OK, so coming from Surface RT, this thing is small, really small, but I like it, because its soooooo much faster than the Surface RT was. I found myself using my surface for consumption 95% of the time, and the other 5% was doing remote access work. Now, I don't even have to use remote access, x86 support is amazing.
- No web compromises at all - Silverlight support (Time Warner Cable streaming TV - device got really warm doing this, probably why its not supported on WinRT), Java, all the Google stuff, just work with x86, no more sad workarounds through crappy 3rd party apps for RT. Not sure what having Silverlight, Java, Chrome will do to the battery, but so far, its pretty great. I streamed NFL game through IE yesterday, still had 70% battery left after 3.5 hour continuous stream. The back of the device gets warm, but not bad at all.
- Install TouchMousePointer - http://www.lovesummertrue.com/touchmousepointer/en-us/index.html for those times where you need mouse pointer support on your desktop. I tried to use an Android trackpad app, it didn't work. Im going to be getting new Nokia Lumia 929 on release day, hopefully it works in the MS ecosystem.
- Active Pen support (Synaptics) - I have yet to use this, but reviews elsewhere aren't so great. For the most part, they say that if your a printer, its terrible. If you use cursive for note taking, its good. I am coming from a really bad capacitive (almost unusable), so any improvement will be good........not to mention that I didn't have to spend 1200$ on Surface Pro to get active digitizer. (eta on stylus delivery is 11/7), ill update my review then.
- Bluetooth mouse is a bit laggy, not sure if its my mouse, or the tablet. Maybe a driver update is needed. It seems a bit jumpy.
- Micro USB - I really wish I could plug in non powered USB drives via an OTG cable adapter, but unfortunately they do not work. I will have to buy a powered hub to get it to work. Kind of annoying, but its the price you pay to have a device this small. The fact that I can connect to home group, and utilize file transfer via wireless network is a great feature of windows 8.
- No wired external display options - I have yet to try using MHL - anyone try this yet? Im hoping that it works. If not, Ill have to try a Miracast receiver - I am concerned with any lag that could occur though.
- Accessories...........or lack thereof - there are no accessories, dell has an overpriced case (40$), and a 35$ stylus that others suggest shouldn't cost more than 10-15$. I would love to find a good case that would prop it up........Not sure why other OEMs don't understand the importance of a good integrated kickstand - really missing this from the Surface
- Performance - FAST....a lot faster than I thought.......this isn't your typical Atom processor, check out youtube, there are some videos of this thing playing some serious games at 30fps.....it is legit. Windows apps from the store are super fast, switching between them, etc.........see below for some desktop apps ive installed:
(note, I chose older versions of software purposefully because they are much less taxing on the cpu, but still serve 98% of their purpose):
- AutoCAD 2007 - runs great, faster than on my laptop (its an old laptop with core2duo processor, and AMD gpu). I haven't tried anything 3D, but I assume it will handle basic functions fine - im not going to render anything with it - that's what remote access is for, but in a pinch, if I need to I can open files natively. It tells me that its not compatible with windows 8, but files open no problem. I think im missing some fonts, etc, but for the most part, running AutoCAD on a 8" screen is freaking cool.
- Photoshop CS2 - I see no issues running this at all - opened a 40mb file, no lag
Going to try Lightroom, Google Earth, VLC, Spotify desktop version, Remote desktop - yes, im going to set up so I can remote access my tablet.........don't ask, just because I can - and that's the beauty of Windows 8!!!.
Loving it so far, it has some minor issues, so close to being the PERFECT portable device. If I were an OEM mfr, id make full USB port a priority - if you have to have a small hump on one end to support it, then so be it, its sooooooo much better to not have to have an OTG adaptor cable. Also, HDMI out should be standard as well, especially since Miracast is still somewhat new tech
- No web compromises at all - Silverlight support (Time Warner Cable streaming TV - device got really warm doing this, probably why its not supported on WinRT), Java, all the Google stuff, just work with x86, no more sad workarounds through crappy 3rd party apps for RT. Not sure what having Silverlight, Java, Chrome will do to the battery, but so far, its pretty great. I streamed NFL game through IE yesterday, still had 70% battery left after 3.5 hour continuous stream. The back of the device gets warm, but not bad at all.
- Install TouchMousePointer - http://www.lovesummertrue.com/touchmousepointer/en-us/index.html for those times where you need mouse pointer support on your desktop. I tried to use an Android trackpad app, it didn't work. Im going to be getting new Nokia Lumia 929 on release day, hopefully it works in the MS ecosystem.
- Active Pen support (Synaptics) - I have yet to use this, but reviews elsewhere aren't so great. For the most part, they say that if your a printer, its terrible. If you use cursive for note taking, its good. I am coming from a really bad capacitive (almost unusable), so any improvement will be good........not to mention that I didn't have to spend 1200$ on Surface Pro to get active digitizer. (eta on stylus delivery is 11/7), ill update my review then.
- Bluetooth mouse is a bit laggy, not sure if its my mouse, or the tablet. Maybe a driver update is needed. It seems a bit jumpy.
- Micro USB - I really wish I could plug in non powered USB drives via an OTG cable adapter, but unfortunately they do not work. I will have to buy a powered hub to get it to work. Kind of annoying, but its the price you pay to have a device this small. The fact that I can connect to home group, and utilize file transfer via wireless network is a great feature of windows 8.
- No wired external display options - I have yet to try using MHL - anyone try this yet? Im hoping that it works. If not, Ill have to try a Miracast receiver - I am concerned with any lag that could occur though.
- Accessories...........or lack thereof - there are no accessories, dell has an overpriced case (40$), and a 35$ stylus that others suggest shouldn't cost more than 10-15$. I would love to find a good case that would prop it up........Not sure why other OEMs don't understand the importance of a good integrated kickstand - really missing this from the Surface
- Performance - FAST....a lot faster than I thought.......this isn't your typical Atom processor, check out youtube, there are some videos of this thing playing some serious games at 30fps.....it is legit. Windows apps from the store are super fast, switching between them, etc.........see below for some desktop apps ive installed:
(note, I chose older versions of software purposefully because they are much less taxing on the cpu, but still serve 98% of their purpose):
- AutoCAD 2007 - runs great, faster than on my laptop (its an old laptop with core2duo processor, and AMD gpu). I haven't tried anything 3D, but I assume it will handle basic functions fine - im not going to render anything with it - that's what remote access is for, but in a pinch, if I need to I can open files natively. It tells me that its not compatible with windows 8, but files open no problem. I think im missing some fonts, etc, but for the most part, running AutoCAD on a 8" screen is freaking cool.
- Photoshop CS2 - I see no issues running this at all - opened a 40mb file, no lag
Going to try Lightroom, Google Earth, VLC, Spotify desktop version, Remote desktop - yes, im going to set up so I can remote access my tablet.........don't ask, just because I can - and that's the beauty of Windows 8!!!.
Loving it so far, it has some minor issues, so close to being the PERFECT portable device. If I were an OEM mfr, id make full USB port a priority - if you have to have a small hump on one end to support it, then so be it, its sooooooo much better to not have to have an OTG adaptor cable. Also, HDMI out should be standard as well, especially since Miracast is still somewhat new tech
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