Is it too late to buy a Surface RT?

[nelsonecm]

I know it's a year and a half after the launch, but I just have a 200$ budget. I don't want an 8 inch tablet because they don't have a micro hdmi AND a USB port, the encore has a micro hdmi but I hate the design of the tablet, so what do you think? I desperately want a tablet.

 

[worldspy99]

You will definitely get a 64 GB RT below $200. The main question is do you want a keyboard with it or not? Touch Cover and Type Cover do push the price up quite a bit. A good sleeve can be found on eBay for less than $10 though.

 

[Guytronic]

Mmmm...not too late for example here is refurb 64 gig on ebay:
64GB Microsoft Surface RT Tablet | eBay

 

[calfee20]

At $200 it is more tablet for the money than any other. At least in the 10" line. You will not be sorry.

 

[thatuxguy]

Do it! i have not used my iPad Air since getting my Surface RT!

 

[KawiNinjaZX]

I would pick up one of the new 64gb off ebay, they are around $200. I have seen the new 64gb with touch cover for $229. The on screen keyboard is about as good as the touch cover, but it is nice for protecting the screen.

If you are going to do a lot of typing, I would suggest getting the type cover 2, they go for about $60 refurbished (like new).

For the money, I don't think you can go wrong.

 

[etphoto]

I got my mom a RT last Christmas (after I got the Surface 2). I thought she'd be upset because I got her older technology. She is on that thing all the time and loves it. I think you'll be happy. But, to answer your question. There are still RTs out there for purchase. Just look around. EBay (as others have said) is a good place to start.

 

[worldspy99]

For today only MSFT is selling the 64GB brand new for $199 through their eBay store. Enjoy!

 

[WillysJeepMan]

Here's the 32GB for $159

 

[badMojo69]

Manufacturer Refurbished 64GB Microsoft Surface RT Tablet | eBay

$179

 

[inteller]

apps are FLYING into the Store as developers are waking up to reality. That makes a Surface or Surface 2 a great value proposition. I don't think we'll see the kind of deals on a Surface 2 like we are the Surface so might as well get one now.

 

[TechFreak1]

I was using my cousin's RT Tablet yesterday and she uses it for her University work, I asked her how it was since it has been almost 6 months. She had nothing but good things to say about it, even sold her ipad mini. So once Lumia cyan is released I will try and get her to switch to windows phone .

 

[lala042883]

I picked up a surface 64 gb with touch cover

 

[Philip Hamm]

I just ordered a Surface RT (new) with type cover (used) to augment/replace my iPad2. The deals that can be had on brand new 64 Gig models right now are irresistable. I also ordered a 64GB Micro-SD card so this thing will have as much storage as my wife's MacBook air!

I've done a LOT of research on the Surface RT tablet so I'm not going into this blind - I don't expect great performance and am fully aware of the limitations. However, for an upcoming vacation I will be able to select from tons of movies in flight that I'll download to the tablet, and I'll be able to store the videos I take every day on my Lumia 635 to the SD card for post-vacation processing.

Only question I have is can it replace the iPad for chord chart / lyric presentation (including integration with a PageFlip Cicada bluetooth pedal) for gigs. I think it will be up to the task.

I will miss the iPad Pinochle game and Dish Online, and Scrabble, but I think those are the only things I'll be missing. Not sure what will happen with the iPad I may end up being a tech hoarder and keep it around!

 

[WillysJeepMan]

I just ordered a Surface RT (new) with type cover (used) to augment/replace my iPad2. The deals that can be had on brand new 64 Gig models right now are irresistable. I also ordered a 64GB Micro-SD card so this thing will have as much storage as my wife's MacBook air!

I've done a LOT of research on the Surface RT tablet so I'm not going into this blind - I don't expect great performance and am fully aware of the limitations. However, for an upcoming vacation I will be able to select from tons of movies in flight that I'll download to the tablet, and I'll be able to store the videos I take every day on my Lumia 635 to the SD card for post-vacation processing.

Only question I have is can it replace the iPad for chord chart / lyric presentation (including integration with a PageFlip Cicada bluetooth pedal) for gigs. I think it will be up to the task.

I will miss the iPad Pinochle game and Dish Online, and Scrabble, but I think those are the only things I'll be missing. Not sure what will happen with the iPad I may end up being a tech hoarder and keep it around!

One area to research is the availability of the software for Windows RT. Unfortunately you won't be able to use it to replace the iPad for what I've put in bold.

After wrestling with a Surface RT and Surface 2 for 9 months, I ended up trading the Surface 2 in for a Macbook Air. The Surface RT/2 hardware is amazing and in my opinion, superior to the iPad 4. But the software still does not exist to take advantage of that hardware.

There are many media creation apps that I rely on for iOS, amongst those: Garageband, Boss Jock Studio, and ExplainEverything. There is nothing comparable available for Windows RT. So although the Surface RT/2 can recognize and directly access some of my equipment (eg. Blue Yeti USB mic), actually using this combo is quite limiting. So my iPad 4 continues to be my high-mobility rig.

But please keep us posted if you find a solution that works for you!

 

[Philip Hamm]

I was able to make the Surface work with the Cicada pedal in a matter of 5 minutes. It's perfect. My chord charts show up in Acrobat reader and I can scroll just fine.

I now have to determine if Adobe Reader will be all I need for my chord charts (I suspect it will be) or if I want up try the GuitarTapp app. I'm not looking for a music creation toy/tool like Garage Band or Boss Jock Studios. I'm looking to display chord charts for professional rock music gigs where I play bass and sing.

I used UnrealBook on the iPad but for what I was doing Adobe Reader or GoodReader would probably have been just fine. Problem was on the iPad none of these worked with the Cicada, I had to get something specific. Also, I had to make sure the Cicada was on first before I launched or it wouldn't find it, and if I switched to another app and needed a keyboard (for example to look up requests on the ultimate guitar web site) I had to turn the pageflip off since iOS doesn't like showing an onscreen keyboard when a Bluetooth one is connected. Then I would have to kill the UnrealBook application, turn the Cicada back on, then re-start UnrealBook to get it to work again. It worked, but not particularly well.

I think multiple keyboard integration, including on-screen keyboard integration while an external keyboard is connected, will be better on the Surface than it was on the iPad2.

Also I'm finding, much to my surprise, that the long portrait mode of the 16x9 display is actually better for this than the 4x3 display of the iPad2 was. Who knew? I would never have expected that. Now I have to order a stand mount tablet holder.

Also - The difference in picture size/quality for watching widescreen movies when compared to my iPad2 is dramatic.


Edit: Just spent some time with it and the Cicada pedal seems to work with my Surface/Windows RT better than it did with my iPad2/iOS. I can switch between Adobe Reader for my chord charts and IE for Ultimate Guitar and not only does the on-screen keyboard come up perfectly in IE, but I can scroll both IE and Adobe Reader with my pedal. And the 16x9 screen is much better for reading charts from the internet than the 4x3 screen on the iPad. I'm impressed. My only complaint, and it's a minor one, is that I can't seem to get Adobe Reader to scroll to the top of the page when I hit "Page Down" on the Cicada. It scrolls continuously. I am going to try to re-format my chart files for legal size paper and see if they fit better. I may need to come up with a custom format.