New Surface 8.1 RT or used Surface Pro

[Frosty_Power]

Hi guys, looking for a Surface and need your advice. New Surface 8.1 RT or used Surface Pro, that's roughly in my budget and both can be had at very close price. Need opinions, what to choose and why? Thanks in advace, first post here!!!

 

[crash1989]

Can you briefly describe what you expect out of a 10 inch device? It will be easier for us to recommend if we know what you are in for. (e.g. Media consumption only, legacy apps etc)

 

[Frosty_Power]

Can you briefly describe what you expect out of a 10 inch device? It will be easier for us to recommend if we know what you are in for. (e.g. Media consumption only, legacy apps etc)

Mostly media consumption for the most part and if possible, do some remote login to my work computer the odd time here and there. Not much of a gamer(yet) but mostly used for media consumption. I would love to load up AutoCAD on this(if possible) to view drawings but that is a rare, if ever, and not a requirement. I hear mixed reviews on all the RT stuff and great reviews on the PRO but not sure.

 

[fatclue_98]

Mostly media consumption for the most part and if possible, do some remote login to my work computer the odd time here and there. Not much of a gamer(yet) but mostly used for media consumption. I would love to load up AutoCAD on this(if possible) to view drawings but that is a rare, if ever, and not a requirement. I hear mixed reviews on all the RT stuff and great reviews on the PRO but not sure.

I've had AutoCAD on iPads, Android tablets and Windows laptops. I can tell you unequivocally, the mobile versions are glorified viewers with only basic editing functions. If viewing is all you're ever limited to, I would suggest the Surface Pro only because there are no .dwg viewers yet for RT. I find it funny because I have a view/edit app on my old Palm TX (helps in a pinch).

As for the reviews, I trust the reviews here on WPC more than the so-called experts on tech sites. At least the people here actually own and use them. You'll always find haters, but those are the exception.

 

[_Emi_]

Mostly media consumption for the most part and if possible, do some remote login to my work computer the odd time here and there. Not much of a gamer(yet) but mostly used for media consumption. I would love to load up AutoCAD on this(if possible) to view drawings but that is a rare, if ever, and not a requirement. I hear mixed reviews on all the RT stuff and great reviews on the PRO but not sure.

well something you should know, its... RT is a great device, really really good. before some updates and stuff, it was good, but it had some bugs and defects but from when it was released compared with today, its something different.
what is my point? well, you should pay attention much to the reviewers.

better take a look at real world scenarios, how you can use a RT like this video Why I love my Microsoft Surface RT - YouTube (dont forget the second part if you have a Xbox, also he talks about how you can RDP)

RT is able to run some desktop apps, by a jailbreak you can find on the web, and some open source apps have been ported to ARM and are working fine. of course people still condemn RT and call it failure because it cant run every single desktop legacy app available.
I don't think that's fair, because you cant run osx apps in an ipad or something.

so I would suggest you you watch the video I linked, and while the title is obvious... you can see well explained the good points in having RT device. maybe it cant run legacy apps,

but... lets think, can you imagine getting a tablet and always have to use mouse and keyboard because the store never grew because in RT and Pro "you can run desktop app"? and then what would be the point of getting a tablet like an RT? I know it would be cool if Microsoft opened officially the desktop to install ported apps, but I would rather see the store grow and not stay the same because the developers decided to port the x86 apps to arm and not make a win8/RT app.

also something you have to consider its the battery life you want to get, you will get half or less of what you can get with a RT device. of course you just said you want autocad files, so that would mean a PRO, but still if you want to go and don't be next to a charger with a mouse and keyboard only because of autocad, you could easily get RT and enjoy it more somewhere else for more hours.
you can always Remote to your x86 computer, if you need it. its not hard to do.

so while my answer might not seem useful, maybe the video would be better. maybe it will make you go RT or PRO. think about the pros and cons like battery life, legacy apps, Office included, if you want to be in desktop you should have a mouse and keyboard (use desktop apps with touch its not good most of the time) and so on.


Edit:
just like crash1989 posted the second part, i will post this other video from Sean, I found really nice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQN0o9lyqTU

like i said, maybe this wont change your mind and you will get the PRO, which is good. wacom support, all legacy apps, usb3, some win8 store games only would run on x86 like Project spark (they havent said anything about surface rt versi?n, but lets hope with surface 2 they will do it)

but anyway, at least you can see all those bad reviews RT got are mostly silly, based on silly things, especially the first ones before surface was released, becuase the performace was not that good since it needed updates.
I just hate the "RT sucks" but why? "too expensive, i wouldnt pay more than 300 dollars for it"... I think that's an ignorant statement. like I said... do you really want to get a tablet to use a mouse and keyboard? that's just a na?ve thought I cant understand. besides legacy apps, it will always work the same as Win8 x86, it is win8!
I don't get how something can suck and be so bad if its the same, minus legacy apps which honestly is not that important if the app you would use (like autocad) wouldn't even seen the port to ARM anyway (you know, if they could they would actually only release x64 version anyway), and it would be easier just to RDP to your computer and end.
I know tegra 3 can have its issues sometimes but it works fine most of the time. even on gaming!
But I really wanted to show RT is not bad at all, its only the ignorant and close minded, who seem to have a wall of ignorance in front of them the people that give RT bad reviews so, and if they cant pay for a PRO, why complain about RT for not having legacy apps?


so whatever you choose, you will be fine.. depending on what you want to do in the end of course.

 

[crash1989]

part 2 .. he shows rdp on rt

Why I love my Microsoft Surface RT, Part 2 - YouTube

 

[Polychrome]

I would love to load up AutoCAD on this.

Pro. Wacom support, 'nuff said.