Why so much hate for RT?

inteller

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Excellent point on the keyboard cover(s). Of course almost all OEM's gouge to some extent, (Apple and flash memory come to mind), however all things considered Microsoft priced ALOT of people who may gave been interested in the Surface RT right out of the market. It was absolutely overpriced from day one when you consider the limitations the finished product had. To justify the previous price point a much more polished product should have been offered or at the very least including the type covers may have added value for the high asking price.

it was priced the same as am ipad and does more...if it pricd people out of the market then they weren't after a serious tablet anyways. Big Lots sells $99 Polaroid android dreck for those folks.
 

inteller

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The design is innovative, but not on a technical level.

It's quite clear that no matter what I present you will have another excuse to justify it, and even if you are correct it was still a bad move by Microsoft, just in a different way. So I see no point in continuing this discussion. Have a good weekend.

they aren't excuses they are facts.
 

Derausgewanderte

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I also agree with many here that it is NOT cost that prevents people from buying or even considering the Surface RT. All of my colleagues at work use iPads. All of their friends have iPads, all their kids have iPads or Android devices. They mocked me initially when I got the SRT. After showing them again and again what it can do without any extra layers or additional hardware some are actually considering buying one. MSOffice free, I can plug in my Common Access Card reader to access government email, the fact I can plug my work hdd into it, transfer data for working on publications at home, just to name a few. I personally believe from the environment that I live in that it's mostly habit that overtakes reason. To break this it will certainly take longer than a single year with a new device on the market. Of course there will only be a few in the beginning. Taking those numbers to make any conclusions is suicide in this type of market. Why should I even expect numbers of units sold to be similar to a device that has been on the market for several years - goes beyond me. I do not believe MS is doing a good enough marketing job to change this sooner. Sure, they may have "cool" ads, but they are without content and meaningless. Most of the reviews I read are one-sided and I'd say many didn't even consider different environments for the device. It's easy to use cost as a reason if I don't have any other reason to give it a thumbs down.

A student who has no problems affording an iPad should not have a problem affording a SRT (doesn't matter where the money comes from). My daughter wants an iPhone because everybody in her school has an iPhone. If I hadn't tried to convince my wife to try a WP she'd probably have an iPhone as well, just like all her friends and relatives. Why should I buy anything else when 90% I know have that same device? I don't even have to do the research. They'd even think I am cheap if I bought anything else.
I also believe that going down in price may ultimately have a negative effect and the device being perceived as cheap. Habit is stronger than reason - it's not the cost that drives this, certainly not in the US in my opinion.

my two cents
 
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thecaringkind

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Consumers these days definitely watch how they spend their money. The SRT was something totally new from a brand not known for its stellar tablet space in the market. I think folks may be a little in denial if they believe that many people do not think with their wallets. Investing as much money on a totally new platform in a tablet space already ruled by Apple had a definite impact on sales as much as the product itself. To dismiss pricing is to be a little short sighted. Apple was able to justify their own overpricing with a superior product even if it wasn't as flexible as the SRT. To get people on board initially a tantalizing price point that undercuts your principle rival in the tablet space would go a long way. Its not a coincidence now that there appears to be much greater interest in SRT now at the reduced price. People LOVE bang for their buck.
 

Michael Alan Goff

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I kind of think they should have priced the typecover at 50$ and sold a the Surface with touchcover included free.

Microsoft needed goodwill for their new OS.
 

calfee20

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You all might want to check out a blog on zdnet about Windows RT. The comments were very positive for a change. A lot of RT owner wrote in and the haters couldn't get any traction. I see a turn in the attitude toward RT. A little more time and the right prices could turn this around. Here is the link OMG! They
 

CDiS99

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Sometimes I think I'm a lone soul, but then threads like this make me feel better about the RT community.

I have never, ever understood the negative connotations aimed towards this device. I bought it last March at full retail, and would do so again today.

At the time, I was comparing my options. I went to Apple's website and added a 64 GB iPad, Bluetooth keyboard, and a case similar to my Nixon. The price was a hundred or so bucks higher (maybe more).

As I've mentioned in other threads, I'm a journalist and this device has just worked for me. No, I do not need to run accounting programs, Photoshop, etc. If I did, I would have purchased a Pro and been just as happy. The device is not perfect, we all know that. But, for me, it worked out of the box. Even Xbox Music has been pretty sweet thus far. I was always, and continue to be, baffled by negative reviews.

The way I viewed the Surface was thusly: a tablet built for media consumption AND creation.

EDIT: I'm on my third consecutive day of pretty heavy use and I have 10% battery remaining... I just wanted to add that bit. :grin:

EDIT 2: What the heck is with all the hate for Desktop?? Yes, using it with touch is a bit of a pain in the a@@, but you can resize the text to make it easier for touch. And I think it's to fair to say most Surface users have the keyboard... It's great to be able to do file management, tasks, device management etc. in a familiar format.

Edit 3: I had a Logitech Wave keyboard and mouse lying around the house. They use a mini receiver through the USB port. The keyboard and mouse were bought a while ago, and have not been used for at least a year. Well, out of curiosity, I just plugged it in. This also just worked. Even the little "service buttons" (not sure what they're actually called) somehow work (i.e. the little music button on the keyboard brings up Xbox Music). I also found a USB extender, so I'm going to purchase a Micro HDMI to VGA adapter and crank the productivity up even more :).
 
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prlundberg

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EDIT 2: What the heck is with all the hate for Desktop?? Yes, using it with touch is a bit of a pain in the a@@, but you can resize the text to make it easier for touch. And I think it's to fair to say most Surface users have the keyboard... It's great to be able to do file management, tasks, device management etc. in a familiar format.

I don't hate the desktop, I'm glad it's there. What I hate is being forced to use it for things that should be a part of the Metro/Modern interface. It essentially makes a trackpad/mouse and keyboard a requirement for configuration and management which is just bad design in a tablet. 8.1 improves this quite a bit but there is a ways to go.
 

thecaringkind

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CDiS99. Good post! You epitomize the feelings I was attempting to articulate when I started this thread. When you use the device day in and day out it really is solid. One of the more annoying quibbles I constantly hear is the about how the chipset is crap. Hmmm isn't it the sane chipset used in the 1st generation Nexus 7? Granted the SRT has a much beefier OS but I don't recall too many people crying about the same chipset they way they do about it now.

The tablet isn't instant, blazing fast. However if is not slow by any calculation either. I had an HP Touchpad, Nook HD plus, Nexus 7, and and iPad mini. Depending on the application they all weren't blazing fast by any means and none of them offer the build quality and versatility of the SRT.
 

polbit

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CDiS99. Good post! You epitomize the feelings I was attempting to articulate when I started this thread. When you use the device day in and day out it really is solid. One of the more annoying quibbles I constantly hear is the about how the chipset is crap. Hmmm isn't it the sane chipset used in the 1st generation Nexus 7? Granted the SRT has a much beefier OS but I don't recall too many people crying about the same chipset they way they do about it now.

The tablet isn't instant, blazing fast. However if is not slow by any calculation either. I had an HP Touchpad, Nook HD plus, Nexus 7, and and iPad mini. Depending on the application they all weren't blazing fast by any means and none of them offer the build quality and versatility of the SRT.

There is no denying that Tegra 3 IS CRAP. Memory bandwidth is horrible, and overall, it is way behind times. Fortunately for us, Surface RT doesn't need crazy CPUs/GPUs like Android to run smoothly. Unfortunately for us, the application load time is crap compared to Android. To each their own, and I'm overall happy with my re-purchase of RT at the new price, but I will certainly be buying the new version.
 

AR2186

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I don't hate the desktop, I'm glad it's there. What I hate is being forced to use it for things that should be a part of the Metro/Modern interface. It essentially makes a trackpad/mouse and keyboard a requirement for configuration and management which is just bad design in a tablet. 8.1 improves this quite a bit but there is a ways to go.

8.1 Preview negates this, no need for desktop any longer other than office
 

spaulagain

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8.1 Preview negates this, no need for desktop any longer other than office


Mostly, they still have some things lingering around. They need to remove the old control panel PERIOD, not just port more things into a duplicate Metro version.

There is absolutely no reason the control panel needs to have a desktop UI. A Metro version on a desktop would work just as well especially with the added snap functionality in 8.1.

I like 8.1 and think it answers most of the problems. But I still think W8 needs some polish on the UI part. Things like buttons, windows menus, etc should look identical between the two UIs. Right now desktop is just the Aero UI without gradients/shadows.
 

prlundberg

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I like 8.1 and think it answers most of the problems. But I still think W8 needs some polish on the UI part. Things like buttons, windows menus, etc should look identical between the two UIs. Right now desktop is just the Aero UI without gradients/shadows.

Yeah, there's other little niggles too within Metro. Like sometimes you swipe back, sometimes you have to look for a back arrow. And that back arrow is small and needs too precise a touch to work. Touch overall needs to be more sensitive, I frequently have to press twice to get it to take. I have never had that issue with other touch devices. I know it sees the first touch because I can see the "blip" on the screen. And not being able to put my tiles exactly where I want them is very annoying, a design I would expect from Apple, not Microsoft.

Some bugs are to be expected on a new OS. Others things are just inexplicable why they would purposely design like that. I once installed a major call center software product upgrade where the vendor bragged about the design team not knowing anything about the previous version and starting from scratch. Of course what they ended up with was pretty and more modern but lacked a lot of the previous product's functionality we had come to depend on. It took over a year of updates just to get it to an acceptable level of functionality and a lot longer to get it fully functioning. That's how I feel with Windows RT right now. If not for the desktop it would not be usable for me.
 

prlundberg

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8.1 Preview negates this, no need for desktop any longer other than office

It reduces the need but certainly doesn't negate it. I still needed it to assign files to libraries, update network settings, look at device properties, update profiles, and even had to edit the registry just to get DLNA streaming to work. I'm pretty sure I'd find more if I set it up from scratch again.
 

techiedude007

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I hope the price cut of the Surface helps it become more widespread... I think it's definitely more useful than an ipad or android tablet, that's for sure.

When I was buying my L1020 at the local MS Store, I overheard one of the sales associates tell a mgr that they only had three RTs left. I personally saw them sell about ten while I was going thru the upgrade process. Yay!!!
 

techiedude007

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I saw this blog post the other day and just had to exclaim "Hallelujah!" Someone finally put into words/blog form what needed to be said:

Surface RT & Windows RT REAL Review: PLEASE, Tell me WHY a Windows RT Tablet should run Windows Legacy Applications !!

...the sky has parted and the light has been let in...

certainly an interesting take from a business perspective:
Yahoo! Finance

And now this one:
OMG! They're using Windows RT! | ZDNet

Somebody better kneel over the body and check the pulse cuz she ain't dead yet!
 

thecaringkind

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Good yahoo article. Thanks for the link. Makes good points about a software company trying to break into the tablet space with a product that is solid on the hardware front, flexible in the peripheral & storage front and very capable in the OS front. For a first time built from the ground up tablet the SRT is an outstanding device that has gotten much better in the 9-10 months of its existence. It will continue to get better.
The overall picture is amazing when you take a moment to consider it. Its Microsoft's FIRST attempt at a viable tablet. The hardware and software are very good with the software supporting the FULL VERSION of Windows Office. The processor is more than adequate. Blazing? No. Very good considering the OS it runs? Yes.
Windows 8.1 will continue to improve an already solid product. The fact that the device didn't sell as well as Microsoft would have liked lays squarely on the shoulders of HORRIBLE marketing, and SERIOUS OVERPRODUCTION of the SRT. Overpricing the device coupled with the previous two factors add up to low sales, and a $900 billion write down on the business side.
No matter how good or bad a product may be remember that they don't sell themselves. Microsoft proved that they can produce a solid device for the tablet space. They also proved that they couldn't sell ice cubes to an eskimo.
 

mmccaffe

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Thanks for this Thread. I have a RT 64 with Touch keyboard. It is easy to hate Microsoft because they have a history of bad practices and poor quality, and I will just leve it to that. I am not, and never been, a Microsoft fan and run mostly Linux on my PC's, Laptops, Servers. Microsoft totally mis-marketed this device and over priced it at roll out. The hate for Microsoft and Windows 8 enhanced the the hate for RT. (I have other tablets and still like and use them also)

The only thing with Windows 8 RT that I "Hate" with it is the lack of good applications (they need more good applications) in the MS Store, which I believe will get better over time.

Like like Surface RT because:
The more I use the RT tablet the more impressed I am.
The built in kickstand makes it very comfortable to use and skype with.
The battery life is great.
I use it connected to my TV (1080P) for streaming video to my TV. The browser works great.
I can map drives to my network shares easily.
The Touch keyboard is nice.
The screen is bright and clear.
Makes a great RDP terminal, which I use to connect to my and my works computers. So I have access to all my current PC applications, make this tablet just like a netbook.

-Marty-
 

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