Why I will wait for the next Surface RT

[snaqvi91]

So I'm a university student and I find the surface RT very attractive. I have a 13 inch macbook pro from 2009 with an 8gb ram upgrade. So the system runs fine except the battery is dying and it's heavy. Now the Surface RT has a very attractive price tag and can do most of what I want to do, and has a great battery life and is light. Sounds perfect? Well the Surface Pro has a 1080p display, and has a stylus but has terrible battery life. The RT processor is unimpressive just 100mhz faster than my nexus 7, and the 2gb ram won't be enough for all my web browsing.

So why am I going to wait? My macbook pro despite the weight and battery runs fine and the 8gb ram is great. For me the perfect surface would be one with a better processor like possibly the tegra 4 line that's coming out soon and significantly more ram, which I expect to come in the next versions. The lack of a 1080p is almost a deal breaker and the stylus might turn out to be quite useful for taking notes and not a gimmick.

So even though I am tempted to go out and get myself a new shiny surface RT, and I shall wait until the product is compelling enough to feel like an upgrade.

 

[denzilla]

Agreed. Its simply not worth the price at this point. Messed around with one over the weekend and the screen is terrible. I don't care what technical reasons MS is throwing around as to why they cheaped out on the resolution, it sucks period.

 

[failed1234]

2gb isn't enough for web browsing? That doesn't make any sense.
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[msdugn]

RT is great for the price. If does far more than a comparable iPad. A keyboard and real MS Office is a killer set of features.

But if you need a real laptop (not just an ultrabook-wanna-be, or a iReading Device to play Angry Birds), then yes, get yourself an ultrabook.

 

[GSOgymrat]

With technology you are usually better off waiting as long as possible before purchasing a device.

 

[ninjaap]

With technology you are usually better off waiting as long as possible before purchasing a device.

My rule for technology is buy ASAP. The sooner you buy the sooner you can upgrade to the next greatest bestest! I bet you as soon as 2nd Gen RT comes there will be news about 3rd Gen RT that will make you think twice.

 

[ShaunKL]

I agree with the OP. I never buy first gen devices anymore if I can help it. I'm in desperate want of an upgrade from my iPad 1, but Surface RT isn't fast enough or light enough for me yet. I hope Microsoft has learned most of what they needed to for the next generation.

 

[Xavier Serrano]

My rule for technology is buy ASAP. The sooner you buy the sooner you can upgrade to the next greatest bestest! I bet you as soon as 2nd Gen RT comes there will be news about 3rd Gen RT that will make you think twice.

Indeed! If you're always waiting for the next big thing/spec bump, you'll never end up getting anything.

 

[inteller]

cool story bro!

 

[snaqvi91]

Well I'm not waiting because I want the latest and greatest. I'm waiting because a screen and processor upgrade would make a significant and meaningful difference. The product as it exists is inadequate considering that a Surface Pro is able to have the 1080p display and stylus.

Another thing I want to add is that the idea of Surface RT is simply genius. Apple brought the iPad with the idea that lots of people wanted to only be able to do some basic email, watch videos, browse the web so the iPad would be a cheaper and better way to do it. But they faltered a little because they didn't target the whole basic usage market. It never made sense to me why I had to put down $1300 for a device that was heavy and all I used it for was web browsing, videos and some productivity. The reality is that maybe most people want to do just this and a $1000ish device is too much money for that but they're forced to pay that much because the products available are all that expensive.

The Surface RT does all this perfectly and for a much more reasonable price. You have full Office that's worth a lot on its own. You have a decent keyboard for proper typing and not the frustrating and tedious mess touch keyboards make. You have the battery life and it does all these basic usage tasks excellently or probabyl better than the iPad and also better than most tradiitonal desktops or laptops.

 

[stephen_az]

If you are waiting on a digitizer for a Surface RT, you probably have a very long wait (translation being it will likely never happen). Microsoft has made it clear which features are in the Pro line and which are in the RT line. In addition, unless some developers step up and develop apps that would use an internal digitizer in RT, it is also a waste of design money on Microsoft's part, and would include a near useless component drawing power and battery life. It exists in Surface Pro because there is a world full of x86 applications, but even on that front people are quickly finding out that some of their favorite applications have not been updated to use it. As far as RAM goes, your statement regarding 2GB not being enough simply makes no sense. It is more than enough for any ARM powered tablet. In fact, find me many (or any) other ARM tablets that even have 2GB of RAM. Again, if you are waiting on a Surface RT with 4GB, it is just not going to happen. It is overkill and creates an unnecessary battery draw.

Now with respect to 1080P, to each their own. I see no appreciable difference and I did own a high res Android tablet which I sold after purchasing my Surface RT. FWIW, I like Amazon's current Kindle campaign which compares a Kindle HD and the latest iPad and challenges people to tell the difference between the two, with the only noticeable difference being one costs a lot less. Personally I think that the whole 1080P vs Retina vs next generation ultra displays thing in small screen devices is really about geek and techno-file self gratification anyway - very few really care when it comes to actual use. It really is only in forums like this and among reviewers who are really being paid to shill the latest and greatest that I ever encounter any discussion. If there is a second generation Surface RT (which I consider to be likely) it will probably go 1080P but my own opinion is it will not influence me to purchase a new tablet at all.

I guess my final comment would be that in spite of your statement about not waiting for the latest and greatest, that is exactly what you are doing. You are saying this is supposedly a great device, but you want one that has the next generation speculated bells and whistles. That is a penultimate example of waiting for the latest and greatest, even down to waiting on speculative features that are undoubtedly not on the table.

Actually, I lied - my real final comment on this I just don't see the point of this sort of thread. You are posting on a Surface RT user's forum that you will not buy one because of your own personal reasons. So what? Do you think anyone from Microsoft's design team is hanging out here taking notes? The only thing this sort of thread achieves is wasting storage space and bandwidth on the irrelevant. Why should any Surface RT user care that you will not buy a Surface RT tablet? It doesn't help people fix a problem with their tablet; nor point out a new app people can use; nor note some feature of function that people didn't know existed; nor foster discussion among actual users about devices they actually own. The only thing it really does is give a non-user a headline in a user forum....

 

[shn'g]

Agreed. Its simply not worth the price at this point. Messed around with one over the weekend and the screen is terrible. I don't care what technical reasons MS is throwing around as to why they cheaped out on the resolution, it sucks period.

your funny! do you own an ipad?

 

[GSOgymrat]

Now with respect to 1080P, to each their own. I see no appreciable difference and I did own a high res Android tablet which I sold after purchasing my Surface RT. FWIW, I like Amazon's current Kindle campaign which compares a Kindle HD and the latest iPad and challenges people to tell the difference between the two, with the only noticeable difference being one costs a lot less. Personally I think that the whole 1080P vs Retina vs next generation ultra displays thing in small screen devices is really about geek and techno-file self gratification anyway - very few really care when it comes to actual use.
....

When I was testing the RT and Pro side by side I completely forgot about the difference in screen resolution. It was the same when iPad 3 came out. My friend and I kept confusing iPad 2 and 3 because they both looked good. Of course there is a difference when you look closely but honestly the RT has a nice screen IMO.

 

[wharfratg]

I passed on the RT because I was "waiting" on the Pro. Note that the wait was for something specific. By contrast, if you are "waiting" for something that may or may not happen, it is more appropriately labeled "stalling."

 

[inteller]

lol true!

 

[denzilla]

your funny! do you own an ipad?

Set up quite a few iPads for a class and used a Surface over a weekend. Not partial to either company. Surface's screen is nowhere near as nice for web browsing and I can see a notable difference in text rendering between the two.

The Surface RT wouldn't be such a bad deal if it included the touch cover and a version of Outlook, but as it is, no way am I dropping cash on it.

 

[rdubmu]

The Surface Pro battery is not horrible. I can get 3-4 hours with out changing any power saving settings. That is pretty good for what it packs. I love the portability. Yes the Surface Pro can't compare to the RT or iPad, but the Surface Pro is a full Computer and can do so much more. The Pro is an ultra-book

 

[drachen23]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't consider 3-4 hours of battery life acceptable. For a device with the Surface Pro's innards and form factor, it's not bad, but I like having a device I can just toss in my bag and not worry if I remembered to charge it last night. That's the really nice thing about ARM-based tablets like the Surface RT and iPad. They're not constantly hooked up to a cord recharging. I'd consider the Pro a solid ultrabook replacement if it gave me 6-7 hours, like my current Macbook Air.

That said, I don't think I will ever go with a RT device again. Windows 8/RT is a really good tablet experience overall, but only being able to use metro/store apps doesn't work for me. I can't connect to the VPNs I need, I can't join webex conferences and I can't use any other browser other than IE (I'm a web/mobile dev, so it's important to me). AFAICT, none of these apps (except webex) is possible with the API limitations of store-approved WinRT apps.

If there was a version of the Surface Pro 2 with an Atom CPU that had comparable battery life and better performance compared to the Surface RT, I'd buy it in a heartbeat as a replacement. At the moment the Surface RT is stuck in a weird place between not quite being a full ultrabook replacement due to RT's ARM-related limitations and not fully able to take over all the functions of the iPad due to lack of software available in the store. Considering the extremely tepid growth in the Windows store, I think that will be an issue for a while. It's too bad. I really like the Surface RT hardware and it's a pleasure to surf the web on.

 

[johninsj]

I shall wait until the product is compelling enough to feel like an upgrade.

If you live in a Microsoft world, and work in Microsoft Office, and use Microsoft Sharepoint and One Note... the surface rt is awesome.

If you want an iPad from Microsoft, the surface rt isn't it.

If I were a university student (and the last time I was, I was rocking an Osborne I

- and I was the ONLY CS major with my own computer) a surface rt using skydrive to sync my one note notebooks, with a type keyboard, would be the only computer I would take to class for notes. I'd still want a full laptop for heavy duty work.

I guess my point is "rt" will always be an adjunct device. It's great at that. Expecting more from it only leads to disappointment.

 

[Daylife]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't consider 3-4 hours of battery life acceptable. For a device with the Surface Pro's innards and form factor, it's not bad, but I like having a device I can just toss in my bag and not worry if I remembered to charge it last night. That's the really nice thing about ARM-based tablets like the Surface RT and iPad. They're not constantly hooked up to a cord recharging. I'd consider the Pro a solid ultrabook replacement if it gave me 6-7 hours, like my current Macbook Air.

That said, I don't think I will ever go with a RT device again. Windows 8/RT is a really good tablet experience overall, but only being able to use metro/store apps doesn't work for me. I can't connect to the VPNs I need, I can't join webex conferences and I can't use any other browser other than IE (I'm a web/mobile dev, so it's important to me). AFAICT, none of these apps (except webex) is possible with the API limitations of store-approved WinRT apps.

If there was a version of the Surface Pro 2 with an Atom CPU that had comparable battery life and better performance compared to the Surface RT, I'd buy it in a heartbeat as a replacement. At the moment the Surface RT is stuck in a weird place between not quite being a full ultrabook replacement due to RT's ARM-related limitations and not fully able to take over all the functions of the iPad due to lack of software available in the store. Considering the extremely tepid growth in the Windows store, I think that will be an issue for a while. It's too bad. I really like the Surface RT hardware and it's a pleasure to surf the web on.

Have you used a Pro? Set up battery settings and you can easily get 6-7 hours.....pekple expect to get 10 hours on a x86 laptop while playing WoW lol....its not going to happen, not on a Macbook, nkr anything else.
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