Surface covers

[calfee20]

I have posted numerous time that Microsoft should make a protective cover for short money or include one with each surface.

 

[gwinegarden]

Do you own an RT? Have you used it under "normal" conditions (more than a test drive in a store)?

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but the Surface RT/2 falls short in a variety of areas when using it as a tablet that aren't obvious. If those issues don't matter to you, then that's fine... I like to try to help people avoid disappointment or at least understand what they're getting into.

No, as I said, I am taking a serious look. Right now, I have a Playbook. Only 7 inches and I use it daily with no issues. So, unless the Surface has some big issues with its own keyboard, I can see no problems using it as a tablet.

I bought a BB keyboard, for the playbook, and have used it only once.

 

[umang_k91]

Do you own an RT? Have you used it under "normal" conditions (more than a test drive in a store)?

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but the Surface RT/2 falls short in a variety of areas when using it as a tablet that aren't obvious. If those issues don't matter to you, then that's fine... I like to try to help people avoid disappointment or at least understand what they're getting into.

sorry i know this is off topic.
im planning to buy one this month. I dont have the RT, so i wanted to ask u about the shortcomings of the RT/2. My main use would be downloading torrents, watching videos, connecting my hard drive,light office use and heavy IE use. Dont really care for the apps. Does it fall short in any of these things, or anything else that might be relevant? I live in India so i have just seen one surface in the wild. Havnt used it apart from in a store in Europe.

 

[WillysJeepMan]

sorry i know this is off topic.
im planning to buy one this month. I dont have the RT, so i wanted to ask u about the shortcomings of the RT/2. My main use would be downloading torrents, watching videos, connecting my hard drive,light office use and heavy IE use. Dont really care for the apps. Does it fall short in any of these things, or anything else that might be relevant? I live in India so i have just seen one surface in the wild. Havnt used it apart from in a store in Europe.

Re:
Downloading torrents - I haven't done this. There are about 2 dozen torrent clients in the app store. There should be one that will get the job done.
Watching videos - Video playback works very well. I only have limited experience with file formats (mostly .mp4, m4v files). There are a variety of media playback apps. I'm waiting for VLC. I just recorded a short video of my RT playing a video off of a usb thumb stick on one half of the screen while working in MS Word on the other... just because I can.
Connect USB drives - works beautifully. No complaints. Haven't found one thing that I wanted to do but couldn't.
Light office use - if you are referring to MS Office, works surprisingly well. I understand that there are a few features missing (macros in Excel) but in my usage of the office apps, I haven't run into any other limitations.
Heavy IE use - nice to have the option to view full desktop versions of websites. There is a way to get adblock functionality which is very, very nice on a tablet.

As I mentioned before, as a netbook replacement, the Surface RT does a fine job (minus the lack of support for legacy x86 apps). Based on the description of what you will be doing, I think that the Surface RT/2 will be fine for you.

My concerns regarding the RT are primarily when using the RT as a tablet (no external keyboard). I only use my RT as a tablet when my iPad is not easily accessible... If I had to use the RT solely as a tablet, I would not be happy. But that's nothing more than my opinion. If you want to discuss further, start a new thread and we can pick it up there.

 

[rory753]

OK, while I tolerate the touch cover, and like the type cover, i do agree that a blank flip cover would be nice. however, I would one up the "blank" flip cover, and make it a wireless charger. heck, why arent all the blades incorporating wireless charging?

 

[nuprotocol]

Re:
Downloading torrents - I haven't done this. There are about 2 dozen torrent clients in the app store. There should be one that will get the job done.
Watching videos - Video playback works very well. I only have limited experience with file formats (mostly .mp4, m4v files). There are a variety of media playback apps. I'm waiting for VLC. I just recorded a short video of my RT playing a video off of a usb thumb stick on one half of the screen while working in MS Word on the other... just because I can.
Connect USB drives - works beautifully. No complaints. Haven't found one thing that I wanted to do but couldn't.
Light office use - if you are referring to MS Office, works surprisingly well. I understand that there are a few features missing (macros in Excel) but in my usage of the office apps, I haven't run into any other limitations.
Heavy IE use - nice to have the option to view full desktop versions of websites. There is a way to get adblock functionality which is very, very nice on a tablet.

As I mentioned before, as a netbook replacement, the Surface RT does a fine job (minus the lack of support for legacy x86 apps). Based on the description of what you will be doing, I think that the Surface RT/2 will be fine for you.

My concerns regarding the RT are primarily when using the RT as a tablet (no external keyboard). I only use my RT as a tablet when my iPad is not easily accessible... If I had to use the RT solely as a tablet, I would not be happy. But that's nothing more than my opinion. If you want to discuss further, start a new thread and we can pick it up there.

Before I sold my RT to purchase the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2, I primarily only used my Surface as a tablet only, barely any actual office work/netbook replacement. How come you wouldn't recommend the RT as primarily a tablet? Apps?

Watching videos is pretty flawless, even on 1080 mkv's. Works great with the Mobile.HD app.

 

[WillysJeepMan]

Before I sold my RT to purchase the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2, I primarily only used my Surface as a tablet only, barely any actual office work/netbook replacement. How come you wouldn't recommend the RT as primarily a tablet? Apps?

Watching videos is pretty flawless, even on 1080 mkv's. Works great with the Mobile.HD app.

Reasons why I find using the RT primarily as a tablet (ie. sans external keyboard/mouse) less than satisfactory:

16:9 Aspect ratio - This AR in landscape mode causes most of the screen to be covered by the onscreen virtual keyboard. In portrait mode, the onscreen keyboard is too narrow to type comfortably on.

Touchscreen: finger vs stylus - I have found that the RT's capacitive screen sensor is "optimized" for finger touch. Attempts to use a capacitive stylus (either rubber or foam tip varieties) give poor results. skipped ink, straight diagonal lines have a stair-stepped wiggle to them.

Apps - I won't belabor the point nor make broad generalizations about availability of apps. Apps that are common/useful for tablets, primarily reading apps is sorely lacking. CBZ/CBR comic reading apps are very primitive, offer little in the way of organization, and choke on larger files. The same is true for epub and pdf readers. No Flipboard (or apps with Flipboard-like tendencies), RSS feed reading apps that still need time on the vine to mature. Notetaking, notekeeping apps are still scarce and the one that is best suited (OneNote) suffers from another issue, see "Desktop" below.

Modern UI - When I ran Win8 on one of my notebooks, I thought that it would really shine on a touch device like a tablet. But in using it on the RT, I find the "whitespace" excessive resulting in less information on any one screen and requiring more taps to traverse and navigate within an app. In a manner of speaking, the "screen resolution" is too low.

Desktop - Extremely difficult to operate desktop apps by fingertip. Office apps are a challenge to use with fingers. In the same manner of speaking, the "screen resolution" is too high.

Please note that these comments are with regard to using the RT as a tablet. With a Touch/Type-Cover these issues disappear. In "netbook mode" my mix of apps is different. As my previous posts on this forum show, I'm a fan of the RT and am thoroughly enjoying it (even though it does get frustrating at times) and have no problems recommending to people provided that they understand the limitations and irritations.

 

[nuprotocol]

Reasons why I find using the RT primarily as a tablet (ie. sans external keyboard/mouse) less than satisfactory:

16:9 Aspect ratio - This AR in landscape mode causes most of the screen to be covered by the onscreen virtual keyboard. In portrait mode, the onscreen keyboard is too narrow to type comfortably on.

Touchscreen: finger vs stylus - I have found that the RT's capacitive screen sensor is "optimized" for finger touch. Attempts to use a capacitive stylus (either rubber or foam tip varieties) give poor results. skipped ink, straight diagonal lines have a stair-stepped wiggle to them.

Apps - I won't belabor the point nor make broad generalizations about availability of apps. Apps that are common/useful for tablets, primarily reading apps is sorely lacking. CBZ/CBR comic reading apps are very primitive, offer little in the way of organization, and choke on larger files. The same is true for epub and pdf readers. No Flipboard (or apps with Flipboard-like tendencies), RSS feed reading apps that still need time on the vine to mature. Notetaking, notekeeping apps are still scarce and the one that is best suited (OneNote) suffers from another issue, see "Desktop" below.

Modern UI - When I ran Win8 on one of my notebooks, I thought that it would really shine on a touch device like a tablet. But in using it on the RT, I find the "whitespace" excessive resulting in less information on any one screen and requiring more taps to traverse and navigate within an app. In a manner of speaking, the "screen resolution" is too low.

Desktop - Extremely difficult to operate desktop apps by fingertip. Office apps are a challenge to use with fingers. In the same manner of speaking, the "screen resolution" is too high.

Please note that these comments are with regard to using the RT as a tablet. With a Touch/Type-Cover these issues disappear. In "netbook mode" my mix of apps is different. As my previous posts on this forum show, I'm a fan of the RT and am thoroughly enjoying it (even though it does get frustrating at times) and have no problems recommending to people provided that they understand the limitations and irritations.

Thank you for a well thought out answer. I agree with the whole desktop usage/finger/stylus problem. I think this is where the Lenovo TPT2 really shined. Being able to use the stylus at a moments notice to navigate the desktop was a true joy.