Is a surface right for me??

[thatdennis]

That's what girls who stay with abusive guys say and it's certainly no excuse to sell your soul to apple.

I have and Xbox, Surface, Windows Phone and a PC with 4 monitors. Everything is so connected it's awesome. I have friends who are heavy on apple, and I've seen their experiences,.. It's not for me!

Ah, the joy seeing Mac users panic as they can't install a program required for their assignments. Or perhaps a tinge of no support for great games.

Or maybe seeing iPhones dropping into water, iTunes backfiring on them, and also their "metal bodied" Macs getting dropped and receiving permanent bumps and scratches. The joy.

 

[RavenSword]

Here, the Surface 2 is perfect for work, as you get free Office and have word, excel, power point and outlook. E-mail you don't need to worry since Microsoft got the Mail app to be a great app.

However, you need to use IE for your browser, you can't use other browsers. Yet IE itself is fluid and fast, contrary to popular belief. Video Watching is also having no problems (a lot of alternative video app if the native one doesn't suit you, and Xbox video lets you buy movies). Unless you have movies with really confusing formats, you won't have a problem.

The Surface 2 is small, fast and tenacious. Especially with the keyboard attachment, you can type comfortably (Type Cover 2) and get work done fast. With touch integration of Office (combining touch screen with typing), you get work done. Fast. The battery life also holds up to 12 hours for me with light use, though Microsoft said 10 hours of video playback. NOTE however that the battery life will at first be only 6-8 hours only. But with repeated use, the battery life WILL improve to reaching 12 hours.

Note taking is easy with OneNote app that Microsoft has beautifully built. You can integrate photos into your OneNote notes using the front or back camera of the Surface 2.

Microsoft's services are also top notch here, with Bing (News, Health & Fitness, etc.) and Calendar, so you could keep being updated with news of your surroundings.

The drawback though I think is not being able to install .exe apps or any program for that matter, no touch-pen recognition and lack-of-games (you could argue this). If you are looking for famous popular games such as Plants vs Zombies or Candy Crush, you won't find it here. But there are a lot of great games provided by Microsoft (look for an Xbox banner on the app picture) or other great games such as Halo: Spartan Assault and Asphalt 8: Airborne. If you're a light gamer I think games wouldn't be a problem (as I myself am a light gamer now, and occasionally play Microsoft Solitaire or Mahjong, with a little bit of Asphalt).

Bottomline, the Surface 2 will fill your work requirements greatly, has a long battery life, relatively small in size, able to play media and entertainment, and a great way to be productive in general (either through note taking, finishing up essays, and those other stuff). The drawback of not being able to install apps is also a plus for me, as I don't get tempted to procrastinate as I can't play my favourite heavy games (League of Legends, Fallout, Crysis, Dawn of War, Skyrim, etc.)

**P.S. Twitter and Facebook apps are working great, and so is Skype. You also could multitask (split the screen into 2) such as watching a video and typing at the same time. I personally recommend you to get one, with the Type Cover 2, as it will fit your needs really well.

***P.S.S. If you do get one, I'll tell you the essential apps you need to download that would make your life way easier.

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.

 

[RavenSword]

please make sure you compare the pro vs rt versions.

I had the rt originally and it was an amazing device as sys admin it just didn't meet some of my work needs at the time. So I switched to the pro. Which is honestly a full blown windows computer and I love it.

(mind you I had the surface rt 1, the surface 2 is better) The RT is great for the casual user; web, email, games, apps. OFFICE. It does an amazing job. The battery life is a little less then 10 hours and it is very light. They touch keyboard was good, but I switched later on to the type keyboard. I found light word process and emails were fine, but when I started writing long documents and heavily relying on my surface that my fingers were getting a bit tired from the touch keyboard.

I use my surface pro non stop if you have any questions, message me. I am def one of the MS fan boys and I am pretty heavy into their ecosystem. I am very happy with it so far.

We'll, the surface pro is rather expensive isn't it? At that price point I'm in ultra book/MacBook territory.

 

[RavenSword]

That's what girls who stay with abusive guys say and it's certainly no excuse to sell your soul to apple.

I have and Xbox, Surface, Windows Phone and a PC with 4 monitors. Everything is so connected it's awesome. I have friends who are heavy on apple, and I've seen their experiences,.. It's not for me!

I never understood the whole "sell your soul to apple" trope.

 

[anon(5445874)]

I never understood the whole "sell your soul to apple" trope.

I do not require you to understand.

 

[DaT Franchise]

Windows, sorry but the the pro is far cheaper then the MacBook as you would still need parallels to run some things, IIRC that's another $300 in software? As far as having iPad, you pretty much have a big iPhone that cant make calls.

 

[WillysJeepMan]

Windows, sorry but the the pro is far cheaper then the MacBook as you would still need parallels to run some things, IIRC that's another $300 in software? As far as having iPad, you pretty much have a big iPhone that cant make calls.

Not quite correct. The Surface Pro 2 is not far cheaper than a Macbook. You don't need Parallels if you need to run Windows apps. Oracle's VirtualBox is robust, enterprise-quality, and free. There is the cost of a Windows license that will be needed regardless of the VM option.

Depending upon the application that needs to be run, Wine (free) / CrossOver ($60) can run Windows apps without the need for a Windows license.

If you believe that the iPad is nothing more than an oversized iPhone then you probably have not attempted to use it for "serious" work.

 

[RavenSword]

I do not require you to understand.

You also don't seem to have a adequate answer

 

[DaT Franchise]

Idk you can pick up a surface pro new for 500, a mac is starting around 1100. The pro 2 that's different at 900.
Thanks for the correction on the virtual machine. For me getting a lot of the software for tuning electronic speed controls and doing any kind of rooting or development on android is an absolute joke on a mac. I had a MacBook a few years back and sold it within 6monts. Apple doesn't suit my needs and I hate the ecosystem with a passion.
As for the IPad ill stand my ground on that, sorry I know a tone of people with them, just like android and there tables.

 

[anon(5445874)]

You also don't seem to have a adequate answer

I did, but didn't feel like it was necessary. But if you must know, people say that because apple has a cult following. If the ghost of jobs came back and told everyone to jump off a bridge, about 65% of iPhone users would plummet to their deaths... joyfully.

 

[WillysJeepMan]

I did, but didn't feel like it was necessary. But if you must know, people say that because apple has a cult following. If the ghost of jobs came back and told everyone to jump off a bridge, about 65% of iPhone users would plummet to their deaths... joyfully.

...and why do you think that is? Because consumers are stupid? Because they're gullible? Did Apple do things right? Perhaps it is all of the above. And if so, why doesn't Microsoft do the things necessary to establish that kind of fierce brand loyalty? (Or is Microsoft "above" that sort of thing)

 

[anon(5445874)]

...and why do you think that is? Because consumers are stupid? Because they're gullible? Did Apple do things right? Perhaps it is all of the above. And if so, why doesn't Microsoft do the things necessary to establish that kind of fierce brand loyalty? (Or is Microsoft "above" that sort of thing)

No, It's because apple did things almost right early on. Their stuff isn't all that anymore, but the average consumer is STUPID. They get stuck on the idea that a company is bad or good based on their first experience. Apple could start putting out the worst stuff on the planet and it would take 10+ years before people actually change their opinions.

 

[Zulfigar]

No, It's because apple did things almost right early on. Their stuff isn't all that anymore, but the average consumer is STUPID. They get stuck on the idea that a company is bad or good based on their first experience. Apple could start putting out the worst stuff on the planet and it would take 10+ years before people actually change their opinions.

Apple bought the first iPad from a Japanese company, without buying the actual name...

 

[DaT Franchise]

Lets just say apple could release the iPhone 3g rebadged as the iPhone 6 and the isheep will wait in line for days to buy it. Apple puts an s behind anything and most people think its a massive new thing, (Samsung does it too). So yes the average low information buyers are dumb.

 

[sd173]

But how do those stack up to the windows versions? Is the apple version the same?

The mobile office on iOS and Android are limited in functionality compared to Office 365 for Windows.

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.

However, the Surface Pro 2 has way longer battery life, a digitizer, and the ability to download any store or desktop application you want. This is definitely what would be best for you based on the original post. But, I think you should wait for May 20th in case Microsoft announces a new Surface (Pro 3 hopefully?) Tablet in addition to the small Surface that will be announced.

 

[DaT Franchise]

Dont forget your getting ultra book/laptop performance in tablet form, you can run anything you want without worrying about running in virtual machine or worrying about parallels. If you don't wanna drop a stack get the OG surface pro, $500 MacBook beat down.

 

[DaT Franchise]

Apple bought the first iPad from a Japanese company, without buying the actual name...

Exactly, same played out design, outdated LG screen. Going from a 4s to a 5s is like going from a 2012 Prius to a 2013 Prius and swearing its a massive upgrade.

 

[sd173]

We'll, the surface pro is rather expensive isn't it? At that price point I'm in ultra book/MacBook territory.

It is definitely worth it. I don't know how I lived without my Surface Pro for the first 2? years of High school. I've used it everyday for at least 6-7 hours for the last half of 11th grade and all of 12th grade this year. The stylus and Bluetooth adapter, along with the sculpt touch mouse (I hate Trackpads) make it perfect for me to do just about anything. Then there's also the HDMI and VGA adapters which make it really good for Photoshop and AutoDesk Inventor (I know you didn't mention needing that, I'm just getting into my Surface Pro promotion mode, since MS doesn't do it).

 

[WillysJeepMan]

No, It's because apple did things almost right early on. Their stuff isn't all that anymore, but the average consumer is STUPID. They get stuck on the idea that a company is bad or good based on their first experience. Apple could start putting out the worst stuff on the planet and it would take 10+ years before people actually change their opinions.

You couldn't bring yourself to acknowledge that they DID do things right early on.

So you agree that making a good first impression is important then...that once a good reputation is established there is a momentum of loyalty that extends beyond the quality of the product being currently produced.

...and just to bring things back on topic....
Given Microsoft's track record and reputation, how confident are you that Microsoft will actively support and enhance the Surface (RT) line? ...to the point of encouraging someone to invest in the platform.

They stated a formal commitment to support Windows RT to April 11, 2017. Some might take that to mean that they will be enhancing the platform forward up until that time... but it generally means producing security updates and fixes.

 

[DaT Franchise]

Apples patent lawyers did it right in the beginning, if it wasn't for LG (displays) Samsung (chip sets) and Sony, apple wouldn't be who they are today. Always remember the only thing apple about an Idevice is the OS. I'll never support a company who takes technology or outside help from there competitors then turn around and sue them for "patent infringements"