Opinions (Based on Experience) Sought

[brocharlieb]

I have waited for the Surface, I considered the iPad, but decided to wait for the Surface. I'm a pastor, and I use my device for about four things:
1) I use it for word processing,
2) I use it for Bible Study,
3) I use it for keeping my schedule,
4) I use it to surf the internet and handle my email.

Ok, the fourth thing included two, so maybe that's five.

I had an iPad 1 which a church member loaned me for several months. I didn't use it for word processing, but I did use it for:
5) Sermon presentation (I loaded my sermons on it in a reader and could sit it on my pulpit and flip pages back and forth as required).

I waited for the Surface because I was hoping it would meet all of my needs and allow me to have one device for all of the above purposes.

I understand that the Surface doesn't have the screen resolution of the current iPads; is it as good as or better than the iPad 1, which was sufficient for my uses?

I understand I wouldn't be using my current Bible Study Program (Logos), but they had a pretty good App for iPad/Android, do they have one for Surface? If not, I'm sure there are others.

I'm thinking of a Surface RT with a type cover. Any opinions would be appreciated.

 

[Griff]

I got my Surface for many of the same reasons. I'm very surprised at how much I love it. I used to have a laptop and an ipad. I never really used the ipad since I would just use my laptop for web browsing, Netflix, etc. Since I got my Surface, I've been able to sell my laptop and ipad and just rely on my Surface. After a month of heavy use, I haven't regretted my decision at all.

My opinions are, of course, subjective, but:

1. I'm a teacher and I use Office... a lot. The Surface has been great for creating documents. I teach Math, so I use a lot of special characters (equations and symbols) and I've been able to be as productive as I ever have been when using a desktop or laptop. I don't have a type cover.... I really wanted one, but the touch cover has been meeting my needs so far. My wife has been wondering what to get me for Christmas, so I'll probably ask for that

2. I used to have an ipad 2. I didn't do comparisons on screen resolution, but my Surface's screen/image quality is excellent (in my non-technical opinion). I don't know which is officially 'better', but the Surface's screen is great.

3. I can't speak to your Bible Study app.

I hope I've been helpful. Best of luck to you!

 

[vdek]

Compared to the iPad 1 or 2, the Surface's screen is better. It has a higher resolution and much better image quality.

For what you want to do, I think the Surface would be great actually. Word processing works very well on the Surface, the same as any laptop to be honest with you, so if you can do the work on a laptop you can do it on the Surface no problem. I'm not sure if there are any bible apps available just yet, but it's an almost certainty that there will be some down the line.

If you're typing a lot, definitely get the type cover, it feels like a normal laptop keyboard to me personally.

 

[Russ]

Brother Charlie (if I guessed right) --

I have the Surface RT, with touchcover. I also have an iPad, which I use almost exclusively as a reader, and which I will now pass along to one of my granddaughters.

Like Griff and Vdek above, I think the Surface screen is great -- certainly better than my iPad1.

I can't speak to the relative advantage of the Typecover, since I have not tried one, but the Touchcover is adequate to my needs.

There are a number of "Bible apps" in the Store, but I have no experience with any of them. I have long used PC Study Bible 5 on my desktop, but that would not be a good standard for comparison, because it does so much.

For Word processing, schedule, email and surfing, the Surface RT is more than adequate -- it is delightful.

Having an accessible file system is the major advantage for me. I can easily move files back and forth from Surface to Desktop, and put them where I want them on the Surface (without having to invoke the ghost of Steve Jobs).

Hope this helps.

Take care,
Russ

 

[bosamar]

I have waited for the Surface, I considered the iPad, but decided to wait for the Surface. I'm a pastor, and I use my device for about four things:
1) I use it for word processing,
2) I use it for Bible Study,
3) I use it for keeping my schedule,
4) I use it to surf the internet and handle my email.

The RT tablet will do it all.

1) Comes with MS Office 2013 RT: Word, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint. Win 8 Pro will not come with Office pre-installed.
2) There are a few excellent Bible apps available in the Marketplace. Some display multiple Bible formats, i.e. KJV, NIV, etc. including in many other languages.
3) If you open a Microsoft Live account your calendar will auto-populate across your other MS devices/Windows computers. It works like that my on two Win8 Desktops, Win Phone 7, and of course my RT tablet.
4) I keep tile shortcuts of all my favorite websites on my RT start screen. All can be easily organized with group names, i.e. Monthly Bills, News, Sports, Shopping, Office, etc. The RT mail app is perhaps the least impressive of the bunch but it gets the job done and will only get better with future updates. I currently have three IMAP accounts linked to it.

On a side note I purchased the Type cover and love it. If you plan to do a lot in Office then that's the cover I'd recommend.

 

[brocharlieb]

Thank you, folks. Very helpful responses.

 

[cali]

Welcome to the site Bro. Charlie. I also found the responses to be helpful.

 

[MSurfaceWA]

I would also say that if you are going to do any meaningful amount of word processing, the type cover is the way to go. It really makes a huge difference over an onscreen keyboard and in my opinion, is a minute weight/thickness disadvantage from the touch keyboard. With what you need to work on, I can't see any other tablet being a viable alternative unless you are adding an aftermarket keyboard, they (iOS & Android) are not good for meaningful amounts of input without one. I also think that one thing that doesn't get mentioned enough is the ability to support flash (all flash with a very slight hack), the browser is very good for that in comparison to iOS and I found Android to be buggy with flash on the web to the point where its not that useful. Again, my personal experience.

 

[Bergman]

This device will do everything you are asking it to with one caveat. My two only main gripes right now are the lack of ability to sync files with my Skydrive account and no really solid bible app yet. I use Olive Tree on my iPad and have had it for years. It is a fantastic bible app and well done on a tablet. Unfortunately the Windows 8 version that is out is VERY rudimentary right now and they are working on it but it is nowhere near as good as the ipad version yet. I would say that in a few months you will love this thing, but for now be prepared to be a bit frustrated with bible apps.

 

[Afy]

If there was a truly disconnected way of using Visio and Outlook, it could for all pactical purposes replease my laptop. Both for work and play..

Would still machines to do dev, run hypervisor etc but that is faind in the background

I still someho feel MS has created an entirely diferent type of machine with this.

 

[brocharlieb]

I'm hoping to be able to order sometime the week after Christmas. I'm pretty convinced this is the device that will do what I want. I've got years worth of documents that I would still have easy access to, just by putting them on a USB stick and I'm accustomed to windows OS. Thanks for all the feed back, it did help in my decision.