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Surface Studio discussion

DrMotownMac said:
Guys, price this thing out before you get too excited. If you compare to the 2015 27 inch iMac, and try to equalize the specs (processor, RAM, HD, GPU) as much as possible, you will see that it's a LOT more expensive. The fully loaded Surface Studio is a whopping $4,200, and that only comes with a 2 GB hard drive (the 3 TB fusion drive equivalent isn't even an option). Would you pay $4,200 for an iMac? If you get the $2,999 Surface Studio, you get an i5 processor, 1 TB HD and 8 GB of RAM. For $700 less, you get a similar iMac, but with the 2 TB fusion drive.

Yes, it's definitely cool to lay that thing down and write on it like your writing or drawing on an easel. But, if you're not an artist or an architect, isn't it just a $700 novelty extra, used more for impressing friends than actually doing anything useful? Yes, if you draw for a living, knock yourself out. But if not, what are you thinking? As cool as it looks, I just can't even consider it. PLUS, there are NO performance specs which are any better than LAST YEAR'S iMac!! It makes me more willing to buy the 2015 iMac after all!
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I bought a fully maxed out 5k iMac at the end of 2014 and paid about $3,800 for it, so I'm not sure why you are making a big deal out of $4,200
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WilliamG said:
As an iMac owner, that looks beautiful. I'm still not sold on putting my grubby paws all over my screen, though...
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I'm totally down with the idea that touch screen computers are not very practical. If I was an artist, I would buy one of these in a heart beat, but for the average user I don't see any practical use for it. It looks cool and it's got a great display, but what's the average user going to need to have a huge touch screen that can tilt down for?

I have a few friends that have touch screen PCs and they honestly don't even remember that they can touch the screen most of the time.
 
jardinager said:
Someone who needs capable hardware. OS X ain't what it used to be anyway.
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My iMac is a blazing fast beast of a computer, quite "capable", thank you very much, and your right, OSX isn't what it used to be, it's better.
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maflynn said:
Yep and if you incluide a watcom tablet in the imac, that drives the price even higher
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Good point. It will be interesting to see how digital artists feel about using a computer that basically a huge tablet where you work right on the screen as opposed to the traditional separate tablet setup. You would think it would be great for a digital artist but not being one, I don't really know how it be productivity wise.
 
All in all, if I didn't buy an iMac last November, I would most definitely be looking at this. In my temptation, I'm trying to see what the Surface does that the iMac doesn't, and vice versa. I don't think I'm wanting to sell my iMac and buy a Studio but I'd like to run the numbers just in case.

One thing to keep in mind with the studio but a new release tends to have issues, such as the SP4 and Surface Book. Those issues (teething problems really) have all be resolved. In fact my Surface Book (which I'm on right now), is rock solid. Its on par with my 2012 rMBP in terms of design, build quality performance and stability. I haven't measured if the SB is faster then the MBP but for a 13" laptop that is dual core only its surprisingly fast
 
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DrMotownMac said:
Guys, price this thing out before you get too excited. If you compare to the 2015 27 inch iMac, and try to equalize the specs (processor, RAM, HD, GPU) as much as possible, you will see that it's a LOT more expensive. The fully loaded Surface Studio is a whopping $4,200, and that only comes with a 2 GB hard drive (the 3 TB fusion drive equivalent isn't even an option). Would you pay $4,200 for an iMac? If you get the $2,999 Surface Studio, you get an i5 processor, 1 TB HD and 8 GB of RAM. For $700 less, you get a similar iMac, but with the 2 TB fusion drive.

Yes, it's definitely cool to lay that thing down and write on it like your writing or drawing on an easel. But, if you're not an artist or an architect, isn't it just a $700 novelty extra, used more for impressing friends than actually doing anything useful? Yes, if you draw for a living, knock yourself out. But if not, what are you thinking? As cool as it looks, I just can't even consider it. PLUS, there are NO performance specs which are any better than LAST YEAR'S iMac!! It makes me more willing to buy the 2015 iMac after all!
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For $3099 you get the 27" iMac with m395, 16GB RAM and 1TB blazing fast SSD.
 
jackoatmon said:
If you read the article they're reviewing the Surface Pro 4, not the Surface Studio. No idea why Engadget chose that headline. Clickbait I guess.
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If you read the article, you would see that it mixes impressions of Studio and other devices in the Surface series.
Partially agree that it is clickbait, as it's more speculation at this point.
 
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CSeye said:
If you read the article, you would see that it it's mixes impressions of Studio with other devices in the Surface series.
Partially agree that it is clickbait, perhaps more speculation at this point.
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No. They don't end up talking to anyone who's used the device. There are no impressions of Studio in the article. I mean, unless you count impressions of what people imagine the device might be like.
 
Taz Mangus said:
For $3099 you get the 27" iMac with m395, 16GB RAM and 1TB blazing fast SSD.
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The 970m is supposed to be quite a bit faster than the m395x. The 965m-- not so much, unless you rely on CUDA specific plugins.

But, ATI has not yet released its high end mobile graphics cards. There's a possibility that Apple will use a high end mobile Polaris when it releases its new imac. Or not.
 
jackoatmon said:
No. They don't end up talking to anyone who's used the device. There are no impressions of Studio in the article. I mean, unless you count impressions of what people imagine the device might be like.
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I certainly do!

And to be clear, the impressions were not exactly favorable, a point that seems to be overlooked.
 
maflynn said:
Apple has made made the strategic decision that Mac should not have touch screens, much like iPads should have a menu bar. I think its a mistake and basically closing the door to some fantastic products
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I agree there, and it shows. MS, whether you like the Surface line or Windows, is doing some very interesting and innovative things.
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maflynn said:
All in all, if I didn't buy an iMac last November, I would most definitely be looking at this. In my temptation, I'm trying to see what the Surface does that the iMac doesn't, and vice versa. I don't think I'm wanting to sell my iMac and buy a Studio but I'd like to run the numbers just in case.

One thing to keep in mind with the studio but a new release tends to have issues, such as the SP4 and Surface Book. Those issues (teething problems really) have all be resolved. In fact my Surface Book (which I'm on right now), is rock solid. Its on par with my 2012 rMBP in terms of design, build quality performance and stability. I haven't measured if the SB is faster then the MBP but for a 13" laptop that is dual core only its surprisingly fast
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How would you compare the trackpad and scrolling in the SB versus the MBP?
 
inhalexhale1 said:
How would you compare the trackpad and scrolling in the SB versus the MBP?
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I find scrolling in Windows to be better, just because the scroll bars are larger. I'm very happy with my SB's performance, and I opted for the base model - I picked one up when MS was having a promotion for students and I saved a lot of money on it.

While the higher end variations of the SB are extremely expensive, I found the base to be an excellent value
 
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maflynn said:
I find scrolling in Windows to be better, just because the scroll bars are larger. I'm very happy with my SB's performance, and I opted for the base model - I picked one up when MS was having a promotion for students and I saved a lot of money on it.

While the higher end variations of the SB are extremely expensive, I found the base to be an excellent value
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I'll definitely be comparing the SB and new MBP before buying. Interested to see how the trackpad is, especially after hearing you like it better than a MBP's.
 
I don't understand why MS keeps pushing Surface as a drawing thing with the pen. According to experts the Wacom or Apple Pencil are much superior in terms of latency and tilt support. In fact the Surface Pen has 0 tilt support. Also it can't draw diagonal lines correctly:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...n-inking/78c138e5-50db-4544-a988-6023a84b9675

October 2016 and MS still hasn't fixed this! I don't buy the idea of needing an all-in-1 device. Creatives will be very happy with a Macbook Pro + iPad Pro with Pencil. They will fit into a laptop bag no problem.
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maflynn said:
The trackpad is as good as the MBP imo, I don't use much gestures, but from a simple point and click its the same as the MBP
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Macbook Pro 2015 Force Touch trackpad was already the best in the industry, this next one will probably be even better. Surface Book doesn't even have taptic engine. It's questionable if it's even as good as pre-2015 Mac trackpads.
 
smoledman said:
Surface Book doesn't even have taptic engine. It's questionable if it's even as good as pre-2015 Mac trackpads.
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I'm of the opinion its good, and personally, I hate that taptic engine touchpad. I find it to be a horrible experience.

Since I have both a MBP and a Surface Book, and use both, I feel, I have some insights on what is good on a day to day basis, instead of others just reading about the trackpad from a review and making some asumptions
 
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phpmaven said:
I bought a fully maxed out 5k iMac at the end of 2014 and paid about $3,800 for it, so I'm not sure why you are making a big deal out of $4,200
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I'm totally down with the idea that touch screen computers are not very practical. If I was an artist, I would buy one of these in a heart beat, but for the average user I don't see any practical use for it. It looks cool and it's got a great display, but what's the average user going to need to have a huge touch screen that can tilt down for?

I have a few friends that have touch screen PCs and they honestly don't even remember that they can touch the screen most of the time.
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Right...it was meant for targeted people..not regular people. It's not just doing artist stuff...you can actually do video editing..AND do office work.
 
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pat500000 said:
Right...it was meant for targeted people..not regular people. It's not just doing artist stuff...you can actually do video editing..AND do office work.
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Video editing... maybe, but office work? What office worker needs a giant tilt-able touch screen?
 
pat500000 said:
Microsoft office? Words/excels/powerpoint/ and etc.

EDIT: business.... (like presentation in 3d).
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I use those programs every day and I just don't see how they would be productive on a huge touch screen. Time will tell I guess. Powerpoint maybe.
 
phpmaven said:
I use those programs every day and I just don't see how they would be productive on a huge touch screen. Time will tell I guess. Powerpoint maybe.
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Main purpose: art/creativity like video editing/ business..and anything that people could imagine using.

When I mention office, I'm saying that it's just an extra thing.....
 
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Anyone think MS will come out with a consumer friendly Surface AIO? Was waiting for this and I am amazed by it but the price turned me away plus it seems more for designers than the average joe PC.
 
matt9013 said:
Anyone think MS will come out with a consumer friendly Surface AIO? Was waiting for this and I am amazed by it but the price turned me away plus it seems more for designers than the average joe PC.
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Since it's a brand new product, it's still expensive because of the development cost.

The price is going to come down eventually.
 
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