IPad to surface people here?

[karmamule]

I've had all the iPads, gambled I'd like the Surface and sold my iPad 3 a couple days before getting my Surface. So far I'm loving my Surface and have no regrets! ��

As other posters have said it's not perfect but between the form factor, the kickstand/cover, live tiles and the multi-tasking amongst other things I think its the best tablet I've ever owned.

 

[Bkr11]

Copied from a post I made in the Surface Review thread...
***********
I'm absolutely thrilled with my new Surface. Besides my earlier question on the RT forum asking how to "select" a single photo, the learning curve is almost a non-issue. I love swiping between open programs and the ease of navigating around. The touch keyboard does take some getting used to (I havent' used it enough to be hyper-proficient but can type pretty quickly on it when I'm sitting at a desk in a proper position), and having access to office is great.

The realization I have had is that, for me at this point in time, it isn't an iPad (or iPod Touch) replacement. Why? Simply stated the more obscure app selection that I've grown to use on my iPad for home-related devices.

* Sonos - I truly wonder if/when they'll have an RT app. You can install the desktop SW on Pro, but we're talking RT. No web interface available to my knowledge.

* My Yamaha receiver - not holding my breath. I use the app all the time to control zones, launch Pandora, etc.

* Nest Thermostat - again I wonder (especially given their Apple pedigree though they do have Android apps). They do have a web interface that I could probably use.

* Logitech Squeezebox (pre Sonos device I still have) - who knows? They too have a web interface - slightly clunkier than the app IIRC.

* Future home automation projects - I guess we'll see.

I guess what I'm saying is that I need a glorified remote at home for all of these connected devices, and I one can always rest assured that iOS will have an app that's needed, whereas until the RT ecosystem really gets a serious install base some of these more "niche" device companies probably won't allocate the resources to RT (I hope I'm wrong).

To be perfectly clear I don't think that's necessarily a negative for the Surface. Spend $199 or whatever an iPod Touch costs and have that be the glorified remote hanging out on the coffee table, but otherwise have the Surface for all other consumption & creation needs.

My only other "knock", if I can call it that, is that since game developers develop specifically for the iPad I wonder whether the breadth of RT offerings (over time) will be as optimized. IMO Jetpack Joyride is an example of a game on the Surface that is playable and fine, but not as crisp & smooth as the iPad. I'm chalking that up to being optimized for the iPad vs. being playable on the Surface if that makes sense.

All in all, I love the device and short of when I need to control those specific home devices I doubt I'll be touching the iPad much if at all....(though I hope they come out with a few decent tower defense games soon)

 

[fishgen]

Yea I don't really know what his problem is. First I made a joke about how easy it is to do things on the surface, and then a joke about who iPads are good for, and he acts like I'm Hitler's grandson.

I don't mind, however just because something is easy to use does not mean it for children only. Being an intuitive easy to use device was a key success for iOS, and now we throw it away like and old dog. It's not fair. In contrary to Android, I really welcome Surface, because it will make a good competition. They have to finally start innovating on the software side at Cupertino. Android was just a copy of the whole iOS philosophy, and was an inferior thing. It may have matured to something useful, but still nothing really different.mdont get me wrong I know it's a totally different thing, it just does not feel like it was a distinctive thing. Now that is what Windows rt brings to the scene.

 

[loribinca]

The only thing I miss are magazine apps. The few that I read (automobile, motor trend, wired, car and driver) all offered free digital copies with a print sub, which was usually cheaper than digital only. Google Play doesn't let you use print subs for access either. Hoping that B&N partnership opens up some more print choices for the surface, but other than that I'm iPad and nexus 7 free now

Zinio is out for the surface. Its OK for a first attempt - There are a few things that could do with some improvement (pinch to zoom, speed of page rendering, background downloading of a single issue) but all in all its not too bad for version 1

All my subscriptions transferred over and I read my copy of this months NYLON on it !!

 

[bmhillegass87]

I have owned 8 different tablets within the year including the 2nd and 3rd gen iPad. Like another poster mentioned I am always on the hunt for something new. With all my tablet experiences basically I use it for light web browsing, Netflix, word processing, and social integration. The surface presets these to me in a fresh way. I had W8 on my PC a few weeks ago and absolutely fell in love with metro style. Obviously we know the apps aren't quite there yet, but the ones that are truly developed for the tablet are brilliant. The ability to truly multitask running several apps at once blows my mind. The wife is getting my the keyboard for Christmas and ill he anxious to see how much more I enjoy a real word processor. On my to do list as well is hooking up a HDMI out. If you can deal without a lot of game apps and some other vital ones on iPad you will be pleased with the switch. If you need the selection you will be disappointed. The more on the bandwagon the better though. The good news is WP 8 is getting a lot of those must have apps. Excited to get either the lumia 920 or HTC 8x!

 

[kittengirl]

Right now, I'm must using another family member's Surface, waiting until the Pro version to get my own. I definitely will be replacing my iPad2 with it! In fact, it was really funny earlier today when I went back to my iPad, and already was trying to switch apps by using the Surface gestures! I love that I can have a second app docked on the side of the screen, and how easy it is to go from app to app. Love it.

And the current lack of apps doesn't really bother me either. One issue I have with my iPad is having too many stupic cr@p apps that I never use. Sometimes less really is more.

 

[badMojo69]

Zinio is out for the surface. Its OK for a first attempt - There are a few things that could do with some improvement (pinch to zoom, speed of page rendering, background downloading of a single issue) but all in all its not too bad for version 1

All my subscriptions transferred over and I read my copy of this months NYLON on it !!

To me Zinio on the surface sucks bad and my subscriptions did not transfer. I've been with Zinio since ... well forever. Back when pocket pcs were all the rage.

iPaq 4700 FTW!

 

[badMojo69]

I have owned 8 different tablets within the year8 is getting a lot of those must have apps. Excited to get either the lumia 920 or HTC 8x!

Question, did you keep any of them, sell or return them before the return period expired?

 

[TheDoctre]

Currently the Surface RT is my only tablet. I've got an iPad mini LTE on the way though. I'm enjoying it quite a bit and Windows 8 was really made to be touched. The app selection is pretty sparse at the moment. Especially when it comes to media consumption. The iOS and Android camps have more video codec support at present and they both have SSH clients readily available, something that I need to be able to do my job. I'm sure both of these issues will be rectified in the coming months. I do plan on sidegrading to a Surface Pro when it comes out. That's likely to replace my MacBook Pro as my daily driver.

 

[downhillrider]

ive enjoyed my surface so much that ive given my ipad 3 to my little sister. I mean I used it for twitter, web browsing etc. I checked and movies play at hbogo.com so im ok with the lack of apps. for now.