Is a surface right for me??

[sd173]

This thread is starting to get off-topic . . .

So anyway, I think if you have to get a Surface RT (1 or 2), you should make sure you won't ever need any extra programs other than Office on it, because if you do, you should get the original Surface Pro. It's actually really cheap, especially with bundles you can get from the Microsoft Store (online), compared to its original price - I almost feel ripped off because of the difference from when it came out in February 2013.

 

[anon(5445874)]

I think the main point here should be that the Surface = Greatness.

 

[thatdennis]

We'll, I work in retail, so my job doesn't exactly call for productivity with a device, ha ha. Like I said, it'll be for taking to class when I start up in the fall and it'll be used for things I'd use my iPad for like web, email, video, some music listening, and some games.

I take mine to classes all the time. I download the .pdf of textbooks and so my surface is basically a textbook + notebook + essay writer.

 

[godse573]

I think what Microsoft was aiming to do was build a purely productive machine. One for school students and not much else. After 4 months of owning my surface, it has treated me very well. Office is all you really need, and some amenities are on the store like some games/apps etc. All I bought it for was for school work and nothing else, and I'd have to say, I've never been so productive and organized at the same time. Wish I had made the move sooner.

 

[Cruncher04]

If you're going to get a Surface for note taking and gaming, don't even bother with the RT version, the Surface 2 has no digitizer and a limited operating system, so you won't be able to use the best note taking application for it with a stylus (desktop OneNote) and you won't be able to play every game on the store.

What you miss to mention is that a Surface Pro is 50% heavier, has 50% more depth, is actively cooled all while deliver almost 30% less battery duration compared to Surface 2.
So when purely looking form tablets use-case perspektive, Surface Pro is one of the worst tablets on the market. The only thing you are loosing with Surface 2 is running x86 (desktop) programs and an active digitizer, as Windows RT is a full featured Windows. Going by the OPs requirements the 2 features you gain are hardly worth the trade-offs, when going with Surface Pro.

 

[RavenSword]

How is performance and battery on the original surface pro? Also, will the improved touch or type cover work on it?

 

[anon(5445874)]

How is performance and battery on the original surface pro? Also, will the improved touch or type cover work on it?

It depends on what your doing, but the battery life on the original pro isn't great. I have one and love it, you just need to keep it charged or if you're working around the house or office, plug it in. It also helps to have an extra power cord, so you can keep one at home and take the other with you in your bag.

The new covers work just fine. They just don't work on the old RT surface. I actually have a type cover 2 on my surface pro, it's very nice. You can also use the new power keyboard on the old surface pro which would help that awful battery life. But if you're getting a new machine, you might as well get a pro2.

 

[sd173]

How is performance and battery on the original surface pro? Also, will the improved touch or type cover work on it?

After changing the advanced battery plan settings in the control panel, I get around 5-6 hrs. using office programs, Internet Explorer, and metro applications like News. If you ever do need to do something that is more CPU-intensive, like Photoshop or Autodesk Inventor, you'll get around 3-4.5 hours.

 

[onlysublime]

So right now I'm primarily a apple user. I own a 5S, iPad 4, and Apple TV.

Plus I'm looking for a device to take to class and type notes and papers on. So I was thinking maybe a surface 2 could be good.

However , I'm not sure how reliable or good the device is with those things and others. I would like to use apps on it like video watching and web and email and other such apps and things.

Also some light gaming could be fun .

For owners of the device, what do you see as it's main selling points and as maybe it's faults? And would you recommend it? Is the experience going to be measurably better than if I just bought a keyboard for my iPad?

I did some copying/pasting from a previous post but updated it...

I have no experience with Surface 2.

But I do have the original Surface RT. you get the Surface RT, knowing what it is good for: Microsoft Office with a great form factor/screen. Note that Surface 2 is a LOT FASTER than my old Surface RT.

The Surface RT is my daily driver for my work. It's compact, great keyboard, battery lasts a long time, etc. I also have an Asus Transformer T100 with full Windows 8.1. But for what I need, the Surface RT is better. The screen is a little bigger, the screen is a lot brighter. The speed is a little less but you don't notice it while using Office or when using Metro apps. The battery pretty much lasts all day. I use an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of patients and clients and my daily workflow. I use Word extensively. Sometimes I do PowerPoint presentations. The built-in reader app is great for page flipping through PDFs. If I'm doing the meeting minutes, I can snap the sound recorder to the side and type the minutes in Word on the other side. 3 other coworkers picked up the original Surface RT because they saw what I was doing with mine (and the rock bottom pricing for the original helped out too). I warned them that Surface RT is not full Windows but they liked what I showed them and they didn't need full Windows.

If I had the Surface when I was in college, it would've been awesome. It's liberating to go a whole day without being tethered to an outlet. Nowadays, many newer colleges have an outlet per desk but it wasn't like that in the past.

View attachment 64684

Note that the Type 2 keyboard is full-sized. You can type forever on this. You need to write a 30 page essay? Totally doable. It's backlit as well so you can type in the dark.

View attachment 64686

compare that to the tiny keyboards of a lot of tablets/Windows machines...

It's great for presentations as well, whether you're 1-on-1 flipping through a PDF or whether you're doing an entire room and mirroring the Surface with a projector and doing PDFs or PowerPoints. At my med school, we typed our notes in the notes section of the PowerPoint presentations. so as the professor was going through the slides, we could follow along and type. you can easily record the audio and follow in powerpoint and word.

Now, you can do light gaming as in the Windows Store apps which are like iPhone/Android games. No major gaming like true PC games in Windows 8.1.

I also have the Surface Pro 2 (which I love). The SP2 kicks *** but it's expensive. But if you have the budget, get it. I also have the Asus Transformer T100 which is pretty good as a tablet. But as a school machine, I think it sucks because of the crappy keyboard and the not-bright screen.

 

[spyderzWPC]

again it depends on what you need it for, I would think a pro 1 would be cheap by now.

I get about 4 hours of battery life on my surface pro 1. Again I love the size because it is tiny and light and is a full function laptop.

the one thing that I don't think is perfect is, it is not light enough to really be used as a book. The rt is light enough and does a good job. I am curious to see what the 20th will bring us.

also I know the new keyboards required a patch to use on the older surface pro, I picked up the extra battery keyboard, it adds another 3 to 4 hours of battery life, which is great when I need it but it adds a lot more weight then I expected.

 

[anon(5445874)]

So there's this roomer that they are announcing a pro on may 20th that has no fans in it.