Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPad Air vs. Microsoft's Surface Go: Which Is a Better Laptop Replacement?

mi7chy said:
Abandonware that hasn't been updated since 2017 and has outdated Python 3.6 compared to current 3.7.4 on python.org.

Nothing comparable to 'pkg install python' on free Termux which gets you the latest Python 3.7.4 for mobile ARM.
Click to expand...

Yup, I just noticed that it says latest Python 3.5.

A quick search I found Blink Shell for iOS, how is it compared to Termux?
 
Lalatoon said:
I have read a lot of arguments already some are good and some are not so good.

But honestly we can only have a clear answer to this question if we must first answer the question with complete certainty, WHAT IS A LAPTOP?

Until each of us has different opinion of what is a laptop, then this thread can go on forever.

Yes, iOS/iPad can do this and do that, but does it mean it's already a laptop? It maybe able to to do things that traditional laptop does but the question can it be consider a laptop because of those functionality?

Yes a motorcycle can bring you from point A to point B like a car but it does not mean its already a car. A motorcycle can be very efficient in navigating tight spaces in a heavy traffic situation and saves a lot of gas but it is and will never replace a car. A motorcycle provides solution for a certain set of problems and this overlaps with the same problem that the car is providing a solution for but it does not mean the motorcycle can replace the car because there are some real world problems that the motorcycle has no solution for.

Going back to the question, WHAT IS A LAPTOP?
Does it need to have a physical keyboard and pointing device to be called a laptop?
What kind of functionality is required form its operating system to be called a laptop?
What real world problem it needs to solve to be called a laptop?

And there is the question of what does the article mean for "REPLACEMENT"?
Does it mean that the tablet will totally render the laptop devices obsolete that it will totally remove the laptop from the market?
Or does it mean that it will just move some user from laptop to tablet since their computing needs can be solve by using a much mobile computing device, the tablet.
Click to expand...
A computer that can run Linux Distro like Ubuntu or Redhat, give you full access to the command prompt, let you compile kernels, write terminal and graphics applications, scripts , etc.
 
Lalatoon said:
Yup, I just noticed that it says latest Python 3.5.

A quick search I found Blink Shell for iOS, how is it compared to Termux?
Click to expand...

Blink, mosh and tmux are making me a very happy home server administrator. For plain old SSH I find Blink just stays out of your way, which I like. I switched from Prompt around 6 months ago I think and never looked back. Only downside is there isn't much in the way of profile management in Blink, so if you're administering many servers with it, that might be an issue for you. I haven't tried Termux so I can't comment on that.
 
jagooch said:
A computer that can run Linux Distro like Ubuntu or Redhat, give you full access to the command prompt, let you compile kernels, write terminal and graphics applications, scripts , etc.
Click to expand...
In that case, Surface Go/Pro is a laptop :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: jagooch
I used to consider the Go at times, thinking it was a really great compromise/proposition. I used one in-store and the lag from hitting the start button to seeing it on screen was what put me off. It's cripplingly slow. You guys say 'serious people' wouldn't use an iPad? But seriously, you're going to get more done, faster and be more productive on the iPad. Period. Oh, you can't restore another iPad from DFU mode from the iPad? How many times do YOU or anyone you know doing that on a regular basis? ...
 
  • Like
Reactions: eltoslightfoot
jagooch said:
A computer that can run Linux Distro like Ubuntu or Redhat, give you full access to the command prompt, let you compile kernels, write terminal and graphics applications, scripts , etc.
Click to expand...

Why are the needs of a software developer more important than the needs of a graphics artist?
 
Lalatoon said:
I guess because software developer developed the tools needed by graphic artists :p
Click to expand...

Next up: road-builders who put their needs first and foremost. "What, you want to ride a bicycle on this? That's not even a real vehicle!"
 
chucker23n1 said:
Next up: road-builders who put their needs first and foremost. "What, you want to ride a bicycle on this? That's not even a real vehicle!"
Click to expand...
As Joker said, why so serious? :p

ve·hi·cle
/ˈvēək(ə)l,ˈvēˌhik(ə)l/
noun
noun: vehicle; plural noun: vehicles
1. a thing used for transporting people or goods, especially on land, such as a car, truck, or cart.

If a cart is a vehicle I think bicycle is a vehicle too :p it can transport people or goods and it is especially on land :)

Come to think about it, if a road builder demands that we let him through first because he will be building the road that we will be going through, I think its best to let him through first because we will not go anywhere if we don't :p that is if a road builder can build road as we are just about to pass though it.
 
Lalatoon said:
As Joker said, why so serious? :p
Click to expand...

Soooooo you're likening yourself to a fictional sociopathic mass murderer? Weird flex but ok.

Lalatoon said:
ve·hi·cle
/ˈvēək(ə)l,ˈvēˌhik(ə)l/
noun
noun: vehicle; plural noun: vehicles
1. a thing used for transporting people or goods, especially on land, such as a car, truck, or cart.

If a cart is a vehicle I think bicycle is a vehicle too :p it can transport people or goods and it is especially on land :)
Click to expand...

Yes, thanks for explaining my point.

If being a software developer is a serious profession, so is being a graphics artist.
 
chucker23n1 said:
Soooooo you're likening yourself to a fictional sociopathic mass murderer? Weird flex but ok.
Click to expand...
Nope.. I just quoted Heath Ledger as Joker which is by the way the best Joker of all time.

chucker23n1 said:
Yes, thanks for explaining my point.

If being a software developer is a serious profession, so is being a graphics artist.
Click to expand...

Yup, graphics artist is a serious profession but still if we are to rank needs, I think it is fair to say that the need of a software developer overshadow the need of a graphics artist :) but of course its not absolute concept :p like with Einstein theory of relativity :p
 
Lalatoon said:
if we are to rank needs, I think it is fair to say that the need of a software developer
Click to expand...

As a software developer, I don’t see why. Most of the time, makers make stuff not for their own profession but for others. Most baked goods are eaten by non-bakers. Most cars aren’t driven by mechanics.

Sure, there are tools restricted or prioritized by trade — most people aren’t permitted to fly an airplane. But I don’t think a computer should be one of them. It should be opened up to more and more people.

In fact, I’d argue that was one of Jobs’s core tenets even back in the late 70s.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 0989382 and eltoslightfoot
chucker23n1 said:
As a software developer, I don’t see why. Most of the time, makers make stuff not for their own profession but for others. Most baked goods are eaten by non-bakers. Most cars aren’t driven by mechanics.

Sure, there are tools restricted or prioritized by trade — most people aren’t permitted to fly an airplane. But I don’t think a computer should be one of them. It should be opened up to more and more people.

In fact, I’d argue that was one of Jobs’s core tenets even back in the late 70s.
Click to expand...
No developer would use the Go anyway. They would get a Surface Pro. Or a Macbook Pro and an iPad as a companion device. For me, I use a Mac desktop and a Surface Pro for my companion device. iPad OS looks promising though. We will see.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 0989382
eltoslightfoot said:
No developer would use the Go anyway. They would get a Surface Pro. Or a Macbook Pro and an iPad as a companion device. For me, I use a Mac desktop and a Surface Pro for my companion device. iPad OS looks promising though. We will see.
Click to expand...
got imac 2017,ipad mini 2019.. hp laptop.Laptop not suitable for daily code..Ipad just a leisure mode home if i charge my phone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jagooch and eltoslightfoot
0989382 said:
I used to consider the Go at times, thinking it was a really great compromise/proposition. I used one in-store and the lag from hitting the start button to seeing it on screen was what put me off. It's cripplingly slow. You guys say 'serious people' wouldn't use an iPad? But seriously, you're going to get more done, faster and be more productive on the iPad. Period. Oh, you can't restore another iPad from DFU mode from the iPad? How many times do YOU or anyone you know doing that on a regular basis? ...
Click to expand...
I have used a Surface Pro 3,4 and Surface Book 2 and my girl has a surface go and I can tell you it is anything but crippingly slow. You are using a store demo with who knows what installed and running. Never base something of that on any Pc, windows or Mac. No one is saying serious people don't use an iPad but the problem with the iPad is its only seriously productive if the work flow you want is optimized specifically for the ipad unlike surfaces where you can optimize the workflow of anything any way you want. The iPad just does not have the versatility of the Surface Go, much less another tablet that isn't neutered by ios/ipadOS
 
derekamoss said:
I have used a Surface Pro 3,4 and Surface Book 2 and my girl has a surface go and I can tell you it is anything but crippingly slow. You are using a store demo with who knows what installed and running. Never base something of that on any Pc, windows or Mac. No one is saying serious people don't use an iPad but the problem with the iPad is its only seriously productive if the work flow you want is optimized specifically for the ipad unlike surfaces where you can optimize the workflow of anything any way you want. The iPad just does not have the versatility of the Surface Go, much less another tablet that isn't neutered by ios/ipadOS
Click to expand...
I would never use a Surface Go. Get a Surface Pro. It isn't that much more, and it is way faster.
 
  • Like
Reactions: derekamoss
eltoslightfoot said:
No developer would use the Go anyway. They would get a Surface Pro. Or a Macbook Pro and an iPad as a companion device. For me, I use a Mac desktop and a Surface Pro for my companion device. iPad OS looks promising though. We will see.
Click to expand...

iPad has very powerful hardware but the OS is not so good because it is so restrictive and apps are heavily curated. Hopefully in iPadOS it will have a decent multi-tasking feature but I think it is still not enough. I was able to create an Android Kivy App (basicall Python using Kivy API for UI) using an Android tablet and it was a success given how powerful Android OS is compared to iOS but still I would say for this kind of things full desktop OS are still much better like macOS, Windows or Linux. In this context, Windows tablet is a better laptop replacement.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jagooch and derekamoss
Lalatoon said:
iPad has very powerful hardware but the OS is not so good because it is so restrictive and apps are heavily curated. Hopefully in iPadOS it will have a decent multi-tasking feature but I think it is still not enough. I was able to create an Android Kivy App (basicall Python using Kivy API for UI) using an Android tablet and it was a success given how powerful Android OS is compared to iOS but still I would say for this kind of things full desktop OS are still much better like macOS, Windows or Linux. In this context, Windows tablet is a better laptop replacement.
Click to expand...
we need vscode on android or ios o_O .only solution now remote
 
  • Like
Reactions: jagooch
derekamoss said:
I have used a Surface Pro 3,4 and Surface Book 2 and my girl has a surface go and I can tell you it is anything but crippingly slow. You are using a store demo with who knows what installed and running. Never base something of that on any Pc, windows or Mac. No one is saying serious people don't use an iPad but the problem with the iPad is its only seriously productive if the work flow you want is optimized specifically for the ipad unlike surfaces where you can optimize the workflow of anything any way you want. The iPad just does not have the versatility of the Surface Go, much less another tablet that isn't neutered by ios/ipadOS
Click to expand...

The Surface Pro / Book has no bearing on the point I'm making about the Go, they have proper processors so that doesn't surprise me. The Store Demo wasn't a demanding application at all, and i3 £300 HP crapbooks were able to run noticeably better than the Go running it.

That's all fair and valid about the iPad / iOS, it's workflow dependent. But nobody with a serious workflow can seriously use a Surface Go. Absolutely not, I challenge you to try it, actually. It's that slow. Perhaps it's the 64GB eMMC model, but still.

Can Windows be any more productive than iOS on such a tiny display? With crippling speed / hardware holding it back? I doubt it. Try any kind of gaming on the Go... video editing... processing tasks, and suddenly, the iPad and iOS are ahead.

What is the Go any good for, anyway? ...
[doublepost=1567755608][/doublepost]
chucker23n1 said:
As a software developer, I don’t see why. Most of the time, makers make stuff not for their own profession but for others. Most baked goods are eaten by non-bakers. Most cars aren’t driven by mechanics.

Sure, there are tools restricted or prioritized by trade — most people aren’t permitted to fly an airplane. But I don’t think a computer should be one of them. It should be opened up to more and more people.

In fact, I’d argue that was one of Jobs’s core tenets even back in the late 70s.
Click to expand...

That was exactly Jobs persuasion to people... most people can drive a car without knowing how it works inside and out. It's so true!
 
  • Like
Reactions: jagooch
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back