Thinking about getting the Surface RT

[kristalsoldier]

There are, I think, two ways in which you can view this. First, consider the fact that the original RT is now a generation old. Consider also that within the next few months MS will make some announcements about their Win 8.1 RT (which, technically, should not affect the original RT) and, perhaps, about their future plans for the Surface line. If MS does continue with the Surface line (under the new CEO) - and I don't see any reason why they would not - then between the Oct-Dec timeframe there will be a Surface 3. This will be - spec-wise - much closer to the Surface 2 than to the original RT. In other words, the original RT - while still a capable device - is about to enter the end of. its run. This also means that it is likely that the price of the original RT in the after-market space may go lower than what it currently is.

The second perspective involves considering the Surface 2. Clearly, the Surface 2 is better than the original RT in a number of ways - screen, dual-level kickstand, Tegra4 chip are some examples of this. This suggests that the Surface 2 has at least 1 more year of effective and, more importantly, competitive life even if MS introduces a Surface 3 later this year. When considered in this context, it becomes much easier to favourably compare the Surface 2 to any future iteration of the Surface than it is to compare the original RT.

But, underlying these arguments, there lies the question of money. It is undeniable that one can find the original RT at a heavily discounted price. The trade-off here is between price and performance (when is it ever not???). In other words, it can make sense to buy the original RT - even today - if (1) you want to save money and want something that will perform adequately, but not, brilliantly; and/ or (2) you want to test the Surface (and Win RT) platform because in this case you would be advised to spend the least possible amount of cash considering the possibility that you may not like either the hardware or the platform.

I think this is where your decision-point lies. Good luck!

 

[hotphil]

If MS does continue with the Surface line (under the new CEO) - and I don't see any reason why they would not

I'd go with a several-hundred million dollar loss being one reason for a new CEO to think hard about the line's future.
I love my Surface RT, one of the main reasons being the battery life. But with whatever's coming after Haswell, Intel's surely going to be knocking dangerously close to ARM territory on that. I can see RT disappearing or being rebranded as their mobile OS. If they do that and continue on with x86 Surfaces only they'll have a better, more clearly-defined "brand" - choose your flavour of Surface 3 based on SSD and RAM size from consumer through to enterprise, one OS, one device.

 

[Will6371]

Well I got an 64gb Surface RT yesterday, new and sealed for ?160

I have used android tablets for ages until late last year when I got a Nokia 1020 which I loved except for the design of it so I gave it to my wife and I got a 925 and to be fair I have never had a more favourite phone. Anyway that got me thinking so I got my wife to get Santa to get me a Nokia 2520 for when I'm at home and I thought that I would use my Nexus 7 2nd generation for out at work and so on. Well the more I used the 2520 the less I liked the Nexus so I sold it as I have had it with android and in particular Google.

I also picked up a touch pad for it last night for ?30 in cyan and both together work great, okay so it is now where as quick as the Nokia or the Nexus for that matter but for work and stuff I am more than happy with it. The battery is fantastic for a 2 year old (almost) and the screen is a surprise to me also, again not in the same league as the 2520 but still great.

The touchpad is a pleasure to work with and I live the way it engages with the tablet. Much easier to use than the pad on the Nokia.

Now would I have been better spending more and getting a Surface 2? If I didn't have the Nokia then I think yes but even with having the Nokia I think that it would have been stupid of me to mot get it for the price I paid.

All in all a very happy owner.

 

[Elvis7]

so , would a surface rt 64 gb, be good at 280$ NEW?

 

[Will6371]

so , would a surface rt 64 gb, be good at 280$ NEW?

I would say so, yes.

 

[WillysJeepMan]

so , would a surface rt 64 gb, be good at 280$ NEW?

It's a good price, but not great. If you're in the US and can catch manufacturer_certified's ebay auctions on one you can get it for $240 (w/free shipping). Technically they are sold as "manufacturer refurbished" but the ones that I've bought from that seller (partnered with Microsoft) were sealed brand new with a "refurbished" sticker attached to the outside of the box.

 

[Elvis7]

I live in Canada . So 280 is the best price I can get for a first Gen rt 64gb

 

[Cruncher04]

But with whatever's coming after Haswell, Intel's surely going to be knocking dangerously close to ARM territory on that.

What we currently see is contrary to your prognosis. If Apple A7 SoC is an indication, ARMv8 just outclassed Atoms by a mile and are darn close to core-i processors from performance/clock perspective. And this is with disadvantages in technology, since A7 still uses a 28nm plain process instead of 22nm FinFET (used by Baytrail and Haswell). Also on the GPU side it looks like Tegra K1 Kepler GPU outclasses Baytrail by factor of 3-4 and is on par with Haswell's HD4400. Keep in mind that Tegra K1 would be a good candidate for Surface 3.
For this reason alone it would be incredibly stupid from Microsoft to abandon Windows for ARM, because it is Microsofts only foothold in the ARM processor market and thus staying competetive with Android and iOS devices.
Somewhat unfortunate for ARM is, that the global foundries are not moving to FinFET this year, so they are stuck with 28nm for another Iteration. And Intel itself is not opening up their foundry bussiness for competing products.

It will be exciting, what Microsoft is going to do about ARMv8. Since it is a completely new ISA, store apps would have to support ARMv8 (in addition to ARM, x86 and x64 as today), though ARMv8 cores are generally backwards compatible with ARMv7.

 

[Elvis7]

Ok, im gonna go ahead and make the purchase.

 

[Elvis7]

So I bought it. It seems nice, haven't had a chance to use it, its been updating..for hours, is it normally slow with installing updates?

 

[hotphil]

Depends how many/what kind of updates....

But it could well take it while if it's a brand new unit.