Came across an interesting article by Paul Thurrott regarding the Surface team's supposed new direction:
Microsoft's Surface Has a New Mission | Microsoft Surface content from Windows IT Pro
Thurrott seems to think in the future there will be just the Surface Mini and Surface Pro 3 - no option for a Surface 3. I pasted my response here. What do you guys think?
I sort of get what you're saying, but I personally hope they don't abandon a middle of the road option. I'm not sure how the 10.6" Surface competes any more with the full size iPad than a Surface Mini does with the iPad Mini or the Surface Pro 3 does with MS's partners' laptops - they even said the SP3 is the "tablet that can replace your laptop".
What makes me love my Surface 2 is the unique and useful form factor - something Microsoft's partners haven't duplicated - thus I don't really think they're in direct competition. The only thing I'd change is being able to run full Windows, which could easily be accomplished with an Atom processor. I don't want a mini tablet because I couldn't really get laptop-like work done on it. But I also probably don't want to spend upwards of $1000 on a SP3 just to get full Windows and a larger screen. There are other Windows tablets that are functionally what I need, but none offer the unique combination of build quality and form factor that made me get the Surface 2.
I think a lineup like this makes sense:
Surface Mini - Runs Windows RT, starts at $299
Surface 3 - Runs full Windows 8.1, Atom processor, starts at $449
Surface Pro 3 - Runs full Windows 8.1, Core processor, starts at $799
Microsoft's Surface Has a New Mission | Microsoft Surface content from Windows IT Pro
Thurrott seems to think in the future there will be just the Surface Mini and Surface Pro 3 - no option for a Surface 3. I pasted my response here. What do you guys think?
I sort of get what you're saying, but I personally hope they don't abandon a middle of the road option. I'm not sure how the 10.6" Surface competes any more with the full size iPad than a Surface Mini does with the iPad Mini or the Surface Pro 3 does with MS's partners' laptops - they even said the SP3 is the "tablet that can replace your laptop".
What makes me love my Surface 2 is the unique and useful form factor - something Microsoft's partners haven't duplicated - thus I don't really think they're in direct competition. The only thing I'd change is being able to run full Windows, which could easily be accomplished with an Atom processor. I don't want a mini tablet because I couldn't really get laptop-like work done on it. But I also probably don't want to spend upwards of $1000 on a SP3 just to get full Windows and a larger screen. There are other Windows tablets that are functionally what I need, but none offer the unique combination of build quality and form factor that made me get the Surface 2.
I think a lineup like this makes sense:
Surface Mini - Runs Windows RT, starts at $299
Surface 3 - Runs full Windows 8.1, Atom processor, starts at $449
Surface Pro 3 - Runs full Windows 8.1, Core processor, starts at $799