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Microsoft Targets iPad Mini in New Acer Iconia Ad

S

santydolby

macrumors member
Oct 18, 2011
68
71
Heck, I'll repeat this.

If there's a device that can potentially kick iPad mini out of its complacency, it is undoubtedly the Samsung note 8.0


With android getting classier, and refined by the day, the note 8.0 is a perfect solution for all uses (reading, writing, drawing, sketching, note making, sharing, browsing, gaming).

It's classy (the plastic design is actually not a downer; most people cover their tablets anyway), buttery smooth, stylish despite not boasting a retina-like display. Its stylus is the best (design, function, location) I've seen yet.

The rest will be mere contenders. The battle will and should boil down to iPad mini and Samsung note 8.0
 
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SgtPepper12

SgtPepper12

macrumors 6502a
Feb 1, 2011
697
673
Germany
Someone I know has this tablet for work. I tried it and opened Office and he just said "Oh no, that doesn't work". Well, it did work, but it felt like manufacturing a watch or something. It was extremely slow, too.
 
M

Millah

macrumors 6502a
Aug 6, 2008
866
515
Mad Mac Maniac said:
It may be a poor device, but I don't know how you can blame its faults on a 1280x800 display when the iPad mini has tremendous reviews and is a 1024×768 display at nearly the same size.....
Click to expand...

Because I guess the only variable to producing a display is how many pixels are on it :rolleyes:

This just in: Theres a whole lot more to making a quality display than just resolution
 
jm001

jm001

macrumors 6502a
Sep 19, 2011
596
123
Office? Doesn't iOS now have Office 365? And isn't MS pushing people to subscribe to 365? That Halo bit, was that all that the Iconia could play of that game before it crashes ?

As for comparing iPad mini to the Samsung Note 8 as someone mentioned, I'm still not sure why you emphasized sketching as iOS has had a slew of sketching apps before Samsung even had the Note. As for styluses I personally like the Bamboo styluses for iOS devices.
 
Winni

Winni

macrumors 68040
Oct 15, 2008
3,207
1,196
Germany.
bb426 said:
....And yet the iPad mini still works 100x better while looking 100x classier, while NOT running Windows 8.

And you can't even compare App Store ecosystems.
Click to expand...

The Iconia runs the FULL version of Windows. No platform has a bigger software ecosystem than Windows. The Iconia can even run Photoshop and Lightroom if you want that. Or whatever business software that was ever written.

I would not buy this version of the Iconia though - its successor is supposed to come out very soon; with a better screen and the next generation of Atom CPUs.
 
Michael Scrip

Michael Scrip

macrumors 604
Mar 4, 2011
7,929
12,480
NC
Hilarious.

One reason people LOVE their iPad is because it's NOT a full Windows PC.

The Windows PC is a wonderful thing... if you're a geek like me.

Otherwise... there's waaay too much overhead for the average user. Windows Update alone is enough to drive someone crazy.

Email, Facebook, web browsing, Candy Crush :) that's how most of the people around me use their iPad. Many of them have not used their PC in months.

Sorry Microsoft... you made your fortune by selling a full operating system to every person by default.

Now... that's not needed anymore for an ever-growing percentage of the population.
 
N

noiseordinance

macrumors regular
Sep 12, 2012
249
8
Just what I've always wanted... an Acer product in my house. It'll fill the void that I have from never having purchased a Packard Bell or E-Machine product.
 
A

alexgowers

macrumors 65816
Jun 3, 2012
1,338
892
You can bang on about specs and numbers and prices but its everything else that actually makes a good product.

An inaccurate LCD is a bad one compared to a smaller res with perfect image reproduction.

Office apps designed for all screen sizes from 24 to 8 inch mean the at no point can they work efficiently.

It's all the little things that count, if you have even a couple of badly aligned touch targets in your software it can make for a frustrating experience, win 8 is that system and they need to just scrap it and have a full touch ui with no compromises like office. Ms will never learn the company is so poorly structured it would take near bankruptcy to force them to become something beautiful.
 
PowerBook-G5

PowerBook-G5

macrumors 65816
Jul 30, 2013
1,243
1,179
Wait...Didn't I just see something like this yesterday? And last week? And the week before? To me, these advertisements that are pretty much PROMOTING buying an iPad over these windows 8 tablets. The windows 8 OS is just disgusting to look at. And if I need Office or Outlook or whatever, I'd rather use it on a LAPTOP, not a cheap tablet.
 
I

Identity Fraud

macrumors 6502
Sep 11, 2009
259
0
jm001 said:
As for comparing iPad mini to the Samsung Note 8 as someone mentioned, I'm still not sure why you emphasized sketching as iOS has had a slew of sketching apps before Samsung even had the Note. As for styluses I personally like the Bamboo styluses for iOS devices.
Click to expand...

There isn't as fine control currently with the iPad screen for drawing with a tablet. If Apple can release a Wascom type precision touch screen that can actually respond to drawing more like taking brush to paper it'll be something really special. That's where I hope apple shifts their focus.
 
Sup3rknova

Sup3rknova

macrumors regular
Feb 11, 2010
150
2
Riverside, CA
Here we go again. I am all for competition but if companies (and they know who they are) would spend more time working and putting out good products rather than just try to bash Apple perhaps it would show in their sales. How many more "look what apples CAN'T DO" commercials will there be? I know Apple did their Mac/PC commercials but at least their sales showed something. Pretty funny.
 
macs4nw

macs4nw

macrumors 601
Sep 21, 2010
4,336
1,933
Next-door from the little old lady from Pasadena..
keysofanxiety said:
Why do Microsoft keep obsessing about things like Office and such? Yes, it can run that stuff -- because it's running bloody Windows 8.

Congratulations, Ballmer. You've got an interface optimised for mouse and keyboard running on a touch-screen tablet. There's no difference to when they brought out the tablet PC around 2001. Apple's iPad was successful because it's a tablet with an OS optimised for touch, and touch only.

To paraphrase what Steve Jobs once said, he mentioned that the most difficult part of a product is deciding what not to put in. And Microsoft have tried making a product that does everything; which means it excels (no pun intended) in nothing.

The term "Jack of all trades, master of **** all" comes to mind.

Competition is good, and benefits the consumer, but Microsoft just don't get it! It's so damn frustrating how a company that big, with that much revenue and R&D can be so incompetent. They've learned absolutely nothing since their last failed endeavour in this field.

Goddammit Microsoft, get it together.
Click to expand...

You've summed it up perfectly! I'd give this post five up-votes if I could.
 
osofast240sx

osofast240sx

macrumors 68030
Mar 25, 2011
2,539
16
santydolby said:
Heck, I'll repeat this.

If there's a device that can potentially kick iPad mini out of its complacency, it is undoubtedly the Samsung note 8.0


With android getting classier, and refined by the day, the note 8.0 is a perfect solution for all uses (reading, writing, drawing, sketching, note making, sharing, browsing, gaming).

It's classy (the plastic design is actually not a downer; most people cover their tablets anyway), buttery smooth, stylish despite not boasting a retina-like display. Its stylus is the best (design, function, location) I've seen yet.

The rest will be mere contenders. The battle will and should boil down to iPad mini and Samsung note 8.0
Click to expand...
Yeah but will this note 8.0 be compatable when Samsung moves off of android OS to Tizen/Intel OS?
 
iSee

iSee

macrumors 68040
Oct 25, 2004
3,539
272
Not a good ad.

Software selection is not something they want to raise in an iPad comparison! Sure it runs full Windows so it can run all of the Windows software. But software designed for a mouse and keyboard is a nightmare on a screen that size. The software runs but is unusable except for small tasks. E.g., Office -- which has been partially optimized for touch -- is painful even on a 10.1" touch screen.

Also comparing the price of the 32GB Iconia to the 32GB iPad is bad since Windows itself fills half the space.

Winni said:
...The Iconia can even run Photoshop and Lightroom if you want that...
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's my point. After trying it, no one would want that.

----

All around, this is a poor tablet. I guess all I could say positively about it is sometimes you need Windows and Office and this is a cheap way to get those and it's easy to bury in a drawer or at the bottom of your bag the rest of the time.
 
Rogifan

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,135
31,185
afin

afin

macrumors member
Feb 17, 2012
98
1
I really think that Microsoft's mistake is acting as though they are competing in the same category as apple/google. They may both be tablets, but the philosophy and intent behind their designs are far and away different...
 
B

BarryL

macrumors 6502
Dec 2, 2012
368
77
I've seen this at Office Depot. It's a cool little device, but it's no match for the iPad mini. Not sure what Mircoshaft is smoking, but it's not a competive product.. Yet
 
S

strizbiz

macrumors newbie
Nov 10, 2007
3
0
We don't need a mablet

If I could run all the apps I run on my ipad, ass efficiently as I do on my Ipad, on another tablet that's cheaper and better then I would have already done it. This add does make me chuckle though, nice try, lol.

Microsoft doesn't really want to compare what apps are available on an Ipad vs what's available on an Acer. Also, what is the point of running windows 8 on a tablet??? Really? Makes as much sense as Apple running mountain lion on an ipad instead of IOS. I have a Mac desktop and a MacBook Pro , I really don't want or need Mountain Lion on my tablet too.
 
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