Thinking of buying.... Help!!

[Bballbenb]

Thinking of buying a RT. have not done much research on them but curious as to if everyone believes you can do everything you need to on them with a keyboard that you need to to fully replace having a laptop? I would rather not by a windows 8 laptop as well.

For example it is very hard to just get by with an ipad and no MacBook.

What are the advantages of having a W8 laptop with it? I plan on getting a Windows Phone as well.

The main things I need it to do are word processing, browsing, sky drive sync, upload music and pictures, video chat, gaming.

thanks!

 

[Pete]

1) Yes, you need to research before you buy
2) It's not a laptop. Confusing Windows RT with Windows 8 is a mistake that many people (journalists especially) seem to make. They're not the same thing, so don't expect Windows RT to do everything a Windows 8 laptop will. You won't be able to install any software you like.
3) Surface RT will be able word process, browse, mess with skydrive, video chat (I think) and game pretty well.

The simplest way of thinking about it is that Windows 8 RT is a tablet operating system. It looks and acts very much like Windows 8, but it isn't.

It's a tablet. (Sorry, just had to repeat that)

It won't fully replace your laptop, but it'll perform a large proportion of your every day tasks. I use mine extensively for browsing, emailing, YouTubing etc. There's only a few things I need to head back to my desktop PC for.

 

[etphoto]

1)

3) Surface RT will be able word process, browse, mess with skydrive, video chat (I think) and game pretty well.


.

You forgot three big ones. Email, calendar and music.

Others that might be important included Hulu and Netfix

 

[nasellok]

The surface RT also excels at being a thin client for remote computing - I use remote desktop to get into my work and home computer if I need access to programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator, AutoCAD, Sketchup, etc. If you have a good internet connection, it is not too bad.

In my opinion, if you plan on doing a lot of work in x86 based programs, then get the Pro.......if you only do office work, browse the web, email, watch movies, play music, etc.......then Surface RT is your answer.

 

[HeyCori]

While the app count still pales in comparison to the iPad, the Windows RT marketplace is starting to fill out quite nicely. If you're looking at the Surface then you should opt for the 64GB model. I have the 32GB Surface but most of that is eaten up by the OS and pre-installed software leaving about 15GB left for apps. You can also add a microSD card but apps only install on the internal memory. I have about 20 Marketplace apps installed and only 9 gigs left. So if you plan on doing a lot of gaming then I would suggest getting the 64GB model because you get about 45GB of usable storage.

That said, I'm getting a lot of functionality out of my Surface. Full blown web with Flash support is great on a 10 inch screen. It supports a wide range of peripherals including printers, mice and keyboards. Office is a given. Unspoken heroes like the News and Map app are pretty awesome. Multi-tasking is sweet sweet honey and will only get better with the 8.1 release. And SkyDrive works great (though I think the UI is a bit bland).

There's a few more holes that Microsoft needs to fill. Like, a decent video editing app and more legit music creation apps akin to GarageBand would be nice. That said, there's far far far more good than bad on RT devices. And if you're not attached to any legacy programs, then a RT tablet should fulfill most of your needs.

 

[Bballbenb]

What are x86 examples?

 

[HeyCori]

What sort of examples are you looking for?

 

[Coreldan]

The surface RT also excels at being a thin client for remote computing - I use remote desktop to get into my work and home computer if I need access to programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator, AutoCAD, Sketchup, etc. If you have a good internet connection, it is not too bad.

In my opinion, if you plan on doing a lot of work in x86 based programs, then get the Pro.......if you only do office work, browse the web, email, watch movies, play music, etc.......then Surface RT is your answer.

This!

It remote desktops PC amazingly, so when I'm home, it doesnt really matter that I can't install legacy apps, I'll just remote desktop my PC (has Win 8) and I won't even notice that it's not running on this device per se

It really depends on your needs. If you need a lot of legacy app compatibility on the go, then it's not a good option for you. If you can do most of your stuff in a browser (note that it has full flash, something most tablets dont) and use Office, then it's probably not gonna be a bad choise. The app market is growing all the time too, but tbh I dont get the need for most of that stuff outside gaming (which I dont do on mobile devices), cos the browser can do most things and eliminates the need for a lot of apps.

As for x86 examples, something like.. Photoshop is a good example. If you're a gamer you might want to know that you can't have Steam on it.

 

[Pete]

What are x86 examples?

Basically, this is any software that isn't obtained through the Windows RT Store or Windows Update.

So if you have PC software on a CD, you won't be able to install it. If you go to a web site and download a PC program (e.g. getting Acrobat user from Adobe.com), it won't work.

If you download software drivers for a 10 year old printer/scanner/other widget, you won't be able to install them unless they can be installed through Windows Update - you plug a device in and Windows RT will see if there's a Windows RT driver for it. If there's no compatible drivers, you're out of luck.