I have a playbook too! Alright! I have not had a problem one with my playbook. My point is electronics can have problems that's what most people come to forums for. But the majority do not have problems. If you know something is a piece of s*** than you know. The surface is a solid devise. I replaced my laptop with an S2. If it didn't perform well or was only a tablet (limited, you know what I mean) it would have went back. I'm not a fan boy. Get it.
Which does absolutely nothing in helping the OP in his decision. Because your experience with the beta version on Windows Phone is not a guarantee of how it will perform on the Surface 2. I've used Cortana on 8.1. It is indeed excellent. But it would be foolish to make a decision TODAY about what MIGHT be in the futur
Microsoft has made a public commitment to support Windows RT up to April 2017. As to the quality of that support, well, that is an unknown. The bigger concern, IMO, has to do with the fact that the Surface RT/2 are locked down to Windows RT and cannot be rooted to install another OS (should one be dissatisfied with the level of support for RT Microsoft is delivering).
I'm a little out of your target group, owning a Surface RT and an iPad 2, but I think I can add one or two things which might help.
When I bought the iPad and the Surface I was looking for essentially the same thing: a computer I take anywhere on which I could take notes/write. Having previously had a netbook for the same reason, I was highly excited by the iPad until I tried to turn it to task. Oh what a disappointment! Typing on the screen is okay for web surfing, but typing documents requires a keyboard and adding a bluetooth keyboard basically turns the iPad into a netbook, which isn't as versatile as one. You end up with something bulky and with too small a screen. Added to that was the paucity of apps on which to write; I tried Pages but found it unimpressive, given how much it relied on the touchscreen and it didn't even try to be compatible with Word documents, so I had no access to old documents and couldn't view Pages documents on my PC at home. I then went through several word processors which claimed Word file compatibility, but even the best were flakey. Not until Microsoft released Office on the iPad did that machine become viable to me.
The experience with the Surface was completely different. The Surface found, recognised and installed the correct driver for my printer first time and now is my preferred device from which to print. The touch cover is good enough to type on for extended periods and doesn't significantly add to the thickness of the device, so the Surface is small enough to be portable and the handwriting recognition is good enough to take notes using the Surface like a clipboard- cutting out the need to transcribe my notes. I use my Surface out and about, on the sofa or even in bed - to take notes, create documents, read books, surf the web and watch videos.
One thing I really like with the Surface is streaming Youtube videos to my xbox 360 and watching them full screen on my TV. It also works for Flash video and Photos. Add to that USB connectivity for memory sticks, USB mice and countless other peripherals, and you can understand how for me, the Surface has eclipsed the iPad, which now sits in it's cradle quite folorn. I will keep it a while longer, as I have some files on it and I don't want to abandon the iOS ecosystem completely.
Another very important factor in favour of the Surface is the increasing synchronisation between the various windows products, including calendars, documents and a whole lot more. Being able to pick up the Surface and check the calendar while on the phone, rather than have to call your friend back, is a convenience it's difficult to get across.
I can heartily recommend the Surface over the iPad for what you seem to want it for. I don't think obsolescence will be a problem, because Apple have already stopped supporting the original iPad and I'm not convinced the tablet as a form factor is mature enough that most people will want to stay with a device more than two or three years. Plus iOS is still a static UI that doesn't seem to have anywhere to go, whereas the Modern UI can be extended by making live tiles interactive - I think Surface users will see even more improvements in the same way Windows Phone users have, extending the lifespan of their devices.
I have the model Surface everyone says is bad, but it works harder than just about any device I have and has proved up to the tasks I set it. Although the vapour-mag coating has flaked away a bit from the kickstand, the Surface itself has proved rugged enough for normal use and the Surface 2 doesn't have that coating anyway.
Whatever you choose, good luck with it and I hope it serves yo well.
On the first Surface Pro? really? maybe if your screen is set to very dim and you're just web browsing. But video editing and such things,.. 2 hours!Totally disagree with kev up there ( can't seem to qoute his whole post). Battery life is awesome. I would say at least 10 hours and that is web, email, and videos. I don't even think about plugging it in daily. When I see a the battery is low I plug it in and inside an hour fully charged.
What scares me is that with updates, will the surface 2 need upgrading in two or three years, like pc's do because they slow right down?
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Still don't know which to pick though. If the surface 2 won't need upgrading in the near future and will "work", i'd probably lean towards surface 2. If not, then the ipad.
On the first Surface Pro? really? maybe if your screen is set to very dim and you're just web browsing. But video editing and such things,.. 2 hours!
There must be a communication error, because we are actually on the same page.Yes, but the OP is asking about the 2nd gen Surface (RT) not the first gen Surface Pro. You are correct that is was possible to drain the battery on the original Surface Pro in a couple of hours if you threw a constant intense workload at it, but that isn't the case with the Surface RT, Surface 2, or Surface Pro 2. The Surface 2 should go for several hours in a worse case scenario.
Well this shows that the life expectancy of the surface is ONLY 3 years. Don't like that at all. The ipads have been around for 4 years and are still going strong. Is there a use by date from apple? This alone will shift me towards the ipad. 3 years is definately short.
There must be a communication error, because we are actually on the same page.
Am leaning towards it as I defo like it for what it does better than the ipad, but I'm a little afraid because it hasn't been out for very long. What am I afraid of? Well 2 years ago I bought a Blackberry Playbook. The battery died suddenly 2 years later and it's now useless. Apparently they have a fault with their charging system, a design fault which is showing up on playbooks all the time. Blackberry acknowledge the problem. I just hope these surfaces will last and will be supported by microsoft as blackberry have given up on their playbooks. Don't want the surface dead in a few years. I know the ipads are built like bricks and last but I'm a bit iffy on the surface 2. Are there any reports on bricked surfaces? Might still be early for this question.
On the first Surface Pro? really? maybe if your screen is set to very dim and you're just web browsing. But video editing and such things,.. 2 hours!
Hey i know that issue....and i know how to deal with it. The playbook was nice, but was very limited. For the charging issue, the battery got down so low that once you plug it in, the playbook goes through a startup cycle that requires more juice, and so everytime you plug it in, the startup drains it again and shuts down....then u have to unplug and plug up again....and then it stick in that cycle. But there was a trick to sort of give it little sips of enerjon until it could sustain the startup