Should I get Surface RT at the current discounted price or wait for next gen Surface?

[bilzkh]

Again, are you basing this on actual use? If so, what is causing the lag or slow loading?

...

I'm asking out of pure curiosity. I've had my RT a couple of weeks and aside of the "swipe down to close apps" not being as visually smooth as the "click and drag down to close apps" on my laptop and desktop, and my fat fingers not always tapping the right spot for links and buttons, I've experienced no lag or slow loading in any way. I mean, apps don't load as fast as they do on my Boot Camped iMac running Windows 8 or my Toshiba laptop running Windows 8, but those are full-horsepower x64 machines. Could it maybe be incorrect expectations? Or are you experiencing actual, recreate-able, performance issues?



Is there a source for this anywhere? Or is it simple speculation?

I use it every day. At times Xbox Music and Xbox Videos take a little longer than usual to load up or take in a command (e.g. playing media), especially with IE running in the background. Sometimes even IE on Metro will take a little extra time just starting up. Office is not fast enough for me, in any scenario. None of it is insurmountable, but will have a much higher chance of going away through more powerful hardware than further optimization -- optimization/updates can only go so far to make up for a relatively lightweight CPU.

As for Snapdragon on Surface, I got it from The Verge: Microsoft planning improved Surface RT with Qualcomm processor | The Verge

 

[gsquared]

iamtim, Where ya been man? Haven't seen you around in a while.

OP: If you are still monitoring this post get a Surface now if you want it. The whole "wait until next gen" philosophy is nothing but a vicious, never ending cycle. To get the most from an RT device you may want to setup a connection back to a desktop machine. That would allow you to have access to a full Windows OS and the associated applications.

 

[calfee20]

I think one of the main questions is what will be the price of SurfaceRT2. I think, a lot of people think, the current SurfaceRT was priced TOO high. I think they are going to do it again. If they price the SRT2 at $350 SRT1 will have to go on a fire sale. Unfortunately I think they will come out with an 8 inch version with no office for $350 and a 10.6 or 11 inch version for the $499 yet again. If they do they will FAIL yet again.

 

[iamtim]

iamtim, Where ya been man? Haven't seen you around in a while.

Yeah, I haven't been around for a while. Because I'm sometimes an *****, I let all the negative press WP8 was getting shortly after its release get to me and I sold my 820 for an iPhone 4S. I'm looking to reverse that decision now, because... it doesn't matter what people say, it matters what I like. And dammit, I like Windows 8 stuff. (And I stopped reading BGR, heh.)

I also picked up a Surface RT a couple of weeks ago, which is a rad device, and that brought me back here. It's good to be back.

 

[iamtim]

I use it every day.

Ok, right on. Again, I was just curious.

optimization/updates can only go so far to make up for a relatively lightweight CPU

Yeah, this is why I was asking if your expectations were wrong. While the RT has some awesome desktop-like features (like, the actual Desktop, full mouse support, external monitor support, etc.) is in, in fact, an iPad-esque tablet. Just as I wouldn't replace my desktop with an iPad, I wouldn't replace my desktop with a Surface RT because its hardware is lightweight (great term, BTW.) I think if you're doing *serious* Office work or expecting things out of your RT that you expect out of your desktop, yeah, you might be a little disappointed. But if you use it as an adjunct to your desktop, it works perfectly.

That's just a ramble based on my 2 weeks of daily usage with my RT, not a commentary on your usage patterns.

As for Snapdragon on Surface, I got it from The Verge: Microsoft planning improved Surface RT with Qualcomm processor | The Verge

Thanks for the link, I'll check that article out.

 

[stephen_az]

Should I get Surface RT at the current discounted price or wait for next gen Surface?

What you are really asking is if you should buy an affordable device that actually exists or wait for something that is still not even vaporware. People can all chime in and say wait for the snapdragon device but there is no acknowledgement that is any more than a rumor started by people with too much time on their hands and a desire to see their name in lights. Keep in mind there were people who were actually upset when Microsoft did not announce devices at the Build conference that they never said they would announce nor even exist. If you want to wait, that is up to you. At some point there will probably be something. Anyone who tells you to wait for some specific spec'd device though is just rumor mongering since they absolutely do not know anything more than you. In fact, anyone who would know has signed a NDA and are not going to risk their job or contract, or the prospects of litigation, to tell a forum. As it stands Surface RT is a very nice device. It is also not underpowered and will probably get a bit of a performance and feature boost with 8.1. It is up to you to decide if it meets your needs. As for rumored devices, keep in mind that if the rumor mill was based upon any substance, there would already be announced Surface Pro 2 devices, new RT hardware, a Surface 8 in tablet, an array of OEM tablets with Intel's vaporware next generation Atom's, and still more OEM tablets running 4th generation i series processors.

 

[stephen_az]

Ok, right on. Again, I was just curious.



Yeah, this is why I was asking if your expectations were wrong. While the RT has some awesome desktop-like features (like, the actual Desktop, full mouse support, external monitor support, etc.) is in, in fact, an iPad-esque tablet. Just as I wouldn't replace my desktop with an iPad, I wouldn't replace my desktop with a Surface RT because its hardware is lightweight (great term, BTW.) I think if you're doing *serious* Office work or expecting things out of your RT that you expect out of your desktop, yeah, you might be a little disappointed. But if you use it as an adjunct to your desktop, it works perfectly.

That's just a ramble based on my 2 weeks of daily usage with my RT, not a commentary on your usage patterns.



Thanks for the link, I'll check that article out.

I have edited very large documents with 100+ embedded jpegs and tiffs, plus complicated layouts and formatting. Surface RT handled them with ease. In fact it handled them better than low end Intel powered devices. The device is lightweight but that is by design and will not change with any new processors. Arm powered devices are not going to magically become more than that ever. The fact Microsoft offers added functionality of key desktop apps is as far as it will ever go and there is not a snapdragon device on the market that will bring more than a negligible performance boost. Surface RT is well equipped and highly optimized, not underpowered. Verge rumors are also just as much baseless rumors as those from any other party.

 

[bilzkh]

Well I use a Surface Pro for serious work, and will likely get a high-powered AiO for heavy duty work (e.g. Adobe Creative Cloud), but I think the performance 'issues' the current RT have more to do with Tegra-3, as opposed to it being an iPad-esque device. Ultimately, iPad still flies. So, with the next-gen hardware we can at least expect the Surface to really fly in most if not everything it does, and from that point on (i.e. Gen 2) I wouldn't get caught into a "wait till the next one" mantra. I'm just saying, the current gap b/w Surface RT-1 and RT-2 may be significant.

 

[coolqf]

I have edited very large documents with 100+ embedded jpegs and tiffs, plus complicated layouts and formatting. Surface RT handled them with ease. In fact it handled them better than low end Intel powered devices. The device is lightweight but that is by design and will not change with any new processors. Arm powered devices are not going to magically become more than that ever. The fact Microsoft offers added functionality of key desktop apps is as far as it will ever go and there is not a snapdragon device on the market that will bring more than a negligible performance boost. Surface RT is well equipped and highly optimized, not underpowered. Verge rumors are also just as much baseless rumors as those from any other party.

Can we get a sample of such a document? I currently have Win8 third generation i5 Sony VAIO and with even 50pix it begins to lag a bit... Annoying Would love to see what your trick is. Comp has 8GB of ram btw.

 

[drtek]

I'm hoping that the V2's have 4G. I've read rumors that the Pro V2 will come with office.
Also, will Cisco Anyconnect work on the RT?

 

[Matt J]

I got one last week. The only serious issue I have is the fact that the Calendar app can't sync with GMail. It doesn't support CalDAV. Otherwise, it's a great device as-is.