Surface vs laptop??

[jnjroach]

Alright
I think I'm going to get the dell venue pro 8
So I can download x86 programs

Yes, but use caution as most Win32 software is not Connected Standby aware and could adversely impact battery life. Rule of thumb, the older the software title the more likely it is to impact battery life.

There is an active Dell Venue Community developing over at TabletPCReview...

Dell Tablet Forum inc. Dell Latitude Tablet

I would head over there and read up on it...and if you're near a Microsoft Store, Walmart or Microcenter you can probably get some hands on with the device.

 

[oion]

Really compare surface RT with a laptop is a joke.

Surface pro can pass but RT...

Windows store (not phone) is have not almost apps (and the quality of a lot then is bad). It is not caused by Microsoft and is caused by developers, but the fact to face of consumers is that surface RT is very limited (easy and cheap way to use a few app and office 2013). I think that the people should try to get a device with Windows 8.1 and not RT.

In other words Windows 8.1 (desktop and metrol > os x (only desktop)

Android/iOS > Windows RT Windows RT is better like OS, but have more importance the apps, and only office is better, almost all apps now not.

Then I would choose a device following that.

No, wrong approach. That's not how a smart consumer should ever buy anything.

It depends on the use case. If all a user does is surf the internet and type of notes in Word/OneNote and reply to email (Gmail on the web or Outlook) and chat on IM, the Surface with Windows RT is just fine. Whatever fluff apps are an added bonus.

Edit to add: Yeah, there's no Spotify app for Win8 (yet?), but I wonder if it works in the browser fine. The Dell would certainly work, but there are caveats, like everything, as Jeff says. You're probably going from a 13-14-inch laptop screen down to an 8-inch screen, pretty big difference there, just as going to 10.6" from 14-inch is a big difference.

 

[Dahnark]

No, wrong approach. That's not how a smart consumer should ever buy anything.

It depends on the use case. If all a user does is surf the internet and type of notes in Word/OneNote and reply to email (Gmail on the web or Outlook) and chat on IM, the Surface with Windows RT is just fine. Whatever fluff apps are an added bonus.

Edit to add: Yeah, there's no Spotify app for Win8 (yet?), but I wonder if it works in the browser fine. The Dell would certainly work, but there are caveats, like everything, as Jeff says. You're probably going from a 13-14-inch laptop screen down to an 8-inch screen, pretty big difference there, just as going to 10.6" from 14-inch is a big difference.

Really surface don't have stylus, one note lose all its potencial... A few people only would buy a device for use office (and I said that it is a cheap way to use office). Almost all people that use office, will use desktop programs.

I love my surface pro 2 and I think that it is better than an iPad Air or nexus 10 but the first reason is not only that Windows 8.1 is better than iOS or Android, is that with desktop app, you can get a lot of programs that the store don't have. If you lose this way to get app... Only have a few apps on Windows store and office. Surface pro 2 is a great tablet with a potencial and screen of normal laptop like macbook air with a similar price, but if I search to play or video edit never would buy a surface pro and would buy gaming laptop.


But the reasons to buy a surface RT instead of laptop with Windows 8.1 or OSX, or iPad Air/Android tablet, are not sufficient for me. When window store have more apps it would be a great alternative to other tablet and to other laptop (this last for casual user)

 

[jnjroach]

Really surface don't have stylus, one note lose all its potencial... A few people only would buy a device for use office (and I said that it is a cheap way to use office). Almost all people that use office, will use desktop programs.

I love my surface pro 2 and I think that it is better than an iPad Air or nexus 10 but the first reason is not only that Windows 8.1 is better than iOS or Android, is that with desktop app, you can get a lot of programs that the store don't have. If you lose this way to get app... Only have a few apps on Windows store and office. Surface pro 2 is a great tablet with a potencial and screen of normal laptop like macbook air with a similar price, but if I search to play or video edit never would buy a surface pro and would buy gaming laptop.


But the reasons to buy a surface RT instead of laptop with Windows 8.1 or OSX, or iPad Air/Android tablet, are not sufficient for me. When window store have more apps it would be a great alternative to other tablet and to other laptop (this last for casual user)

I find it interesting that within the Surface Community there are already religious divides between ARM and x86 users. One of the strengths of the Pro Line is the backwards compatibility but the Surface Team wisely chose not to use an ATOM or the Haswell that supported S0iX on two counts, the would be limited to using 32bit Windows and legacy apps and driver models don't play well with Connected Standby.

Already we've found out the DisplayLink USB Video Adapter is preventing Bay Trail ATOMs from entering the S0iX power state.

I agree that the App story is a Red Herring, unlike iOS and Android, RT has a fully functional browser which deprecates the need for many of the Apps seen and the other App Store. Also to say that those who use Office need other x86 Apps is a very large leap and generalization, for many Office is the only x86 App they use. I would recommend RT to many people in multiple use cases, to professionals as a companion device, to students for class, to casual users looking for a light weight all day machine.

You say that the lack of stylus kills OneNote (I'm an inker don't get me wrong) but for most people they will never use the Stylus because they type faster. I do a lot of work with companies that have deployed Windows Tablets and Convertibles and I can tell you I'm the only one who inks. My wife is working on her Doctorate in Psychology, she uses her Surface Pro 2 with OneNote but only types her notes. My son uses his Surface 2 everyday in middle school and again, only types using OneNote.

I use both the Pro 2 and the Surface 2, of the two I much prefer the Surface 2, it is more reliable and is much more a joy to work with as a Tablet. The pro is used on a flat surface not on the couch or while mobile, its too heavy and thick.

 

[Dahnark]

I find it interesting that within the Surface Community there are already religious divides between ARM and x86 users. One of the strengths of the Pro Line is the backwards compatibility but the Surface Team wisely chose not to use an ATOM or the Haswell that supported S0iX on two counts, the would be limited to using 32bit Windows and legacy apps and driver models don't play well with Connected Standby.

Already we've found out the DisplayLink USB Video Adapter is preventing Bay Trail ATOMs from entering the S0iX power state.

I agree that the App story is a Red Herring, unlike iOS and Android, RT has a fully functional browser which deprecates the need for many of the Apps seen and the other App Store. Also to say that those who use Office need other x86 Apps is a very large leap and generalization, for many Office is the only x86 App they use. I would recommend RT to many people in multiple use cases, to professionals as a companion device, to students for class, to casual users looking for a light weight all day machine.

You say that the lack of stylus kills OneNote (I'm an inker don't get me wrong) but for most people they will never use the Stylus because they type faster. I do a lot of work with companies that have deployed Windows Tablets and Convertibles and I can tell you I'm the only one who inks. My wife is working on her Doctorate in Psychology, she uses her Surface Pro 2 with OneNote but only types her notes. My son uses his Surface 2 everyday in middle school and again, only types using OneNote.

I use both the Pro 2 and the Surface 2, of the two I much prefer the Surface 2, it is more reliable and is much more a joy to work with as a Tablet. The pro is used on a flat surface not on the couch or while mobile, its too heavy and thick.

About stylus. I use it for more things, is more comfortable and faster than a mouse in desktop programs.

Btw, taking notes in a science subject is difficult and slow with keyboard. Word have a great presentation for using formules, as beautiful as slow. Onenote is a great program (the best) for taking notes with stylus, but if not use the stylus never... Word is better than onenote and no reason to use onenote...

Only try to enter and integrals with sin and cos or so, on paper and later with word...

Other great thing is that when Google want, we can get Chrome os through Chrome browser. We can get native Windows 8.1, Linux, os X mavericks (hackintosh) and a "virtual" Chrome OS.

About weight. I hate using tablets if I dont set it on some place. All are heavy, for using it so, I prefer using the mobile phone. And not only because it are heavy, dimensions are uncomfortable too

 

[jnjroach]

About stylus. I use it for more things, is more comfortable and faster than a mouse in desktop programs.

Btw, taking notes in a science subject is difficult and slow with keyboard. Word have a great presentation for using formules, as beautiful as slow. Onenote is a great program (the best) for taking notes with stylus, but if not use the stylus never... Word is better than onenote and no reason to use onenote...

Only try to enter and integrals with sin and cos or so, on paper and later with word...

Other great thing is that when Google want, we can get Chrome os through Chrome browser. We can get native Windows 8.1, Linux, os X mavericks (hackintosh) and a "virtual" Chrome OS.

About weight. I hate using tablets if I dont set it on some place. All are heavy, for using it so, I prefer using the mobile phone. And not only because it are heavy, dimensions are uncomfortable too

I agree, like I said I use the Stylus on my Pro 2 but I also use the Adonit Jot Pro with my Surface 2. But for the vast majority of users, the stylus is a curiosity that is set aside. I also disagree that Word is the better note taking application for typing, OneNote offers much better integration with Outlook inserting recordings, etc..

I despise all things Google so that is non-issue for me, I will not use their products and running OSX on a non-Apple device and is illegal so again, I won't do that. And for me Linux is only a player in some of my customer's data centers.

 

[oion]

I find it interesting that within the Surface Community there are already religious divides between ARM and x86 users. One of the strengths of the Pro Line is the backwards compatibility but the Surface Team wisely chose not to use an ATOM or the Haswell that supported S0iX on two counts, the would be limited to using 32bit Windows and legacy apps and driver models don't play well with Connected Standby.

Already we've found out the DisplayLink USB Video Adapter is preventing Bay Trail ATOMs from entering the S0iX power state.

I agree that the App story is a Red Herring, unlike iOS and Android, RT has a fully functional browser which deprecates the need for many of the Apps seen and the other App Store. Also to say that those who use Office need other x86 Apps is a very large leap and generalization, for many Office is the only x86 App they use. I would recommend RT to many people in multiple use cases, to professionals as a companion device, to students for class, to casual users looking for a light weight all day machine.

You say that the lack of stylus kills OneNote (I'm an inker don't get me wrong) but for most people they will never use the Stylus because they type faster. I do a lot of work with companies that have deployed Windows Tablets and Convertibles and I can tell you I'm the only one who inks. My wife is working on her Doctorate in Psychology, she uses her Surface Pro 2 with OneNote but only types her notes. My son uses his Surface 2 everyday in middle school and again, only types using OneNote.

I use both the Pro 2 and the Surface 2, of the two I much prefer the Surface 2, it is more reliable and is much more a joy to work with as a Tablet. The pro is used on a flat surface not on the couch or while mobile, its too heavy and thick.

Yup, red herring. Do "average" non-techie really users need all that much? The popular press would like to convince them that x86 backwards compatibility is critical, but I don't believe that's true, looking at all my friends, coworkers, family members. There are some people who religiously use something like Chrome across devices and have thousands of bookmarks and passwords/whatever synced, sure, but most people? Eh. Journalists and even other users like Dahnark have been employing a two-pronged scare tactic approach: app store is horrible and will ruin your life, alongside the idea that x86 backwards-compatibility is absolutely necessary for everyday use. What's "insufficient" for Dahnark and others has nothing to do with what's sufficient for others asking for advice like the OP, and that's just a bad approach. ("I don't like it so you shouldn't either.")

The only thing I agree with for basic use cases is the stylus with OneNote, but I do know people who used OneNote for organizing research material for larger works, and inking isn't needed for that.

 

[nated0gg618]

So is anyone up to buying my laptop via paypal lol

 

[baehrelw]

I bought the surface pro 2 with 256gb disc/8gb memory. I have office 2013 and QuickBooks 2013. I find it plenty fast, but it is buggy. The touch type 2 keyboard is awful, ie the touchpad is unmanageable. System has display issues and sleep issues. The biggest problem is that it does not type well, cursor is constantly jumping all over the place, And then the print is way to small. QB does not zoom so reading is much to difficult. I never use it in touch mode. My Samsung Android is way better, except for office and QB. I recommend the android and laptop. Surface simply is not ready for prime time.

LeeB