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Microsoft Introduces Thinner Surface Pro 3 with 12" Display Starting at $799
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Then you'd say it's infinitely more useful than Android on a tablet?
Yes. I guess nearly everything is infinitely more useful than Android on a tablet. Isn't it?
That's not what he said. He said the A7 could power a full OS no problem. Certainly the case.
http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/compare/582034?baseline=528695
Well... not exactly.
Tablets were a very niche market before the iPad came out. And it's been only four years. Nobody needed a tablet before the iPad was released. Do people need a tablet now?
A toaster has its functions, and it does not replace a fridge. A Swiss Army Knife also has its purposes and it does not replace a sword.
But there is overlap between a tablet and a laptop. Both perform many of the same functions. Basically, everything you can do with a tablet, you can also do with a laptop. The difference is the form factor. Of course, the Surface Pro 3 is heavier than an iPad. But the difference is not in the same level as the difference between a kitchen knife and a two-handed sword.
It's not convergence for the sake of convergence. It's what makes sense. And I am still not sure the iPad makes so much sense as Apple wants it to make. It may be just a cute device.
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You can multi-task with an iPad and an iPhone. But I think you cannot make the apps inter-operate, and that may be crucial.
If it looks like a laptop, and it works like a laptop, then it's probably a laptop.
This is Surface.
My 32GB iPad didn't have 30 GB of available space when I bought it. The i3 is a very usable computer. A couple of years ago when the i3 was already available, Apple was selling the MBA with a Core 2 Duo and people here were singing it's praises.
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But replace Microsoft with Apple and it would be called planned obsolescence.
Not by me. Just because a new model comes out doesn't make the old model obsolete. That only happens when the new model has new software and features that the old model can't run. And we know which company has the history of doing that. Microsoft tops Apple on legacy support.
Yep, that's the truth. It looked different so people didn't like it. Now that 8.1.1 is out, people are back to the old look again.
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Which tablet/hybrids have you used?
I think microsoft is moving in the right direction I'm just not sure they'll get there fast enough (but I'm glad they're trying).
What we need is something as comfortable light weight and TOUCH-ONLY as the iPad to use when you want to be using a tablet (reading, web-browsing, note-taking with that awesome stylus)
AND
something that can turn into a decent productivity device when you are at a desk, without the all too common limitations of mobile operating systems so that you really can bring just one device with you.
Clearly microsoft is getting the productivity part right. By making the surface pro 3 3:2 aspect ratio they are also acknowledging that their previous products were pretty awkward to use as a portrait tablet. But this SP3 still seems way too heavy to use comfortably as only a tablet. And when used as a tablet you shouldn't ever be forced to go to desktop mode. (Ideally they'd refine the metro ui to work better for both instead of having desktop + metro).
When technology permits I hope they can come out with this tablet in a 10" form factor (but still 3:2) and ~1 lb in weight without the keyboard cover. Then they'll have my attention (unless of course Apple is awesome and decides to improve the iPad)
What we need is something as comfortable light weight and TOUCH-ONLY as the iPad to use when you want to be using a tablet (reading, web-browsing, note-taking with that awesome stylus)
AND
something that can turn into a decent productivity device when you are at a desk, without the all too common limitations of mobile operating systems so that you really can bring just one device with you.
Clearly microsoft is getting the productivity part right. By making the surface pro 3 3:2 aspect ratio they are also acknowledging that their previous products were pretty awkward to use as a portrait tablet. But this SP3 still seems way too heavy to use comfortably as only a tablet. And when used as a tablet you shouldn't ever be forced to go to desktop mode. (Ideally they'd refine the metro ui to work better for both instead of having desktop + metro).
When technology permits I hope they can come out with this tablet in a 10" form factor (but still 3:2) and ~1 lb in weight without the keyboard cover. Then they'll have my attention (unless of course Apple is awesome and decides to improve the iPad
)
Nice marketing Microsoft. So the Surface keyboard is listed as an advantage - though no mention that it is optional and $130 (I suppose that's what the little 3 is for, the fine print people don't read). But for the MacBook Pro it's "non-detachable keyboard available" making it sound like it's an extra cost. And what does that sentence mean anyway? Of course if it's not detachable it's going to be available.
I still have an old box running XP and have never gotten a virus or malware in over 11 years of use. It uses NIS and you can't even tell it's there running in the background. Automatic quick scans, automatic full system scans, light on resources. And Windows 8 is much, much better than XP. I wouldn't go online without AV protection, but it's not the big deal that it's made out to be, IMO. I'm not referring to you, but there are people here who act like Windows gets a virus every time you go online or open an email. That has not been my experience at all.
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Are you suggesting that iPads are for idiots?
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You mean instead of focusing on earth shattering features like making the edge of the screen thinner on the iMac and minor spec bumps? Or processor bumps and the same old screen on the MBA?
And yet if the latest software doesn't run buttery smooth on old hardware people complain about that.
Surface Pro 3 does have features that the previous one didn't. If it was just a spec bump Microsoft wouldn't have held an event to unveil it. In fact I'd argue Surface Pro 3 is worse than iPad 4. Other than lightening connector iPad 4 was just a spec bump. Surface Pro 3 is much more than that. But hey Microsoft is getting good at screwing people. Look what they did with XBox. Kinect was absolutely a must until all of a sudden it wasn't (i.e. PS4 was selling better). Now Kinect is optional and you can get an Xbox for $100 cheaper.
I'd like to see 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage and the type cover for $999. It seems all the ultrabooks are 4GB RAM and 128GB of storage for about $1000. I would have thought the storage prices would have come down enough to make that possible. I'd rather see them add some goodies and keep the price points. IMO, it would be better for them to do so than drop the prices if it doesn't meet sales expectations.
But you need way more storage for a full fledged computer than a mobile OS. Apple and Intel work very closely and the whole reason ULVs existed is because of the MBA. With the MBP, Apple was one if the first to get Sandy Bridge and SATA 6gbps. The MBA is also one of the few Ultrabooks to use Intel 5000 GPU.
And that depends entirely on the whims of the OEM if they're going with the 4400 or 5000. It's not a special relationship. It's what you're willing to pay for.
I actually thought the spec bump from the iPad 3 to 4 was a good improvement. It made it faster, the 3 just didn't seem to have the oomph to run the Retina display, IMO. Maybe not a reason to upgrade, but it made the experience better.
Nice marketing Microsoft. So the Surface keyboard is listed as an advantage - though no mention that it is optional and $130 (I suppose that's what the little 3 is for, the fine print people don't read). But for the MacBook Pro it's "non-detachable keyboard available" making it sound like it's an extra cost. And what does that sentence mean anyway? Of course if it's not detachable it's going to be available.
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I am confused. It says the Surface Pro is thinner and lighter but it says it weighs 1.79 kg vs the MacBook Pro at 1.59 kg. Am I misreading?
Yes, a full OS takes more room and Windows 8 does use more space than OSX, but some of that space can be recovered by deleting the recovery portion. The difference isn't as huge as some here like to make it out. But you are talking about the iPad, and the Surface Pro 3 is more comparable to the MBA spec and performance wise, it just happens to be in tablet form.
I would guess that Intel had been working on ULV processors for a while before they went into the MBA. The whole mobile market has been shifting in this direction the MBA has been leading the way. Everyone benefits from this, now all pc's are getting better battery life.
CES 2011 was the launch for Sandy Bridge. Most of the Sandy Bridge Mac hardware did not appear until after that. Otherwise the Core 2 Duo models from 2010 hung around for too long.