Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 RT Priced, Starts at $499

[brandonwh64]

One thing that bugs me is that it will not run X32 applications which is kinda a buzz kill. You get something with windows OS on it and expect it to be like a netbook.

 

[Dos101]

One thing that bugs me is that it will not run X32 applications which is kinda a buzz kill. You get something with windows OS on it and expect it to be like a netbook.

True, but that's why Surface RT isn't a laptop replacement, it's a companion device. With all the apps in the Store now, I can do 90% of what I usually do on my laptop, but with a lot more mobility and battery life. After reading the reviews of the Surface Pro I'm even more content with my decision to purchase Surface RT.

 

[Easy Rhino]

True, but that's why Surface RT isn't a laptop replacement, it's a companion device. With all the apps in the Store now, I can do 90% of what I usually do on my laptop, but with a lot more mobility and battery life. After reading the reviews of the Surface Pro I'm even more content with my decision to purchase Surface RT.

doesn't surface pro have less battery life than a laptop and much less storage space and gets much hotter?

 

[Mathragh]

doesn't surface pro have less battery life than a laptop and much less storage space and gets much hotter?

See anand's review.

Battery life: 4 to 5 hours is longer than my laptop, I dont know what is considered normal these days, but I'd say that atleast the battery life is not bad, all things considered.

Storage space is indeed a quite sparse if you get the 64GB version and dont use a memory card. I'd say 128GB, or the use of a memory card will results in enough space.

When it comes to temperatures, according to the review, the cpu sensor reported a temperature between 60 and 70C, and the temperature of the tablet on the outside was a max of 40 degrees, apparently.

 

[Dos101]

doesn't surface pro have less battery life than a laptop and much less storage space and gets much hotter?

I was talking about Surface RT, not Surface Pro. But yes you are correct, though I've heard varying reports on the temps (see this review here). It's prices a little high, but I have yet to see any other OEM match the build quality of Surface (both the Pro and RT).

 

[Easy Rhino]

well i don't get it. the ipad 4 beats the surface in everything except memory and yet the ipad runs nearly as fast. you can get a fancy keyboard for the ipad just like the surface pro has. why not save $200 and get an ipad 4?

 

[Mathragh]

well i don't get it. the ipad 4 beats the surface in everything except memory and yet the ipad runs nearly as fast. you can get a fancy keyboard for the ipad just like the surface pro has. why not save $200 and get an ipad 4?

Are you now talking about the surface RT, of the surface pro?

 

[cadaveca]

well i don't get it. the ipad 4 beats the surface in everything except memory and yet the ipad runs nearly as fast. you can get a fancy keyboard for the ipad just like the surface pro has. why not save $200 and get an ipad 4?

iPad4 doesn't run Windows.

Surface Pro meets all my daily needs, except gaming, runs all my apps(including Photoshop), and is nice and small. iPad? It's got apps. Hoorrah.

 

[Easy Rhino]

Are you now talking about the surface RT, of the surface pro?

surface pro

iPad4 doesn't run Windows.

Surface Pro meets all my daily needs, except gaming, runs all my apps(including Photoshop), and is nice and small. iPad? It's got apps. Hoorrah.

right, so you are willing to spend an extra $200 for a tablet for the OS. i am not directing this at you, but for those people who call people who like apple products 'fanbois' i am pretty sure this little fact will make their heads explode. sorry for the run-on sentence.

 

[cadaveca]

right, so you are willing to spend an extra $200 for a tablet for the OS. i am not directing this at you, but for those people who call people who like apple products 'fanbois' i am pretty sure this little fact will make their heads explode. sorry for the run-on sentence.

Me? Sure. That OS gives me the functionality I need, and if I have to buy a specific device for it.. that's fine. It's not the only tablet available though, so the iPad's real usefulness, to me, is for watching video only, and minor surfing.

I want more touchscreen controls, though, so while Surface Pro greatly appeals to me, it is not high on my list of wants right now. However, build a decent Wacom tablet into the top, charge me $99 more, and I'll buy one this instant.

In my house, even my cable box runs a Microsoft OS. The seamless integration...you only get out of using a complete platform, and I'm already a Windows user, not a Mac user.


If I had a Mac, and an iPhone, I'd buy the iPad, most likely.

 

[Easy Rhino]

Me? Sure. That OS gives me the functionality I need, and if I have to buy a specific device for it.. that's fine. It's not the only tablet available though, so the iPad's real usefulness, to me, is for watching video only, and minor surfing.

I want more touchscreen controls, though, so while Surface Pro greatly appeals to me, it is not high on my list of wants right now. However, build a decent Wacom tablet into the top, charge me $99 more, and I'll buy one this instant.

In my house, even my cable box runs a Microsoft OS. The seamless integration...you only get out of using a complete platform, and I'm already a Windows user, not a Mac user.


If I had a Mac, and an iPhone, I'd buy the iPad, most likely.

exactly right! if most of your stuff is already running windows then it is so much easier integrating newer windows products into your environment. so obviously you would want a surface tablet. i am not sure why people don't understand this simple aspect of computer users.

 

[cadaveca]

i am not sure why people don't understand this simple aspect of computer users.

Oh, that's simple. It stinks of "The Man" too much. Or whatever label you want to give to "Corporate Evil". People dislike IE, ads on the internet, and all the rest, for exactly the same reasons.

I don't mind using specialized devices for specialized tasks. My phone..is a phone. It doesn't play videos...or text message...

My TV is for TV, I have a separate panel for console gaming. I have a PC for work, and a PC for play.

When I walk out my front door, I leave all the technology sitting on my desk.

When all these things cost so much out of one's paycheck, it's easy to understand both wanting one thing that will do it all, as well as understanding the real importance of these devices, too. For most, it's not just a phone in their pocket... It's their life. If someone can easily intrude on that...


You just can't win, as a tech company. On one hand people love you, and on the other, they want you dead. That's a pretty fine line to walk.


As a parent, my life is my kids. The rest is just distractions. Having four kids, those distractions take up far less importance in my life than they do for most, so simply, I just don't care. I want devices that make my life easier, and paying a little for that is no big deal. I think the same is true for any parent...but not everyone out there with disposal income is a parent.

Most PC enthusiasts..aren't parents. The demographic makes it pretty basic, IMHO.

 

[TheMailMan78]

Oh, that's simple. It stinks of "The Man" too much. Or whatever label you want to give to "Corporate Evil". People dislike IE, ads on the internet, and all the rest, for exactly the same reasons.

I don't mind using specialized devices for specialized tasks. My phone..is a phone. It doesn't play videos...or text message...

My TV is for TV, I have a separate panel for console gaming. I have a PC for work, and a PC for play.

When I walk out my front door, I leave all the technology sitting on my desk.

When all these things cost so much out of one's paycheck, it's easy to understand both wanting one thing that will do it all, as well as understanding the real importance of these devices, too. For most, it's not just a phone in their pocket... It's their life. If someone can easily intrude on that...


You just can't win, as a tech company. On one hand people love you, and on the other, they want you dead. That's a pretty fine line to walk.


As a parent, my life is my kids. The rest is just distractions. Having four kids, those distractions take up far less importance in my life than they do for most, so simply, I just don't care. I want devices that make my life easier, and paying a little for that is no big deal. I think the same is true for any parent...but not everyone out there with disposal income is a parent.

Most PC enthusiasts..aren't parents. The demographic makes it pretty basic, IMHO.

Three kids just makes me want something that works......problem is in my case everything doesn't work right. When I was a kid we had an RCA TV built into a cabinet. I would turn in on and watch TV. Now I gotta turn on the cable box before the TV or I have to turn everything off and start over (including the DVD player). Everyday I'm like "I JUST WANNA WATCH F#@KING CARTOONS!" Cable company blames the TV maker, TV maker blames the Cable company and I'm getting really good at the range with my 30.06.

 

[Dos101]

surface pro



right, so you are willing to spend an extra $200 for a tablet for the OS. i am not directing this at you, but for those people who call people who like apple products 'fanbois' i am pretty sure this little fact will make their heads explode. sorry for the run-on sentence.

The iPad doesn't have expandable storage, it doesn't have a USB port where you can plug in printers/mice/keyboards/cameras/xbox controllers/USB drives/phones etc, or a keyboard with a trackpad that doubles as a cover. Surface Rt and Surface Pro can both do this (and more with the Surface Pro since it's x86). I can do more on my Surface RT than I could ever do on an iPad, and it only cost me an extra $130 to do it.

 

[Easy Rhino]

The iPad doesn't have expandable storage, it doesn't have a USB port where you can plug in printers/mice/keyboards/cameras/xbox controllers/USB drives/phones etc, or a keyboard with a trackpad that doubles as a cover. Surface Rt and Surface Pro can both do this (and more with the Surface Pro since it's x86). I can do more on my Surface RT than I could ever do on an iPad, and it only cost me an extra $130 to do it.

derp. for $20 you can buy a usb dongle that plugs right into the ipad and do everything you just mentioned.

 

[Kantastic]

derp. for $20 you can buy a usb dongle that plugs right into the ipad and do everything you just mentioned.

Lol Rhino, you won't get anywhere with that argument. Having to modify and tweak tablets for extra functionality is only tolerable with regards to Android (and now Windows 8), not iOS.

Higher price? No problem! as long as it's not iOS
Similar app store policies? No problem! as long as it's not iOS
Gimped functionality (no x32 apps)? No problem! as long as it's not iOS

 

[TheMailMan78]

Lol Rhino, you won't get anywhere with that argument. Having to modify and tweak tablets for extra functionality is only tolerable with regards to Android (and now Windows 8), not iOS.

Higher price? No problem! as long as it's not iOS
Similar app store policies? No problem! as long as it's not iOS
Gimped functionality (no x32 apps)? No problem! as long as it's not iOS

Um having to lug around an extra piece of hardware for functionality goes well beyond the iOS argument.

 

[Crap Daddy]

Apple does not have any product comparable to Surface Pro so I can't understand why some want to compare the iPad with this Microsoft tablet. One runs a mobile OS on ARM and the other a full destktop OS on a mobile Ivy Bridge i5.

It's like comparing a toy gun with the real deal. With the toy you might impress some people but with the real gun you can actually shoot the bastard.

 

[Easy Rhino]

Apple does not have any product comparable to Surface Pro so I can't understand why some want to compare the iPad with this Microsoft tablet. One runs a mobile OS on ARM and the other a full destktop OS on a mobile Ivy Bridge i5.

It's like comparing a toy gun with the real deal. With the toy you might impress some people but with the real gun you can actually shoot the bastard.

in case you havn't been paying attention, the ipad with the arm proc runs nearly as fast and COOLER/LONGER than the surface does with its i5.

 

[TheMailMan78]

in case you havn't been paying attention, the ipad with the arm proc runs nearly as fast and COOLER/LONGER than the surface does with its i5.

But it doesn't run anything other then Apple Apps. Call me when it runs Photoshop like the Surface.

 

[Easy Rhino]

But it doesn't run anything other then Apple Apps. Call me when it runs Photoshop like the Surface.

well since the surface doesnt have a wacom built into it i don't see your point. are you going to use your fingers to draw? i mean that might be fun and all...

 

[Mathragh]

well since the surface doesnt have a wacom built into it i don't see your point. are you going to use your fingers to draw? i mean that might be fun and all...

It actually uses wacom tech for its pen.
Damn why do people keep claiming stuff without even bothering to read up about it.

Edit: I can understand that some stuff is just complicated/difficult to understand or just not totally clear, but this is just a simple fact that has been mentioned a lot. Page dedicated to pen input

 

[TheMailMan78]

well since the surface doesnt have a wacom built into it i don't see your point. are you going to use your fingers to draw? i mean that might be fun and all...

No but does have Bluetooth which the new wacoms use. The Surface would make an AWESOME portable work station and tablet rolled into one. When they boost the sensitivity up a good surface will replace my tower. I know a LOT of artists that cannot wait.

 

[Easy Rhino]

No but does have Bluetooth which the new wacoms use. The Surface would make an AWESOME portable work station and tablet rolled into one.

tell yea what! find a positive review of the surface pro by a professional graphics artist like yourself using photoshop,etc and i will humbly say you have found one use for the surface that the ipad can't do.

 

[TheMailMan78]

tell yea what! find a positive review of the surface pro by a professional graphics artist like yourself using photoshop,etc and i will humbly say you have found one use for the surface that the ipad can't do.

They are not using them yet. Sensitivity isn't there. However the hardware other then that is more then enough.