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Microsoft Announces New 'Surface' Tablet, New Hardware and Software Based on Windows 8
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I agree. Now if you say anything favoring Apple you get down ranked and anything favoring Microsoft/Android gets upranked.
Considering it's a tablet designed top to bottom by MS for their own operating system, it damn well better.
This is the biggest question of them all, and the one thing that will make or break the Surface.
That EEE Slate dude guy posted up above? Everything about it is top notch. It's a solidly built machine, and the Wacom digitizer practically sells itself. When I first saw pictures of it, I thought it'd be my first tablet.
It has one problem though. One HUGE problem. One problem so big, it kills the entire machine. The battery. It sucks. I mean SUUUHHHKKKS. You will get, maybe, possibly, on a good day, 3 hours out of it before you have to recharge it. And that's just from surfing on the internet. Running Zbrush like that guy does up above? I bet he's only able to use it for 45 minute or so. When I read about that, I quietly shelved the idea of picking one up for myself.
A tablet has to, and I mean absolutely has to last a goodly bit while running off the battery. Unlike a laptop, which you're likely to be using on a table no matter where your using it, you'll be holding a tablet in your hand at least 80% of the time. They're more personal devices by design. Having to plug it into a wall to use it is much more uncomfortable to use in comparison, and defeats the purpose of the thing. If it only lasts a couple of hours on a charge, you might as well get a laptop.
If the Surface Pro lasts below 4 hours on a charge, I'll consider it DOA. It'll have to at least match the Macbook Air on that front to have a chance at success.
No you don't.
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Oh please, it's not anywhere like you describe. If you say biased stuff that's FUD, regarding any company or individual, you get downranked. If you have sensible arguments, no matter the company or individual, you get upranked usually.
For many artists these things are not competing with an iPad. They are competing with a Wacom Cintiq. The samsung slate costs $1300 and it has an SSD and Core i5 processor in it, compared with a 12 inch cintiq ($1000).
The samsung model has twice the battery life - but still not great under load like that. The macbook pro, however, pushing zBrush and a wacom tablet will also get crappy battery life. It's just the nature of the beast. Plugging it in is no problem IMO, since cintiqs are also plugged in all the time.
HA! Same here. I get the "troll" brand every now and then because I have an HTC EVO in my pocket. I've used Apple IIs in my kindergarten class, but have been a zealot from the iTools on my iMac G4 lampshade days. I've own every iteration of the iMac since its inception but since i don't own an iPhone or don't like a 3.5" phone I am a TOTAL troll.
The Surface looks good on paper. I haven't check out the vids just yet but I know it's going to have great potential on the business/professional side of the post PC era. I've always looked at the iPad as a content consumer device, as opposed to a content creator. Even with great software it's still about 40% a work machine.
The Surface looks like a good contender for the post PC "gettin'-work-done!" tablet.
At first I thought that thing was the Logitech Cube Mouse thing, but then it lit up and it did look very awkward. That tablet is NICE to say the least.
But the Cintiq is a much more sensitive device, it's mounted to your desk for stability, and usually hooked up to at least an i7 desktop. Without decent battery life, the only advantage the EEE and Samsung slates offer are slightly more portability. I say slightly because the short battery life keeps you tethered to a small space by necessity. It's what kills these otherwise excellent machines.
Really, you can't compare the two, because the Cintiq only does one thing. It's designed for this one specific task, and excels at it. The slates are portable computers first and foremost, and should be useful for more than just being a Cintiq-alike. Plus, if you're using it mainly for that reason, they're more expensive and watered down in comparison, and don't give you the added bonus of having two screens at your disposal. There's no advantage to getting one of the slates over the real deal here.
Yeah, they will. The thing here is that a laptop is designed to sit on a desk. Most people expect to have them plugged into a wall outlet. A tablet is better suited to being held in your hand or the crook of your arm. If you have to set your tablet on your desk so you can plug it in without tripping over the cord, why get one at all?
Now don't get me wrong here, I think tablets are THE best form factor for programs like Zbrush, Photoshop, and their various fancy expensive peers. But if you're not playing to the advantages of the form factor, you're really leaving people with nothing but a 10-12 inch awkward laptop. Might as well get an actual laptop with a bigger screen if you have to compromise like that.
Myself, and I'd suspect virtually all Apple lovers even will be curious about this method of case manufacture.
The current method of milling out a chunk of Aluminium on CLS milling machines, creating lots of swarf, is a pretty poor way to create something, and there are new ways to make things coming along that should replace such a process.
It will be very interesting to see just how light, stiff, strong, thick and most importantly dent/scratch resistant the new Microsoft Surface's case is.
I'm sure in time Apple will move to something along these lines as opposed to their current method of case design.
It's all very interesting & fascinating to see advances like this.
The current method of milling out a chunk of Aluminium on CLS milling machines, creating lots of swarf, is a pretty poor way to create something, and there are new ways to make things coming along that should replace such a process.
It will be very interesting to see just how light, stiff, strong, thick and most importantly dent/scratch resistant the new Microsoft Surface's case is.
I'm sure in time Apple will move to something along these lines as opposed to their current method of case design.
It's all very interesting & fascinating to see advances like this.
It does have more pressure levels, that's for sure.
Do you mount 12 inch cintiqs to your desk? We don't. We do for the bigger ones (24 and 21), but not the twelve.
Not that our 2d artists notice a difference in photoshop or sketchbook versus an i5. zBrush, definitely.
Yes, portability is key.
I've never once felt that using a laptop without a plug nearby was a useful thing - in my line of work. Your mileage may vary, of course.
We most certainly can. I did a few posts back, and we're both doing it now!
Says who?
Here's another guy who likes his slate better than cintiq:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZtfqJtGBdQ
Watch out for the music, though. Yikes.
You mean aside from being able to move an entire digital concept art studio around in one device?
No, that's a desktop!
Same thing with laptops.
I can hold one comfortably in my lap. I also work with Intuos tablets without setting it on my desk.
For this work, a laptop is the compromise. It loses out in portability versus a wacom enabled tablet, and loses out to the power and expandability of a desktop.
Then again, people like me are a much smaller niche than most companies tend to care about - certainly that includes Apple after their latest Mac Pro updates. I believe Samsung doesn't target artists like Wacom does, so if anything, it's a nice coincidence that they've created something many artists love.
Interesting article here:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timwors...-metal-is-not-the-same-as-apples-liquidmetal/
Pretty amazing to think the case of the surface can be strong and yet be made down to 0.65 mm thick.
Seems the idea type of material to be used for thin future products.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timwors...-metal-is-not-the-same-as-apples-liquidmetal/
Pretty amazing to think the case of the surface can be strong and yet be made down to 0.65 mm thick.
Seems the idea type of material to be used for thin future products.
As an apple fan you should be happy. That means there are microsoft/PC users adopting apple devices. Good for Apple, bad for the Apple fanboys becuase that means you'll have more and more objective people in this forum. Get used to it.
Hum, I have seen some baseless bashing of the tablet which quite deserved the downranks, I haven't seen "adore the Microsoft surface", only giving props for the aspects we did get reviews for and questions about the details we didn't.
You feel that "dislike" the tablet deserve upranks ? Really ? Comments like "this is fail, Microsoft sucks" deserve to be upranked ?
I could care less what people like, but I can't stand the people who come in here and constantly say how Android/Windows is better, Apple sucks, etc.
I hate Android and I develop for it. You don't see me on Android forums saying how iOS is better. I hate Windows because I've supported Windows environments for 12 years, but I don't go on the Windows forums and say how Mac is better.
It never ceases to amaze me how people constantly flock here to talk about how horrible Apple is and how everyone who likes them is an "iSheep".
And I can't stand people who come in here and constantly say how Android/Windows/Linux sucks and how Apple is always better.
There is such a thing as object-damn-tivity. All platforms have their ups and downs, use it before you knock it, try to at least be informed before you bash instead of spreading FUD and most of all : Don't be biased and "Apple does no wrong, Apple is always best!". They do wrong and they aren't always best.
Do you really believe that Objective Users that hang around here and will sometimes critique Apple and sometimes praise the competition when it is deserved don't use Apple products at all ?
Does this myth still exist ?
People that think you need to praise Apple and bash the competition or you don't own Apple products and are trolling are a very sad and insecure breed. Your things don't define you. Attachment to a corporation is daft.
Except people aren't saying that here... They're just giving props to a non-apple product and you guys see it as "apple sucks MS rules". Objective means just that, objective. Your failure to realize it is also just that, your failure.
I like the design. The keyboard / trackpad cover beats those clunky bluetooth keyboards that are glued to $70 iPad cases
If they can get MS Office on that thing I'm sold. Pages (AKA $10 Wordpad) sucks and has sucked for the past 2 years
I don't even care about tablet hardware anymore. Whichever tablet MFGer is finally able to put some killer software on it (instead of the usual nonstop barrage of budget apps) and make a tablet viable for something other than media consumption, I'll support
If they can get MS Office on that thing I'm sold. Pages (AKA $10 Wordpad) sucks and has sucked for the past 2 years
I don't even care about tablet hardware anymore. Whichever tablet MFGer is finally able to put some killer software on it (instead of the usual nonstop barrage of budget apps) and make a tablet viable for something other than media consumption, I'll support
How about we just keep the discussion to this thread? It has 2000+ posts on its own, no need to muddy it up further.
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Yeah, because it's frankly an argument you can't win. People that disagree with you aren't necessarily trolls. You can't make that connection in any logical or factual manner, hence you can't win the argument if that is your position.
Great job derailing the thread btw.
And I can't stand people who come in here and constantly say how Android/Windows/Linux sucks and how Apple is always better.
There is such a thing as object-damn-tivity. All platforms have their ups and downs, use it before you knock it, try to at least be informed before you bash instead of spreading FUD and most of all : Don't be biased and "Apple does no wrong, Apple is always best!". They do wrong and they aren't always best.
Do you really believe that Objective Users that hang around here and will sometimes critique Apple and sometimes praise the competition when it is deserved don't use Apple products at all ?
Does this myth still exist ?
People that think you need to praise Apple and bash the competition or you don't own Apple products and are trolling are a very sad and insecure breed. Your things don't define you. Attachment to a corporation is daft.
I praise apple because their software is more robust, simple to use and cheaper on my pocket if Microsoft wins this approach I might give them a go till than I will have to pass on windows.
Oh I see its ok for you to speak your piece but if I speak mine I'm "muddying up the thread".
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And your not part of the derailment?