Ya, I tuned in to that whole TouchPad for $99 craze, and bought one. It came, and I downloaded all 12 apps they had for it. About 4 months later, I realized I hadn't seen it in about 3 1/2 months, and wondered where it went. A year after that I found it on a shelf in a storage room. Tried to charge it and use it, but it wouldn't turn on. Tossed it in the trash and went on using the iPad and 2 iPad Minis we have for the family.
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Microsoft Forced to Slash Surface RT Prices Despite Vigorous Anti-iPad Ad Campaign
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Ya, I tuned in to that whole TouchPad for $99 craze, and bought one. It came, and I downloaded all 12 apps they had for it. About 4 months later, I realized I hadn't seen it in about 3 1/2 months, and wondered where it went. A year after that I found it on a shelf in a storage room. Tried to charge it and use it, but it wouldn't turn on. Tossed it in the trash and went on using the iPad and 2 iPad Minis we have for the family.
Having been evaluating Windows 8 on both desktop and tablet for the past 6-9 months (multiple tablets, I am getting them given to me for a few weeks at a time each at no cost for eval purposes with a view to considering mass purchase)....
I consider it junk at any price (and this is coming from a corportate network admin type - Active Directory Windows enterprise network is a large part of my day job).
Why?
Desktop mode is useless with touch. On RT you can't run existing Windows apps. On Pro, the screen is way too high res (and Windows doesn't scale properly) - and you CANT ZOOM to tap on tiny little buttons.
ALL of the applications you actually want to use (e.g., Office, which is the big selling point for this vs. an iPad in the business world) are only written for desktop mode, so they can run on Windows 7 and XP.
You've still got all of the Windows malware problems.
Battery life on the Pro is pretty garbage.
So essentially you have a touch platform (Metro) with barely any apps (NO OFFICE!) and a desktop mode that is useless.
The only Win8 tablet I've actually somewhat seen any benefit with so far is the Lenovo Hybrid thing (forget the exact model) which comes with a keyboard dock with battery in it and a pressure sensitive stylus.
It's good for sketching in OneNote. The handwriting recognition is pretty intelligent so long as you write long enough sentences, it can work out some pretty horrible chicken scratchings by determining context to decipher the words.
You could conceivably replace a Windows laptop with it, but you end up with a decent laptop running Windows 8 (which is pretty nasty) and a pretty poor tablet. And can then get by with carrying one device.
But seriously... unless you've actually tried to use Windows 8 with touch ONLY (i.e., as a tablet) - try it some time.
its a nightmare. I kept needing to use the keyboard to get anything done. Which means i need to carry the keyboard with me, which means i may as well use a laptop.
If you can afford to spend a little extra on a laptop (either Mac or PC) AND a tablet (either android or iOS), you'll have a far better time of it.
And funnily enough, this looks to be apple's strategy.
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a massively under-appreciated iPad factor in my experience is the smart cover - it makes the touch keyboard SO much more useful when sitting at a tablet or in an aircraft, etc.
I consider it junk at any price (and this is coming from a corportate network admin type - Active Directory Windows enterprise network is a large part of my day job).
Why?
Desktop mode is useless with touch. On RT you can't run existing Windows apps. On Pro, the screen is way too high res (and Windows doesn't scale properly) - and you CANT ZOOM to tap on tiny little buttons.
ALL of the applications you actually want to use (e.g., Office, which is the big selling point for this vs. an iPad in the business world) are only written for desktop mode, so they can run on Windows 7 and XP.
You've still got all of the Windows malware problems.
Battery life on the Pro is pretty garbage.
So essentially you have a touch platform (Metro) with barely any apps (NO OFFICE!) and a desktop mode that is useless.
The only Win8 tablet I've actually somewhat seen any benefit with so far is the Lenovo Hybrid thing (forget the exact model) which comes with a keyboard dock with battery in it and a pressure sensitive stylus.
It's good for sketching in OneNote. The handwriting recognition is pretty intelligent so long as you write long enough sentences, it can work out some pretty horrible chicken scratchings by determining context to decipher the words.
You could conceivably replace a Windows laptop with it, but you end up with a decent laptop running Windows 8 (which is pretty nasty) and a pretty poor tablet. And can then get by with carrying one device.
But seriously... unless you've actually tried to use Windows 8 with touch ONLY (i.e., as a tablet) - try it some time.
its a nightmare. I kept needing to use the keyboard to get anything done. Which means i need to carry the keyboard with me, which means i may as well use a laptop.
If you can afford to spend a little extra on a laptop (either Mac or PC) AND a tablet (either android or iOS), you'll have a far better time of it.
And funnily enough, this looks to be apple's strategy.
edit:
a massively under-appreciated iPad factor in my experience is the smart cover - it makes the touch keyboard SO much more useful when sitting at a tablet or in an aircraft, etc.
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I'd like to see a Surface Pro with Haswell. Hopefully Microsoft doesn't can it before version 2.
so most likely v.2 coming soon
also kind of awkward title considering the ads aren't even for the Surface line of tablets
also kind of awkward title considering the ads aren't even for the Surface line of tablets
My company purchased a Surface RT, along with the touch keyboard and a 64gb memory card. I was really excited to have this tablet/laptop hybrid.
My excitement didn't last. I thought that the Surface, or more specifically the Windows RT operating system, offered the most disjointed user experience possible.
It was like having to work in 2 different OSes...Metro and Desktop. It was like having 2 completely separate browsers...IE for Metro and the more traditional IE.
It is not the full Windows OS and you cannot install other than via the Windows Store, which worked less then 1/2 the time for me.
The keyboard was virtually impossible to type on. Just slightly, very slightly, better than tapping on a touch screen. It was not accurate, required a lot of pressure, and really hurt fingertips in a matter of a couple of minutes. I would think the other attachable keyboard that is not the flat touch pad version would be better.
Anyhow, just terrible all around.
I called my IT department and told them I was going to send it back to them. They offered me to keep it and just use it when I travel, which is often. I thanked them and sent it back anyhow.
So $499? Crazy. $349? Still not even slightly tempting. $99? MAYBE I'd grab one to keep by the couch just to browse the net (without the KB). Maybe.
My excitement didn't last. I thought that the Surface, or more specifically the Windows RT operating system, offered the most disjointed user experience possible.
It was like having to work in 2 different OSes...Metro and Desktop. It was like having 2 completely separate browsers...IE for Metro and the more traditional IE.
It is not the full Windows OS and you cannot install other than via the Windows Store, which worked less then 1/2 the time for me.
The keyboard was virtually impossible to type on. Just slightly, very slightly, better than tapping on a touch screen. It was not accurate, required a lot of pressure, and really hurt fingertips in a matter of a couple of minutes. I would think the other attachable keyboard that is not the flat touch pad version would be better.
Anyhow, just terrible all around.
I called my IT department and told them I was going to send it back to them. They offered me to keep it and just use it when I travel, which is often. I thanked them and sent it back anyhow.
So $499? Crazy. $349? Still not even slightly tempting. $99? MAYBE I'd grab one to keep by the couch just to browse the net (without the KB). Maybe.
The Surface is a Zune in a school full of iPods. Eventually you're going to get your underwear pulled over your head.
But that doesn't count when the iPhone 5 S comes out and is competing against a 6 month old Galaxy S4, right?
All valid points. I firmly believe that competition can only be good for the market place, and the Surface's possible demise would be a shame, really. It's visually a beautiful device, that somehow hasn't caught on with the majority PC crowd.
But how practical is a device, no matter how beautiful, with limited functionality and/or usability?
There's the issue of essentially one OS (Windows 8), running two device categories; both the desktops and tablets hamstrung by the limitations in that OS, imposed by that other device category. By definition, it can't possibly be optimized for multiple device categories.
Whether by design (I doubt it), or by natural evolution, APPLE's ecosystem is the real obstacle here, to all these other tablets that have come and gone. The seamless integration of iPads with all of APPLE's other devices, is what so far, has killed all other competitors, and will continue to do so, until someone else is able to duplicate APPLE's golden goose: their seamless integration, the 'walled garden', and the resoundingly successful App store.
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I think the RT ecosystem sucks so badly because it's just not easy enough to develop for. I can't develop for it because I'm not running Windows 8 on my desktop, and even if I was, the last time I tried to get it working to debug on, the link to the file I needed off Microsoft's website was giving me a 404 not found error. Hardware wise, it does what I think it was designed to do - put OEM's to shame. I dropped mine on an ice pick this winter, and it came away without a scratch!
No, I'm referring to the spin that MR gives for Apple, and subtly denies for Microsoft. Where's the "Apple forced to slash production after Verizon fails to meet its sales projections, in this article? Of course you could claim that Apple doesn't have to slash production because they produced enough to meet demand, and now they're starting to ramp up production of the 5s.
But you can also claim that Microsoft is simply moving inventory to prepare for the Surface RT2 (as is WalMart for the 5s). There are no hard facts to argue either way, and yet a substantial bias is present.
Not really the point. the 5s matches up with gs4s generation. The 5 does not. samsung galaxy s vs iphone 4. Iphone 4s vs galaxy sII. iphone 5 vs galaxy s3, iphone 5s vs galaxy s4.
Consumers don't want the full Windows desktop experience. They want iPads and that is why they are buying them.
I remember one reviewer saying that it stood for "really terrible." I thought that was pretty funny.
er no. Why is it fair to compare a generation old device with a current generation device. To put it into perspective. GS4 is a 2013 phone. Iphone 5 is a 2012 phone. Iphone 5s is a 2013 phone.
I actually liked Bill Gates too due to his charitible nature and I respect the guy for his business acumen, if only Ballmer had 10% of his brains then MS wouldn't be in this mess.
On the other hand stop moaning about something that happened, five, six years ago and I don't get if you vehemently hate a company so much and hate their princilples as you do with Apple why oh why do you keep coming here on an Apple-centric website, you must have so much pent up energy
This means Surface RT 2 is coming, so price slashed to clear inventory. Nothing unusual here. Move along people.
And if you think this is a good deal, no. Tegra 3 really sucks. Unless you are going to put this inside a drawer after playing with it for a couple days, skip and wait for the new one.
And if you think this is a good deal, no. Tegra 3 really sucks. Unless you are going to put this inside a drawer after playing with it for a couple days, skip and wait for the new one.
surface rt/pro
I have a surface pro right beside me. it is off 99% of the time.
I have the 128 gig version and i paid almost 1300 with the keyboard for it. I just found it to be only ok at best. it is too heavy to be tablet and not really a true laptop. it is like trying to be good at everything but failing.
overall, i don't like paying this much and getting only 80 gig of free space left. If i wanted a windows, i would just get an ultra book.
the funny part is this. The only time I use the surface is when I need a platform for my Ipad. Sometimes the ipad doesn't stand properly on the bed. The Ipad can finally stand properly on top of a surface.
I have a surface pro right beside me. it is off 99% of the time.
I have the 128 gig version and i paid almost 1300 with the keyboard for it. I just found it to be only ok at best. it is too heavy to be tablet and not really a true laptop. it is like trying to be good at everything but failing.
overall, i don't like paying this much and getting only 80 gig of free space left. If i wanted a windows, i would just get an ultra book.
the funny part is this. The only time I use the surface is when I need a platform for my Ipad. Sometimes the ipad doesn't stand properly on the bed. The Ipad can finally stand properly on top of a surface.
Be careful swinging that double edged sword around, man. You might cut yourself.
Definitely, Haswell will make x86 tablets a lot more attractive.
You can bet that Apple are also testing Haswell/Broadwell internally for similar reasons - if the "single device" thing ever takes off, there's no reason apple couldn't run the OS X and iOS UI on a single machine, they share a lot of the underlying platform code.
edit:
and yes, disjointed is an understatement for Windows 8.
various UI paradigms, like for example, the equivalent of right click.... WORK DIFFERENTLY BETWEEN THE TWO INTERFACES.
I'm not even making this up.
Right click in desktop with touch = hold down finger, or on some of the tablets (inconsistent) tap with two fingers like in apple land. If you have a stylus? Well that depends which one...
In metro? Hold down on a tile, then slide it slightly down and release. Not too far, or you'll move the tile!
Want to do say, shift right click to "run-as" a different user? Too bad. It can't be done without the keyboard.
Which is totally not awesome if you are say, a network admin and want to run an admin tool while out and about without your keyboard/dock/etc. Your only solution is to log into your tablet as an account with elevated domain credentials, which is BAD from a security perspective, as then any and all malware you encounter has privileges on your domain!
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