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Squilly

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 17, 2012
2,260
4
PA
Yeah, I know the Surface Pro 2 is double the price but probably twice as versatile as the iPad. A full fledged Windows 8 OS could run on it while bugs are gone. I plan to use it for school and leisure, which I could do with both but maybe more-so on the Surface than the iPad. I've been thinking this over for weeks now and can't decide. iPad has more apps while Surface has every download you could think of that's on Windows 8...
 

abz1981

macrumors 65816
Jan 3, 2011
1,013
4
Yeah, I know the Surface Pro 2 is double the price but probably twice as versatile as the iPad. A full fledged Windows 8 OS could run on it while bugs are gone. I plan to use it for school and leisure, which I could do with both but maybe more-so on the Surface than the iPad. I've been thinking this over for weeks now and can't decide. iPad has more apps while Surface has every download you could think of that's on Windows 8...

Since your signature says: Soon-to-be iPad 5 ;

I think you may have already made your decision. :D
 

martinm0

macrumors 6502a
Feb 27, 2010
568
25
I'm kinda pumped for the Surface Pro 2 as well. The biggest downsides are cost and its still Windows. I really prefer OSX in general, but I'm finding myself constantly drawn back to the Surface products.

Deep down I know they'll never offer apps/ecosystem that Apple has, but if I can figure out how to use it in my current quiver of tech, I might pick one (assuming they ever launch, lousy wait until mid-December for the 256/512 versions...)
 

karlth

macrumors regular
Apr 13, 2010
210
0
If you want to combine work and play then you really can't beat the new Windows 8.1 Tablets:

For example this one. Full blown Windows 8.1 with USB,HDMI,SD, 64gb for $380.
 

SilverOath

macrumors member
Apr 25, 2013
66
0
Yeah, I know the Surface Pro 2 is double the price but probably twice as versatile as the iPad. A full fledged Windows 8 OS could run on it while bugs are gone. I plan to use it for school and leisure, which I could do with both but maybe more-so on the Surface than the iPad. I've been thinking this over for weeks now and can't decide. iPad has more apps while Surface has every download you could think of that's on Windows 8...

They are not even remotely similar, besides that they're in a 'tablet' form factor.

If you're using it for school, as in writing documents, spread sheets, power point, doing online homework (that often requires plug-ins unavailable for an iPad) then you'll want a full computer oporating system -- which of your options is the MS Surface Pro 2.

If you're just browsing the internet, messaging, and 'light' note taking the iPad with a BlueTooth keyboard can suffice.

The argument there are "more" apps is a bit nieve. It only matters how many apps you plan to use. The one you may use most may not even be available for iPad. Moreover, the Surface Pro is not designed to be an app platform, no matter how fervently MS tries to push it, which is why Surface RT has been a failure.

The Surface Pro is not the 'traditional' tablets similar to your typical iPad or Android no matter how much MS tries to push it. The Surface Pro is a Windows machine in tablet form factor. Whether that suites you or not is something you'll have to figure out -- I personally loved it as a machine for using the stylus and taking notes via OneNote.

However, outside of that I didn't find it very useful. It was noisy and extremely hot, and weighs considerably more than a 'true' iPad styled tablet -- so it was uncomfortable to carry, watching videos, using hand gestures, etc for long duration. Additionally, the lack of a self supported screen/keyboard made it awkward to use in truly mobile/non desk scenarios as you can't just prop it up in your lap with real stability, or screen angel control.

The Surface Pro 2 should be a considerable improvement in increasing its performance to be a real 'desktop' replacement, in the sense that you don't really need a second machine for home / office for normal everyday tasks, thereby making it a better analogy to a laptop, but it's still a jack of all trades, and master at none (except stylus writing).
 

firedept

macrumors 603
Jul 8, 2011
6,277
1,130
Somewhere!
I would look at the MacBook Air instead of SP2, especially if you like the OS X environment. For the money you would spend on SP2, the MBA just seems to make more sense.

Then between iPad and MBA, if for school, again it would be MBA. The MBA for school would be more versatile. As well, you have access to all the apps.
 

Giev

macrumors member
Aug 20, 2013
94
7
I would look at the MacBook Air instead of SP2, especially if you like the OS X environment. For the money you would spend on SP2, the MBA just seems to make more sense.

Then between iPad and MBA, if for school, again it would be MBA. The MBA for school would be more versatile. As well, you have access to all the apps.

+1

A friend of mine tried a Surface dor some time, and got rid of it. He found the tablets to be too small to make any documents (especially excel)
 

phrehdd

macrumors 601
Oct 25, 2008
4,316
1,312
Always hate that people are sad enough to PAY to be Micro$oft beta testers. Look at the debacle with Vista.

There was previous to the iPad a company that was licensed by Apple to modify Apple laptops into touch screen tablets. The Keyboard was still present but if I recall, folded on to the back so you had a choice of just touch screen a la iPad or full on laptop with keyboard. The beauty of course is you had really a full blown laptop with touch screen ability when needed.

As for me, I have zero use for a touch screen that is powerful beyond an iPad. I prefer a real keyboard and cursor device. Others may have needs that differ and in that want a more powerful touch screen type device. Let's see how Apple and Micro$oft battle it out and then laugh when Google beats them both or Samsung perhaps with a Linux based system.
 

aloshka

macrumors 65816
Aug 30, 2009
1,437
744
I'm kinda pumped for the Surface Pro 2 as well. The biggest downsides are cost and its still Windows. I really prefer OSX in general, but I'm finding myself constantly drawn back to the Surface products.

Deep down I know they'll never offer apps/ecosystem that Apple has, but if I can figure out how to use it in my current quiver of tech, I might pick one (assuming they ever launch, lousy wait until mid-December for the 256/512 versions...)

I'm kind of liking the idea of a backlit keyboard that is thinner than the current surface's keyboard. The problem, I think, is in the ecosystem. iPad has a ton of unlimited apps, but MS has very few. And the few they have aren't really high-quality. They do have outlook on 8.1 RT now (I know a lot of people hate it, but I love it more than Mac Mail as it has so much organization tools instead of just flagging and folders).

Dying to see iPad 5. If all they did is change the size and add a finger print sensor, I'm thinking I might switch to surface rt.

----------

Always hate that people are sad enough to PAY to be Micro$oft beta testers. Look at the debacle with Vista.

There was previous to the iPad a company that was licensed by Apple to modify Apple laptops into touch screen tablets. The Keyboard was still present but if I recall, folded on to the back so you had a choice of just touch screen a la iPad or full on laptop with keyboard. The beauty of course is you had really a full blown laptop with touch screen ability when needed.

As for me, I have zero use for a touch screen that is powerful beyond an iPad. I prefer a real keyboard and cursor device. Others may have needs that differ and in that want a more powerful touch screen type device. Let's see how Apple and Micro$oft battle it out and then laugh when Google beats them both or Samsung perhaps with a Linux based system.

I think it's safe to say that M$ should no longer have a dollar sign after it. It really should be A$$$$PLE now as Apple wins when it comes to revenue and making the right marketing decisions to make more $$$
 

MacPC

macrumors regular
Sep 25, 2006
213
1
Windows 8. YUCK! the ugliest UI I have ever seen. What the hell were the UI guys thinking? Get an iPad!
 

RAPTORSKI

macrumors regular
Jan 24, 2013
160
0
British Columbia
My iPad 2 does almost everything I want still but I might update to iPad 5 early next year if it has TOUCH ID. Haha it is a really cool feature I need to have (not in an iPhone)!!

However that is where Windows 8 and Samsung Android tablets with features such as multiple apps on screen could convince me to stay away from an iPad. We will see!
 

Squilly

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 17, 2012
2,260
4
PA
Windows 8. YUCK! the ugliest UI I have ever seen. What the hell were the UI guys thinking? Get an iPad!

Look at iOS 7 and add it to the analogy to iOS 6. Some people hate it because they're redundant to change. Windows 7 to Windows 8 big difference was Metro and loss of the start button (brought back in 8.1). From the time I had my RT, I thoroughly enjoyed Metro and the features of Windows 8 on a tablet.
 

adildacoolset

macrumors 65816
I'm kind of liking the idea of a backlit keyboard that is thinner than the current surface's keyboard. The problem, I think, is in the ecosystem. iPad has a ton of unlimited apps, but MS has very few. And the few they have aren't really high-quality. They do have outlook on 8.1 RT now (I know a lot of people hate it, but I love it more than Mac Mail as it has so much organization tools instead of just flagging and folders).

Dying to see iPad 5. If all they did is change the size and add a finger print sensor, I'm thinking I might switch to surface rt.

----------



I think it's safe to say that M$ should no longer have a dollar sign after it. It really should be A$$$$PLE now as Apple wins when it comes to revenue and making the right marketing decisions to make more $$$

The unfortunate part is that apple products are actually good, and get good reviews.
 

GoCubsGo

macrumors Nehalem
Feb 19, 2005
35,741
153
Didn't you just sell a Surface? I would think that would be the reason why not to get another unless you were selling it to off set the price of a new Surface.

But, since you sell iPads and/or iPhones to the Poles, I would stick with the iPad. You don't want to sell a product that you don't believe in, do you?
 

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,565
Yeah, I know the Surface Pro 2 is double the price but probably twice as versatile as the iPad. A full fledged Windows 8 OS could run on it while bugs are gone. I plan to use it for school and leisure, which I could do with both but maybe more-so on the Surface than the iPad. I've been thinking this over for weeks now and can't decide. iPad has more apps while Surface has every download you could think of that's on Windows 8...

I had the pleasure to use Windows 8 yesterday. I wouldn't use it for school and leisure. I would use it if I had done something awful and felt that I need punishment.

Really, get an iPad if a tablet is capable enough for you, and get a MacBook Air if it's not. Surface Pro combines the worst of both worlds.
 

Squilly

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 17, 2012
2,260
4
PA
Didn't you just sell a Surface? I would think that would be the reason why not to get another unless you were selling it to off set the price of a new Surface.

But, since you sell iPads and/or iPhones to the Poles, I would stick with the iPad. You don't want to sell a product that you don't believe in, do you?

Sold to offset cost of iPad or next Surface.
 

CoMoMacUser

macrumors 65816
Jun 28, 2012
1,024
340
I love my iPad 1, but I just bought a Lenovo IdeaPad Lynx because I wasn't interested in spending several hundred dollars for a new tablet, whether it's an iPad 5 or a Surface 2. I paid $215 for the Lynx, which lists for $600, partly because it's a refurb.

I have an iMac and an MBA, but my phone is Android. I use a lot of third-party cloud services (e.g., Dropbox) to sync bookmarks, content, contacts, etc. across iOS, OS X and Android, and it didn't seem as if would be too much trouble to extend those to Windows. I've had the Lynx only a few days, but so far, so good.
 

adildacoolset

macrumors 65816
Microsoft was late to the party. They really do make solid tablets.

They definitely should have acted fast. I think that Microsoft should not have expected the surface pro to have sold any better than the tablets before the iPad.

It has no real fundamental change from those. It is still stupidly expensive, has a meh battery life, most of the apps aren't optimized for touch, has a fan in it, etc.

It only works for a small group of people. But I don't really see why some people should be surprised that the surface isn't successful.
 

tibas92013

macrumors 6502
Jun 2, 2013
486
87
Costa Rica
Microsoft New

In the year 2008 I bought a new Microsoft Zune MP3 player and you all know what happened to that(discontinued). This may very well happen with the SP2 and beyond if their problems keep mounting with this device.
 

Squilly

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 17, 2012
2,260
4
PA
They definitely should have acted fast. I think that Microsoft should not have expected the surface pro to have sold any better than the tablets before the iPad.

It has no real fundamental change from those. It is still stupidly expensive, has a meh battery life, most of the apps aren't optimized for touch, has a fan in it, etc.

It only works for a small group of people. But I don't really see why some people should be surprised that the surface isn't successful.
Which is why Metro was created...
 

adildacoolset

macrumors 65816
Which is why Metro was created...

Do you seriously want to compare the number of classic windows programs to the metro-optimised ones? They probably have like a 10000:1 ratio!

If you want something for school, as pointed out before, get a fully fledged laptop like an air. For a similar amount of money, you'll have more storage, a proper keyboard, more ports, and much, much more battery life. And you can chip in a bit more to get a nexus 7 tablet if you really want the touch UI and games.
 
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