Hello everyone,
I thought I share my thoughts (if anyone is interested) with my surface pro.
Some background: I have an Asus Gaming laptop newest generation (G75), a playbook (blackberry) and at work, I have a regular Windows PC (no amazing stats).
The reason, I started to think about the surface pro is that
a) my blackberry barely gets software updates anymore and syncing blackberry with windows is for me too much of a hustle
b) my gaming laptop is awesome with a lot of brute force power but way to unhandy to carry around (desktop replacement)
c) my work Windows PC cannot be carried around and I have better things to do then syncing my documents EVERY day.
So i started reading about the surface pro. I had quite an extensive look at other tablet systems (for instance things like the Dell XPS, etc) but tbh what caught my attention with the surface pro was the sheer fact that I can simply detach the keyboard and from all the items, the way the surface pro is designed was the best for me. I clearly did not wanted an ultrabook because that would have bought me to square one and also I wanted a real tablet.
The ideal scenario was for me was to run my work on the surface pro and only use one device > surface pro attached to docking station (such as the original one or the Toshiba Dynadock) and the moment, I wanna go home, unplug USB and leave. Perfect scenario. Well let's see if it kept its promise:
I had also not an unlimited budget, the reason, I wanted to go with the 1 and not the 2: I got the surface pro 128 gig with type 2 cover (black), ultimately the dynadock 3.0 (toshiba) and microsoft complete cover for around $ 1100 incl. Tax which is a very fair deal for me.
To keep it short, I'm very happy with it. I copied pretty much my whole work data on the surface pro and have right now a 32GB uSD card in it (for misc. stuff). The speed is totally fine. I initially had the original windows docking attached but the major problem for me is that the windows one does not have 2 video out and for that price, this is unacceptable. Also the click in mechanism is something fancy to look at but I realized that maybe long term use may be a problem with wearing. the reason, I decided to go to the dynadock 3.0. It's good, the only problem is that I have a small mouse / windows lag with chrome but this could be due to the docking station. For now I'm running only one LCD which is great. After two weeks, I realized that I indeed can use it at work for all my analyses and in the evening i just unplug it, go home and use it for my home-related things. The absolute beauty for me is that if i need to access my work data, I can just continue working. It's really perfect.
But of course, we do not live in a perfect world:
1. the surface pro 1 has indeed not the best battery life. So far, i can manage it with just changing my habits. I can get around 4- 4.5 hrs out of it. Of course, this does not replace any tablet and indeed with the pro 2 this would be something else, but for me it's also about having a reasonable price. I got a really good deal at the MS store with a major discount, so in the end getting the pro 2 would have been around >300 Dollars which is not acceptable for me.
2. the storage, I realized that indeed 128 gig can be filled up VERY fast. There is of course not much space for other things (games, movies), but it's good for me since I can jus fill it with my work-related things. Here also a bigger model could help, IF you have the budget.
3. The dock, this is less of a surface pro issue then a dock issue. So far, I have not found the perfect dock yet but the greatness of a surface pro in my opinion depends a lot on the docking station you use. I like the MS one but it's too pricey for my taste and also the 2nd missing video it is a big issue (I know you can get various adapters, but I'm not willing to pay 200 dollars for a dock and another 70 dollars for adapters, pretty much defeats the purpose).
For now and for probably a long time, I'm very happy. I have a major congress coming up and I will then test the mobility of my new system.
For the future, maybe in 1-2 years, I will indeed if a surface pro 3 comes out, probably go for it, but that's then (maybe with a lighter chassis).
Cheers
char
I thought I share my thoughts (if anyone is interested) with my surface pro.
Some background: I have an Asus Gaming laptop newest generation (G75), a playbook (blackberry) and at work, I have a regular Windows PC (no amazing stats).
The reason, I started to think about the surface pro is that
a) my blackberry barely gets software updates anymore and syncing blackberry with windows is for me too much of a hustle
b) my gaming laptop is awesome with a lot of brute force power but way to unhandy to carry around (desktop replacement)
c) my work Windows PC cannot be carried around and I have better things to do then syncing my documents EVERY day.
So i started reading about the surface pro. I had quite an extensive look at other tablet systems (for instance things like the Dell XPS, etc) but tbh what caught my attention with the surface pro was the sheer fact that I can simply detach the keyboard and from all the items, the way the surface pro is designed was the best for me. I clearly did not wanted an ultrabook because that would have bought me to square one and also I wanted a real tablet.
The ideal scenario was for me was to run my work on the surface pro and only use one device > surface pro attached to docking station (such as the original one or the Toshiba Dynadock) and the moment, I wanna go home, unplug USB and leave. Perfect scenario. Well let's see if it kept its promise:
I had also not an unlimited budget, the reason, I wanted to go with the 1 and not the 2: I got the surface pro 128 gig with type 2 cover (black), ultimately the dynadock 3.0 (toshiba) and microsoft complete cover for around $ 1100 incl. Tax which is a very fair deal for me.
To keep it short, I'm very happy with it. I copied pretty much my whole work data on the surface pro and have right now a 32GB uSD card in it (for misc. stuff). The speed is totally fine. I initially had the original windows docking attached but the major problem for me is that the windows one does not have 2 video out and for that price, this is unacceptable. Also the click in mechanism is something fancy to look at but I realized that maybe long term use may be a problem with wearing. the reason, I decided to go to the dynadock 3.0. It's good, the only problem is that I have a small mouse / windows lag with chrome but this could be due to the docking station. For now I'm running only one LCD which is great. After two weeks, I realized that I indeed can use it at work for all my analyses and in the evening i just unplug it, go home and use it for my home-related things. The absolute beauty for me is that if i need to access my work data, I can just continue working. It's really perfect.
But of course, we do not live in a perfect world:
1. the surface pro 1 has indeed not the best battery life. So far, i can manage it with just changing my habits. I can get around 4- 4.5 hrs out of it. Of course, this does not replace any tablet and indeed with the pro 2 this would be something else, but for me it's also about having a reasonable price. I got a really good deal at the MS store with a major discount, so in the end getting the pro 2 would have been around >300 Dollars which is not acceptable for me.
2. the storage, I realized that indeed 128 gig can be filled up VERY fast. There is of course not much space for other things (games, movies), but it's good for me since I can jus fill it with my work-related things. Here also a bigger model could help, IF you have the budget.
3. The dock, this is less of a surface pro issue then a dock issue. So far, I have not found the perfect dock yet but the greatness of a surface pro in my opinion depends a lot on the docking station you use. I like the MS one but it's too pricey for my taste and also the 2nd missing video it is a big issue (I know you can get various adapters, but I'm not willing to pay 200 dollars for a dock and another 70 dollars for adapters, pretty much defeats the purpose).
For now and for probably a long time, I'm very happy. I have a major congress coming up and I will then test the mobility of my new system.
For the future, maybe in 1-2 years, I will indeed if a surface pro 3 comes out, probably go for it, but that's then (maybe with a lighter chassis).
Cheers
char
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