Why Do Reviwers Do This?

[TeknoBlast]

I like reading the good and bad articles about the Surface Pro. What I can't stand is that almost every article out there use either PhotoShop or iTunes as their benchmark. If it can run iTunes or Photoshop, then it must be a great device. NO! It's a great device because it runs the full version of Windows 8 in a tablet format. Yes, it has it's minor flaws, but it's an overall great device.

The powerful new Microsoft Surface Pro: Is it worth the $900 price tag? - Yahoo! News

Not everyone uses Photoshop or iTunes. Geez.

Sorry, I needed a safe place to rant.

 

[pwaggs]

While I agree, I think that reviewers are trying to bookend a pool of users with two different type of programs requiring vastly different resources. Photoshop is higher end obviously and draws on different system requirements than iTunes which a good deal of users will in fact use.

There are probably better programs to use, but high end users will be using some of the same resources required to shade in photoshop or rotate an object.

Yes, I wish that there were reviewers out there capable of doing original work.

 

[J515OP]

Lol, I hear you. First complaints not directed at the Surface RT (just had to get those digs in didn't they?) are an assault on Windows 8.

The Surface Pro runs Windows 8, which is two operating systems in one. You get a tablet operating system, whose Home (Start) screen is filled with colorful tiles that represent apps and real-time information.

No, actually it ins't two OSes, it is just one. One that happens to have a very useful launch and information screen. You know, like widgets and apps that everybody like to customize their desktops with.

That weird duality makes zero sense on regular desktop computers, but it’s somewhat more reasonable on the Surface Pro.

Different people have different opinions on this but it isn't fact, just opinion. I don't have any issues with the Windows 8 setup on a "regular desktop computer" without touch.

Then some more digs at the performance of RT. Have any of these reviewers bothered to use the Surface after the pre-launch review units without updated were provided? Do they know Office if out of Beta?

It's as fast, consistent, and capable as any ultrabook I've tested in the last several months, and from a touch and responsiveness standpoint may be the best I've used... Sure, it's heavier and thicker than the Surface RT and has frustratingly poor battery life, but it's worth both the tradeoff and the extra expense.

And how many of those ultrabooks get significantly better battery life? Also how many weigh as much as the Surface RT which suddenly became the weight bench mark (why not arbitrarily compare it to a phone or 7" tablet if you are just going to pick a device out of a different class) let alone come down to the Surface Pro's weight?

Talk about confusing the issues. This doesn't really help people understand the device it just takes personal issues and picks at those. how does detailing the Surface RT perceived short comings detail the usefulness and justification of the price mentioned in the title? How about explaining why it is the best ulrtabook, the things it can do that no other non-Intel tablets can, why touch on the Surface helps with the Windows 8 Start screen or any other number of things that details capabilities. even at the end a recommendation to get the 128GB with no info. It would go a lot further than picking specific features from devices or different categories and talking about how they don't match up.

 

[mdfire]

I think this review is more accurate for the normal user

Microsoft Surface review for real people

 

[J515OP]

Article edited to remove FUD. If we get to just the statements about what the Surface Pro is, the article comes out like this.

When Microsoft unveiled two Surface models last year, tech bloggers were momentarily befuddled. Was it a tablet? A laptop? Or some sort of new category altogether? Either way, reviewers got their hands on the $500 Surface RT, which employs less-powerful ARM processors and runs a stripped down version of Windows [first].

So now: Enter the Surface Pro, a beefy, powerful piece of hardware that runs any Windows 8 app imaginable. It goes on sale Saturday, comes with an impressive Intel Core i5 processor, can run Photoshop and iTunes, and is more akin to an ultrabook than an iPad.

"That framework helps justify the price of the Surface Pro ($899 and up), but it also accommodates this device's overall capability," says Michael Gartenberg at Computerworld.

Where Surface Pro really shines is in its versatility. If you spring for the same Touch or Type covers that are available for the Surface RT, it comes closest to ultrabook functionality, with its additional power setting it apart from Surface RT. But it also functions as a pretty good tablet thanks to the Windows 8 user interface. I had no problems running touch-enabled apps for both work and play, and while the app selection is still somewhat limited, it is growing on a daily basis. (Computerworld)

"The Surface Pro is fast, flexible and astonishingly compact for what it does; that much is unassailable," says David Pogue at the New York Times.

The device only gets four to five hours of usage time.

It's as fast, consistent, and capable as any ultrabook I've tested in the last several months, and from a touch and responsiveness standpoint may be the best I've used. It has no confusing app incompatibilities, no weird performance issues. Sure, it's heavier and thicker than the Surface RT and has [only four to five hours of] battery life, but it's worth both the tradeoff and the extra expense. If you're going to buy a Surface, buy the Surface Pro. Period. (The Verge)

 

[stlbud]

It's simple. They have very little real life experience and can't think of anything that happened before they discovered AOL in 1995. There are too many tech bloggers who don't really know tech. They aren't engineers. They haven't a clue how this stuff works and worse have no point of reference for what a real person wants when they start to use one of these things. All they have is their narrow view of their very limited sphere of influence and they try to report it as if they have some authority. There's a very old term for it - humbug. The worst part of all this is that organizations like Yahoo! give these sophomoric "bloggers" a platform to spread their ignorance. This is really why bloggers get a bad rap in journalism. Too bad too, there are some really talented and intelligent bloggers out there and they get sucked into the same sewage as the rest.

 

[ArnoldC]

Just proves that today anyone can be a reviewer, accurately or not. I find some of them don't even know what they're talking about.

 

[R0bR]

Just proves that today anyone can be a reviewer, accurately or not. I find some of them don't even know what they're talking about.

I'd say more like many not some, then there are those like BI that are just pro Apple or anti MS and just bash away at the Surface Pro, saying the iPad 128GB is a better deal. If a 128GB iPad isn't the biggest rip off at over $900 I don't know what is.