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Microsoft Surface Pro to Be Released February 9 with $899 Price Tag
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Flawed
I wanted to like the Surface tablets. I was hoping they would be really popular and genuinely affect Apples sales, forcing them to rapidly innovate.
But I think the Surface Pro is DOA for several reasons.
Let's look at what the Surface Pro is supposedly great for shall we? Dual purpose functionality. All the great casual use of a tablet, combined with the power of an i5 and a proper keyboard, USB ports and a full x86 windows OS for running all your legacy Apps just like a laptop! The best of both worlds right?
Well, no.
Let's look at the first use, tablet use.
As a tablet, the Surface pro is heavy. And thick. Call me limp wristed but it weighs significantly more than an iPad 3/4 which after prolonged use can get tiresome if using it one handed. All your tablet based tasks (web browsing, checking email, casual games etc) are far less demanding than an i5 CPU calls for. So you have all that power just wasting battery life. (More on that in a minute)
So as a tablet, it won't be a very good experience. Certainly more comfortable, cheaper solutions are out there. (See iPad, some Android tablets)
That brings us to the real drawcard of Surface Pro. It runs a full x86 OS and packs an i5 so you can run all your legacy apps! Great huh? Well for a start, they will be complete garbage if you try run them in tablet form. The windows 8 UI is designed for a touch screen, but all your legacy apps most certainly are not. Good luck using menu's and buttons on a 10" 1080p screen. I hope you have small, accurate fingers. (Sure you could use a stylus I guess but.....eugh)
So you would set your Surface on a table, deploy the kickstand, attach your Type cover keyboard, and then what? Well then you have a laptop with a tiny screen, a cramped keyboard and trackpad and a screen you cannot adjust the angle on. Oh and I hope you have a nice flat tablet at a specific height available because you sure as hell can't use it as a LAP top, not with that bendy keyboard cover and kickstand. And for any serious work you would probably want to attach a mouse. At which point, there goes your 1 USB port. You could attach a USB hub I suppose? (Or just get a laptop with more than 1 USB port)
This brings me back to the battery life. The Surface Pro is totally useless for school use. The battery life is claimed by Microsoft to be HALF that of the Surface RT. So let's say 4 hours. At best. That one fact alone makes it instantly useless for schools, who are currently all rushing to implement some sort of iPad/tablet use for kids.
So as a Tablet, the Pro is too bulky and pointless for legacy Windows apps as the UI would be unworkable.
As a Laptop it's a poor, comprised design with poor battery life.
I wanted Microsoft to really take it to Apple, show them a device with more traditional PC functionality in a tablet form factor was possible. But I fear with the Surface Pro, they have utterly failed. I may be wrong, only time will tell, but if I were a betting man I certainly wouldn't be hedging my bets on the Surface Pro being all that successful for anything but a few niche use cases.
I wanted to like the Surface tablets. I was hoping they would be really popular and genuinely affect Apples sales, forcing them to rapidly innovate.
But I think the Surface Pro is DOA for several reasons.
Let's look at what the Surface Pro is supposedly great for shall we? Dual purpose functionality. All the great casual use of a tablet, combined with the power of an i5 and a proper keyboard, USB ports and a full x86 windows OS for running all your legacy Apps just like a laptop! The best of both worlds right?
Well, no.
Let's look at the first use, tablet use.
As a tablet, the Surface pro is heavy. And thick. Call me limp wristed but it weighs significantly more than an iPad 3/4 which after prolonged use can get tiresome if using it one handed. All your tablet based tasks (web browsing, checking email, casual games etc) are far less demanding than an i5 CPU calls for. So you have all that power just wasting battery life. (More on that in a minute)
So as a tablet, it won't be a very good experience. Certainly more comfortable, cheaper solutions are out there. (See iPad, some Android tablets)
That brings us to the real drawcard of Surface Pro. It runs a full x86 OS and packs an i5 so you can run all your legacy apps! Great huh? Well for a start, they will be complete garbage if you try run them in tablet form. The windows 8 UI is designed for a touch screen, but all your legacy apps most certainly are not. Good luck using menu's and buttons on a 10" 1080p screen. I hope you have small, accurate fingers. (Sure you could use a stylus I guess but.....eugh)
So you would set your Surface on a table, deploy the kickstand, attach your Type cover keyboard, and then what? Well then you have a laptop with a tiny screen, a cramped keyboard and trackpad and a screen you cannot adjust the angle on. Oh and I hope you have a nice flat tablet at a specific height available because you sure as hell can't use it as a LAP top, not with that bendy keyboard cover and kickstand. And for any serious work you would probably want to attach a mouse. At which point, there goes your 1 USB port. You could attach a USB hub I suppose? (Or just get a laptop with more than 1 USB port)
This brings me back to the battery life. The Surface Pro is totally useless for school use. The battery life is claimed by Microsoft to be HALF that of the Surface RT. So let's say 4 hours. At best. That one fact alone makes it instantly useless for schools, who are currently all rushing to implement some sort of iPad/tablet use for kids.
So as a Tablet, the Pro is too bulky and pointless for legacy Windows apps as the UI would be unworkable.
As a Laptop it's a poor, comprised design with poor battery life.
I wanted Microsoft to really take it to Apple, show them a device with more traditional PC functionality in a tablet form factor was possible. But I fear with the Surface Pro, they have utterly failed. I may be wrong, only time will tell, but if I were a betting man I certainly wouldn't be hedging my bets on the Surface Pro being all that successful for anything but a few niche use cases.
Because the main goal of MR is to attract eyeballs. Those eyeballs are then sold to advertisers.
You do have to keep in mind that MS was severely limited in what they could and couldn't add to Windows during the antitrust years. If it could be construed as them moving against a 3rd party by making their own applications or services the default, they weren't allowed to add it. This is one of the reasons why a lot of the things we'd consider OS standard these days are (or were) missing from Windows.
Though I'm still not getting why you'd need 7zip for uncompressing files. Any and all .zip files were browsable and expandable through explorer. Unless you were trying to expand .rar or .7z files, I couldn't imagine why you'd need to use a 3rd party program (though I do use winrar myself).
Having a fresh disk image on the drive to refresh or reinstall works wonders. It is just annoying if you lose the disk drive.
I am sure Adobe has their lawyers ready to cry foul and Microsoft had to step on a few toes just to get that much support into Windows 8.
Something fancier that .zip is going to be third party territory. OS X covers a lot from its *nix heritage but yes even under OS X I am using The Unarchiver instead of BOMArchiveHelper. I have not seen gzip in a long time.
It sure fits the bill for illustrative artists. To me the one feature that makes it buyable (although I have no intentions to) is the inclusion of an active digitizer + pen. Anyone who can draw worth a lick knows that capacitive doesn't hold a candle to active digitizer for inking.
Microsoft Thinks they can Charge an Arm and a Leg still
See I actually like Windows 8, however.... Microsoft is crying poor me poor me. GET WITH THE PROGRAM!!!! You are not the only game in town! I get that this has some pretty kick butt specs but, $900 for a tablet?? You are out of your mind. Those kinds of prices are for laptops. But whatever... Just like Sony did with the PS3 which is actually a good system... They released it and charged $700 for it..... What kid is going to pay $700 for a game system? and that was the downfall of Sony. Everyone ended up buying up xbox's which in the long run ended up costing the xbox owner more because of the whole red ring of death issues. But.... My point is you can't charge to much for a product when you aren't the only game in town and as far as operating system wise... iOS and Android have been kicking butt so far so I have a feeling I know where this tablet is going to go..... as in it will be rare when you see someone with it. I like Windows 8 but not this much! I will stick with Mac OSX that updates every year and cost $20!!!!
See I actually like Windows 8, however.... Microsoft is crying poor me poor me. GET WITH THE PROGRAM!!!! You are not the only game in town! I get that this has some pretty kick butt specs but, $900 for a tablet?? You are out of your mind. Those kinds of prices are for laptops. But whatever... Just like Sony did with the PS3 which is actually a good system... They released it and charged $700 for it..... What kid is going to pay $700 for a game system? and that was the downfall of Sony. Everyone ended up buying up xbox's which in the long run ended up costing the xbox owner more because of the whole red ring of death issues. But.... My point is you can't charge to much for a product when you aren't the only game in town and as far as operating system wise... iOS and Android have been kicking butt so far so I have a feeling I know where this tablet is going to go..... as in it will be rare when you see someone with it. I like Windows 8 but not this much! I will stick with Mac OSX that updates every year and cost $20!!!!
No more than Apple would have to, and yet Apple does provide a program that directly rivals Adobe Acrobat Pro at "no additional cost" to the consumer. MS is too cheap to pay the licensing, clearly exemplified by their lack of DVD support out of the box any more.
I get the impression that MS says to themselves, why bother if someone else has already made a perfectly suitable application to solve a problem. It's quite contrary to Mac OS (although I expect this to decline with the rise of Mac OS app store).
OS X has a different pedigree once more. For Microsoft to do so would be considered another thing entirely, even now. Do not forget OS X's age either. Things were much different back then.
They have their own streaming media ideas for that and the Windows Media Center package was offered for free until the end of 2012. It is $19.99 if you want that support now.
Windows 8 had very many time limited offers. And yet people complain about the price now or lack of features when they were different or even free in the past. I picked up my copy of Windows 8 before the end of 2012 and this week Fry's has Professional on sale for $109. I am going to pick that up before any of the February price increases. Though I do not know of those directly apply to the OEM copies.
Here we go, back to the same old same old
Before you know it this will be the line up
Surface Starter Edition
Surface Basic
Surface Regular
Surface Every Day Joe edition
Surface Semi Pro
Surface Pro
Surface Semi Ultimate
Surface Ultimate
Surface All the Bells' and Whistles edition
What as opposed to
iPad 2 black
iPad 4 16gb black
IPad 4 32Gb black
IPad 4 64gb black
IPad Mini 16gb black
IPad Mini 32gb black
IPad mini 64gb black
iPad 4 16gb + Cellular black
IPad 4 32Gb+ Cellular black
IPad 4 64gb+ Cellular black
IPad Mini 16gb+ Cellular black
IPad Mini 32gb+ Cellular black
IPad mini 64gb+ Cellular black
iPad 2 white
iPad 4 16gb white
IPad 4 32Gb white
IPad 4 64gb white
IPad Mini 16gb white
IPad Mini 32gb white
IPad mini 64gb black
iPad 4 16gb + Cellular white
IPad 4 32Gb+ Cellular white
IPad 4 64gb+ Cellular white
IPad Mini 16gb+ Cellular black
IPad Mini 32gb+ Cellular black
IPad mini 64gb+ Cellular black
So different SKU's are exclusively Microsoft are they? Seriously people need to get a grip.
The problem is not on a flat surface, it's when you don't have a flat surface. The laptop sits on your lap, a tablet is just awkward. Basically, if I have a flat surface, I'm probably sitting down at the table or my desk where I don't need the mobility of a tablet, so I'll use my laptop and when I'm in bed or on the couch... well... tablets aren't ergonomic to me so I use... my laptop.
See my problem ? I just can't find comfortable ways to hold a tablet at moments where I would want to use one. So I just use my iPhone instead when I really don't want to fetch the MBP.
Why can't you put the tablet in your lap just like you do with your laptop? Other than size it should be pretty much the same to use. I would think that the the tablet would be easier to use while reading on the couch or in bed. I think it is more stable since it is one flat piece.
I purchased both copies of Win8 at the discounted price, as both systems were running Win7 and I'm too much of a tech geek to not upgrade and get to know the new OS.
I'm aware that you can get DVD playback support by purchasing MC. In fact I used my eligibility for a friend since I had no interest. But it's indicative. You have to understand that from the perspective of an average consumer, they will wonder why the hell their DVDs wont play in WMP. I personally could care less, but I'd prefer MS strive to create the defacto solution to various problems rather then offer half-assed attempts or avoiding all together.
I'm tempted for this purpose alone, but wonder how many levels of sensitivity. If 256 its not too great, especially in a world of 2048 levels in Intuos and Cintiq world.
If its 1024 minimum, I'd certainly consider it for Painter 12 etc..
Very true. I understand their rationale in trying to steer consumers away from Blu Ray, protecting their own iTunes market interests.
Never realized it took that many people to design a pair of glasses
Well yeah. You gotta have someone to design the frame, someone to design the hinge, someone to design the little screw that goes in the hinge, someone to design the arms that attach to the frame...
...and don't even get me started on the lenses. It's an indepth process that requires loads of people to accomplish.
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I've been wondering this myself. The only info I can find on it is that it's a Wacom digitizer, and....not much else.
Hopefully it'll at least match the high end Bamboo line. Though considering the price, I wouldn't be surprised if it used 512 levels of pressure as standard. Just enough to get you by, in other words.
Wacom hasn't felt the need to offer competitively priced solutions. This may change with the upcoming prevelence of tablet form factors with wacom digitizers.
Head over and read the reviews on Wacom 12" cintiq on Amazon. The device has a horrible cable arrangement, subpar screen and is priced higher then the Surface Pro.
However it is Wacom that provide the digitzer in the surface pro.
Besides, I already have a Intuos 4 and a Cintiq 24HD
and as lovely as those are they are not the most portable solutions. the 24HD is a frickin beast, and the Intuos means I have to carry a laptop and Intuos and need something to rest them upon (table etc..) rather than being able to just sit comfortably without faffing. I had considered to mod book pro but that baby is $2500!Yep 512 might just about do, but I'd much prefer 1024 considering the price, but that may be wishful thinking.
All I saw was, one girl to circle where the logo goes, one guy to move the logo into the circle, another guy to upload pictures from his Windows Phone, another girl to recharge the phone...