Quite update: went by the local Best Buy to see if they had the Tab 3 8" in stock on release date... they did, but only in white, so I didn't buy it.

Overall, though, I'm really impressed. Their Samsung display had the Tab 2 7", the Tab 3 8" and the Note 8.0 all near enough to hold them one in front of the other. The Tab 3 8" with its narrow side bezels is not appreciably wider than the GT2 7", although it's a bit taller. It's quite a bit narrower than the GN8.

No noticeable lag in the trivial amount of browsing on Google Play to install ComicRack, or to grab a high-resolution CBR off the web to try it.

Great screen; as far as I can tell, indistinguishable from the Note 8.

I'm sold pretty much just on the form factor. There doesn't seem to be a Gold-Brown one in stock locally, so I'm going be ordering it. I really don't get the appeal of white electronics, or much of anything (well, unless it's a car and you live in the desert, for practical rather than asthetic reasons.)