RT & Pro screen comparison

[J515OP]

A lot of people are drawn to the Pro because it's 'better' - better specs, better screen, bigger drives etc.
However I personally think that this is 'old world' thinking.

The real question is whether you need (and I mean really need) Desktop apps (beyond Office of course, since that comes built-in on the RT).
If you're using the Surface RT as a secondary device to a main desktop PC (like me), then you'll probably be able to do without desktop software. Most of the stuff you do is web-based, or there will be apps available. Light users who choose the RT as their only device will probably be quite happy too.

In business things might be different - desktop software is going to be much more important there.

I for one feel that for my needs, RT is an excellent tablet - I just don't feel the need to 'go pro'.

I agree. On the other hand here is an example of new school thinking that gets applied to the Pro: It is a rectangle with a touch screen and without a keyboard (a "tablet") therefore the battery should last 10 hours

There is absolutely a difference in a "form factor tablet" (touch screen rectangle without a keyboard) and a "common modern use tablet" (taken to mean an iPad type device). One is purely about the shape and is the traditional meaning of the word. There were tablets for hundreds of years before there were even computers The other is now meant to be a highly portable device that is a subclass of computer built on mobile processors with limited functionality and longer battery life compared to traditional computers. Technically smart phones are just small tablets under the common modern use but nobody calls those "tablets." The use of the word tablet is very skewed these days to arbitrarily incorporate device attributes rather than simply designate form.

This is quickly becoming a peave with me as the lines are blurred in the performance of devices. Arbitrary attribute assignment isn't going to cut it and specific terminology needs to be developed if we have any chance of communicating about these devices in the future. Perhaps "tablet" is taken to mean the form (touch screen rectangle without keyboard) and "mobile tablet" is taken to mean "less powerful" (the attributes) tablets (the form) while "ultra tablet" can mean "PC based" (the attributes) tablets (the form).


Anybody still with me?

 

[bosamar]

Anybody still with me?

I need a nap. lol

 

[MSurfaceWA]

Anybody still with me?

I think what I often forget, and maybe what others do too, is that most of us are technically inclined enthusiasts and understand the nuances in the tablet devices you are describing. I would argue that most of the general public is not, so the lowest common denominator rules. Maybe this is why Microsoft has taken the strange marketing direction of trying to be flashy, but not actually explaining what the tablet can do. I don't quite understand their logic, as the leader in the industry (Apple) takes an educational tone in their iPad commercials, showcasing what the iPad can actually do vs. flashy music, snapping kickstands, and crazy dancing.

I mentioned this before, but if I was advertising the RT I would show a day in the life of a student - proper keyboard, creating docs in word, powerpoint, and excel, listening to music, watching movies, playing games, battery that lasts the whole day, small light portable package. High school or college, I would have been all over a device with the RT's functionality. My 2 cents.

 

[J515OP]

I guess that terminology would be better suited to us nerds, er uh enthusiasts What really has gotten under my skin about it lately is with reference to the Surface Pro where it is compared to "tablets" for things like battery life. In that case you can compare the form of a tablet for each device but when you talk about specs you need to compare either "mobile tablets" or "ultra tablets". Mixing them doesn't mean anything unless you are trying to make one or the other look exceptionally bad or good.

MS does have good ads. Too bad they are all on youtube.

http://www.surfaceforums.net/forum/.../2415-please-why-can-t-ms-market-surface.html

http://www.surfaceforums.net/forum/windows-8-forum/3078-windows-8-commercial.html

http://www.surfaceforums.net/forum/microsoft-surface-general-discussion/2935-ms-tv-advertising.html

 

[Grape Jelly]

That's a good idea. Place the Surface against a student wearing him/herself out carrying books. Or against an Apple fan who has to us an iPod to listen to music while using an iPad for school books and a Mac Air to take notes... meanwhile, the Surface does it all and can take a Skype call, too.

 

[Horace]

I mentioned this before, but if I was advertising the RT I would show a day in the life of a student - proper keyboard, creating docs in word, powerpoint, and excel, listening to music, watching movies, playing games, battery that lasts the whole day, small light portable package. High school or college, I would have been all over a device with the RT's functionality. My 2 cents.

Spot on. Plus drawing attention to other main advantages over iPad - memory/USB slots and lack of iTunes.

 

[dougpaw57]

I was coming from an ASUS TF700T with a 10.1" screen at 1920x1200. The RT model just didn't have the sharpness in the text, and magazines in Zinio were much better on the ASUS than the RT. I saw the Pro's screen and it was close to the quality of the TF700T so I got that. To me, 1366x768 just isn't enough sharpness.

 

[gpstrucker]

I honestly can't justify the price of the Pro for myself. Yeah, it's a great machine and all that, but the RT suits the bulk of my daily needs and when I need to run a couple of legacy apps for work I just fire up the Win 8 laptop (which cost a LOT less than the Pro). If the battery life were better then I could maybe justify it but, as it is now, my laptop's battery holds a charge longer for less money. I am really hoping that future versions will see an improvement in battery life.

 

[iGalileo]

I'm in the same boat as others, I love my Surface RT and it does most of what I need. I still need to run MS Project and Visio, but are not willing to sacrifice battery life.
So the only thing I can do now is wait for version 2 of the Surface Pro and hope that the Hashwell architecture will deliver better battery life and stand by times.

 

[J515OP]

Don't forget you can RDP into another Windows machine to run those programs. Really makes the RT hard to beat once you set that up