i would buy a fanless SP

[jnjroach]

thanks folks for pointing out that there are already fanless win8 systems out there, so this is not at all the stupid idea some might say it is.

whether a fanless system is "too slow" also remains a consumer decision. i personally would give it a shot if it approached the thinness and weight of the non-Pro Surface.

my prediction is that msft will deprecate (i.e., support but not release a new version of) the Surface 2 and RT in general. the Surface Mini will run "real" win81 just like the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2, and the SP3 will be a fanless machine with the current non-Pro Surface form factor. at least i hope so.

and all those who wants laptops can buy laptops.

Surface MINI will be an RT Machine, rumored to be running on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 80x SoC. Despite what many people are wanting, Windows on ARM isn't going anywhere in fact the eventual merged Phone/RT OS will be the foundation for x86 ATOM Tablets as well (Desktop free).

 

[kevinlevrone]

my prediction is that msft will deprecate (i.e., support but not release a new version of) the Surface 2 and RT in general. the Surface Mini will run "real" win81 just like the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2, and the SP3 will be a fanless machine with the current non-Pro Surface form factor. at least i hope so.

Surface MINI will be an RT Machine, rumored to be running on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 80x SoC.

I think that replacing Windows RT with full Windows on a Surface would give a very bad signal, so this is out of question. Windows RT must go on in order to encourage app development for the Windows Store.

But given the existence of the fairly successful Dell Venue 8 Pro / Lenovo Miix 2 / other fanless 8" tablets running full Windows 8.x, I am inclined to believe that Microsoft may launch two Surface Minis:

- One "Surface Mini" with ARM processor running Windows RT (launched solely for low-cost reasons and to give a signal that Windows RT is not dead yet).
- One "Surface Mini Pro" with Intel Moorefield x64 (next after Bay Trail Atom) processor, running full Windows.

I may be wrong, but I don't see why Microsoft would launch a Surface Pro 3 right now. They need to put Intel Broadwell in it (which is not available yet), and they can't launch another Haswell right now and another Broadwell in 6 months. But who knows.

 

[GoodBytes]

I may be wrong, but I don't see why Microsoft would launch a Surface Pro 3 right now. They need to put Intel Broadwell in it (which is not available yet), and they can't launch another Haswell right now and another Broadwell in 6 months. But who knows.

Agreed. If anything, and I mean ANYTHING. is Haswell-E refresh, like the MacBook Air, which got a 100MHz speed bump, no other gains what's so ever.
So it will be Rev 3 of the SP2. That is all.
And I guess it will depend if the move is simply Intel stopping the production of the 4300U or not.

 

[Nuspieds]

I think that replacing Windows RT with full Windows on a Surface would give a very bad signal, so this is out of question. Windows RT must go on in order to encourage app development for the Windows Store.

But given the existence of the fairly successful Dell Venue 8 Pro / Lenovo Miix 2 / other fanless 8" tablets running full Windows 8.x, I am inclined to believe that Microsoft may launch two Surface Minis:

- One "Surface Mini" with ARM processor running Windows RT (launched solely for low-cost reasons and to give a signal that Windows RT is not dead yet).
- One "Surface Mini Pro" with Intel Moorefield x64 (next after Bay Trail Atom) processor, running full Windows.

I may be wrong, but I don't see why Microsoft would launch a Surface Pro 3 right now. They need to put Intel Broadwell in it (which is not available yet), and they can't launch another Haswell right now and another Broadwell in 6 months. But who knows.

But I think that companies like Dell and Lenovo are producing those devices with Windows 8 because they are not (yet?) on the RT bandwagon.

I was never interested in Surface with RT because I still own and use far too many legacy/Desktop apps to make the switch; however, I love the Touch UI of Windows 8 so much that every chance I get, I replace a legacy/Desktop app with a Windows 8 app. When I purchased the SP2, I kept my SP1 and now I use it when I head out for appointments, breakfast, etc., and I only need/make use of non-legacy/Desktop apps. This is when I started to think more about RT and how it could be of value to me.

When I jumped on the SP bandwagon, it was to replace my laptop and become my primary computing device. I use my SP2 at home connected to two external monitors and I also use it on my travels, alone, so screen size is important. As a result, I couldn't fathom using legacy/Desktop apps on an 8" device! Windows 8 apps, yes, but not legacy/Desktop apps--upon which I am still heavily dependent.

So it would completely surprise me if MS were to release a mini SP; to me, that small size is best served by touch-based apps only, not legacy/Desktop apps.

 

[jnjroach]

And lets be brutally honest, the OEMs are producing Intel Bay Trail Reference Clones (Lenovo ThinkPads are deviating from the Reference but not the MiiX line), and they are getting huge investments by Intel to produce them with very little R&D expense, part of the requirement to participate in Intel's program was they had to abandon Windows on ARM. Also every Bay Trail 8" Tablet (Including the ThinkPad 8) has suffered from horrendous Quality Control and Intel Driver Issues, much worse than anything seen on RT.

 

[kevinlevrone]

So it would completely surprise me if MS were to release a mini SP; to me, that small size is best served by touch-based apps only, not legacy/Desktop apps.

An x86/x64 Surface Mini Pro would be as power efficient and as thin as any ARM tablet, has significantly better graphics (you can play games that you would only dream of playing on the RT - and they are not available in RT form anyway), runs all the touch-based apps that the ARM tablet runs (with blazing speed and no lag), with the OPTION to run regular Windows apps if really needed. The lack of that option is what lead to poor sales of the Surface RT.

And lets be brutally honest, the OEMs are producing Intel Bay Trail Reference Clones (Lenovo ThinkPads are deviating from the Reference but not the MiiX line), and they are getting huge investments by Intel to produce them with very little R&D expense, part of the requirement to participate in Intel's program was they had to abandon Windows on ARM. Also every Bay Trail 8" Tablet (Including the ThinkPad 8) has suffered from horrendous Quality Control and Intel Driver Issues, much worse than anything seen on RT.

About the quality issues you mention: before the Surface Pro 2 I had a Dell Venue 8 Pro for about 4 months and believe me, that tablet is great and has no quality control issues. The only thing it would really need is a higher resolution display and a good keyboard option (the Dell option is not up to the task). It also lasted about a week in connected stand-by and never discharged unexpectedly (unlike the SP2), which is really great.

 

[jnjroach]

An x86/x64 Surface Mini Pro would be as power efficient and as thin as any ARM tablet, has significantly better graphics (you can play games that you would only dream of playing on the RT - and they are not available in RT form anyway), runs all the touch-based apps that the ARM tablet runs (with blazing speed and no lag), with the OPTION to run regular Windows apps if really needed. The lack of that option is what lead to poor sales of the Surface RT.



About the quality issues you mention: before the Surface Pro 2 I had a Dell Venue 8 Pro for about 4 months and believe me, that tablet is great and has no quality control issues. The only thing it would really need is a higher resolution display and a good keyboard option (the Dell option is not up to the task). It also lasted about a week in connected stand-by and never discharged unexpectedly (unlike the SP2), which is really great.

Except the Stylus Support is subpar on the Venue Pro line, my capacitive stylus works better and there many issues with people installing legacy Win32 Code and breaking Connected Standby (The Surface Pro 2 isn't a Connected Standby Machine), also Surface RT and Surface 2 are the top selling single SKUs for Windows 8.x devices....

 

[CrippsCorner]

An x86/x64 Surface Mini Pro would be as power efficient and as thin as any ARM tablet, has significantly better graphics (you can play games that you would only dream of playing on the RT - and they are not available in RT form anyway), runs all the touch-based apps that the ARM tablet runs (with blazing speed and no lag), with the OPTION to run regular Windows apps if really needed. The lack of that option is what lead to poor sales of the Surface RT

It's a tough one to call, and I see both ends of the argument. Personally, I would love to see a Mini Pro... I only have use for a single computer, so one that did it all would be fantastic. However I do also see the need to push for Windows Store app's.

The problem is, Microsoft seems to have no backbone atm, just like how they've retracted from bundling the Kinect with every Xbox One.

 

[GoodBytes]

What are you talking about? It's the best pen experience!
You can't get a more premium experience than this, thanks to Synaptic.

Check it out in action:
[video=youtube;Y3-HxnsMwEo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3-HxnsMwEo&t=3m2s[/video]
fun starts at 3min and 2sec

 

[kevinlevrone]

What are you talking about? It's the best pen experience!
You can't get a more premium experience than this, thanks to Synaptic.

Check it out in action:
fun starts at 3min and 2sec

That is the original firmware and stylus the tablet came up with.

There has been a firmware update and a new stylus (free replacement of old one) and today it works like this:

[video=youtube;tTTJGDVeUE0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTTJGDVeUE0[/video]

 

[kristalsoldier]

Very nice! Would be good to see a side by side comparison between this and a SP2.

 

[jnjroach]

One thing that isn't picked up on the video is the Synaptic Stylus is very clicky - clacky on the screen much like n-trig's earlier implementations, very noisy and annoying.