Ditching notebook/ultrabook for Surface Pro 2?

[Psyk00]

So yeah, new Pro, just wow, looks fantastic. My question is - could it replace a notebook/ultrabook, when 100% of my usage is web browsing and writing? How does the touch cover in a previous model works? Is it comfortable?

 

[vedichymn]

I think to some degree depends on how you're using it. The form factor of a notebook/ultrabook is better for say, lap use, but if you're using it on a flat surface like a desk, the surface pro 2 will be just fine. From a performance standpoint, yeah, it can replace a laptop/ultrabook.

I prefer the feel of the type cover to the touch cover, but I imagine touch cover is something you would get used to over time.

I'm most excited about the desktop dock for Surface Pro 2, that makes it an actual viable workstation option for me.

 

[stmav]

It also has 2 positions for the kickstand that's supposed to help with lap use. Though I still think the level of comfort is up to the individual.

 

[Wreckus]

Since I just got the original surface just over a week ago (and love it) and a touch screen laptop I had to buy for my course back in May, I won't get one. Interested in the new touch keyboard, not sure if it will be compatible though.

 

[chezm]

I have never purchased a laptop, I've got one for work which doesn't count. I have a desktop PC and have been drooling over a Pro since launch but waited for Pro2...wow im pumped, won't even consider another ultra laptop...

 

[SouthDallas40]

Definitely going to grab the new Surface Pro 2. The battery life was the killer before. Not an issue now.
Great upgrade!!!

 

[Psyk00]

Just wait till developers will start delivering great games and apps to Windows Store/Windows Phone Store. It will be a blast. I look on my 3rd gen iPad with iOS7 and, God, gotta change it for Surface Pro 2. Great that it comes with Office Suit! Just hope that it will have worldwide launch.

 

[Microsoftjunkie]

You may not have heard yet, but the new type covers "surface" area is 100% touch from edge to edge and also has better or implemented predictive text. So there is mo way you should have a problem typing.

 

[coolqf]

Just wait till developers will start delivering great games and apps to Windows Store/Windows Phone Store. It will be a blast. I look on my 3rd gen iPad with iOS7 and, God, gotta change it for Surface Pro 2. Great that it comes with Office Suit! Just hope that it will have worldwide launch.

The office suite costs extra.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

 

[Kebero]

So yeah, new Pro, just wow, looks fantastic. My question is - could it replace a notebook/ultrabook, when 100% of my usage is web browsing and writing? How does the touch cover in a previous model works? Is it comfortable?

The Surface 2 (RT) does all that . The Surface Pro 2 would be a colossal waste of money. If you don't want RT, look at one of the upcoming Bay Trail tablets.

 

[Squachy]

Surface pro 2...you don't need apps for that, you run REAL x86 programs/games on it, baring any hardware weaknesses.

 

[Kebero]

Surface pro 2...you don't need apps for that, you run REAL x86 programs/games on it, baring any hardware weaknesses.

You'd seriously spend that amount of money for a machine you'd only use for Word and the web?

 

[azcruz]

My Acer S3 is aging, though it was ahead of its time then, i7, 4GB of memory. I use it vor Visual Studio and Hyper-V (1 DC, 2 SQL Server 2012 images, and one Ubuntu )

I will be ordering the Surface Pro 2 8GB memory and 256GB SSD.

 

[stephen_az]

Personally, having now seen the prices, the Surface Pro 2 is simply not worth it. You are looking at a cost, including keyboard, that is more than an Apple MBA, second generation Dell XPS 12, and the projected prices for the new Yogas and Dell XPS 11. Specifically, you are between $1400 and $1500 for the 256GB model and nearly $2000 for the 512GB model. They are even jumping past Sony pricing on some fronts which is something I did not think possible.

I accepted and defended the higher prices for the first generation Surface Pro; for a device that is now second generation in the same form factor with the same (albeit slightly brighter) screen, this has been priced not to sell. Quite frankly, it almost looks like they are expecting poor sales, and are transferring the full value of the increased specs instead of absorbing some of those costs on the assumption they will make it up in volume. These really are Apple level prices but without the elite status Apple owners think they are getting, something for which I have always considered Apple owners to be irrational anyway. From my perspective, Microsoft has clearly figured out how to be a devices company on the hardware side of the equation but is still clueless when it comes to price and intangibles.

BTW, I am also troubled by the fact that the Surface Pro 2 tech specs do not actually provide a battery life rating. Surface 2 has an explicit number whereas Surface Pro 2 speaks only in generalities. Where have we seen that before? That is a repeat of Surface marketing up to the release of the original models last year and in the spring. Quite frankly, I suspect that it will not be nearly what people are hoping it will be.

As for the value added stuff, like most such "free add on's," you get something that costs them virtually nothing and hooks you into items with price tags in the future. Seriously, 200 GB of SkyDrive storage for two years? Unless you plan on off loading your stuff at the end of two years, you are then committed to a service that currently costs $100 per year. Throw in the fact that both the Windows 8.1 RTM SkyDrive and Pictures apps are still hamstrung when it comes to displaying things like my SkyDrive hosted DSLR raw files, which is odd since it was not a limitation in 8.0, and it becomes something with less utility than one might think. As far as the Skype add on goes, unlimited voice calling to landlines?. At least for me, since I do not call overseas, that offers absolutely nothing. Last I checked my Lumia 928 also offers unlimited calls to landlines, so what would I be getting? I get 60 minutes free every month for landlines and mobile numbers anyway as well as part of my Office 365 subscription and have yet to use those minutes. Others certainly would but, for me, it is worthless. It is not video calling, just voice calls and only to landlines. Of course, at the end of the first year, you are then on the hook for their going rates if you want to continue. Sadly, in spite of the enhanced specs, I find nothing on the table worth the extremely high prices to step past the 64GB and 128GB offerings.

 

[Psyk00]

I really don't mind the storage, but RAM counts. All memory versions should have 4/8 GB variants.

 

[stephen_az]

I really don't mind the storage, but RAM counts. All memory versions should have 4/8 GB variants.

My Surface Pro with 4GB and a third generation i5 matches or beats my i7 and 8GB laptop for most types of performance. For instance, it takes Lightroom almost the same amount of time to render 1:1 previews of my Nikon D7000 raw files, and only takes three to five seconds longer to generate a panorama, going from Lightroom to PhotoShop CS6. There is not a lot of difference between 40 and 45 seconds to generate that panorama. While the extra RAM would be nice, it is not bringing as much to the table as you think since the devices will be highly optimized. In fact, for your stated use, it is giving you nothing (other than a higher sticker price). You could get any number of lower spec'ed devices a significant cost savings (probably up to 50%) that will do web browsing and writing just as well.

 

[Psyk00]

My 4GB ultrabook coughs when >10 tabs in Chrome are opened.

 

[fwaits]

My desire for a laptop that can act as a tablet is greater than my need for a tablet that can be a laptop so I'm most likely getting a Lenovo Yoga 2 when they drop. It's small and light enough for me and can act as a large tablet for doing casual stuff on the go or on my lap when I feel like it. Otherwise I do too much that benefits a larger screen and a full blown keyboard. I will likely look into an RT at some point up the road though for truly casual portability and media consumption.

 

[stephen_az]

My 4GB ultrabook coughs when >10 tabs in Chrome are opened.

:...so you have a lousy ultrabook. I have not had a machine struggle with web pages since the Core2Duos were released and that was with Vista. Even my Surface RT, and its predecessor Asus Transformer Prime tablet, had no issues with web pages and that includes having at least that many tabs open while doing downloads. You are talking about something that should be a non-issue for any machine, including ones with much lower specs and prices. If that is what you want to do, you are going for serious overkill in a new to compensate for poor performance in an old one. As Chrome will only on on the desk, something Google has no plans to change, you will not even get the full benefit of the Windows 8 touch interface. To each their own but it seems to me you are looking to fix the fact that you own the equivalent of a defective Fiat by replacing it with a Ferrari which you will then still use like a Fiat.

 

[azcruz]

My Surface Pro with 4GB and a third generation i5 matches or beats my i7 and 8GB laptop for most types of performance. For instance, it takes Lightroom almost the same amount of time to render 1:1 previews of my Nikon D7000 raw files, and only takes three to five seconds longer to generate a panorama, going from Lightroom to PhotoShop CS6. There is not a lot of difference between 40 and 45 seconds to generate that panorama. While the extra RAM would be nice, it is not bringing as much to the table as you think since the devices will be highly optimized. In fact, for your stated use, it is giving you nothing (other than a higher sticker price). You could get any number of lower spec'ed devices a significant cost savings (probably up to 50%) that will do web browsing and writing just as well.

is your laptop equipped with SSD? It won't be a fair comparison then. My Acer S3 i7 4GB originally equipped with 500GB hard disk is faster processing my D800 RAW files at 35-40MB each in Capture NX 2 when I upgraded to SSD.





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