Microsoft Surface - Page 9

Originally Posted by Jr Mouse 

You don't think the price is also a downside? That's rather expensive for a "tablet" in this competitive market. Remember that's what MS is going to market this device as, so it's going to be cross shopped by consumers as such.

EDIT: Plus it's way too heavy to be used comfortably as a tablet, so why even bother designing it to be used as one? Just make it a thin and light laptop with a touchscreen and market it as such.

I'm just not sure I believe the Surface Pro going to make the type of inroads with consumers that MS desires. Too heavy and expensive for a tablet with shitty battery-life compared to the competition and not a strong enough product as a laptop.

It may all look more or less the same as the RT before it, but the Surface Pro feels different. Very different. It's heavy and big — more than a half-pound heavier than the Surface RT (just over two pounds to the RT's 1.5) and almost 50 percent thicker (.53 inches vs. .37). You really notice the difference in both cases, too. Couple that with its 10.81-inch width, and calling this device a tablet borders on the ridiculous. It's absolutely unusable in one hand, tiresome to hold while standing, and big enough that you'll notice it in your bag. Of course, that's only when compared to a tablet — a two-pound laptop is pretty fantastic, and that may be a more fair comparison anyway.

Actually, that's what frustrates me about the Surface Pro. It's definitely not a tablet, but it's also not a "laptop," strictly speaking — I never figured out how to actually use the thing on my lap, with a keyboard attached and the kickstand out. I like kickstands on tablets, and this one is plenty sturdy and clicks in and out with a satisfying firmness. It only goes out at one angle, though, which is too upright unless you're sitting at a desk with the Surface directly in front of you. But the real dealbreaker for me was that it's just unusable in my most common position — sitting on my couch, feet on the coffee table, with the computer on my lap. I'd spend forever getting the device balanced, only to have it tip over as soon as I touched the screen or tapped on the Type Cover. I don't know if a more flexible kickstand would solve the problem or not, but as it is you're pretty limited in the ways you can use the Surface Pro.

I'm happy to make sacrifices for the extra power of the Surface Pro, and neither heat nor noise nor girth annoyed me enough to ever make me wish for the Surface RT. But every four hours, when the Surface Pro's battery died, I longed for a Tegra 3-powered device. The Pro lasted 3 hours, 59 minutes on the Verge Battery Test, which cycles through a series of websites and high-res images with screen brightness set to 65 percent. That's about an hour below what I'd consider acceptable battery life for an ultrabook, and it's less than half of what I'd expect from a tablet — the Surface RT easily lasts a full day of regular use, for instance, and the iPad chugged along for more than nine hours in our strenuous test. Not being able to use my "tablet" for an entire cross-country flight is a tough pill to swallow.

Originally Posted by harvey_birdman 

Had a hands on with a windows 8 laptop today. It is comically unusable. The ui was designed by a retarded child. I'm seriously considering going with apple.

Originally Posted by MikeDT 



Windows 8 could end Microsoft. or at least make them a minority player. It made me install and use Linux. Previously Windows Vista did make me buy an Apple computer. I was happy with Windows XP and Windows 7, they were good IMO.

Originally Posted by rnoldh 

So you are one of the very few people that switched from Windows to Apple, and then switched back?

Originally Posted by rnoldh 

Are you going to get an Apple OS10 machine now or keep your Windows 7 machine?

Originally Posted by MikeDT 



Windows 8 could end Microsoft. or at least make them a minority player. It made me install and use Linux. Previously Windows Vista did make me buy an Apple computer. I was happy with Windows XP and Windows 7, they were good IMO.