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Why Is the Surface So Bad?

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Re: Why Is the Surface So Bad?

#51

Post by nooneelse »

firefoxman1 wrote: post #3

When I first got an HP Touchpad, the touchstone stand, and the keyboard I understood what the "post-PC" era really was. It was perfect: physical keyboard for productivity, yet a touchscreen with a tablet interface, and the mouse had finally seen its end. The Asus transformer was the next big step, I think. Again, keyboard and touchscreen, but this time a 19 hour battery. If it allowed dual booting it would be perfect…

> The Asus transformer was the next big step, I think. Again, keyboard and touchscreen, but this time a 19 hour battery. If it allowed dual booting it would be perfect.

I'm a fan of the Asus transformer too. One benefit from the keyboard having a battery that I didn't notice till I had been using it this way for a while is that I never charge the tablet directly. When it is low, I attach the keyboard and let that charge the tablet. Then when the keyboard is low I pull that off and charge it. So the tablet itself is never tied to a wall. Psychologically, the tablet feels a hair's breadth away from being a device I don't have to charge at all. The battery state is never in the way of me using it.

Re: Why Is the Surface So Bad?

#52

Post by evilduck »

therobot24 wrote: post #25
mtgx wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think many people realized this but iPad 3 is actually heavier than iPad 2, and many might still remember how "light" the iPad 2 was compared to iPad 1. iPad 3 is somewhere in between the iPad 1 and 2 weights. But I think the ideal weight for a tablet is around 300 grams, which half of what most 10" tablets have today. This is probably the most important reason why the "main iPad" will eventually become iPad…

i'm curious if there's any reasoning to 300 grams. I don't have an iPad, but i've used one, and it seemed fine to me - i guess over a long period it could become uncomfortable.

I read my iPad2 in bed pretty frequently, it's just heavy enough that resting the weight of the device on a single edge on your chest will become unpleasant rather quickly.

Re: Why Is the Surface So Bad?

#53

Post by woodpanel »

Why is this article so full of errors?

However, I've tested the RT and I woudn't buy it. But the RT is just a reduced version of what the pro version will be: Something that aims to be a laptop that you can work on.

After testing it I am definetly going to give the pro a shot. Not as an iPad replacement as the iPad was never something to work with. But as a laptop replacement. Because...

- it gets rid of the dead weight of a keyboard (but keeping its functionality)

- it adds the interface of a touch screen

This doesn't replace so much an iPad as it replaces the macbook air.

The author's main claim is that we need different gadgets for different tasks. After deciding each trip wether I'll take my smartphone/kindle/iPad/NetBook/Laptop with me I can assure him: I'd be more than happy to reduce that list.

Re: Why Is the Surface So Bad?

#56

Post by scholia »

glhaynes wrote: post #22
mtgx wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Windows Phone and the Metro UI in general uses a ton of animations to make it seem "smooth" and "fast", when in fact you're just watching animations for the same time period it would take to load. But underneath all that, the overall responsiveness of the OS seems to be slower than both iOS and the latest Android versions.

What's the virtual memory situation on Windows RT? Does it use a pagefile?

Yes.

Re: Why Is the Surface So Bad?

#57

Post by at-fates-hands »

>>>>> "The first iPad was released in 2010. It may not have been perfect, but it was unquestionably the best tablet of its era."

It's been two years, not exactly an "era". I also remember the Motorola Xoom coming out in 2010 and giving Apple a run for its money. Also, if the ipad was SO awesome for an entire "era", then why did Apple come out with the ipad 2 a year after the first one was released?

People just don't like it when someone comes out challenges Apple's status quo.

Re: Why Is the Surface So Bad?

#58

Post by danudey »

woodpanel wrote: post #53

Why is this article so full of errors? However, I've tested the RT and I woudn't buy it. But the RT is just a reduced version of what the pro version will be: Something that aims to be a laptop that you can work on. After testing it I am definetly going to give the pro a shot. Not as an iPad replacement as the iPad was never something to work with. But as a laptop replacement. Because... - it gets rid of the dead wei…

Removing the keyboard is great, but removing the keyboard and then replacing it with a keyboard in a floppy foldable cover? That seems a little counter-intuitive. I mean, it's nice that you can not take the cover with you if you don't want to, but that would just require replacing it with some cover or another, so I may as well keep the keyboard.

Re: Why Is the Surface So Bad?

#59

Post by bane »

bitwize wrote: post #43
alyx wrote: post #8

I own a Surface and disagree with everything in this article. The Surface does have quirks, but as a v1 device from a company that has NEVER designed a commercial PC let alone a tablet, I think it is nothing short of fantastic tech. I just sold my Couch-MacBook over the weekend because the Surface satisfies every single casual at-home PC scenario I have.

The Surface does have quirks, but as a v1 device from a company that has NEVER designed a commercial PC Not true. In the 1980s Microsoft attempted to standardize the 8-bit home computer market, and developed the MSX architecture, exemplars of which were built and sold by a few Japanese companies. The MSX did not see much traction in the United States but was popular in Japan and Russia.

I'd argue that Microsoft never actually built the MSXs, Microsoft more or less just spec'ed out what an MSX should be, similar to the way 3D0 never really built a machine (in fact I think some of the same companies who built MSXs built 3d0s if I'm not mistaken).

but...Microsoft did build the XBOX (which was a PC) and the XBOX 360 (which is less PCish, but still a computer).

Re: Why Is the Surface So Bad?

#60

Post by danudey »

at-fates-hands wrote: post #57

>>>>> "The first iPad was released in 2010. It may not have been perfect, but it was unquestionably the best tablet of its era." It's been two years, not exactly an "era". I also remember the Motorola Xoom coming out in 2010 and giving Apple a run for its money. Also, if the ipad was SO awesome for an entire "era", then why did Apple come out with the ipad 2 a year after the first one was released? People just don't…

> I also remember the Motorola Xoom coming out in 2010 and giving Apple a run for its money.

From http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/oct/28/motorola-xo...:

> In the same period that those Honeycomb tablets have sold 3.4m, Apple has sold more than 25m iPads. In the period that Rubin says those 6m have been sold, Apple has sold just short of 40m iPads.

I'd hardly count that as 'giving Apple a run for its money'.

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