More usable space......it's expandable.....really no limit and at only 25 a pop for 32 gig.
Apps.....it's running full Windows. Love or hate MS, everything that works on a PC for the last 10 years will work....and with an i5 processor and 4000 graphics, I think it is prolly quite a bit more powerful than an iPad for just a couple hundred more.
Cellular options......handy...but my iPhone is a hotspot.
Lighter and thinner......true.....but not dramatically so.
Battery life....there in lies a true rub. I'd want 6 hours but the difference will probably be significant.
Your counters are expected and mostly valid. I would argue that if you're using it as a tablet then a USB stick or external HDD sticking out of your Surface is far from ideal. And having Core-i5 is great but it's a ULV Core-i5 on a 10" display. Plenty of Windows apps won't work to well on that system.
I 'm certainly not saying there is no market or uses for the Surface Pro but if you look at the what tablets are used for and how they are used I think you'll see the market much prefers the iPad. I use Prompt, Screens and LogMeIn to connect my iPad to Windows. I have absolutely no interest in a device that isn't an ideal tablet OS and can't be used on a lap and needs an another $130 to get a Type Cover for a notebook-ish typing experience.
I've seen the Surface RT and even that had you going into the Classic UI for stupid settings so this has to be worse so you'll need a mouse, too, I'd imagine. It all just seems like a huge kludge to me except for a very, very narrow market where it will be the best thing ever.
Interestingly enough, just last night I had my graphics card crash in Windows 8.
Yep, you heard me. JUST the graphics card. My display went blank, I heard my GPU's fan spin up to jet engine intake speeds, and I thought Windows had just completely crashed my computer all the way down to a shutdown, but the fan slowed down and my display came back on.
I worry that this worthless software is going to cause damage to my hardware.
This doesn't make much sense.
Problem you have described is pointing to your GPU problem, likely drivers but also possibly hardware. It is not necessarily GPU hardware, it could be insufficient/fluctuating power, motherboard voltage regulators, chipset (though hardware problem usually would not be amendable by driver's restart) .
Of all the possible culprits, Windows 8 itself is the least likely.
Or would you prefer if your OS has frozen/BSOD on graphics failure, causing you to lose whatever you might have been working on at the moment, like good old XP would do?
If I was ignorant (like the majority of surface buyers, 3 people) i would get really pissed off about this.
(Can we install ubuntu on surface?)
Maybe you are yet to reach awareness of your ignorance? Took some time for Socrates to realize that, too.
Since Surface Pro is basically i5 based ultrabook hardware, you should be able to install Linux (presuming that there is chipset support in any Linux distro), or even to do the Jackintosh. I'm not aware that MS has locked Surface Pro to Windows, and even if they had, smart people will find a way.
Problem you have described is pointing to your GPU problem, likely drivers but also possibly hardware. It is not necessarily GPU hardware, it could be insufficient/fluctuating power, motherboard voltage regulators, chipset (though hardware problem usually would not be amendable by driver's restart) .
Of all the possible culprits, Windows 8 itself is the least likely.
Or would you prefer if your OS has frozen/BSOD on graphics failure, causing you to lose whatever you might have been working on at the moment, like good old XP would do?
I was thinking the same thing but the ADMIN. had already determined that the things I want a tablet to do were silly and I should only talk when my expectations of a tablet met their's.
Interestingly enough, just last night I had my graphics card crash in Windows 8.
Yep, you heard me. JUST the graphics card. My display went blank, I heard my GPU's fan spin up to jet engine intake speeds, and I thought Windows had just completely crashed my computer all the way down to a shutdown, but the fan slowed down and my display came back on.
I worry that this worthless software is going to cause damage to my hardware.
What an amazing tale, brother Grimm! I actually like the part where you own Windows-based PC /clap
Looks like the storage can be expanded by inserting a relatively inexpensive memory card. Which seems simpler than the iPad method of selling the device on eBay and buying a new one when you want to add capacity.
Did you say sales for it didn't go well? I wouldn't blame. I have same question as for those who bought Asus Transformer. If you need keyboard, attached to a tablet, why won't you buy slim laptop instead?
Apps designed for the iPad's performance and display size, unlike the Surface.
Cellular options
Lighter and thinner
Much longer battery life
I think that misses the point.
Realistically, the iPad competes against the Surface RT.
Since MS advertises the separate keyboard as being an integral part of the Surface Pro experience (have you seen a single ad or commercial which doesn't highlight that silly click?), the Pro is most comparable to the MacBook Air.
I'll keep my iPhone 5, Apple TV and MacBook air.....but this will become my primary carry rig with a 256 flash drive keychain.
I am still loyal to Mac, but any who says this thing doesn't beat the crap out of an iPad simply have their eyes closed.
Mmm...it would replace my MBA before it replaced my iPad Mini. Maybe. I'd have to jump to Lightroom and Premiere and that's spendy since I'm not a pro.
Folks that think Surface Pro is stupid probably would think a MBA where the screen could be detached and act as a tablet would be brilliant.
Me I think both are cool except one actually exists and the other not so much.
I 'm certainly not saying there is no market or uses for the Surface Pro but if you look at the what tablets are used for and how they are used I think you'll see the market much prefers the iPad.
It's not a tablet replacement. It's an ultrabook replacement that can act as a tablet on weekends.
And as a work laptop/tablet combo the stylus is awesome for engineers or artists that need to draw or any folks that prefer to take notes long hand vs typing.
I'm sticking with the notion that it is a half-baked concept that is really just a small screened ultra book or netbook that can sort of work like a tablet (in landscape only mode, that is). And I'm sorry, but using between 1/3 to 2/3's of the available marketed memory for the OS is not normal. It's just wasteful to try to address the "needs" of a population of users and software companies that are unwilling to move forward and program around a new OS.
Realistically, the iPad competes against the Surface RT.
Since MS advertises the separate keyboard as being an integral part of the Surface Pro experience (have you seen a single ad or commercial which doesn't highlight that silly click?), the Pro is most comparable to the MacBook Air.
It's not a tablet replacement. It's an ultrabook replacement that can act as a tablet on weekends.
And as a work laptop/tablet combo the stylus is awesome for engineers or artists that need to draw or any folks that prefer to take notes long hand vs typing.
I would compare the Surface Pro that way but the OP was defending his desire for the Surface Pro over the iPad hence my reply.
Apparently I am the only person in the world who does these things, Admin.
But I do in fact do a lot of them pretty regularly on my Air because I can't on my iPad. Now I'll be able to.
Admins here sneer at positives when they can't find a hole in a discussion. How.....adversarial.
I use my iPad now as my laptop basically, I setup my iMac to do my heavy lifting & I RDP into my VM & VNC into OS X. I also have the redpark cable for Cisco consoles and a BT keyboard with backlight. I love my iPad & even though it is the 16GB iPad 2 it has been rock solid & more than up to the task. By the way, it does do multitasking, just a very limited multitasking. I have no issues switching between RDP, iSSH, & VNC, it maintains all 3 network connections just fine. Sure it's not as full blown but then I can work on my iPad on battery nearly 4x what you can on the Surface. For me I need something that just works, Windows hardly fits that mold.
There's prolly going to be bloatware. I agree that this sucks....
However......this device will replace my iPad third gen.
With the ability to truly multi-task, to not just mirror but dedicate external monitors to different things, run any full blown windows software, expand storage any number of ways (USB flash or HD, SD), easy connection of peripherals, parrot with Apple TV, run mobile apps with an Android emulator, play .iso files, use external burner, Microsoft Office.....the list just goes on and on.
I'll keep my iPhone 5, Apple TV and MacBook air.....but this will become my primary carry rig with a 256 flash drive keychain.
I am still loyal to Mac, but any who says this thing doesn't beat the crap out of an iPad simply have their eyes closed.
All those wires you are excited about connecting to your Surface makes me think you should save your money and buy a desktop PC. You'd then have enough money left over to buy a really nice portable iDevice.
I also have the redpark cable for Cisco consoles. […] I have no issues switching between RDP, iSSH, & VNC, it maintains all 3 network connections just fine. Sure it's not as full blown but then I can work on my iPad on battery nearly 4x what you can on the Surface. For me I need something that just works, Windows hardly fits that mold.
This is awesome! I had no idea this exists.
I do have a question about options. For my home lab I have 10yo swivel-head iMac connected via USB-to-Serial-to-Console Cable to a Cisco Access Server (Model 2509 or something like that) which has the Async Octal cable that all connect to the console ports of my other Cisco routers and switches. If you've used this setup you'll know that you switch back to the Access Server by using the Ctrl-Shift -6 then X sequence. This can't be done with Prompt on the iPad. I have to use Screens VNC to jump into the Mac and do the key combo. Can the Get Console app do this?
Comments
Your counters are expected and mostly valid. I would argue that if you're using it as a tablet then a USB stick or external HDD sticking out of your Surface is far from ideal. And having Core-i5 is great but it's a ULV Core-i5 on a 10" display. Plenty of Windows apps won't work to well on that system.
I 'm certainly not saying there is no market or uses for the Surface Pro but if you look at the what tablets are used for and how they are used I think you'll see the market much prefers the iPad. I use Prompt, Screens and LogMeIn to connect my iPad to Windows. I have absolutely no interest in a device that isn't an ideal tablet OS and can't be used on a lap and needs an another $130 to get a Type Cover for a notebook-ish typing experience.
I've seen the Surface RT and even that had you going into the Classic UI for stupid settings so this has to be worse so you'll need a mouse, too, I'd imagine. It all just seems like a huge kludge to me except for a very, very narrow market where it will be the best thing ever.
This doesn't make much sense.
Problem you have described is pointing to your GPU problem, likely drivers but also possibly hardware. It is not necessarily GPU hardware, it could be insufficient/fluctuating power, motherboard voltage regulators, chipset (though hardware problem usually would not be amendable by driver's restart) .
Of all the possible culprits, Windows 8 itself is the least likely.
Or would you prefer if your OS has frozen/BSOD on graphics failure, causing you to lose whatever you might have been working on at the moment, like good old XP would do?
Drag and drop or insert SD....boom....there it is.
Friggin' nirvana.
The only thing I hate about my iDevices.
Maybe you are yet to reach awareness of your ignorance? Took some time for Socrates to realize that, too.
Since Surface Pro is basically i5 based ultrabook hardware, you should be able to install Linux (presuming that there is chipset support in any Linux distro), or even to do the Jackintosh. I'm not aware that MS has locked Surface Pro to Windows, and even if they had, smart people will find a way.
I was thinking the same thing but the ADMIN. had already determined that the things I want a tablet to do were silly and I should only talk when my expectations of a tablet met their's.
Thanks.
I assume Apple stock will go down on this news.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Interestingly enough, just last night I had my graphics card crash in Windows 8.
Yep, you heard me. JUST the graphics card. My display went blank, I heard my GPU's fan spin up to jet engine intake speeds, and I thought Windows had just completely crashed my computer all the way down to a shutdown, but the fan slowed down and my display came back on.
I worry that this worthless software is going to cause damage to my hardware.
What an amazing tale, brother Grimm! I actually like the part where you own Windows-based PC
Looks like the storage can be expanded by inserting a relatively inexpensive memory card. Which seems simpler than the iPad method of selling the device on eBay and buying a new one when you want to add capacity.
Did you say sales for it didn't go well? I wouldn't blame. I have same question as for those who bought Asus Transformer. If you need keyboard, attached to a tablet, why won't you buy slim laptop instead?
You don't "need" a keyboard. It comes with several virtual ones that can just be minimized and called up at will.
Seriously people......get it together.
Sent from my iPad.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
PS: Why do some posters use crazy HTML formatting in their posts? It's a huge PITA to clean up.
If you cut and paste from a website you get whatever HTML formatting from that site. It's a PITA period.
I think that misses the point.
Realistically, the iPad competes against the Surface RT.
Since MS advertises the separate keyboard as being an integral part of the Surface Pro experience (have you seen a single ad or commercial which doesn't highlight that silly click?), the Pro is most comparable to the MacBook Air.
Quote:
Originally Posted by handquake
I'll keep my iPhone 5, Apple TV and MacBook air.....but this will become my primary carry rig with a 256 flash drive keychain.
I am still loyal to Mac, but any who says this thing doesn't beat the crap out of an iPad simply have their eyes closed.
Mmm...it would replace my MBA before it replaced my iPad Mini. Maybe. I'd have to jump to Lightroom and Premiere and that's spendy since I'm not a pro.
Folks that think Surface Pro is stupid probably would think a MBA where the screen could be detached and act as a tablet would be brilliant.
Me I think both are cool except one actually exists and the other not so much.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
I 'm certainly not saying there is no market or uses for the Surface Pro but if you look at the what tablets are used for and how they are used I think you'll see the market much prefers the iPad.
It's not a tablet replacement. It's an ultrabook replacement that can act as a tablet on weekends.
And as a work laptop/tablet combo the stylus is awesome for engineers or artists that need to draw or any folks that prefer to take notes long hand vs typing.
I'm sticking with the notion that it is a half-baked concept that is really just a small screened ultra book or netbook that can sort of work like a tablet (in landscape only mode, that is). And I'm sorry, but using between 1/3 to 2/3's of the available marketed memory for the OS is not normal. It's just wasteful to try to address the "needs" of a population of users and software companies that are unwilling to move forward and program around a new OS.
I would compare the Surface Pro that way but the OP was defending his desire for the Surface Pro over the iPad hence my reply.
I use my iPad now as my laptop basically, I setup my iMac to do my heavy lifting & I RDP into my VM & VNC into OS X. I also have the redpark cable for Cisco consoles and a BT keyboard with backlight. I love my iPad & even though it is the 16GB iPad 2 it has been rock solid & more than up to the task. By the way, it does do multitasking, just a very limited multitasking. I have no issues switching between RDP, iSSH, & VNC, it maintains all 3 network connections just fine. Sure it's not as full blown but then I can work on my iPad on battery nearly 4x what you can on the Surface. For me I need something that just works, Windows hardly fits that mold.
Quote:
Originally Posted by handquake
There's prolly going to be bloatware. I agree that this sucks....
However......this device will replace my iPad third gen.
With the ability to truly multi-task, to not just mirror but dedicate external monitors to different things, run any full blown windows software, expand storage any number of ways (USB flash or HD, SD), easy connection of peripherals, parrot with Apple TV, run mobile apps with an Android emulator, play .iso files, use external burner, Microsoft Office.....the list just goes on and on.
I'll keep my iPhone 5, Apple TV and MacBook air.....but this will become my primary carry rig with a 256 flash drive keychain.
I am still loyal to Mac, but any who says this thing doesn't beat the crap out of an iPad simply have their eyes closed.
All those wires you are excited about connecting to your Surface makes me think you should save your money and buy a desktop PC. You'd then have enough money left over to buy a really nice portable iDevice.
This is awesome! I had no idea this exists.
I do have a question about options. For my home lab I have 10yo swivel-head iMac connected via USB-to-Serial-to-Console Cable to a Cisco Access Server (Model 2509 or something like that) which has the Async Octal cable that all connect to the console ports of my other Cisco routers and switches. If you've used this setup you'll know that you switch back to the Access Server by using the Ctrl-Shift -6 then X sequence. This can't be done with Prompt on the iPad. I have to use Screens VNC to jump into the Mac and do the key combo. Can the Get Console app do this?