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The MS Surface Pro

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Re: The MS Surface Pro

#141

Post by IheartApplesDix »

raganwald wrote: post #52

The conclusion I draw from everything I've heard is that the Surface Pro is a terrible iPad and an excellent PC laptop. Issues like the battery life, heat, weight, RAM free, and so on are reasonable for a Windows machine. If my perspective is correct, look for the Surface Pro to cannibalize sales from MS's "partners." I do expect it to appeal to the kind of person who buys a PC laptop and an iPad. And that's a great…

which isn't such a bad thing, if you ask me. I own a iPad, for some time now, and I still have yet to find anything that it's good at. Saying it's bad at not having a clear function or productive use, support for real computing tasks.

I'm sure some companies would love to see a world where we all access the cloud from iThinClients, but the reality of the situation is that even if the US had great broadband connectivity, nobody wants to deal with 5-200ms of UI lag or with glitchy client-prediction methods.

Re: The MS Surface Pro

#143

Post by city41 »

hdra wrote: post #77

maybe this shows how terrible of a job the marketing department at Microsoft is doing ? reading this review alone made me look for the device online to check its price and I've had mostly the "meh" reaction since launch with all of their ads.

I feel the same way. I've been very "meh" on the Surfaces (Pro and RT). The other day I stopped by Best Buy and played with both of them. Still very meh on the Surface RT as it's very slow. But the Pro was very impressive, which I was really not expecting.

Re: The MS Surface Pro

#144

Post by phaus »

slantyyz wrote: post #139
phaus wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea, the Surface uses the ideal solution, a Wacom digitizer.

The Samsung Note series of phones and tablets also use the Wacom, as does the Atom-based Thinkpad Tablet 2. I was considering the Note 10.1 and ThinkPad Tablet 2 for their pens and stumbled on this comparison last week: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncegf0Em7m4 It does appear that the more horsepower your tablet has, the better suited it is to doing pen-based art. It's pretty clear in the video that a full-powered d…

If the Thinkpad Tablet 2 had been released on schedule, I'd probably have grabbed one of those. With the Barnes and Noble gold discount, it would be pretty close to the cost of the iPad. Unfortunately, it was delayed multiple times.

Re: The MS Surface Pro

#145

Post by nooneelse »

tripzilch wrote: post #87
phaus wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This use case has been around for at least several years, but it's a niche market. I'm not a professional, but to me drawing is what I consider a serious hobby, so a few years ago I bought an Asus EP121 Slate. Almost everyone likes to doodle from time to time, so I'm hoping that Microsoft's push for tablets with actual digitizers in them catches on. So far, the devices aren't exactly where I'd like them to be, but th…

> Drawing with a capacitive stylus is like cutting off the tips of your fingers and trying to type. Never tried but I can totally imagine :) From my experiences with iPads, I'd compare it to fingerpainting, but I guess your description is more .. vivid :) But I get from the article, and how the author seems pretty satisfied with it, that the Surface uses a different, better technology for t6hat?

The fingerpainting analogy is what I use as a springboard when someone belittles styluses and good digitizers. Babies and kids fingerpaint, adults use brushes and pens.

Re: The MS Surface Pro

#146

Post by dferlemann »

2 things have been keeping me from buying one: 1. Disk space. 128GB is not going to cut it for using as laptop/desktop replacement. 2. Heat. I'm paranoid about my devices' lifespan cause by overheating...

Overall, I like this tablet. For the features it offer, the price seems right... hate to say that.

Re: The MS Surface Pro

#147

Post by FireBeyond »

dag11 wrote: post #27
dhruvmittal wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple's been incredibly anti-stylus in the past, if I recall correctly. Didn't Jobs say something along the lines of "if your tablet uses a stylus, you're doing it wrong" at the genesis of the iPad? Although we've seen that isn't necessarily the case, I can't see Apple eating their words in this case. Especially not with the success and visibility of Samsung's Note line.

Apple hasn't been anti-stylus, Jobs was. And the stylus he was referring to was the resistive Palm-type stylus, not a pressure-sensitive, digitized pen with side button(s). Jobs has also stated a belief in one thing, and then contradicted it later. Take the original iPhone screen size, for example.

I think the "resistive" thing wasn't Jobs, but Apple fans defending his word as gospel.

But yeah, iPhone screen size.

"If you expect the iPod to do video, you're mistaken".

"You don't need copy and paste if you do the UI right".

Re: The MS Surface Pro

#148

Post by itsybitsycoder »

redact207 wrote: post #81
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2010 has called and wants their comment back. People have been doing work on tablets for awhile, have you been to a Starbucks in the states recently?

2009 called and they want their "wants their comment" comment back. Seriously, there's doing "work" and doing work. I haven't been to Starbucks in the states, but I've been everywhere in Singapore and everytime I've seen people using tablets it's for entertainment, reading the news, or at the very most writing emails. If your job is writing emails, I concede, you're doing work. But if you're anything except a coffee…

Tablets are becoming not uncommon in restaurants for order-taking, POS interfaces, etc. I've also heard of applications in other fields where employees need to be portable and carry around (or write down) a lot of information, like nursing and scientific field work. Not all work is office work.

Re: The MS Surface Pro

#149

Post by jamesgeck0 »

pmelendez wrote: post #99
raganwald wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Childish? I feel old, stuck in world where HN was civil and we didn't abuse each other with accusations of childishness. I own an iPad and an iPad Mini. Neither has ever run so hot that it was uncomfortable to place on my lap. The review specifically states that he did experience it running too hot for his comfort. I read that the surface pro is 2 lbs, while a full-sized iPad is less than 1.5 lbs. Nowhere did I state…

>"I own an iPad and an iPad Mini. Neither has ever run so hot that it was uncomfortable to place on my lap." They are not running portal 2, league of legends or sketchbook either. Those are natural trade-offs where Apple sacrifices productivity and Microsoft sacrifices portability.

Both Portal 2 and League of Legends run well on low end integrated graphics cards. The iPad may not have those particular games, but Unreal Engine 3 games are generally more demanding than Source Engine games, and there are several UE3 titles on iOS.

Re: The MS Surface Pro

#150

Post by wisty »

raganwald wrote: post #52

The conclusion I draw from everything I've heard is that the Surface Pro is a terrible iPad and an excellent PC laptop. Issues like the battery life, heat, weight, RAM free, and so on are reasonable for a Windows machine. If my perspective is correct, look for the Surface Pro to cannibalize sales from MS's "partners." I do expect it to appeal to the kind of person who buys a PC laptop and an iPad. And that's a great…

> If Microsoft's vision of everyone needing a computer is correct, the Surface pro will destroy the laptop. But if Apple's vision of a "post-PC" world is correct, the vast majority of the tablet market will be just tablets, and the iPad will continue to thrive.

That's the reason why MS should be willing to spend a boat-load of money on backing the Surface - if they can't create a post-PC world ruled by x86 devices, they are in serious trouble.

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