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First Reviews of Microsoft Surface Pro: Good Display, Full Windows 8, Compromised Experience
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It depends on how much priority you put on having a decent device in each class vs a compromised "meh" unit in both classes, but this is exactly the problem with it in my opinion. That and the fact that being Windows x86/x64, it is compatible with any windows malware that infects any other windows 8 PC.
And the massive deal breaker? no LTE or even 3G on the pro.
Excuse me what? MS has built an ultra portable laptop/tablet machine and not included connectivity for when you're out of the office? Sure, maybe it will be fine AT HOME. But why the PRO label, in that case?
lol.
It's very much a typical microsoft "version 1" product.
I'd wait 12-18 months for the bugfix release, with an ultra-low power Core i7, Windows 8 SP1, less weight, LTE and better battery life (i'd guess 6 hours, which will make it far more usable away from AC).
edit:
With regards to the current iteration of the Surface Pro:
I suspect that you can carry BOTH an 11" MBA AND an iPad Mini with less weight, better battery (especially when you combine the tablet + MBA life - but both devices will beat life of the surface pro on their own), usable keyboard and trackpad than you get with a single surface pro.
Especially when you consider you'll likely want a mouse for the Surface to make it usable when in laptop (err... "portable desktop" as it can't be used on lap) mode
(yeah it has a pen, but still... when at sitting at a desk my screen is not in arm's reach for a start...)That way you get 2 good devices in their respective classes, and still aren't dealing with the heat, viruses, weight, crappy input devices, etc.
Sure, you'll pay a little bit more? But IMHO it's worth it.
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It depends on how much priority you put on having a decent device in each class vs a compromised "meh" unit in both classes, but this is exactly the problem with it in my opinion. That and the fact that being Windows x86/x64, it is compatible with any windows malware that infects any other windows 8 PC.
And the massive deal breaker? no LTE or even 3G on the pro.
Excuse me what? MS has built an ultra portable laptop/tablet machine and not included connectivity for when you're out of the office? Sure, maybe it will be fine AT HOME. But why the PRO label, in that case?
lol.
It's very much a typical microsoft "version 1" product.
I'd wait 12-18 months for the bugfix release, with an ultra-low power Core i7, Windows 8 SP1, less weight, LTE and better battery life (i'd guess 6 hours, which will make it far more usable away from AC).
edit:
With regards to the current iteration of the Surface Pro:
I suspect that you can carry BOTH an 11" MBA AND an iPad Mini with less weight, better battery (especially when you combine the tablet + MBA life - but both devices will beat life of the surface pro on their own), usable keyboard and trackpad than you get with a single surface pro.
Especially when you consider you'll likely want a mouse for the Surface to make it usable when in laptop (err... "portable desktop" as it can't be used on lap) mode
That way you get 2 good devices in their respective classes, and still aren't dealing with the heat, viruses, weight, crappy input devices, etc.
Sure, you'll pay a little bit more? But IMHO it's worth it.
Does your Macbook Pro come with LTE? Didn't think so. The Pro label is not a misnomer. It is simply a reference that you can productive with it. And being productive for most people means being able to comfortably and efficiently word process and work in Excel and PowerPoint.
So you would rather pay $2000 for two separate devices, carry around two sets of chargers and lug all of them around? That would be worth the expense and energy for you? Fair enough, mate. But I somehow doubt that most people will choose to do the same. Just as most people have stopped carrying PDAs, iPods and dumbphones.
This first iteration is not up to standard. Yet. With Haswell's reported battery and power efficiency, you could be looking at a Surface 2 that is thinner than 12mm, comes in at around 700g and has a battery life of 8 hours. For reference's sake, the iPad comes in at something like 9mm and 650g. Do you think any sane person in the world would buy the high end iPad or low end MBA in that scenario?
If Microsoft are smart, they'd probably increase the size of the screen by a little to allow more space for a bigger battery whilst being able to thin the machine down to tablet-like levels. They'll probably have to minimise the bezel to help with this but I could see an 11.5" Surface succeeding, if it is light and has great battery life. Bear in mind that although the current iPad is listed at 9.7", it has huge bezels. Nexus 10 also has big bezels. It could definitely be done.
My macbook pro isn't (and doesn't claim to be) a tablet aimed at business users.
An MBA 11" + ipad mini comes in well under $2000. And yes, I'd rather have the 2 devices.
No i don't need to carry both around everywhere - i can take the iPad when i know i won't need the bulk, but if i am doing a trip, taking both an MBA and an iPad mini will give me vastly more usable battery and STILL be likely LESS WEIGHT than a single surface plus it's large 45 watt power brick. Plus a mouse. And I won't have to deal with a crappy keyboard.
Every time you use a surface pro in tablet mode, you're going to be carrying that big brick around with crappy battery life, a dearth of touch apps and a keyboard you can't use on your lap.
And yes, I agree version 2 will be the one to go for.
Hence my comments that it was a "typical microsoft version 1 product"
It's designed by committee and not by people who have actually used it, it would appear.
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It depends on how much priority you put on having a decent device in each class vs a compromised "meh" unit in both classes, but this is exactly the problem with it in my opinion. That and the fact that being Windows x86/x64, it is compatible with any windows malware that infects any other windows 8 PC.
And the massive deal breaker? no LTE or even 3G on the pro.
Excuse me what? MS has built an ultra portable laptop/tablet machine and not included connectivity for when you're out of the office? Sure, maybe it will be fine AT HOME. But why the PRO label, in that case?
lol.
It's very much a typical microsoft "version 1" product.
I'd wait 12-18 months for the bugfix release, with an ultra-low power Core i7, Windows 8 SP1, less weight, LTE and better battery life (i'd guess 6 hours, which will make it far more usable away from AC).
edit:
With regards to the current iteration of the Surface Pro:
I suspect that you can carry BOTH an 11" MBA AND an iPad Mini with less weight, better battery (especially when you combine the tablet + MBA life - but both devices will beat life of the surface pro on their own), usable keyboard and trackpad than you get with a single surface pro.
Especially when you consider you'll likely want a mouse for the Surface to make it usable when in laptop (err... "portable desktop" as it can't be used on lap) mode
That way you get 2 good devices in their respective classes, and still aren't dealing with the heat, viruses, weight, crappy input devices, etc.
Sure, you'll pay a little bit more? But IMHO it's worth it.
I see what you mean since the Macbook Air and Macbook Pro's have built in LTE. That's why they call it the Macbook Pro.
you dont really need that, you can always create wifi hotspot with your phone and connect to it with the tablet.
I'm sure that a lot of people will say that the Surface Pro is fine for them too. Fact of the matter is that single core ARMv7 Cortex A8 wasn't fast then and isn't fast now. The GPU was okay for its time but wasn't up to snuff to play the more demanding games that have since come out. It didn't have enough RAM either. It was a BAD product, it was just not really ready for prime time. Case in point the original iPad didn't get iOS 6 and had a form factor refresh after only one year (compared to Apple's normal 2 year cadence).
I have an iPad 3, the resolution is great but it was half baked from the perspective of both charging and GPU performance. You using and being happy with a product is not mutually exclusive with the product having some deficiencies.
Look, Intel's Core architecture is still too power hungry to provide all day battery life in something the size of tablet, I think there can be a lot analogies drawn between the Surface Pro and the first generation iPad.
It's a brand new product space, converging tablets, Ultrabooks, and Wacom tech. People are trying to compare it to whatever product space they're familiar with because I guess that's human nature. Kinda like how everyone was calling the iPad a giant iPod Touch back when they had no clue what they could do with it. Or when the smartphone came out, people were going it's a crappy phone, no it's a crappy pda, the camera on it sucks, it's too expensive, battery life is a joke.
You think like that, you're totally missing the disruptive nature of the device
It was or is, even so that is not a negative, some have said that is the point, that extra screen space can be extremely useful and even I felt the first iPad was a joke for many reasons, once the iPad 2 and 3 were released it got better and they became far more useful.
I do like that the cameras FINALLY have gotten good enough on smart phones to where they can replace a point and shoot without too much trouble, for someone that takes photos here and there it works amazingly well.
Some still see no value in these devices, funny when there was a time I thought, my life does not call for a iPhone, bought one and found MANY uses for it.
Not so massive deal breaker; as long as I can connect an USB dongle with LTE/3G or use wifi and a mobile router life is fine. Same way as with MBA or MBP, Lenovo and Dell . Even more: I don't think that all devices need a SIM slot. On one side too many contracts with multiple SIMs or on the other side too many SIM swaps. My current iPad is Wifi only; the next iPad will be the same. In case I would get a Surface Pro having that wifi only is perfectly fine and "Pro" enough.
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To me it's not a disruptive device but a device full of compromises by trying to be all things to all people. I think it's disingenuous to call it a tablet but then when people complain about battery life say but it's really an Ultrabook.
Obviously when you design something there are compromises and trade offs that need to be made. iPad min not having retina display was most likely a consequence of Apple deciding thin, light and great battery life outweighed killer display right now. Apple would rather have the mini be great in certain areas than so-so in all areas. In my opinion Microsoft should have done the same. Commit to either making a killer touch screen Ultrabook or a killer tablet that they could position as allowing you to be more productive with than the iPad or Nexus. Right now, based on reviews, it sounds like Surface isn't killer anything.
True. Mine is pretty slow, but that usually translates to a first world problem: waiting a few seconds longer for a web page to load, or missing out on the latest games (about which I just don't care).
It's still a pretty nice device, which I'll keep till it craps out.
And it had one killer feature: for a while it was the only iPad that existed!
Don't forget that iPhone 1 wasn't that great either... no apps, no 3G, poor battery life, poor call quality compared to phones that were already on the market, no MS exchange integration, etc. Yes, it had a great user interface, but there were many shortcomings in it as well.
As for the Surface being designed by committee...do you really think that 1 and only 1 person at Apple designed the iPhone or iPad? Yes, Steve drove overall design, but I'm damn sure that he and Ive received both solicited and unsolicited advice.
All in all, no one seems to be sure what Surface Pro is. Ultrabook or tablet? Does anyone know what Surface RT is? A tablet without apps and native email client...Surface Pro - a tablet with battery life of a netbook... Jacks of all trades sometimes might be not good at single functions they've been designed for. A tablet without mobile communications is a poor design. Ultrabook for which keyboard you have pay extra is a poor design. Applications designed for desktop on tablet is a poor design. For example, desktop Garageband on iPad would be impossible to use because its so CPU heavy. But a iPad Garageband just works. Desktop Photoshop on iPad would be overkill. But iPhoto for iPad would be fine. Don't see how the legacy Windows apps on the poor Surface could be a great advantage. They all are not optimized. And the Windows molasses on a tablet itself (30 GB installation! - really?) is a poor design and the CPU and battery have to move that molasses just for email or web browsing or a light word processing, even an Excel sheet... Let's see how it sells.
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The one thing I can't accept about the surface pro is the battery life under 4 hours.
If you're gonna leverage productivity as a selling point, the key factor is software. The productivity software that people who talk about wanting to do "real work" are referring to doesn't exist on ARM and thanks to Apple, Google etc applying downward pressure on app price points, it's not gonna be developed any time soon if at all. So you have to go with x86. Knowing that Haswell/Skylake will eventually close the gap with ARM enough to make x86 viable on mobile, and that each CPU has its own ecosystem with x86 being more powerful, I think they're smart for being first to market with an x86 mobile device. The market leader, Apple, can't do anything right now because they've banked the future of their mobile devices on ARM staying on top indefinitely. They'd have to radically blowup iOS to access the x86 ecosystem. The other key player, Google, is still trying to figure out how to make money off Android.
Far as reviews, Anandtech has the best one I've read. Mixed but objective with a lot of benchmarks and technical detail.
Techcrunch had a good article on how they designed it
Um, did you actually read the reviews? LOL
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The presumption you are making is that the rest of the world, including Apple, will stand still during this time. Apple also has a world class desktop OS which they can also "mobilize" or "hybridize" if needed. The reason they haven't done so yet is because it is simply not practical. Also, the original MacBook Air was much better received by the industry and consumers than is this Surface thing.
We all buy Nvidia GPUs, don't we? So what Nvidia is thinking?
Nvidia: ARM supercomputer to be more efficient than x86
Sylvie Barak
12/6/2011 12:07 PM EST
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-...-says-ARM-supercomputer-to-be-more-efficient-
SAN FRANCISCO--An ARM CPU is inherently more efficient than an x86 CPU and therefore best suited toward the high performance computing needs of the future, according to Nvidia Corp.
... only real advantage to x86 systems was that they could run operating systems like Microsoft Windows faster, but that when it came to needing maximum performance on minimum power, ARM was the future, and therefore a better option for supercomputing...
Intel has fab and process technology. Does Nvidia have a fab?
Besides circuit design, CPU power consumption and performance depend on process technology too.
You seem to have missed the point that not a single Mac Book Pro model has LTE or 3G. Never had. LOL for that PRO label, right? Unlike iPad, Surface PRO has a full featured OS and not a toy one. One can simply plug LTE/3G modem into USB port.
Well, I'm ordering one. My job requires me to use Windows, but I like the look of the Surface Pro anyway. Very small, and I can use it as a consumption device more comfortably than I could a laptop on flights etc.
Also, it's pretty powerful when your current most up to date system is from 2006
Also, it's pretty powerful when your current most up to date system is from 2006
Believe me, I was in the same boat for awhile. In fact, up until this literally Christmas I thought it was stupid. Heck, even when I got the tablet with the keyboard I thought it was dumb. Then I used it for an extended period of time.
It actually ends up feeling quite natural and now when I use other laptops, I'm often touching their screens in hopes of really "interacting" with the links or applications, etc. For whatever reason, I'd much prefer scrolling using a touch screen computer. Selecting specific things is more comfortable as well. The mouse has it's place, to be sure, but I really do prefer a lot of things on the tablet. Scrolling through email, browsing a website with large tiles. It's really hard to explain but I assure you if you use one for like, two days, you'll truly come to appreciate and like it.
Plus, it's detachable. I have amazing battery life as a laptop, and amazing battery life as a tablet. Sure, there's some things that require heavy-duty power and that's where the desktop comes in. But from now on, my laptops are going to be touch-screen. And this is coming from a guy who walked into Best Buy and thought it was completely absurd just the week before.