I own a Surface 2 and the quality is excellent and more quality apps are coming. The machine lives up to what it was design to do. The critics love to slam the Surface 2 and I was surprised to read many positive reviews about the Surface Pro 3. Let us look at the facts, Microsoft lost a lot of ground to Google and Apple in the last decade. They also got tied up in the USA and Europe with anti trust law suits and that didn't help them in the market place. I want to give Microsoft the credit that many haters refuse to give them. Microsoft is an excellent software company that was force to reevaluate their future. They stumble out of the gate with Windows 8 and Windows RT as well as XBOX ONE. They learn from their mistakes and continue to refine their OS (Windows 8.1). I am using 8.1 and I am excited to see how much better the OS is getting. I also love the Surface 2 and I am willing to wait for quality apps; the machine currently does everything I need it to do. I have Nokia Windows phone (1520) running 8.1 and I love it; I also have a Nokia 920 my wife uses. She loves the phone as well and feels the phone has more then enough apps. The phones are not perfect and lack some of the thing you find on Google and Apple products. I love that Microsoft had the guts to step outside the box with their Surface, Nokia, and Surface Pro lines. I love the integration that is achieved between their cloud services and Skype, Surface line, and Windows phone. I don't want to overlook Office 365 and the enterprise products. Microsoft is being attacked from all sides and instead of running the other way, they decided to innovate and fight. We now have a new Microsoft out there now. The old company would not have created the Surface 2 (excellent build quality). The Surface Pro 3 (excellent build quality) and superb execution in defining what that machines target audience is! The new upgrade that is around the corner for Windows phone 8.1. that should be great. My hats goes off to Microsoft for taking on the industry and creating their own vision; well done Steve Ballmer and the Microsoft team.
Wake everybody: smile:
1) Paragraphs breaks are wonderful things - makes it much easier to read and digest. Stream of consciousness is a bit challenging.
2) I respect most of what Microsoft has done over the past few years but have to ask if you haven even touched a Surface Pro 3? I have since they have several on display at the Scottsdale Microsoft Store and see it as mixed bag with some positives but also some serious compromises/negatives.
Surface Pro 3 has some nice features but absolutely sets no standard. In fact, the build quality does not feel nearly as solid as the previous Surface Pro models. On that front, the new kickstand also has absolutely no touch feel. It feels like moving something that uses nylon bearings.
With respect to usability, I will add as well that the new pen is simply not as precise as the previous Wacom pen. Hopefully this will be corrected by a firmware update but, with the display models, line thickness and completeness when used for fast note taking was nowhere near as accurate as the same exercise with Surface Pro 2.
Oh, in terms of execution, how exactly is releasing a new product with "Pro" in the name excellent execution when you now need to buy yet another type cover for practical use and get a new (more expensive) non-industry standard pen? Of course, if you bought a Surface Pro 2 dock or extra power supply those are also useless. Throw in the new "Pro" device may be lighter but sacrifices the compactness that allowed it to sit (with type cover) on a seatback tray table and I am even more curious as to who that target audience happens to be.
FWIW, my own opinion is that this is the first real failure in the Surface line since the early confusion over Surface RT. It attempts to attract consumers (with limited resources) but is priced laughably high and business users (with theoretically more resources) but sacrificed a business plus in the pen and resumed a laptop size form factor that people were abandoning to buy tablets. I am sorry but I do not see this as setting any standard other than possibly how to botch a long term strategy that was finally starting to show results.
Finally, how do you set a standard when the mainstream model uses the same processor and GPU as its predecessor? This is not revolutionary, it is a variation on a theme. For me it is also a very disappointing variation on that theme and if there is no genuine update to Surface Pro 2 with a Wacom pen, comparable form factor, and similar build quality, I will be forced to look at other hardware when it is time to upgrade.
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