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Announcing the Surface 3

blog.surface.com

91–100 of 345 posts

Re: Announcing the Surface 3

#91
So Windows RT is dead ? I'd say good riddance, it was just too closed. I remember having a family friend buying one of those devices and trying to install Chrome on it. Well, no luck, WinRT's closed policies won't allow that (and it's not a technical issue.). But their store policies will still allow fake "Chrome" apps packaging an IE webview.

Re: Announcing the Surface 3

#92

Actual product page: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/products/surface-3 And buy now page with tech specs: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/productI... Looks like $499 for 64GB storage and 2GB RAM, $599 for 128GB storage and 4GB of RAM (WiFi models; 4G LTE model pricing wasn't showing for me).

For $500 I can get a real ultrabook. Like Dell XPS 11 2560 x 1440 display 4GB RAM 128GB SSD http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/665236/Dell-XPS-11-XPS...

With a shorter battery life, more than twice as heavy, and cumbersome to use in the "tablet" mode. The deep discount on the $1200 ultrabook also seems unusual, like they're having a fire sale just to get it out of stock.

Re: Announcing the Surface 3

#93

Actual product page: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/products/surface-3 And buy now page with tech specs: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/productI... Looks like $499 for 64GB storage and 2GB RAM, $599 for 128GB storage and 4GB of RAM (WiFi models; 4G LTE model pricing wasn't showing for me).

That 2 GB, 64 GB model just looks painful to use. I've seen a lot of Windows installs use up more than 64 GB, in particular as WinSXS grows as more updates are installed (thus more duplicate DLLs are stored). If anyone asked me, I'd describe 128 GB as the "minimum" storage needed for Windows. And even then you aren't storing much if any user data on it. 4 GB is the minimum I'd run anything newer than Windows XP on. T…

128GB minimum storage? You'd have to be installing like a lot of software then? Even my main development machines (2 Visual Studio versions, 2 Matlab versions, 2 Labview versions, Office and utilities) only take 70-80GB. I think a more typical user like my mom who only uses a browser, office and some utilities would be just fine with 64GB for Windows and software. Also a bare Windows 10 install uses about 1 GB of ram after startup so there is some room to play with. Not that I'd ever buy something running full Windows and only has 2GB of ram, nor ever recommend it, just pointing out that depending on who is going to use it this machine might effectively do the trick.

Re: Announcing the Surface 3

#94
Does anyone else see the glaring difference between how Microsoft markets its products VS how Apple markets their products?

Microsoft: List 101 features. Tell everyone how amazing each new feature is. Remind everyone that there is a huge array of features. List them out again.

Apple: Take a nice photo. Done.

Re: Announcing the Surface 3

#95

I own a Surface Pro 3, and when I first got it I'd describe the experience as just mediocre. However Microsoft has been aggressively updating the software as has Intel, and as a result of those effects the SP3 has really stepped up and is now quite a good little tablet/ultrabook combo. I only have two remaining concerns with the SP3: My i5 version continues to get extremely hot near the middle of the device (e.g. whe…

No delay on Microsoft.com in the Mobile Mercury browser nor Chrome 41 on iPad.

Re: Announcing the Surface 3

#96

It's just sleazy that all of their advertising is centered on how the keyboard differentiates the device from other tablets and then the keyboard isn't included in the base price.

I strongly agree with this.

The keyboard is great. Having a choice of keyboards is also great. However Microsoft makes the keyboard a core part of this device (both literally, and in adverts) so to me there should be no scenario where it doesn't ship with one.

They should just set the price at $599 and include the keyboard. At least it is an "out the door" price then, not $500 with a hidden $100 tack-on.

Re: Announcing the Surface 3

#98
Does anyone else see the glaring difference between how Microsoft markets its products VS how Apple markets their products?

Microsoft: List 101 features. Tell everyone how amazing each new feature is. Remind everyone that there is a huge array of features. List them out again. Apple: Take a nice photo. Done.

Re: Announcing the Surface 3

#99
post #91

So Windows RT is dead ? I'd say good riddance, it was just too closed. I remember having a family friend buying one of those devices and trying to install Chrome on it. Well, no luck, WinRT's closed policies won't allow that (and it's not a technical issue.). But their store policies will still allow fake "Chrome" apps packaging an IE webview.

Windows RT is deader than dead; they're the only thing Microsoft makes that isn't getting Windows 10. Lumias that AT&T sell for $50 off contract? Windows 10. Xbox One? Windows 10. Okay, I guess they still sell the 360 and it's not getting Windows 10. Everything else? Windows 10. But not Windows RT. (Windows 10 Mobile will be allowed onto tablets, but not ones above a certain screen size, so RT isn't able to get that, either.)

Re: Announcing the Surface 3

#100
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kind of off topic, but related: I recently bought an audio book from Humble Bundle and have been trying to figure out how to put it on my iPhone.I don't listen to audio books at home, only in the car or while I'm walking. Anyone know how to easily download an audiobook from Humble Bundle and put it on an iPhone to listen to later?

No it's not related. HN is not your tech support forum. Especially not for trivially google-able issues.

You'd think it was trivial, but it's shockingly hard to do without using iTunes. For a person who frequents HN, that's extremely unintuitive. And iTunes is terrible, so that solution is out.

It took me forever to realize that just because I can kinda-sorta interact with my iPhone as a storage device doesn't mean that it's even remotely going to actually behave as one. The whole process is infuriating if you go in expecting it to be simple (which, given it's an iPhone, one might reasonably expect). Try to find an obvious way to put an mp3 on an iPhone without some odd middleware software; some of the software looks sketchy - and/or has a cost, and a many suggestions are to just use Google Play or Amazon Music. I also like the Winamp plugin from 2010, as well. That sort of list is pretty much the opposite of trivial. I mean, if it was drag-and-drop, sure, but this that ain't.

Personally? I ended up just uploading my music to Amazon and use their app. It's less infuriating than the Music app on the stock iPhone.

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