Surface tablet anyone?

[obgyn65]

It has just been announced that the Pro version is coming out in January. I will get one.

Microsoft's site is currently accepting pre-orders for the Surface w/RT only. Unless I missed it, the Surface with Windows 8 says "Coming Soon". Perhaps that will be Oct 26; I saw no specific date at Microsoft's site.

 

[explanade]

Estimated to get half the battery life of the regular Surface tablets or about 4 hours.

Starting at $900 without keyboard cover.

 

[Nodak]

I want one but will wait for Windows 8.

 

[Victoriaplh]

I've briefly played around with the one my friend recently bought and the feeling was so far positive. It takes a little getting used to but I managed to handle various functions in a matter of minutes. It weighs about the same as my iPad and I think the flop-up keyboard is kind of handy. I heard that a more powerful "Surface Pro" is due to be released early next year running regular Windows programs and I honestly more interested to looking at that one. Despite being small and trendy, I'm still frustrated by the limitation of my iPad for more serious computing and still ended up carrying my laptop on all my business trips. After all, the iPad was just a simple internet device rather that a functional PC. I think if its price turns out to stay in line of other ultrabook or laptops, I'll probably get one.

 

[Victoriaplh]

BTW, I heard that a new chip set was recently released by Inel that could run full Windows 8 software, having comparable battery life. The first model I notice is the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2 running on Window 8 Pro selling at $649. May be that's worthy to looking at

 

[obgyn65]

Thank you for the update.

BTW, I heard that a new chip set was recently released by Inel that could run full Windows 8 software, having comparable battery life. The first model I notice is the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2 running on Window 8 Pro selling at $649. May be that's worthy to looking at

 

[obgyn65]

The launch date is Feb 9.

I want one but will wait for Windows 8.

 

[obgyn65]

Had anyone bought the Surface Pro ? Any first impression please ?

 

[explanade]

Bunch of reviews out there.

One reaction seems to be that this is Microsoft's first attempt so their future attempts should be better.

If for nothing else than intel chips will improve in battery life.

 

[Rambler]

Had anyone bought the Surface Pro ? Any first impression please ?

Nope, and no plan to do so. My iPad4 and DW's iPad mini do all we need to do on a tablet and more...and they work. I've had too many bad experiences with Windows to even want to try. If you need Windows for a work related software program, I guess I would understand, but if not, I see no reason to go to the Surface. YMMV.

R

 

[samclem]

Had anyone bought the Surface Pro ? Any first impression please ?

I don't have one, but this review was interesting:

Mossberg Surface Pro Review

While I like and trust Mossberg's reviews, I do think he misses the boat a bit on this one (and looking at the comments after his article, most people agree with me). He pans it for not being as good as an iPad (it's heavier, has shorter battery life, etc) for the things an iPad does. On the other hand, it looks like a good, light, capable replacement for a laptop (it runs useful productivity software, has USB ports,etc) and it can servicably do the things the iPad does. Especially for travel, having a single device would be really nice.

The concept sounds good to me. But I am not eager to be a beta tester for Windoze 8 and I'm not sure this particular pad is the best one--when the time comes I'll probably buy a windows tablet made by a company that has a history of producing good hardware.

 

[Midpack]

Nope, and no plan to do so. My iPad4 and DW's iPad mini do all we need to do on a tablet and more...and they work. If you need Windows for a work related software program, I guess I would understand, but if not, I see no reason to go to the Surface.

+1. I spent some time playing with a Surface RT (the same screen & UI as the Pro) and a touchscreen laptop with Win8 recently, and really liked the latter (posted awhile back). I'm also inclined to have an iPad and a conventional laptop instead of a Surface, and use what's needed on any particular day.

But fortunately I don't need to buy anything at the moment.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. It's not evident yet that the Surface or Win8 will turn the Apple/Google tide (like it was with the first iPhone or iPad for example). But just as a slew of tablets failed miserably in the marketplace before the iPad was introduced, the iPad created a new device niche. So it's hard to predict, we'll see...

 

[GrayHare]

I've had the chance to play with a demo Surface Pro and have been very impressed. Ability to run Windows apps is key, and the high res display is beautiful. For those situations when a wireless connection is unsuitable, or you prefer to use a mouse, the USB port comes in handy. This tablet is a winner IMO.

 

[explanade]

Well the 128 GB is sold out in many places but some stores only received one or two.

It got poor marks for short battery life and the fact that you have to use it on a table (not easy to use on lap).

Better Intel processors in the future could make the battery life more competitive.

 

[photoguy]

Was in the microsoft store the other day and played with the surface pro. The main use I could think of it for is running lightroom while traveling. My impressions:

(1) The thing is thick as a laptop (not sure what the actual dimensions are but it looked and felt that way)

(2) The touch cover doesn't work very well for either typing / mouse pointer. I would probably want to get the thicker keyboard version. Although I'm sure that I would get better with the touch cover with more practice i'm not sure it's worth the effort / better than typing on screen.

(3) The kick stand only goes one way. I.e., it doesn't go vertical. One of the reasons I like tablets for browsing is that they have a lot of height for web browsing compared to laptops.

For myself, I see the surface pro primarily as a competitor to ultrabooks as opposed to other tablets.

 

[samclem]

Here's Walt Mossberg's review of the new Dell laptop/tablet for Windows 8.

He likes some things about it, but panned it for size (too thick/heavy) and battery life.

I still think he's being a bit tough on this machine and the concept in general. It sounds like a darn good full-function laptop (that you could use extensively for serious work, etc) and which could also do the tablet stuff, though in a bigger form factor. It weighs about 3 pounds, which is still a lot lighter than the (cheap, functional) laptop I take on the road.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Bumping this thread.

With the MS announcement today and the new version of the Surface launched. Anyone have one or planning to buy? I like the idea of a tablet replacing the laptop need. They are claiming that is mission accomplished. Anyone have experience using it with an opinion on if it can elimiante the need for a desktop/laptop?

 

[explanade]

It's more of a Ultrabook competitor, in terms of price and weight, than a tablet.

 

[ShortInSeattle]

Had anyone bought the Surface Pro ? Any first impression please ?

I've had the Surface Pro (Version One) for about 7 months and I have been very happy with it.. It's replaced my laptop and my iPad - a nice all-in-one device. I especially like the digitizer, the pen "writes" smoothly enough that I can doodle in Photoshop and use the OneNote like a pad of paper. A huge difference from the iPad "fat finger" writing. I also like that I can run my regular software on it, no cheesy "apps." The USB port allows me to plug it right into my TV and watch Hulu (using an HDMI Adapter). I can also use Overdrive to get books right from the library and use it as an e-reader. I've got Office 365 and can easily pop open a powerpoint or Word doc on the go, and I've even connected it to projectors for business meetings without any problems.

I kept my old laptop as a backup, but haven't needed to pull it out.

It's not a perfect device:

1. The screen is too small to work on it comfortably for long periods. (I use my desktop during the workday.)
2. It's not loud enough. If I play a video while I'm cooking dinner, the stovetop fan drowns out the audio.
3. No hdmi port and only one USB port.
4. A tad too heavy.
5. Limited space - I have Office, Photoshop, and Indesign installed - but I've run out of space to install big Adobe apps. I think I can expand the storage a bit via an SD card, but haven't tried.

It sounds like a lot of my quibbles will be fixed in the next version, so I may need to upgrade.

Hope this helps.

SIS

 

[MuirWannabe]

I've had the Surface Pro (Version One) for about 7 months and I have been very happy with it.. It's replaced my laptop and my iPad - a nice all-in-one device. I especially like the digitizer, the pen "writes" smoothly enough that I can doodle in Photoshop and use the OneNote like a pad of paper. A huge difference from the iPad "fat finger" writing. I also like that I can run my regular software on it, no cheesy "apps." The USB port allows me to plug it right into my TV and watch Hulu (using an HDMI Adapter). I can also use Overdrive to get books right from the library and use it as an e-reader. I've got Office 365 and can easily pop open a powerpoint or Word doc on the go, and I've even connected it to projectors for business meetings without any problems.



I kept my old laptop as a backup, but haven't needed to pull it out.



It's not a perfect device:



1. The screen is too small to work on it comfortably for long periods. (I use my desktop during the workday.)

2. It's not loud enough. If I play a video while I'm cooking dinner, the stovetop fan drowns out the audio.

3. No hdmi port and only one USB port.

4. A tad too heavy.

5. Limited space - I have Office, Photoshop, and Indesign installed - but I've run out of space to install big Adobe apps. I think I can expand the storage a bit via an SD card, but haven't tried.



It sounds like a lot of my quibbles will be fixed in the next version, so I may need to upgrade.



Hope this helps.



SIS

Yes, that helps a good bit. If version one works that well for you then I'd assume the new version 3 works even better and may address some of your quibbles.
Thanks SIS

 

[explanade]

You might be able to get a decent laptop, maybe ultra book AND an iPad or Android tablet for the price of some of the Surface Pro 3 SKUs.

All in one is easier to carry if you needed to take both a tablet and a laptop. But if you could get away with just a tablet on trips or for an outing, a tablet by itself is even easier to carry.

This thing is 1.8 pounds, which may or may not include one of the optional (?) keyboard covers. Most tablets are well under a pound now.

 

[photoguy]

This thing is 1.8 pounds, which may or may not include one of the optional (?) keyboard covers. Most tablets are well under a pound now.

I've been very negative on the surface pro in part because of it's larger size, crappy keyboard, and a kickstand which aesthetically makes me want to puke. But it appears that surface pro now has support for the wacom pressure sensitive stylus (not sure when it got this but I don't think it was available initially). Combined with the larger screen size, this might be a good alternative to a wacom cintiq (which itself runs 1-2k depending on size). I don't have much experience using graphics tablets but I can see how this could be a killer feature.

 

[Midpack]

Microsoft still faces an uphill battle in the tablet market. Surface sales reached $494 million in the first quarter of 2014, a 50 percent increase year-over-year. But the company loses money on each device it sells, and its business pales in comparison to Apple’s iPad, which had sales of $7.6 billion in the most recent quarter.

I've used Windows and Office for about 20 years, but a Zune in tablet form?

 

[explanade]

It's had the digitizer in the Surface Pro since the beginning.