Have any of you guys switched from the iPad to the Surface?

[The White Falcon]

Good lord, you people-who-get-multiples---what on earth are you doing with three different Surface devices? mg: So you'll end up with an iPad, Surface Pro, Surface Pro 2, and Surface 2? Share the wealth, man.

Question about remote access, so they don't allow full Windows machines to connect? That's interesting...

Hah, tell me about it. I'm selling my current tablet as well as some other goods, and my Power Mac G5 to pay for the Surface 2.

 

[ScottyS]

2) It was not as network friendly in a high security hospital environment because Windows 8 was not a supported platform for our IT department. . . .

My iPad has one and only one purpose now, watching TV via Optimum app.

My Surface Pro replaced my 17" Dell Studio laptop (I added a 27" monitor and 9 port USB3 hub, wireless mouse and keyboard) and it still takes getting used to the fact that when I'm walking around work with my tablet I actually have my home computer with me. I still get the though "oh, that file is at home" feeling, but no it's with my or on Skydrive.

My hospital doesn't "officially" support Win8, but the head of IT is a big Win8 fan (got me to try it) and always has his Surface RT in hand.
We access all hospital apps with something called RDweb. It's a remote desktop app that works in IE so I can use our EMR, PACs radiology etc.
Compared to iPad, I couldn't do anything with that and our hospital network. With the Surface I can even run my 2 office computers anywhere in the hospital via the Metro Remote Desktop app.

 

[kristi]

Well, I didn't mention it but I will be selling the original Surface Pro. It would be silly to keep it! And I plan on selling (or donating) my Lenovo laptop as well, so I'll have 0 net gain in units, actually. I'd get rid of the iPad too, if it wasn't for the fact of occasionally using it for work email, as that really is all I use it for. However, its an iPad 2, with a fairly significant scratch in the screen and some pretty ugly dings (those iPads are pretty fragile) so it has virtually no resale value at this point anyway.

So, in essence, the new Surface Pro 2 is my laptop replacement and the new Surface 2 is my iPad replacement. It is rare that I need access to work email while on vacation, so now I will have the lighter weight Surface to take along for watching movies in flight, etc. instead.

 

[kristi]

Question about remote access, so they don't allow full Windows machines to connect? That's interesting...

Not currently, unless its your work laptop. When we used our old system of password tokens you could, but we got rid of those and now use a Citrix app that's installed on the machine instead. I work for a bank, and even access to email is really locked down, due to customer security protection requirements.

 

[Jglnaz372]

I still use the iPad and Surface RT. I was able to get a good deal for an iPhone over a year ago and the ability to buy an app once and share across my iOS devices saves me a few dollars. I do not plan to upgrade my phone for a few years. I liked Android, but for me it was not really much better or worse then iOS. Office was the main reason I liked the Surface, a touch screen the second. The RT has been a great device that allowed me to stop using my own laptops, both Windows and Apple. It is funny how clumsy I am now when I use a desktop computer at work and find myself wanting to touch the screen to open programs!
In a few years when work might be out of the picture and all I need to do is email, web surf, play a few games, all the platforms out right now would fit the bill as they say. It would come down to the best deal no matter if it is Android, Apple, or Microsoft. I like something about all of them and would be happy using any of their products.

 

[oion]

Overall, I love this device and the only real issue I have with it is the battery life. I am hoping the power pack keyboard will be backwards compatible with the Pro 1.

Hm, missed this comment.

The Power Cover coming in early 2014 will be compatible with Surface Pro 1, Pro 2, and Surface 2. So you'll be good to go.

Not currently, unless its your work laptop. When we used our old system of password tokens you could, but we got rid of those and now use a Citrix app that's installed on the machine instead. I work for a bank, and even access to email is really locked down, due to customer security protection requirements.

Ah, okay. That makes sense.

 

[oion]

The problems I'm having in getting the RT to replace my iPad are:
1. Poor capacitive digitizer
2. Missing apps for the functions I need

The problem is that while it is possible get actual work done it is difficult to "muck about" the Surface RT. The music apps on the RT are pretty poor organization-wise (metadata tags aren't properly processed) and having the default music app be called "XBox Music" seems out of place to me.

I really like the flexibility of the RT, but epub and cbz/cbr reading apps are woefully inadequate. No VLC video player.

What it will come down to for me is... Getting the iPad to get actual work done or Getting the Surface RT to be able to "muck around"... the first one to the goal will be the winner.

I thought the 8.1 built-in music app thing is supposed to be improved, but if it's called XBox Music, that's a very minor cosmetic detail. As for various reading apps, I use Adobe's and Nook and a couple others, but I don't require heavy annotation abilities or anything.

VLC player--I had no idea it was Kickstarted! I can't see the "backer only" updates, unfortunately, but from another one it sounds like the porting process is very complicated. However, because it was successfully funded with a lot of work already put into it, it has to be coming.

 

[lchavez]

The Surface has become my main computer and the ipad and desktop just working terminals. It is helpful that MS has created some useful IOS apps to help tie it all together.