Real world experience: Surface RT vs iPad

[bsd107]

Yes, there is an external display port for the Surface but you need to get a dongle to connect to it. Microsoft sells them for about 50.00 or you can get a third party dongle for cheaper. You can output to hdmi or vga.

Just to clarify, for Surface RT, MS sells a $40 adapter to convert that to HDMI, and another $40 adapter to convert to VGA.

The Surface Pro comes with a "miniDisplayPort" built-in. MS sells a $40 adapter to convert that to HDMI, and another $40 adapter that converts to VGA.

Note that for ALL of the above options, these are short converter cables. That is, you need to supply your own cable to connect it to the display device.

 

[bsd107]

Sounds like there are quite a few legislation/policy people in the Surface world -- count me in too (although I use the Pro).

While we were travelling my boss was sent a couple documents to look over and sign, so I gave him my Surface (tethered to my Lumia)...he read 'em and signed 'em. No need to print, no need to fax -- our team probably saved at least 1-2 hours then and there. The director drove to the Microsoft store the following weekend and got a Pro.

Can you please advise on how to do this? I have a Surface Pro (which I love), and recently I've had to print out, sign, scan and email a few PDF and Word documents. I was doing this on another PC. It did not occur to me that I could sign them electronically on the Surface Pro. Can you please advise what software allows doing this? Particularly for PDF documents - do I need the full Adobe Acrobat software?

 

[HeyCori]

Just to clarify, the Surface RT comes with a "HD video Port" which apparently is proprietary. But MS sells a $40 adapter to convert that to HDMI, and another $40 adapter to convert to VGA.

The Surface Pro comes with a "miniDisplayPort" built-in. MS sells a $40 adapter to convert that to HDMI, and another $40 adapter that converts to VGA.

Note that for ALL of the above options, these are short converter cables. That is, you need to supply your own cable to connect it to the display device.

The Surface RT has a fairly standard microHDMI port. Any cheap microHDMI cable works. The one I'm using now only costs a couple of bucks.

 

[bsd107]

Then connect your tablet to the projector totally wirelessly using the built-in Intel WiDi wireless display capability so they can see your writing in real time.

<snip>

I don't have a surface (x220t) but the surface pro is capable of all the same things.

I have a Surface Pro, but was unaware that it has Intel WiDi. In fact, since it does not have an Intel WiFi chip in it (likely part of the reason MS keeps having to address WiFi connectivity issues with firmware updates), I'm skeptical that it does have WiDi.

Have you actually run a Surface Pro to an external display through WiDi?

 

[bsd107]

The general public is resistant to 8/RT mostly because of how unintuitive it is. I can't tell you how many times I've had to Google or search here how to do things that should be simple. For example after 2 1/2 months of use I just learned the side swipe thing that is a substitute for checkboxes in mail last week. An important feature completely hidden AND different than the down swipe most other things use for selection. Microsoft made a lot of boneheaded decisions like that on this thing. It was very frustrating getting the advanced features setup.

Windows 8 is no more or less intuitive than iOS, Android, WP, or any other recent touch OS. We think of iOS as being "intuitive", but what we really mean is that it is "familiar". Hand an iPad to someone who has never used an iOS before, and they won't know what to do. Classic example is that for weeks the user will keep trying to go "Back" in apps by pressing the Home button on the device, and instead find that they have left the app.

What Microsoft is doing wrong in my opinion is that they are not including any kind of tutorial with the OS or the basic apps (like Mail). Back in the olden days, I remember when every copy of Excel, for example, came with a free and built-in interactive tutorial that showed you not only how to use a spreadsheet, but started by covering basic concepts like how to navigate excel with a mouse, with a keyboard, etc. What Microsoft should do is have a short tutorial, no longer than 20-30 seconds, that illustrates how to select, which direction to swipe, etc. These things are easy, and in fact convenient, to use - it's just that they are not very "discoverable". But when you've seen just once how to do it, you've got it.

I love the capability of my Surface RT but if Microsoft doesn't make major improvements in Blue I think they will be in serious trouble. I'm not convinced they can or that they even understand the problems. They can't even market the Surface worth a damn, all a person knows from their commercials is that it has a keyboard and kickstand that both go click. Oh yeah, and that the keyboards are colorful. They appear to be completely out of touch.

Microsoft gets it. The mass market buys iPhone and iPads because they look good (at least until you scratch it, so you must cover up the beauty in a case), they are fashionable, their friends have them, and they are recognizable. They like the magnetized screen cover because it comes in various colors and because Jobs showed onstage that it snaps onto the device - and they ignore that it does nothing to protect the back of the device which is far more scratch-prone than the hard glass on the front. Microsoft DOES get this. The mass market is not going to remember the internal specs of the devices, benchmark results, etc. They ARE going to remember the "click", the colorful keyboards, the kickstand, the dancing idiots and the music in the commercials, etc. Microsoft DOES get it. And they are making the Surface because the other Windows 8 OEMs do NOT get this.

But the thing is even a complete id10t can utilize that iPad even if it is less efficient. It takes skill to get the full potential out of a Surface.

iPad is no different - I know over a dozen friends and relatives who own and use iPads every day. Literally only ONE of them knew you could swipe to switch between apps (by swiping left or right with 4 fingers). This was a tweener who had discovered this by accident. The "idiots" are not "utilizing" their iPads any more than they would a Surface RT....

 

[bsd107]

In real world usage the iPad wins hands down simply by virtue of 250,000 high quality, tablet optimised apps. Some of the apps, especially music creation ones are phenomenal.

However, there are some really kick *** things in Surface RT. The ability to just plug in your USB drive, or a USB mouse? Genius. Can't believe this hasn't been done already. I know Android can but it's not as easy to do as on a Surface RT. What Surface RT really needs is apps, and it needs them badly. People want apps. And it really needs a hardware upgrade as well. The screen and the SoC leaves a lot to be desired. I'm not really a tablet user but if I were to buy one right now, the last tablet I'd buy would be the one with such a low res screen as Surface RT. I hope Microsoft rectifies these issues.

I agree - I have a Surface Pro, and while that screen is beautiful, I think the RT needs to carry the same screen.

I love my Surface Pro, but the more Windows 8 apps I use, the more I wish the Pro was lighter and had better battery life. The Surface Pro is the right device for me now, but in the future when the Windows 8 app library is more fleshed out, I could see myself using a Surface RT-type device for simple web browsing and reading (when I don't need the power of the Surface Pro). I'm actually very interested in the potential 7" Surface that MS is rumored to be working on - I assume this will be an RT device, and it would make a nice alternative/companion to my Surface Pro. I've used an iPad Mini, and love that form factor. BUT, any 7" Surface device would have to have a high-rez (retina-class) resolution for me to be interested....

 

[ammarmalik2011]

What a load. I can't argue with the lack of apps, but low res screen of the Surface shot is utter nonsense. If you do your eBook reading on your tablet, then you can't beat the retina display, but the surface consistently beats out the iPad in video playback.

It really isn't nonsense. We're talking over 4 times the number of pixels and one of the most accurately calibrated displays on a mobile device.

 

[someoneinwa]

Thanks for the vigorous discussion about my real world experience.

Here's another thing I've done at work many times and yet never seen an iPad user try to pull off. In some buildings I work in the Wi-Fi is sketchy or non-existent. A great solution is to tether my RT to my Lumia phone. This solves the Wi-Fi problem, but of course begins a serious battery drain for the phone. Solution: plug the Lumia into the RT USB port. The RT then charges the Lumia while the Lumia provides Wi-Fi to the RT and the battery drain on the RT is barely noticeable.

 

[KingCrimson]

In real world usage the iPad wins hands down simply by virtue of 250,000 high quality, tablet optimised apps. Some of the apps, especially music creation ones are phenomenal.

That's the end of the story. Nothing more needs to be said. iOS/OS X audio engine is like a TRILLION times better then Windows.

 

[michfan]

That's the end of the story. Nothing more needs to be said. iOS/OS X audio engine is like a TRILLION times better then Windows.

Yet for those who could care less about the audio engine on a tablet as long as their music sounds passable, the story still goes on and much more needs to be said.

BTW ... native Office support in Win8/RT is like a KAJILLION times better than iOS.

 

[ammarmalik2011]

Yet for those who could care less about the audio engine on a tablet as long as their music sounds passable, the story still goes on and much more needs to be said.

That's where the rest of the 250,000 apps come in.

 

[michfan]

That's where the rest of the 250,000 apps come in.

For me, that's where the internet comes in. There is not a single iOS app that I miss. I wanted a productivity tool, not another toy (which is all my three iPads were ever good for).

 

[NickA]

That's where the rest of the 250,000 apps come in.

A Platform doesn't need 250k apps. Google just removed 60,000 junk apps from their Play store. A platform sometimes needs 1 or two apps to make it desirable. Think Instagram and Windows Phone. I don't get the whole Instagram thing, but for some they HAVE to have it. It's a deal breaker for them.

And the Apple App store is horrible, it needs work. There are some really good apps, good luck finding them though.

 

[Luminatic]

To The Person that finds the surface unintuitive: how do you define "intuitive" and are you sure you don't mix that up with "familiar"?

You cannot imagine how many times I had to search the web for information to help a friend finding out how to do this and that on her new iPhone like, say, search for a specific setting.
What I want to say with this is that iProducts are as unintuitive as any other product if you have never used an iDevice before.

Same experience when I was new to Android, same when I was new to WP. My friend had a steep learning curve to climb until she understood her new iPhone. IMHO, that has absolutely nothing to do with bad intuition, but only with the fact that she was new to the iWirld.

I had to look up a few things about the Surface RT - not because I was completely helpless, but because I wanted to get familiar with everything about it.

 

[pulkit10]

Now if he understood that, he wouldn't be trolling on this forum, would he?

The additional keyboard and access to real office makes the Surface RT a better option than the iPad. Unless you want to play the latest cutesy game...which isn't a priority for me.

 

[ammarmalik2011]

And the Apple App store is horrible, it needs work. There are some really good apps, good luck finding them though.

You have your opinion, I respect that, but you're in an extremely small minority there who thinks that. Try searching for 'Facebook' on the Windows Phone store, you'll see some 20 different apps; all garbage.

 

[ammarmalik2011]

Now if he understood that, he wouldn't be trolling on this forum, would he?

The additional keyboard and access to real office makes the Surface RT a better option than the iPad. Unless you want to play the latest cutesy game...which isn't a priority for me.

The keyboard comes free with Surface? Because there are tons of keyboards for the iPad too. But iPad doesn't have Office I'll give you that, if typing documents on a 10-inch tablet is your thing.

 

[ammarmalik2011]

A Platform doesn't need 250k apps. .

Actually it does. It's what has propelled iOS and Android to the top and it's the single biggest hinderance in the way of Windows Phone and RT gaining any momentum. Go to Windows Phone.com and see the very big '130,000' apps sign. Tell Microsoft it's a meaningless number.

 

[Luminatic]

the platform MIGHT Need more apps to gain more market share, but the individual user might not need them. I, for example, rarely play games, and if I do so, it happens during train trips, where my three or four installed games are good enough to waste 10 minutes or so. And no, I don't feel the need to always have the newest and the latest, I guess I'm past that age. ;-) To me, my main criteria for a tablet/convertible was: Being able to type word docs comfortabely even if for a longer time,, being able to work on my Excel Sheets sometimes, surfing the web, a travel-friendly size, an USB port to directly transfer pics and music between tablet and phone or camera without any additional adapters needed. I tried out several devices, and th Surface RT worked best or me. And as I'm not the type of Person who has "I want to belong to a majority" or "I'll take what my friends have" in her criteria list, I'm happy with what I went.
Furthermore, I really, really prefer the Windows RT platform to iOS and to Android, the latter two feel too how shall I put it, clunky.

IMHO, apps on a tablet are less important than on a phone, reason for my opinion: A lot of things that are handeled by an app can comfortabely be done on the browser, especially on a tablet. I'd rather have 10 IE favourites than 10 apps.

 

[ammarmalik2011]

the platform MIGHT Need more apps to gain more market share, but the individual user might not need them. I, for example, rarely play games, and if I do so, it happens during train trips, where my three or four installed games are good enough to waste 10 minutes or so. And no, I don't feel the need to always have the newest and the latest, I guess I'm past that age. ;-) To me, my main criteria for a tablet/convertible was: Being able to type word docs comfortabely even if for a longer time,, being able to work on my Excel Sheets sometimes, surfing the web, a travel-friendly size, an USB port to directly transfer pics and music between tablet and phone or camera without any additional adapters needed. I tried out several devices, and th Surface RT worked best or me. And as I'm not the type of Person who has "I want to belong to a majority" or "I'll take what my friends have" in her criteria list, I'm happy with what I went.
Furthermore, I really, really prefer the Windows RT platform to iOS and to Android, the latter two feel too how shall I put it, clunky.

IMHO, apps on a tablet are less important than on a phone, reason for my opinion: A lot of things that are handeled by an app can comfortabely be done on the browser, especially on a tablet. I'd rather have 10 IE favourites than 10 apps.

But those 10 favourites won't give you notifications. Apps will do that. If you get a message on Twitter, an app will notify you of that. Otherwise you'll have to open Twitter.com again and again and see if there's a notification or not.