Microsoft Planning Low-Cost Surface Line to Compete With Apple's $329 iPad

[jeremiah256]

Outside of the US, Microsoft is not having a problem in education.

While it's true that Microsoft is still dominant outside the US, ChromeOS (and Android) is starting to create problems for them, at least in Europe.

Edit: fixed a word

 

[chucker23n1]

It has a really good screen and really good speakers?

I guess.

I do wish all iPads had the four-speaker system. Watching TV shows in landscape with both speakers on one side is kind of bad.

But I don't think that alone is enough to justify the significant price difference.

 

[Michael Goff]

I guess.

I do wish all iPads had the four-speaker system. Watching TV shows in landscape with both speakers on one side is kind of bad.

But I don't think that alone is enough to justify the significant price difference.

I can understand where you’re coming from, but I will always buy the iPad Pro. Yeah, I mainly watch stuff. For me, the 12.9 that I'm going to buy next time is just a better content consumption device than the 9.7.

 

[Precursor]

Outside of the US, Microsoft is not having a problem in education.

Outside of the US, you can't really buy Surface in many countries, the MS stores don't exist where Apple has opened up multiple stores already.

 

[Michael Goff]

Outside of the US, you can't really buy Surface in many countries, the MS stores don't exist where Apple has opened up multiple stores already.

I was talking about Chromebooks, since almost no education system is using iPads.

 

[convergent]

I disagree. IN MY OPINION (and most other people) the Surface is just horrible in portrait (its even awkward to hold). Proof is in the sales numbers I guess.

So now you are an authority on "most other people"? By your logic a Ferrari is a horrible car because of its sales numbers vs. Toyotas.

In your last post you said the Surface Pro was unusable... now its improved to horrible... or is it awkward? Depending on the model chosen, a Surface Pro is about 7% heavier than an iPad Pro, otherwise they are both a "slate" device. Any loss of ergonomics from that minimal weight difference is more than offset with the awkwardness of trying to use an iPad Pro in kickstand mode or with an attached keyboard in your lap. They both have their pros on cons. Neither is unusable or horrible.

Why are we arguing Surface vs iPad when they’re not really the same thing? Sure, they’re both tablets. But they’re not the same in any other meaningful way.

Because of the subject line. And I agree that (unless Microsoft comes out with something very different from the Surface Pro), an iPad and a Surface are completely different animals. My wife uses an original iPad Air every day and loves it. I recently bought an iPad Pro for my daughter who's a Graphics Design student and MacBook Pro user. Ironically her boyfriend is in Industrial Design and they all use Surface Pros (which he also loves). I own an iPad and an iPad Mini and both haven't been powered on in several years... just lay on my shelf.

I’m not the one who labeled the Surface Pros as “all crap”, “inferior”, “does nothing well”, “awful”, “zero quality”, “mostly garbage”, “compromised experience”, “just horrible”. You generalize. You make things up about the abilities or disabilities of the Surface Pro, and you outright lie about the qualities of the Surface Pro and apparently what other people think about it.

He's literally doing the exact same thing regarding the Note 8 in a different thread here, so his thing seems to be to make broad generalizations about non-Apple products.

 

[PhoneI]

Ferrari is a horrible car because of its sales numbers vs. Toyotas.

Please don't compare the Surface Pro to a Ferrari.

 

[Alch3mist]

As a former SP4 owner, I concur. With the random reboots, freezes, excessive heat, loud fan, and 1/2 the advertised battery life, I was glad to get rid of the thing. That said, the pen, with magnetic attachment and ability to activate an App through clicking the top (like a real pen) was the best thing about the device.

This is interesting which modal SP4 did you own?

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

Outside of the US, you can't really buy Surface in many countries, the MS stores don't exist where Apple has opened up multiple stores already.

Outside of the US there are plentiful OEM's selling "Hybrid\Tablet\Laptop like" products with Windows on it. Microsoft is not dependent on it's own hardware. As far as I can see: the majority of devices used in education in western Europe are Windows machines.

 

[convergent]

Please don't compare the Surface Pro to a Ferrari.

Why not, the Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 team uses Surface Pros?

 

[jeremiah256]

All that beautiful red and no stickers on the Surfaces. They need to fix that.

 

[SeminalSage]

This is interesting which modal SP4 did you own?

i5 128gb version. Bought in March 2016.