Microsoft unveils $799 Surface Pro 3, calls it 'the tablet that can replace your laptop'

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  • Reply 121 of 185
    jpellinojpellino Posts: 697member
  • Reply 122 of 185

    I wonder if the Pro 3 alone is the real reason for the 12" LCDs reported in the supply chain that inspired the larger iPad and 12" MBA rumors. I don't recall what was being reported for the resolution/aspect ratio of the 12" other than "retina."

  • Reply 123 of 185
    lorin schultzlorin schultz Posts: 2,771member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Slurpy View Post

     
    They've gotten pretty pathetic in terms of objectivity and click-whoring. 


     

    As posted on AI, bastion of fair, balanced, objective journalism. <*Cough!*>

  • Reply 124 of 185
    lorin schultzlorin schultz Posts: 2,771member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Anome View Post

     
    Microsoft's problem is that they want the Surface to be all things to all people. That means trying to be a tablet and a PC, and not really succeeding at either.


     

    I get how it fails as a laptop, but not as a tablet. Seems to me that the tablet part of its implementation is just fine -- trade some battery life for horsepower and screen size. Seems reasonable to me.

     

    I also REALLY like the idea of being able to use a stylus with Photoshop or other "desktop" apps. That's something I would exploit.

     

    As an Apple laptop user I really see no need for an iPad, but if I were still a Windows laptop user I could definitely see replacing it with a Surface 3.

  • Reply 125 of 185
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    I get how it fails as a laptop, but not as a tablet. Seems to me that the tablet part of its implementation is just fine -- trade some battery life for horsepower and screen size. Seems reasonable to me.

    I also REALLY like the idea of being able to use a stylus with Photoshop or other "desktop" apps. That's something I would exploit.

    As an Apple laptop user I really see no need for an iPad, but if I were still a Windows laptop user I could definitely see replacing it with a Surface 3.

    1) The OS and apps aren't designed well for tablet use.

    2) Have you used the 11.6" MBA for work that needs horsepower and screen size? Of course not, so why would anyone want a Surface Pro for those reasons? Their "no compromise" solution is nothing but compromises.

    3) As an Apple laptop user I can't see how you could use a Surface Pro with its keyboard over the one Apple offers.
  • Reply 126 of 185
    juiljuil Posts: 75member

    Jeez, MS is really clueless when it comes to mobile... Here is their faster horse!

     

    Mobile is all about having a computer ON you (phone) or right beside you (tablet) most of the time - as opposed to having a computer on a desk in the next room or in a brief case somewhere. Mobile is not replacing mouse/keyboard computing because it is not mature enough yet. It needs people behind it who believe in mobile and reinvent the apps with radical new ideas. So mobile is about opening new possibilities and new use cases for computing devices.

     

    It is not about bringing legacy computing experiences/environments in more portable form factors. It is about reinventing them altogether while leveraging the advantages inherent to mobile devices.

  • Reply 127 of 185
    heinrichzheinrichz Posts: 24member
    If they can gelt this work smoothly it certainly beats having to use two separate operating systems i.e. one for desktops and one for mobile devices..
  • Reply 128 of 185
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Lorin Schultz View Post

     

    I also REALLY like the idea of being able to use a stylus with Photoshop or other "desktop" apps. That's something I would exploit.

     


     

    You like the idea of using a stylus with desktop apps? Please. Been there, done that. Microsoft has been pushing that since the early 1990s. Even Apple tried it. It's not what the world has been waiting for.

     

  • Reply 129 of 185
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post





    I have to disagree! A lot of creatives will be drawn to using Photoshop with a direct on-the-display stylus interaction,



    Can't do that on either an Apple Laptop or an Apple Tablet.



    I also expect to see CAD and Drafting apps developed to take advantage of this capability!

     

    If by "can't do that" you mean limit yourself to just 256 pressure levels, then yes.

    This Wacom Intuos iPad stylus has 2048 pressure levels.

     

    image

  • Reply 130 of 185
    cycomikocycomiko Posts: 716member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post

     

    Is there a huge demand for three wheeled vehicles?

     

    Tablets are like motorcycles (2 wheels), and laptops are like cars (four wheels).

     

    What MS has done is blended both and come up with a three wheeled vehicle, that's neither better than a motorcycle or a car, and how many three wheeled vehicles do you see on the road?


     



    Three wheelers are great.  I live in a tiny place in the middle of nowhere and see them all the time. 

     

  • Reply 131 of 185
    It's awesome. They'll sell dozens.
  • Reply 132 of 185
    You need to pay for anti virus every month before she catch malware ;)
  • Reply 133 of 185
    I think we can expect a lighter MacBook Air by the end of the year. I appreciate that Microsoft is trying to innovate but I'd still rather have a much lighter iPad AND a laptop rather than something that is too heavier to use one handed and is offers a mediocre typing experience as a laptop...and has an OS that is neither here nor there.
  • Reply 134 of 185

    I sure wish Apple would put an SD card slot in the iPads.

  • Reply 135 of 185
    technarchytechnarchy Posts: 296member

    I like it. 

     

    The change to 3:2 aspect ratio, as we know from the iPhone, gives a lot of viewable content and is a good compromise for usage and viewing video.

     

    I like the idea of a laptop when I need it, and a tablet for just relaxing on the couch watching "Game of Thrones".

     

    Concerns: hinge life and tension after a year of pressure, and battery life.

     

    If my MBA and R-Mini died suddenly, I'd get the Surface Pro 3. For $999 + $129 it's the better value prospect compared to getting another MBA and iPad Air or Mini.

     

    As far as convergence goes, it's getting closer to where the concept needs to be, and what I would consider viable.

  • Reply 136 of 185
    lorin schultzlorin schultz Posts: 2,771member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post

     

    You like the idea of using a stylus with desktop apps? Please. Been there, done that. Microsoft has been pushing that since the early 1990s. Even Apple tried it. It's not what the world has been waiting for.


     

    Oh, sorry. I didn't realize that you had already decided for the rest of us that styli are "so ten minutes ago." How come no one ever asks ME what the world is waiting for? How did you get that gig? Does it pay well?

     

    But seriously, I'm not talking about the old pen-as-replacement-for-mouse nonsense. I hated that as much as everyone else. I'm talking about how the Surface becomes more like a Wacom Cintiq by allowing you to draw directly on the screen. Pen support may not be unique to the Surface, but the fact that it's a "native" component, presumably with OS-level support, means developers are much more likely to include ways to exploit it in their apps.

     

    I know it's not an Apple device, but I somehow managed to find things to like about it anyway. Sorry about that! :)

  • Reply 137 of 185
    lorin schultzlorin schultz Posts: 2,771member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post

     
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post





    I have to disagree! A lot of creatives will be drawn to using Photoshop with a direct on-the-display stylus interaction,



    Can't do that on either an Apple Laptop or an Apple Tablet.



    I also expect to see CAD and Drafting apps developed to take advantage of this capability!

     

    If by "can't do that" you mean limit yourself to just 256 pressure levels, then yes.

    This Wacom Intuos iPad stylus has 2048 pressure levels.


     

    Holy crap! You got Photoshop running on an iPad?! That's incredible! How?!

  • Reply 138 of 185
    lorin schultzlorin schultz Posts: 2,771member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post

     
    Have you used the 11.6" MBA for work that needs horsepower and screen size?


     

    I get your point. I'm sure you also got MINE, which was that the Surface has more power and real estate than other tablets.

  • Reply 139 of 185
    leighrleighr Posts: 253member
    It has a [B]fan[/B]. LOL.
  • Reply 140 of 185
    knowitallknowitall Posts: 1,648member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Anome View Post





    I made no claims about differences between touch and mouse-centric input. I mentioned the use cases. Tablets and PCs are used in different ways for different things. These differences in use necessitate differences in the UI and, to an increasingly lesser extent, the hardware.



    Microsoft's problem is that they want the Surface to be all things to all people. That means trying to be a tablet and a PC, and not really succeeding at either.

    Different use boils down to different input.

    In the field a separate keyboard is unusable most of the time, so you have to rely on touch and so your apps and OS must be good at that.

    MS problem is that they try to support conflicting input methods like touch and mouse at the same time, and fail to see that only one at the time is valid and its even better to have only one.

    If apps and OS can switch between the input method (or role), they morph instead of merge, users can be presented a consistent interface that fully utilizes the input paradigm. This means of course that app and OS makers must write two versions of each program and have to think about the morph phase.

    It is much easier to choose only one input method like touch (as Apple did), and write all apps and the OS for that. (Its a choice of a full electric car instead of a hybrid.)

    And in doing so all portable computers can be replaced by this (and even the desktop if you think of it) when they are stripped of their cumbersome keyboard, mouse area and flip screen and made a perfect minimal computer: the tablet.

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