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Microsoft Launches Three New Surface Pro 3 Ads Targeting the MacBook Air
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Hmm, I mostly agree with you on the hardware point of things, but when you look at it closely there are things that could have been adjusted to be that little bit better thought out, especially with regards to the stylus and the cover making things harder to access on the taskbar.
Swiping down from the top also brings up the taskbar....
While not as intuitive as swiping up from the bottom where the taskbar is actually located (usually), they can't be faulted for at least applying another way of getting there. And honestly, I use the metro app screen to get to most of the programs I use anyway.
Why spend $1000 + when you can do the same with Bootcamp or a VM? I have a MBA with 8GB ram 256 Flash and I dual boot Windows 8 and OSX. I use it for a lot of things including software development.
I can't believe I just read through this whole thread...
10) Meh...10 points is enough. I love my Apple products and I love my SP3 and Lumia phone....oh...and to the cars and trucks analogy, how many people are buying pick-up trucks and driving them to the office every day? Wouldn't it be amazing if a pick-up truck became the number one selling vehicle in the United States? Oh wait......
Excellent points. I'm Apple all the way, (retina Macbook Pro, iPad Air, rMini, iPhone 5 and Macbook Air) and recently retired so this works fine for me. While still working however, everything was MS in the office and trying to do work with a Mac at home could be difficult. Even Microsoft Office for Mac doesn't work the same. I'm not in the market for a Surface Pro, but if I was still working I might be or preferably a lightweight MS laptop for meetings.
Not around here, there'd be plenty of bashing.
(source: the same as yours
I honestly doubt it. As soon as Apple goes touch screen on their laptops, it will be great.
I own the i5 8gb SP3 model and a '13 mbook air. What MS doesn't show you are all of the little nagging issues that go along with the SP3. In my week with the device...Outlook became corrupt when installing--required a reformat to fix, The bluetooth adapter would crap out and then wouldn't unpair connected bluetooth devices--some just wouldn't pair including their own pen. The msft app store just quit working(wouldn't load) and I could never figure that one out.
The network adapter would tell me my internet was slow after the device was sleeping so this required a full reboot to mostly function normally.
This doesn't even take into account the oddities of working in "desktop" versus "touch or metro" mode with multiple apps that run better in one side or the other. Mine is in the box ready to go back--not worth $1700 imho. I'd love to have one device to replace my macbook air and ipad, but it just doesn't work well enough for me. I don't have time to constantly be troubleshooting the device to keep it running effectively.
The network adapter would tell me my internet was slow after the device was sleeping so this required a full reboot to mostly function normally.
This doesn't even take into account the oddities of working in "desktop" versus "touch or metro" mode with multiple apps that run better in one side or the other. Mine is in the box ready to go back--not worth $1700 imho. I'd love to have one device to replace my macbook air and ipad, but it just doesn't work well enough for me. I don't have time to constantly be troubleshooting the device to keep it running effectively.
Honestly, that is the main reason I bought one. There are some valid concerns listed in this thread (most to do with the software), but traveling as much as I do, nothing beats having a full blown laptop that is considered by TSA to be a tablet and being able to work on the plane, in a hotel, give fully featured powerpoint presentations and then use as a tablet in my downtime is pretty incredible in actual use....especially when it weighs less than any laptop and certainly less than my old combo of laptop and iPad mini.
Oh the hate.
and please don't give me the "an ipad is so light, I have no trouble putting it i my bag", because it's really not the point.
One device to rule them all is an attractive concept for many, but most of the time you're left with a device that does a lot of things in mediocre fashion.
In the case of the Surface Pro, it's thicker than you'd prefer a tablet to be, smaller than you'd prefer a notebook to be, etc, etc.
This had a much better tone than the Samsung anti-iphone ads. Those ads sounded desperate and like a bunch of douchebags wrote it.
But Microsoft missed a few comparisons in their ads.
1) OS: If I'm going to consolidate to one machine is will definitely NOT be Windows 8.1. I bailed on Vista to OS X and while I thought Windows 7 was pretty good, I nearly laughed myself out of my chair when I tried a VM of Windows 8 on my Mac. CTRL-ALT-FAIL
2) Heat: I know a colleague with a Surface and that thing can fry an egg when it's being used. The MBA is almost never more than warm. Not much of a "lap"top when it will burn your legs.
3) Keyboard. Do you really think you want to type all day "getting stuff done" on a mini keyboard? The Air is a full sized keyboard and all Mac laptops have the benchmark on butter smooth keyboards.
4) Trackpad. This I don't understand. OS X is practically touch already using the trackpad. Better yet, it's more comfortable than holding your arm out all the time. You can even use a pen on it, like one that can be used on an iPad. It works no problem. Again, more natural with your arms relaxed.
5) Separate work from personal. The best part about having two devices is that my iPad is where all my personal stuff is, the MBP is where my work stuff is. Little crossover, if any. Maybe that's just me....
But Microsoft missed a few comparisons in their ads.
1) OS: If I'm going to consolidate to one machine is will definitely NOT be Windows 8.1. I bailed on Vista to OS X and while I thought Windows 7 was pretty good, I nearly laughed myself out of my chair when I tried a VM of Windows 8 on my Mac. CTRL-ALT-FAIL
2) Heat: I know a colleague with a Surface and that thing can fry an egg when it's being used. The MBA is almost never more than warm. Not much of a "lap"top when it will burn your legs.
3) Keyboard. Do you really think you want to type all day "getting stuff done" on a mini keyboard? The Air is a full sized keyboard and all Mac laptops have the benchmark on butter smooth keyboards.
4) Trackpad. This I don't understand. OS X is practically touch already using the trackpad. Better yet, it's more comfortable than holding your arm out all the time. You can even use a pen on it, like one that can be used on an iPad. It works no problem. Again, more natural with your arms relaxed.
5) Separate work from personal. The best part about having two devices is that my iPad is where all my personal stuff is, the MBP is where my work stuff is. Little crossover, if any. Maybe that's just me....
Not effective anymore
I think those adds don't make any sense anymore , every devices are different from each other and all serve a different purpose .
Like the add from samsung comparing their tablet with the iPad for work. I didn't buy my iPad to work with , i bought for the fun and entertainment it brings me and after using a nexus 10 from google and getting frustrated with it , i am happy with the iPad air for what it is suppose to do .
Comparing an iPhone with a android phone , same thing , for my business need i use Gmail and google voice and google map and i do need a android phone , but it doesn't mean it is better than an iPhone . It's different and there are things my android phone doesn't have that the iPhone has , but it is not because i don't need those things that i can say my phone is better than the apple one .
Like we say "compare Apple to Apple" and Microsoft is not an Apple
I think those adds don't make any sense anymore , every devices are different from each other and all serve a different purpose .
Like the add from samsung comparing their tablet with the iPad for work. I didn't buy my iPad to work with , i bought for the fun and entertainment it brings me and after using a nexus 10 from google and getting frustrated with it , i am happy with the iPad air for what it is suppose to do .
Comparing an iPhone with a android phone , same thing , for my business need i use Gmail and google voice and google map and i do need a android phone , but it doesn't mean it is better than an iPhone . It's different and there are things my android phone doesn't have that the iPhone has , but it is not because i don't need those things that i can say my phone is better than the apple one .
Like we say "compare Apple to Apple" and Microsoft is not an Apple
Id wager if you offered 100 people the choice of a free MBA or a free Surface, all 100 would choose the MBA.
Everything you have listed above (outside of your Outlook issue) was fixed in the first week or two of release (aka...6 weeks ago). You obviously didn't perform the software and firmware updates issued. If performing an update is "constantly troubleshooting" a device, you'll never be happy with any device.
See I've never bought into this excuse.
IMHO the "I'm a Mac" ads did not directly bash Windows computers. What they actually did was show what a Mac could do and some of the features that it had and showed me WHY I wanted to buy the product. It didn't just go and bash Windows without ever showing me why I wanted a said feature. So basically those commercials actually had a purpose and a message behind it unlike a lot of these other commercials
Now with that said these set of Surface commercials (besides the Head to Head one) actually do that UNLIKE the Samsung commercials that usually just show the Apple product more and doesn't ever highlight or focus on the reasons why you would want said feature. For example in one commercial they talked about how they have a bigger screen so it is better but only showed the guy going and taking a phone call. Really? That does nothing for me. Show me WHY and some potential real world uses where that bigger screen is a must have or some other feature.
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Anyway, the Surface 3 is actually some great hardware with a lot of potential. Though the paraphrase what Bill Gates said one time "but it's only for Windows?" Deal breaker for me. I get mad enough as it is with Windows 8 on my desktop.
The post you quoted refers to being able to use a tablet to view movies and things without the keyboard getting in the way, the only part you addressed is the Office thing, in which case... you're spending $1000 on either device, why not get one that can turn into a tablet, is lighter and thinner and has pen functionality? The MacBook isn't a device that costs $0.
How can it burn your legs? The hot area is the top right of the tablet (where the CPU is located) whereas the part touching your lap are the kickstand (very far away from any heat source) and the bottom edge of the device, which remains fairly cool.
And for the millionth time - you can detach the keyboard and really get to work with a pen on the touchscreen that means NO arm fatigue or cramp and is better than the limited trackpad. More pressure levels, better tracking, and a lot of people would consider it easier to be able to draw on a full sized canvas.
It's a $1700 machine from an untrusted vendor. What else is there to know? Who wants to wait for service packs to do basic emailing.
You need to look up what an 'untrusted vendor' is. Microsoft is not one of them.
And there's no waiting for Service Packs. Once the Outlook issue is fixed, the update will be pushed to Windows Update just like how Apple pushes bug fixes.
Oh is that the issue, ok. Allow me to reprase: I dont like the non-1-for-1 action.
Whether or not it is or isnt lag doesnt seem to be the issue. The issue is that we dont see it zooming as it should be. Albeit not a lag, it is still a fault, at least for me anyway.
Thanks Microsoft - you love Apple so much you develop Microsoft Office just for the Mac and iPad platform...and then you go and BASH the same products you develop for...
Classy move Microsoft...really classy.
Classy move Microsoft...really classy.