Will the SurfaceRT fulfill my college needs?

[shn'g]

Just came back from Best Buy and tried the Surface, i tried the UI, which i liked alot, and also the desktop mode. Typing with the touchcover on MS Word was quite easy =)
I'm definitely going to buy the Surface before my next semester starts!!

this is why having more retailers is the best publicity for Surface cause nothing replaces actually being able to play with the device in person. Glad to hear you liked it! you won't be disappointed at all when you get it!!

 

[inteller]

never understood this. I've bought plenty of electronics sight unseen over the internet. If it doesn't work I just take it back. I only bought my Surface in person cause I got a $100 Xbox music pass to justify the price of the 64Gb.

 

[calfee20]

There is a Canadian grad student writing a blog about his surface. The link is: Finally Surfacing

 

[MSNY]

But i do have a question for surface owners.
Do you guys have any difficulty seeing the screen? Is it too small?

 

[GoodThings2Life]

I used a Toshiba Satellite R14 in college, and I've used Windows Tablet PC's for the past 8 years.

No. I don't think the Surface RT will suit your college needs. However, I think the Surface Pro would be perfect. Why?

The pen/stylus is NOT a gimmick. It's a necessity. There is nothing better than inking in OneNote 2013 and being able to search those notes as if they're typed text. It will singlehandedly replace every paper notebook if you use it. I even did my homework in it and would print them out and hand them in instead of handwriting and turning in. The reason is, professors are notorious for collecting but not returning things before quizzes and exams... but you will ALWAYS have a copy for studying.

Also, with access to Kindle app, Nook app, and Adobe PDF's, you can probably buy most of your books electronically and use them much more effectively in OneNote.

Not to mention, having the ability to run all your apps -- old and new -- will make you far more productive. I recommend a Type Cover and a monitor along with the HDMI-out cable. This will make it great for heavy paper writing at your desk, but otherwise the ultimate mobile device.

 

[snaqvi91]

^Yeah the stylus sounds interesting. However I think it would be smart to wait and see what the reviewers say about how well the stylus works. It does sound promising given how well the type and touch covers have been received. The ability to ignore your palm touching the screen sounds very essential. I've been put off of writing with a stylus because uptil now whenever I have seen someone using a stylus they have their hand raised at an awkward angle so that their hands dont touch the screen and mess things up.

The lower battery life of the Surface Pro seems like a very significant drawback though.

You said you could search notes you handwrite in OneNote. How does that work? Does it recognize what you write or something? If so, does it recognize mathematical symbols and stuff like greek letters or integrals and stuff?

 

[inteller]

windows 7 did, I would only expect 8 to be better.

 

[MSNY]

Yea i've heard that the Pro will only have battery life of around 4 hours, which is not good. And i tried the Samsung Note 10.1, it has a really good stylus and writing on it was very fluid, i hope Microsoft will release an update soon that boosts up the RT writing capabilities, but i know it cannot go any further than just capacitive touch.

 

[balama]

the surface should do fine for general purpose (geeks will go for the $250 chromebook)
no gaming though or heavy beats audio thing going on
and unless you're annotating
i think if people want that whole pen/paper experience in class
they should just get something like a livescribe sky or similar anoto device
uploadable audio and notes all in a very small package, the smallest other than one of those digital lecture recorders
unless you're doing graffiti on a palm pilot, or swipe on a phablet, i don't think you'll find any thing more convenient for note taking.
if you use MS Office and MS products allot along with social media stuff then the Surface will do fine.

 

[GoodThings2Life]

^Yeah the stylus sounds interesting. However I think it would be smart to wait and see what the reviewers say about how well the stylus works. It does sound promising given how well the type and touch covers have been received. The ability to ignore your palm touching the screen sounds very essential. I've been put off of writing with a stylus because uptil now whenever I have seen someone using a stylus they have their hand raised at an awkward angle so that their hands dont touch the screen and mess things up.

The lower battery life of the Surface Pro seems like a very significant drawback though.

You said you could search notes you handwrite in OneNote. How does that work? Does it recognize what you write or something? If so, does it recognize mathematical symbols and stuff like greek letters or integrals and stuff?

The Surface team already confirmed that the stylus works exactly like it does on a traditional Tablet PC, because it uses a WACOM active digitizer.

Yes, it does handwriting recognition (and you can teach it your writing style). It does math as well, with varying success.

I commented on the battery life aspect on another thread, and as I said there based on existing systems with similar specs, I expect Surface Pro will see 5-7 hours of life... depending, of course, on usage. For in-class activity with Wi-Fi and note taking, I think you'd be just fine. My R14 8 years ago got a mere 3-4 hours and I would find places to charge it between classes. 5-7 hours would have been fantastic. Anybody who is expecting less than 5 (since Surface RT is rated at 10, and Surface team is suggesting "half") is being extremely unrealistic. Also, consider the fact that these claims are usually under above-average usage with video/audio, etc.

 

[GoodThings2Life]

...i think if people want that whole pen/paper experience in class
they should just get something like a livescribe sky or similar anoto device...

Livescribe is absolutely AWFUL, and I discourage it highly. I tried it a while back, and it was just terrible. Not to mention having to use their special paper is nuts.

 

[power5]

I thought you could use a Stylus with surfaceRT. I would go for the pro but the battery life is much too low for me. If I wanted something that would only work for 4hours I would just get a laptop. Both carry in a backpack, when dead, the same way. Almost makes me want an Ativ 500t with atom. That way I could get pro but also get better battery life. Just upset that its so expensive.

 

[chamba]

I've had a Surface since the day after launch and it serves my purposes exceedingly well. I am a grad student (in math) and a lecturer at a couple schools, and so far my Surface has not failed me yet. Sure I can't use it to write up a thesis, or even a paper, but for something like that I will just sit at my desk and use my laptop with bluetooth keyboard. I feel like as an undergrad one does not have any more requirements than a teacher and for that purpose the Surface works amazingly well. I have had no problem writing exams, in fact it is super easy because it recognizes my math symbols (scribbled with my finger) and inserts them in to a word file. This came in super handy one day that I missed a flight so had no time to go home and grab my laptop. Now I don't ever need to be at my laptop to write up an exam =). The battery life on this thing is nothing short of amazing and it is comfortable enough to type with on a plane, train, or bus unlike a laptop which feels way too cramped on those little fold out tables.

 

[Coreldan]

University student here as well with Surface. Don't think there is any device on the market currently that could do the job as efficiently as my Surface. Except for Surface Pro maybe, but even that wouldn't be a direct upgrade due to lower battery life.

There is very little I would like to change on my Surface RT. Wondering if I should buy a TypeCover though, but the lack of that is the fault of my wallet, not the Surface's

I'd say the answer also depends on what you study. I study theology, so there's very little pictures, graphs, etc involved, so I have no need for handwritten notes for example (I take notes on a keyboard device in the first place cos I cant even understand my own handwriting lol), so for me I have no need for the stylus stuff.

 

[inteller]

I thought you could use a Stylus with surfaceRT. I would go for the pro but the battery life is much too low for me. If I wanted something that would only work for 4hours I would just get a laptop. Both carry in a backpack, when dead, the same way. Almost makes me want an Ativ 500t with atom. That way I could get pro but also get better battery life. Just upset that its so expensive.

Just to clarify, you only get Windows 8 with the 500t, not Windows 8 Pro. You probably won't have a need for Pro anyways so no biggy.

 

[zzdarkwingduck]

I've used mine a few times in class. Took notes in Onenote and had the powerpoint slides split to each side in desktop mode. It's also possible to do this and record a lecture at the same time. I should a mom how to do this in the MS store and she bought one right then and there for her kid. Surface is about as perfect as you can get for college, you get great portability and battery life of a tablet, and still have some laptop functionanlity with desktop mode, USB and the keyboard covers. As for the covers, I would say to use the touch in class because you don't make a lot of noise with it.

 

[infdl]

Just bought one yesterday. My discussion board from the college website only works in "compatibility mode" on the desktop side. Not a big issue but weird still.. Anywhoo, the surface rt does everything my MacBook air does, and is a nice change with having the best of both worlds, tablets and computers. It feels weird walking around with just the "screen" knowing that it is a full fledge laptop in itself

 

[rebornempowered]

Just bought one yesterday. My discussion board from the college website only works in "compatibility mode" on the desktop side. Not a big issue but weird still.. Anywhoo, the surface rt does everything my MacBook air does, and is a nice change with having the best of both worlds, tablets and computers. It feels weird walking around with just the "screen" knowing that it is a full fledge laptop in itself

Which LMS does your school use? That is strange that it has to run in compatibility mode.

 

[reepS]

During the semester I do non stop typing for about three hours a day with the type cover(normally one 1hr15m course and another 1hr50m course), it works wonders in onenote. Don't worry about the noise it makes, laptops are louder.

 

[snaqvi91]

Is there some app for LaTeX typesetting?

OP: you could just buy a MacBook air and get 7 hours of battery from it. Its also quite thin and light too. Of course its a lot more expensive though.

What are the advantages/disadvantages of using Word vs OneNote? Which one do you guys use?