I'd say the kickstand and keyboard covers are pretty significant, not to mention the 10.6" form factor. Specwise though it's not anything special, yeah.
Microsoft Surface Tablet announced
- Thread starter Windu
- Start date
- Status
Gareth Bale
Member
Pro version looks really thick by comparison :/
brotkasten
Member
The Zune was a completely different situation, imo. They never intended to launch it internationally.
What other major Microsoft device was there after the Zune? The KIN, a CDMA-only device?
Shogmaster
Member
Forget Computex, a clone of the Pro has been on sale for like a year!
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/pd/Samsung-Series-7-Slate/productID.241554200/vip.true
saltywalrus
Member
I think this will be a niche usage case. Most people who work in offices are provided desktops, and their companies impose severe restrictions on what can be installed.
Some IT departments are becoming less strict and allowing people to bring their own iPads, but iPads are pretty locked down, and you don't need to worry about a stupid employee getting a virus. Windows 8 desktop is going to be less restricted than iPads.
My brother has the Samsung Slate, its alright for a tablet but it doesn't make you wet your pants like this product does.
KIN and the original Surfaces also were USA only.
KIN and the original Surfaces also were USA only.
Watching the lead designer Panos Panay talk about the device really sells you on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jozTK-MqEXQ&t=28m11s
After the Xbox 360, Windows 7, Windows Phone, and Surface I don't know how anyone can talk shit about Microsoft. They're right up there with the best of them in hardware, software, design, and innovation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jozTK-MqEXQ&t=28m11s
After the Xbox 360, Windows 7, Windows Phone, and Surface I don't know how anyone can talk shit about Microsoft. They're right up there with the best of them in hardware, software, design, and innovation.
D
Deleted member 1235
Unconfirmed Member
the pro looks amazing. the hard keyboard looks like it should tick all the boxes.
That thing + group policies/domain enterprise stuff, very viable laptop replacement at the corporate level.
Published apps for while in enterprise + heading out with your tablet. Board members and system admins should eat this shit up.
Steelyuhas
Member
The RT version will probably comparatively priced with the iPad (500-600 US dollars). How is that too expensive?
saltywalrus
Member
I think it fails to check a pretty major box. Using it in your lap. I don't think the kickstand will work very well on anything over than a flat surface.
Also you won't be able to adjust the tilt of the screen.
I don't keep up with the mobile market very well -- after shopping for laptops I ultimately got a desktop anyway. There was no HD4000 at the time I was shopping around, so I pretty much considered any ATI/nVidia chip to be superior to the HD3000, which was probably 5-8 generations behind anything else. Even the Radeon IGP stuff rated higher than Intel's (then current) offering.
What are the lowest level ATI/nVidia chips that count as a discrete GPU? When I was looking there were plenty of laptops with Geforce 520/525/540 below the $1000 threshold. Newegg had an Acer with a 540M for around $650, though it's out of stock now.
Oh cool, what's the price? I wasn't aware that they'd released that information.
As they say: The Devil is in the details.
And details is what MS nailed with this, not only is beautifully crafted, the little touches like the sound of the stand, that Vapor thing construction, the simple yet awesome idea of the cover, the 22 grades of inclination of the cameras, that venting solution and many more makes this really a premium product than not a single OEM has even been close to match.
And details is what MS nailed with this, not only is beautifully crafted, the little touches like the sound of the stand, that Vapor thing construction, the simple yet awesome idea of the cover, the 22 grades of inclination of the cameras, that venting solution and many more makes this really a premium product than not a single OEM has even been close to match.
How many people do you know that would buy a 600$ MS windows tablet for non professional use.
How many IOS or Android leisure users would switch or invest in this as their next device? These people don´t want a mobile fully fledged windows operating system, they want ease of use, simplicity and stability.
If this was priced at 399$ and have the screen quality to compete with the Prime or the Ipad, then it might be a choice, for the prices people are referring, i would never touch it.
Edit: regarding prices, people are speculating that the top of the line will reach ultra book price ranges, with the low end version being around 500-600.
I think the notion is that if you're using it on your lap or informally, you're probably consuming, and you can use the on-screen touch keyboard.
And if you're trying to get work done, you're probably sitting at a table or a desk, where it's ok to pull out the cover keyboard and the kick stand.
Neko Mimi Mode
Member
Oh ok.
Shogmaster
Member
Anything that's not part of the CPU or Northbridge would be considered "discrete" GPU, but some are barely worth calling it that. The 540M is definitely faster than Intel HD series.
cutmeamango
Banned
That's the sexiest laptablet I've seen in quite a while.
Spec wise, where does it sit compared to new iPad and common ultrabooks?
Spec wise, where does it sit compared to new iPad and common ultrabooks?
Scalemail Ted
Member
Yes... I'm am so happy for this news. One note on the pro will be the bees knees. I can finally swear off paper forever.
The "But all of that W8 stuff isn't news" guys in the thread need to realize that's just not true. One of the things MS has always sucked (and Apple excelled) at is getting people to give a shit. To see this level of hype is frankly stunning, and in the process people will always be excited about things that aren't actually all that new. Happens with Apple products all the time.
Wild conjecture on my part, but if people were to choose between the 2 form factors while sizing up a potential PC purchase I'd wager most would take the more convenient one. Especially considering both will be running the same OS.
Not exactly sales chart toppers, no matter how good the hardware was/is. People seem to under estimate how much of a hold Apple has on the mobile market and how much of a bad rep MS has overall.
But if you're in transit a table might not be available. And since you can't adjust the tilt the ergonomics are in peril.
This seems a lot more compelling for visual creative types than keyboard-centric users.
You're kinda proving his point there. The tech world was pretty stonefaced for those efforts, this is a new level for a MS product.
Bomber Bob
Banned
WinRT you can use only metro apps :'(
Steelyuhas
Member
The same people that are interested in iOS and Android tablets are interested in this. It will be comparably priced to those devices and Windows 8 is arguably easier to use, faster, and just as stable as iOS and Android along with features like MS Office that the others don't have.
but WinRT still has the Desktop UI App or?
Maybe some Programs will get ported to ARM for WinRT
If an App on a ARM Tablet can simulate the whole Desktop UI there should be no limits for other Apps xD
brotkasten
Member
Forget Computex, a clone of the Pro has been on sale for like a year!
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/pd/Samsung-Series-7-Slate/productID.241554200/vip.true
"It's a nice device, until the fan kicks in" is all I hear about the Slate 7.
I think the RT tablet has a long way to go to prove itself before people are going to drop Android and iOS. There's no app availability yet, the hardware is completely unproven and we don't know the price. It could go either way.
The Pro model is where most of this board's excitement is aimed towards I feel, but I don't see it selling to the masses if it's actually priced like ultrabooks, and I don't think people are really that interested in a full W8 desktop on a tablet device, except for a small minority. Full tablet PC's and Modbooks like that have existed for years, and they simply don't sell.
Love to be proven wrong though, if only to see what Apple does next.
Matter of opinion i guess. Guess we will have to disagree on how easy Windows 8 is to use compared to iOS.
And isn´t the cheaper comparably priced (to the ipad) version won´t offer a full windows experience. They run an ARM processor do they not? that means any software that currently runs on Windows 7 wont be able to run on surface RT, except for office.
So you have a tablet, that can´t be used as a standard PC, with less apps than their competitors.
I dunno but that doesn´t sound too promising. Maybe the display will be as good or comparable to Retina, maybe MS will find a magic way to make the ARM CPU play nice with actual windows programs.
Guess we will have to just wait and see.
Judging by a lot of confused people in this thread, I think Microsoft will have a big consumer education problem on its hand. They really should've gone all Metro for ARM.
Except that the devices that are "comparably priced" won't be running Windows 8. I think the confusion between the Surface Windows RT model and the Surface Windows 8 Pro model is a pretty major hurdle for Microsoft to overcome. To say that Windows 8 is faster and as stable as its competitors seems like a little bit of a stretch, seeing as how the OS is months away from release.
Microsoft has said that the Pro will be comparably priced to Ultrabooks. Which puts it in a range between (very optimistically) $800 and (very pessimistically) $1200. Probably more than most people want to spend on a tablet, though it remains to be seen how much this will change people's value perception of tablets.
The Windows RT version will be comparably priced to ARM tablets.....but since ARM tablets go for anywhere between $200 and $600 I don't really know how to interpret that.
The surface pro has a generation newer i5 cpu (die shrink) and hopefully better ventilation so it won't be as loud. Not that a lot of other ultrabooks aren't loud either. My macbook air at work sounds like a jet engine anytime i compile a small bit of code on it.
Bomber Bob
Banned
Artificial limit imposed by MS ATM if IUC
Can someone explain to me why they want to be able to access the desktop on their tablet? I've used remote desktop apps on my ipad and trying to click on tiny, fiddly menus was an irritating experience. Stuff like Photoshop was unusable. Maybe I'm missing something here, but the desktop mode doesn't interest me much at all.
Scalemail Ted
Member
Did they mention if it has a hot swappable battery?
Good Job Bob
Member
You'll probably hear something similar about the Surface Pro.
the keyboard has a touch pad
Shogmaster
Member
Watched the press video and saw back of the pen erasing ink marks. That pretty much means it's Wacom. IIRC, N-Trig pens don't have "eraser" on the back
Another i5 convertible tablet device for me to consider. I'm really excited about the direction they're going - not so much the RT devices, but the "real" windows experience in a tablet that you can quickly snap a keyboard onto is a device I'll find impossible to resist. It's going to be hard for me not to buy on day one, but I'll force myself to do it.
You can connect it to your screen and use it like a PC. It also mean you can run desktop sofware, which means fuck your closed garden app store. Besides, does the iPad even has some sort of file browser yet? Because that's something I hate mobile OSs for lacking.
Having access to a Desktop doesn't necessarily mean all those things. The Desktop on Windows RT is even more of a closed garden experience than iOS.
brotkasten
Member
I don't think it will be that bad. The Slate 7 uses a Sandy Bridge, while the Pro will get a later revision of Ivy Bridge.
- Status