 for sure)

Yeah, I wish ALL phones come with a dedicated 2-stage camera button. WHY do makers get rid of it I have no idea. It's just dumb period. e.g. Lumia 800 has it, but N9 doesn't. Gawd. Microsoft did one thing smart by making all of their phones to have one at least.

Anyways, it's not about getting the best phone out. It's about getting "the" phone that will satisfy the most of your current daily and geeky needs. N900 and even the N9 couldn't do it for me anymore so I had no choice but to move on. It's all Nokia's fault.

Seriously, Symbian folks at Nokia and Maemo folks at Nokia should actually look at each others work more and think about what can be improved. Heck, they should also look at their competitors to see what they did right. I was shocked when Kontorri didn't even know what smart dial was when I mentioned it couple of months back. It's something even Symbian has and is extremely useful when dialling someone....