Do I need the surface Pro 2?

[Neibl]

I want the surface pro 2, but debating if I should save my money and get a lighter RT tablet instead (Surface 2 or Nokia Lumia 2520) as I really am only going to use it around my house and the occasional vacation. I really do mostly web browsing, movies, light office work. I had Surface RT and sold it in anticipation of the pro 2 as the Tegra processor was such a dissapointment I vowed to get a full intel chip and never deal with slow finicky ARM tablets on a daily basis like that, but the new processors on the RT tablets seem to be ALOT snappier. the Lumia 2520 in particular has a very nice processor in there and the Surface 2 Tegra 4 does seem like a huge improvement.

Am I crazy to spend the extra say 500-600 bucks to get a surface pro 2 just because I can? Wanted to see if anyone else had similar logic on this.

Also anyone know how much memory is avaialble on the 128GB drive?

 

[Lurchorama]

Do I need the surface Pro 2?

yes.

 

[Neibl]

HAHA you've convinced me may go today if I have time!

 

[berty6294]

What? Absolutely not! The Surface 2 is more than enough for you! If the original Surface RT did everything you need but slowly, the Surface 2 will blow you away. It is ridiculously fast! Everything I could complain about with the original Surface is gone with the Surface 2! NO JOKE! Plus with the Surface 2 you get much better battery life in a smaller, lighter package!

 

[russmov]

I think if you can afford it, you might as well go all in and have true windows

 

[chezm]

What? Absolutely not! The Surface 2 is more than enough for you!!

This....unless you want to spend the extra money for something you dont really need.

 

[vizagdude]

Not sure if you already got one.. but my suggestion is, if you want to use your laptop and/or desktop along with the Surface, I would suggest the Surface 2 instead of the Pro 2.

I got the Pro 2 ( and the Pro before this, which I just sold it on eBay) because, I want to slowly replace my Laptop to Surface Pro 2. Also, I have an old Thinkpad which at best gives me a battery life of 3.5 hours at best compared to the MSP2 which allegedly gives us 6 to 7 hours on heavy use (I do not play PC games). The 200 GB of Skydrive, Skype free International land line calls and the Skype free wireless access are just the added bonus.

 

[envio]

@Neibl, of course, it's easy to say "well it depends on how you're going to use it". You've already described that you're essentially going to use it as a consumption device with light office work. For me, that fits the Surface 2 very well and that's coming from a someone who desperately wants the Surface Pro 2.

What you need to ask yourself is - will you still be using it as a consumption device further down the road in 12-18 month's time? e.g. Will you be happy without 3rd party desktop apps and reliant on Metro-style apps? On the flip side, if you spent the money on a Pro 2 now "just because you can" - would you have regrets that you could have gotten more Surface 2 accessories instead and had much better battery life and a lighter device? Unless you know that you need it now or sometime in the near future, I would stick with the Surface 2 and maybe opt for more accessories.

 

[MoggSquad]

I would also suggest Type cover over Touch.

 

[hcrick]

I have the Pro 2 and love it, but mainly because it supports some older hardware I still need and the ability to load regular programs. If not for those reasons I'd be using RT or some Bay Trail device because of their weight and battery life advantages.

Don't let your original RT experience taint your decision, the Surface 2 is night and day faster in speed and responsiveness. So fast in fact that I would have no problem going from the Pro 2 to the Surface 2 if strictly talking speed. So if a lighter weight and longer battery life is of value to you then save your money and go RT or Bay Trail. Either one will easily handle your described workload. If a heavier device with shorter battery life doesn't bother you, and you don't mind spending more, then the Pro 2 will get you an insanely fast computer with little to no restrictions. Either way you'll likely be very happy.

A 128GB Pro 2 has about 95GB free.

 

[Neibl]

Thanks for the responses guys, these were helpful to hear the speed of the surface 2 is so vastly improved. I'll have to try them out in the store, but the pen input on the pro is also something I think it super cool and have wanted. I have the money to spend just deciding if it's stupid. If I don't get the Pro 2 though the decision between the lumia 2520 and the surface 2 is going to be super difficult. I love the lumia design language. A Cyan lumia tablet sounds awesome with LTE and a better processor than the surface 2. No kickstand though and the covers on surface are awesome (I think i'm only one who prefers the touch cover btw).

I was debating getting a pro 2 then a 7-8" device as a more portable option especially since these seem to be $299 most of the time.

 

[csiguy1]

I couldn't decide either so I bought both. The Pro to replace my desktop and the S2 to take on the road. Problem solved.

 

[Lurchorama]

Thanks for the responses guys, these were helpful to hear the speed of the surface 2 is so vastly improved. I'll have to try them out in the store, but the pen input on the pro is also something I think it super cool and have wanted. I have the money to spend just deciding if it's stupid. If I don't get the Pro 2 though the decision between the lumia 2520 and the surface 2 is going to be super difficult. I love the lumia design language. A Cyan lumia tablet sounds awesome with LTE and a better processor than the surface 2. No kickstand though and the covers on surface are awesome (I think i'm only one who prefers the touch cover btw).

I was debating getting a pro 2 then a 7-8" device as a more portable option especially since these seem to be $299 most of the time.

The Pro 2 + something Atom-based like a VivoTab would make a great combo

 

[coolqf]

MS kind of shot themselves in the foot by using the Tegra 3. There were 3 versions of Tegra 3, and they selected the slowest version. Plus, WinRT wasn't fully ready and had to disable (or not use) some of the Tegra 3's features.
If you know iPads.... the Tegra 3 was a competitor against the iPad 2, and the Tegra 4 is a competitor against the iPad5. (The difference is that huge). Windows 8.1 also helps. In real terms, Surface 2 probably is 3x faster than Surface RT.

 

[freshfelicio]

If you just need it for the things you named - web browsing and Office - and you dont need desktop programs, go for Surface 2 or Nokia tablet. Surface Pro is quite heavy for holding in one hand or reading and surfing, and this sacrifice is only acceptable if you need desktop programs like Visual Studio or other. So if you want a tablet, go for smaller Windows tablet, because the weight and battery life of the Pro will disappoint you. If you want a laptop replacement, go for Pro, because it is still 1/2 the weight and battery life of a normal laptop.

 

[Stinomus]

The Surface Pro 2 is incredibly fast but the the Surface 2 is significantly faster than its predecessor. The main thing that held me back from the original Surface RT as a casual-use tablet (web browsing, email, etc...) was the low resolution screen and not-brilliant performance, both of these have been rectified with the Surface 2.
Ultimately I went with the Pro 2 as I am using it as a replacement for my desktop machine but if I were to get a casual use tablet I would get the Surface 2, the Pro is just too heavy and battery-hungry for that stuff.