• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Surface |OT|

monome

Member
Overall performance. Whether it uses the Snapdragon 800 or Tegra 4 it's going to be a night and day difference. My RT is starting to feel like a dog with the 8.1 preview. I'm ready for the next one.

and I believe comixology app still in landscape only mode.
I wish there's Marvel Unlimited for Windows, but I'm considering getting an ipad-mini for comic book reading

Add massively better performance.

thanks for the replies.

Ok, wait I shall.
 

Zeknurn

Member
Microsoft is building a Surface RT 2 and for those of you who are hoping for a total revamp of the tablet, lower your expectations. The Surface RT 2 is in the process of being built and according to our internal sources, looks very similar to the current iteration of the Surface RT.

Expect to see the Surface RT 2 to look visually similar to the current RT but with a modest spec bump under the hood. This should not come as a major surprise as the Surface form-factor works quite well and upping the specs will help to keep the RT competitive with market comparable.

Current rumors suggest that there will be a Snapdragon 800 powering the device (check out our hands on here) which will increase horsepower with a smaller footprint on the battery.

While we don’t have any additional information on a launch, expectation would suggest that when Windows 8.1 launches, we should see a Surface announcement around that time.
http://www.neowin.net/news/after-a-900-million-write-down-microsoft-is-building-a-surface-rt-2
 
I got a Surface RT 32GB with Type Cover for ~300$ (with shipping) for my parents. Should arrive in a few days. It's a pretty good price in Switzerland and since my parents will use it mostly for Skype and web browsing I'm not too worried. I will use it from time to time, mostly to read comics and manga until I get a tablet for myself, so I'm looking forward to it as well.
 

Ken

Member
My Surface Pro suddenly won't turn on. Tried troubleshooting and went through the "hold power button for 10 seconds, check if outlet and adapter is providing power, charger light is on, blah blah" but not getting anything out of the Surface. With my luck I'm guessing I have to RMA it? I bought it at Micro Center and it's past their return time so I assume I have to deal with Microsoft now? Kind of annoyed since it's only been a month that I've had it.
 

Alpha_eX

Member
My partner is in New York for a few weeks and picked up a Surface Pro today. She'll be coming back to the UK with it and we're wondering if we can get a UK plug for it out in NY?

She's worried that she won't find one and has wasted money, can she get a UK plug before coming home? The one in UK is really expensive, with RT you could change the heads.

Any advice would be great!
 
Mobile.HD player has excellent codec support (MKV's with subtitle and multiple audio tracks).

I don't even care when VLC comes out now for my Surface RT.

Yeah they're a few video apps that play MKVs, not something to be concerned about when considering an RT device.
 

catmincer

Member
Okay cool.

Few more questions just to be annoying

- Is there a torrent client on RT?
- Any emulators? I.e SNES, PS1
- I presume it is getting an update to 8.
- Would for example a usb DVD drive work on it? If I wanted to watch a DVD (unlikely)
 

Nero3000

Member
My partner is in New York for a few weeks and picked up a Surface Pro today. She'll be coming back to the UK with it and we're wondering if we can get a UK plug for it out in NY?

She's worried that she won't find one and has wasted money, can she get a UK plug before coming home? The one in UK is really expensive, with RT you could change the heads.

Any advice would be great!

I imported a Surface Pro from the US.

The adaptor is rated for 240v and is a two part cable - all you need is the figure-8 power cable. You should have one lying around the house or its very cheap to get. You wont need a completely new power brick.

31a1bJIdi2L.jpg


£1.59 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000Q8HF04/
 

Nero3000

Member
Okay cool.

Few more questions just to be annoying

- Is there a torrent client on RT?
- Any emulators? I.e SNES, PS1
- I presume it is getting an update to 8.
- Would for example a usb DVD drive work on it? If I wanted to watch a DVD (unlikely)

- EDIT: yes - if basic.
- Yes there are some on the store that work pretty well with 360 controller support.
- Yes a free update to 8.1 - the support from MS is rated for 4 years (patches at least if not functional OS updates)
- Yes but you would need a DVD player software from the store
 

catmincer

Member
- Not that i know of
- Yes there are some on the store that work pretty well
- Yes a free update to 8.1 - the support from MS is rated for 4 years (patches at least if not functional OS updates)
- Yes but you would need a DVD player software from the store

Sweet.

The torrent thing appears to be sweet. I found one called Torrent RT. As for emulators, awesome.

Now the hardest part, I need to choose a touch cover!
 

Milchjon

Member
Whenever I play around with a Surface Pro, I still love it so much.

If the next version could at least offer a 6-7h battery life and lose a tiny bit of weight and thickness, it would instantly become the most desirable gadget across all categories for me.

Also, if you have a touch screen, I just can't understand how you could hate Windows 8.
 
surface pro is still one of my fsvourite Gadgets ever. i am so glad i didnt get that w700 acer tablet. it has much better battery but the surface feels so well crafted and the touchcover is a bliss to use. and even though i dont use it that often, i wouldnt want to miss the pen, i frequently find myself using it. i signed some documents directly in the pdf the other day, fantastic <3
 
Okay cool.

Few more questions just to be annoying

- Is there a torrent client on RT?
- Any emulators? I.e SNES, PS1
- I presume it is getting an update to 8.
- Would for example a usb DVD drive work on it? If I wanted to watch a DVD (unlikely)

1- Yes. Torrex and some other that I don't remember the name. Torrex is the best though, and supposedly support background downloads (as a $7 in app purchase).
2 - Yes, I've seen SNES and GBA, not sure about others.
3 - Yes. 8.1 will be a free update to all Winrt and 8 devices.
4 - Yes, but you need a player that plays DVDs (I think Power dvd does, as well Mkvs, but it's a $15 app)
 

catmincer

Member
1- Yes. Torrex and some other that I don't remember the name. Torrex is the best though, and supposedly support background downloads (as a $7 in app purchase).
2 - Yes, I've seen SNES and GBA, not sure about others.
3 - Yes. 8.1 will be a free update to all Winrt and 8 devices.
4 - Yes, but you need a player that plays DVDs (I think Power dvd does, as well Mkvs, but it's a $15 app)

Sweet. That all sounds fine. The DVD thing isn't a deal breaker any way.

Think i'll have to grab one. ;)
 

Thrakier

Member
Is it possible to force neogaf mobile on the surface RT? Also: Is there a better email app than the Standard one? And: Why does IE never open the sites I defined as homesite? Also any must have a´pps?

Sorry I'm completly new and I really don't knw what to think of that device so far...coming from a Nexus 10 the Screen really is shitty....
 

Thrakier

Member
Thanks for the explanation. Switched back to IE and will use Chrome for Chromecast or something via the desktop.

Something god awful is the way it handles account management. I used a different email for my Windows 8 login then my Xbox account. Unfortunately I now have to create a third account to switch the Windows 8 accounts Xbox Live account to then move my real Xbox account to Windows. So annoying

What the hell Microsoft. What the hell.

lol, same here. their Explanation how to basically says "make a fake account". It's hilarious.
 

ksdixon

Member
Is it possible to force neogaf mobile on the surface RT? Also: Is there a better email app than the Standard one? And: Why does IE never open the sites I defined as homesite? Also any must have a´pps?

Sorry I'm completly new and I really don't knw what to think of that device so far...coming from a Nexus 10 the Screen really is shitty....

No idea how WinRT's Metro FireFox works in relation to addons, but here's how to do so on desktop firefox.

Firefox addon 'UAcontrol'. add 'm.neogaf.com' as a new address and set the custom user agent to 'android' - no need to find the real user agent text, typing android works. now you will have the normal webpage when visiting www.neogaf.com, and the mobile site when visiting m.neogaf.com. I personally bookmarked m.neogaf.com and never go to the regular site anymore.
 
Any way to decrease the amount of time that the touch cover's trackpad freezes after doing gesture scrolling? I hate it that when I scroll with it and then have to wait a second to be able to use the mouse again
 

Thrakier

Member
No idea how WinRT's Metro FireFox works in relation to addons, but here's how to do so on desktop firefox.

Firefox addon 'UAcontrol'. add 'm.neogaf.com' as a new address and set the custom user agent to 'android' - no need to find the real user agent text, typing android works. now you will have the normal webpage when visiting www.neogaf.com, and the mobile site when visiting m.neogaf.com. I personally bookmarked m.neogaf.com and never go to the regular site anymore.

RTs Firefox? ;)
 

Stat Flow

He gonna cry in the car
Yeah the cover is what puts it over the top for me. Just started my last semester and it would be nice to not need to worry about carrying my laptop with its 2 hour battery and charger around.

Gonna pull the trigger.
 

catmincer

Member
So I jumped and bought one.

It's a lot more responsive with the update to 8.1 and I can add my SD card into the library. (That restriction in 8.0 nearly made me return it)

So far, so good. Battery life is decent too. I got a few movie players off the store and tried them so far, PressPlay video is the best.

Also got the SNES emulator too which works at 60 FPS.

Metro IE sucks though, I end up using the normal version more often than not.
 

ksdixon

Member
wow the 8.1 email app is hilariously bad. Its so broken and slow. And how is that contact app any useful.

the "people" app?
I like clicking 'what's new', and having one place agregate my FB news feed and Twitter news feed. Pretty sure it can do a couple of other services like Skype too.
 

Thrakier

Member
So I jumped and bought one.

It's a lot more responsive with the update to 8.1 and I can add my SD card into the library. (That restriction in 8.0 nearly made me return it)

So far, so good. Battery life is decent too. I got a few movie players off the store and tried them so far, PressPlay video is the best.

Also got the SNES emulator too which works at 60 FPS.

Metro IE sucks though, I end up using the normal version more often than not.

Where to get the emulator?

if you use the 'nightly' build of firefox and set it as your default browser, you can get a metro firefox right now.

How can I do that?

the "people" app?
I like clicking 'what's new', and having one place agregate my FB news feed and Twitter news feed. Pretty sure it can do a couple of other services like Skype too.

No, the email app.

The one from the preview or from a later build?

Preview.
 

SCHUEY F1

Unconfirmed Member
Some Surface / Surface Pro 2 details:

A Neowin post this morning details a few of the features in the next generation Surface Pro, which Microsoft will indeed call Surface Pro 2. Here, I'd like to expand just a bit on the information Neowin provided.

I've already prepared a much more detailed report about Surface Pro 2, Surface 2, Surface "mini" and the various third party tablets and hybrid devices that Microsoft's hardware partners will ship this fall. But for now I can at least corroborate and expand on what Neowin published today.

First, be sure to check out Surface Pro 2: Haswell, more RAM and a 'refined' kickstand.

Here's what's happening.

Microsoft is building a Surface RT 2. This is true. But it's called Surface 2.

Surface [Pro] 2 will run Intel’s latest line of chips, a Haswell-based Core i5. This is also true: It's powered by a 4th generation Intel Core i5.

The Haswell upgrade ... should help to boost the battery life. True: Where Surface Pro is rated at up to 5 hours of battery life, Surface Pro 2 is rated for up to 7 hours of battery life.

RAM will receive a considerable bump, being doubled 4GB to 8GB. Surface Pro 2 will offer a choice of RAM. I don't see anything specific, but am guessing that the choices are 4 GB and 8 GB.

The device will look similar to the current Pro. Actually, it looks identical to the current Surface Pro.

Microsoft has "refined" the kickstand that ships with the device. True: Surface Pro 2 (and Surface 2) will ship with an integrated two-position kickstand.

Price. I don't know this either. But that's because it could change. As with Neowin, I don't expect much change from Surface Pro either.
 
Top Bottom