• 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|

K

Kafel

Banned
Alx said:
Ok, I spent some time with my Surface, here are my general impressioins, including both hardware and software :

Good :
- shape and build quality. I like the solid aspect of the whole device, the magnetic *click* when snapping a cover to it.
- battery life. Always a pleasure to use it for a long period, then checking the battery and seeing it 75% full. My old laptop made me paranoid about needing a power plug for any extensive use.
- all the features I needed are there : web browser, office, remote desktop,...
- everything is fast and fluid, mostly.
- features like Xbox music/Smarglass work perfectly, actually better than on my laptop (which sometimes loses connection and cannot detect the Xbox any more).

Bad / "Could be better" :
- fingerprints on the back (and on the screen of course, but that was expectd). It's annoying.
- using it on your lap isn't very convenient. The type cover is functional, but the balance of the whole thing doesn't feel stable (and isn't really). Annoying since I usually browse from an armchair, so I'm more frequently in tablet mode.
- IE in portrait mode is ugly : the text font seems downsampled (and there's no point in watching a site like neogaf in landscape), it's still readable but not too comfortable. I hope it will be fixed in an update since it's obviously a software problem, or that better browsers like Opera will be released for RT.
- IE "swipe to go back" can be interpreted as the left swipe to change active app.
- I had trouble on the store at first because the tablet thought I was located in the UK. There was no option to change it from the regular option menus, I had to go to Control Panel to change my location, which wasn't very intuitive. It works now, though.
- I've had it slow down to a crawl once, needing a complete restart to make it work again. I think I was doing an update while launching the store, or something like that.

On the whole, I'm quite satisfied with it. It really makes my everyday use of computers more comfortable, even though it's still not perfect yet. It is definitely a good thing to be able to use a tablet "almost like a laptop". They should just make it easier to hold on your lap. :p
Click to expand...

Did you try the Touch Cover ?

I'm interested in the Type once but I'm afraid I'll miss a nice feature of the Touch Cover : the ability to hide it under the tablet. I guess you can't do that with the Type Cover ?
 
Alx

Alx

Member
I only tried the touch cover during a quick hand-on in a showroom. I thought it worked fine, but that it was harder to find the keys without looking at it (and of course not having any mobile part feels strange).
The type cover can be folded in the back of the tablet just like the touch, but you'll have your palm on the mobile keys while holding it (the keys are auto-disabled in that configuration of course). Some people think it feels funny, but I sort of like it. Oh, and the type cover suffers from fingerprints too, on the keyboard side.
 
T

Totakeke

Member
Well thank MCD for that, he posted it in the Win8 thread first. ;)


I looked through almost the whole site and didn't really find that many more interesting apps aside from games which I didn't bother trying. But I did find a partially working mkv player though. It doesn't play a lot of my files but the ones it did play it played them very smoothly.

mobile.HD Media Player (http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/8441f98d-c8e7-4ee1-9c1a-6f08f46e51f3)

Edit: For mkv there's this too
PressPlay Video (http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/14524998-116a-406f-994b-fefc4caa91dc)
It's more barebones but it does ask if you want to convert the file in the background if it can't play it. Tried converting one file but then it played choppily.

Other semi-interesting apps I saw
Cloud Cat (http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/c784938a-bc4a-4195-a49c-0b1399cfa5a8)
An app for you to make a catalog of stuff, beautifully designed, sorely lacking sharing functions though.

4th at Square (http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/eadfcb9a-b18d-49b0-9224-9d0d8a6fda10)
A ripoff of 4th and Mayor on WP? Nicely designed Foursquare app still.

Taskorami (http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/62a38283-5793-4e7e-94d0-9f05cae01b76)
Interesting and beautiful tasks app based on GTD, doesn't feel like it works for my workflow so I'll just stick to OneNote.

YumvY Lite (http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/2c4e0d1d-8db8-4d01-8329-aee152c4cb9d)
Again another nice looking and good recipe/cooking app, there seems to be plenty of these for some reason.

Eatfindr (http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/083c5758-be14-4923-b113-39429c795120)
Restaurant recommender for the health conscious, US only.

AppSwitch (http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/ad0b0e29-3f31-4cf5-81c9-dfff3ed97f3d)
Supposedly to help you find similar apps that you're already using on iOS or Android, but stucks at loading for me, maybe you guys will have better luck.

PrimeTube (http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/939f9513-a8fc-4c0a-81b5-898e16a9970d)
Another youtube app which seems feature rich but feels too cumbersome to me, I'll stick with Youtube+
 
C

Cosmic Dreams

Member
Is anyone having trouble with the messaging app? In red letters it says we cannot send a message right now. It also says I'm not connected and I can't change the status.
 
Alx

Alx

Member
By the way, I was surprised that the logo wasn't more visible. One of the most iconic element of the mac devices is the huge (sometimes glowing) apple on the back, that helps for self-promotion. The "Windows window" is barely visible from afar (which isn't bad for the aesthetics)
 
J

jbug617

Banned
Pricing for the Surface Pro is out

$899 for 64 GB
$999 for 128 GB

Both come with a Pen with Palm Block technology but you have to buy the covers.
 
Alx

Alx

Member
That price for the Pro doesn't sound bad at all... I expected more.
I'm not sure I'll need it now that I have the RT + my old regular laptop, but we'll see when it comes out. :) (I already know someone who will gladly take my RT if I upgrade... actually I think she'll take it even if I don't. :p )
 
J

JaggedSac

Member
Alx said:
That price for the Pro doesn't sound bad at all... I expected more.
I'm not sure I'll need it now that I have the RT + my old regular laptop, but we'll see when it comes out. :) (I already know someone who will gladly take my RT if I upgrade... actually I think she'll take it even if I don't. :p )
Click to expand...

Yeah, I might look into selling the RT if it is good, but curious to see how the battery life is on that thing, also might need to hold it at the store to see how that weight and thickness are.
 
P

Pooya

Member
jbug617 said:
Pricing for the Surface Pro is out

$899 for 64 GB
$999 for 128 GB

Both come with a Pen with Palm Block technology but you have to buy the covers.
Click to expand...

That's not bad at all, I just hope it doesn't get hot to touch. Otherwise attractive price for a good Ultrabook + digitizer pen.
 
X

Xplatformer

Member
jbug617 said:
Pricing for the Surface Pro is out

$899 for 64 GB
$999 for 128 GB

Both come with a Pen with Palm Block technology but you have to buy the covers.
Click to expand...

So...people are expecting this to sell better than the Windows RT device because???? Once the item approaches Macbook Pro pricing its off my radar. I can get a damn good notebook off ebay for $900+.
 
E

Enco

Member
Xplatformer said:
So...people are expecting this to sell better than the Windows RT device because???? Once the item approaches Macbook Pro pricing its off my radar. I can get a damn good notebook off ebay for $900+.
Click to expand...
An ebay notebook for $900+? Is that meant to make the Surface PRO seem like a rip off?

For a laptop the price is very fair. I can understand it being outside people's price range but to say you can buy a notebook for the same price is silly.
 
T

Totakeke

Member
Xplatformer said:
So...people are expecting this to sell better than the Windows RT device because???? Once the item approaches Macbook Pro pricing its off my radar. I can get a damn good notebook off ebay for $900+.
Click to expand...

List your damn good notebook for $900+ and we'll see it's pretty much a device targeted at different needs.
 
P

Pooya

Member
now that I'm thinking, don't think you can find anything at that price range that can compete with a SurfacePro and all of it's features. They better distribute this one more widely than RT.

certainly nothing will have the same build quality and VaporMg case among Windows devices out there and this is far more useful than a macbook air. Can you even get a macbook air with 1080p display yet?
 
T

Totakeke

Member
13" check, not a convertible, check, no touch screen, check, no pen input check. This can be used as a tablet, the MBP can't. Why do you think they put a touch screen on it anyway?
 
X

Xplatformer

Member
Totakeke said:
13" check, not a convertible, check, no touch screen, check, no pen input check. This can be used as a tablet, the MBP can't. Why do you think they put a touch screen on it anyway?
Click to expand...
And the market for a tablet to run EXISTING WINDOWS SOFTWARE (which doesn't support touch) is how big?

My argument is mostly against the price...not the justification of the device itself. Im not spending $1000 for a tablet.
 
T

Totakeke

Member
I said device targeted at different needs, and if you don't think some people might value those things more than you, well there's nothing really to argue.
 
W

Windu

never heard about the cat, apparently
Xplatformer said:
And the market for a tablet to run EXISTING WINDOWS SOFTWARE (which doesn't support touch) is how big?

My argument is mostly against the price...not the justification of the device itself. Im not spending $1000 for a tablet.
Click to expand...
Sooo you will spend $1000 for a laptop and $500-$600 for a tablet instead of $1000 for a tablet/laptop combo. Ok then, its nice to know you like to spend more money.
 
M

maeh2k

Member
Xplatformer said:
And the market for a tablet to run EXISTING WINDOWS SOFTWARE (which doesn't support touch) is how big?

My argument is mostly against the price...not the justification of the device itself. Im not spending $1000 for a tablet.
Click to expand...

I am very seriously considering the Surface Pro. I wouldn't be spending $1000 "for a tablet", but for my main (and basically only) computing device instead of buying a notebook.
The Surface Pro costs about as much as comparable Ultrabooks and comes with touch and pen. That's a very fair price.

What I don't like about the Surface and about Ultrabooks in general is the non-exisent upgradeability and repairability. I'd rather have 8 GB RAM and be able to replace HDD, battery, and RAM myself. What if the disk breaks two or three years after I bought it? Would I have to send it in somewhere for possibly a couple of weeks and pay a large fee to get it replaced? Things like batteries and HDDs break all the time. When the battery of my current notebook broke three years after I bought it, I used it for some time without the battery and then I bought a replacement battery for $50.
 
M

maeh2k

Member
Totakeke said:
Good point, Surface also has a fixed angle stand and if it's anything like Surface RT, there's only one year warranty.
Click to expand...

I'm okay with the stand. At home I'd plug in an external monitor, a mouse, and a keyboard, anyway. Also, in Germany we get a two-year warranty.
However, I'd like to use such a device for quite a long time after the warranty. That's when things like repairability get interesting.
 
E

eastmen

Banned
Xplatformer said:
Are u serious?

Have u never been to ebay? Do a search for Macbook pro 13...(which will run Windows 8 and MacOS X). WHATS THE AVERAGE PRICE?
Click to expand...

mac book pro will weigh twice as much , has no stylus support and has no touch screen. It also can't operate as a tablet !

Why would I be looking at that while looking at the surface pro ? It makes no sense at all.


maeh2k said:
I am very seriously considering the Surface Pro. I wouldn't be spending $1000 "for a tablet", but for my main (and basically only) computing device instead of buying a notebook.
The Surface Pro costs about as much as comparable Ultrabooks and comes with touch and pen. That's a very fair price.

What I don't like about the Surface and about Ultrabooks in general is the non-exisent upgradeability and repairability. I'd rather have 8 GB RAM and be able to replace HDD, battery, and RAM myself. What if the disk breaks two or three years after I bought it? Would I have to send it in somewhere for possibly a couple of weeks and pay a large fee to get it replaced? Things like batteries and HDDs break all the time. When the battery of my current notebook broke three years after I bought it, I used it for some time without the battery and then I bought a replacement battery for $50.
Click to expand...

it will just be like phones / tablets and some laptops. When it dies you replace it.

The RT has a $100 2 year extended warranty. It also includes drops and spills .

I'm okay with this as I can get 3-4 years out of all my devices and by then I can normaly get a very large upgrade and simply buy the new. For most laptops I'd have limited upgradability anyway. You can generaly only change hardrive/ram
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Windows 11’s new gamepad keyboard lets you type with an Xbox controller
4
463
Magic Carpet replied
[The Verge] Microsoft is now in a handheld gaming PC race
2
79
6K
MisterXDTV replied
[Verge] Windows 11 is now the most popular OS for PC gaming
2
94
4K
simpatico replied
Microsoft's AI will be inside Minecraft, and other Xbox, PC games: new Copilot features will search your inventories, offer tips and guides
2
73
4K
Cyberpunkd replied
[Verge] Windows on Arm isn’t ready for gaming
22
2K
LordOfChaos replied
Top Bottom