Tab 2 recovering data from hung device Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 stuck on logo screen during reboot. I did go through several threads on this and other sites, and pretty much all of them suggested a factory reset, and not a single one said it was possible to recover data later. (I beg your indulgence and patience.)

I did make the cardinal mistake of not backing up my data. I'm new to tablets, Android, everything.

Recovering some of my contacts, notes and photos is as important to me (if not more) as being able to use my device again.

Does it make any sense to try and wipe the cache only, and do a reboot?
OR
If I do a factory reset, I gather only /data is wiped. Is there a chance I can recover some files from /cache later?
Which one do I need to try (first)?

There is also a software called Android Data Recovery, which claims to have had success in post-reset data recovery. Any thoughts on this?
Firstly, data on your SD card will not be erased. Then there's a chance, that your contacts are already backed up on Google's servers, so you don't loose them either.

I don't know if the app will help. Harddrives don't delete anything, they just stop indexing the files and then rewrite the sector with new files, but (I'm not 100% sure) I don't think you can do the same with SD memory.