Moving from a 2011 Macbook Air to a Surface Pro 2, thoughts?

[MicrosoftFoLife]

Oh yeah, I never realized that. You'll definitely need to take a power chord. The Nixon case on the Microsoft online store has a pouch with room for lists of accessories, including the charger and socket chord.

Definitely. A good case can make it easy.

 

[liam-ward]

Thanks for all this real life input on the matter. Tips like these are invaluable. I wanted to stay away from Windows RT but my friend pointed me to the Nokia 2520 as i can get it with a free power case for ?399, adding up to 15 hours battery and external storage support. Sadly im not confident in the RT future and i would like to install non app store apps. Not sure what they would be but I always prefer that option to being restricted.

 

[MicrosoftFoLife]

Thanks for all this real life input on the matter. Tips like these are invaluable. I wanted to stay away from Windows RT but my friend pointed me to the Nokia 2520 as i can get it with a free power case for ?399, adding up to 15 hours battery and external storage support. Sadly im not confident in the RT future and i would like to install non app store apps. Not sure what they would be but I always prefer that option to being restricted.

I'd stay away from RT as well if you have the option to get a pro.

 

[murix]

Stick with the Pro 2 if you make a change. Keep in mind you have to be open to Windows 8. Personally I think OS X is getting stale and have become a big fan of Windows 8, but it is certainly not perfect. I still have a 2013 13" MacBook Air with 8gig and 256gig ssd. I haven't turned it on in weeks. Don't miss it.

 

[The_New_Normal]

Try to test out a keyboard before hand if you can, they will be different to what you're used to

 

[MicrosoftFoLife]

Try to test out a keyboard before hand if you can, they will be different to what you're used to

I recommend the type cover.

 

[WillysJeepMan]

Thanks for all this real life input on the matter. Tips like these are invaluable. I wanted to stay away from Windows RT but my friend pointed me to the Nokia 2520 as i can get it with a free power case for ?399, adding up to 15 hours battery and external storage support. Sadly im not confident in the RT future and i would like to install non app store apps. Not sure what they would be but I always prefer that option to being restricted.

Serious question...
Why are you considering a Surface Pro instead of upgrading the Macbook Air?

​

 

[liam-ward]

Serious question...
Why are you considering a Surface Pro instead of upgrading the Macbook Air?

​

Well I always like to weigh up my options before spending loads of dosh on these things. What draw me to the Surface Pro/Windows 8 tablet range was the ability to use an up to date office suite, same as my work, dive a bit deeper into the Microsoft eco system and battery life. However now I have more information I think I will wait for the Surface Pro 3 to come out and review it again.

 

[sd173]

Well I always like to weigh up my options before spending loads of dosh on these things. What draw me to the Surface Pro/Windows 8 tablet range was the ability to use an up to date office suite, same as my work, dive a bit deeper into the Microsoft eco system and battery life. However now I have more information I think I will wait for the Surface Pro 3 to come out and review it again.

I'm hoping for a Surface Pro 3 to come out sometime, but I wouldn't count on it coming this year with the rumored surface mini possibly coming out this year.

 

[WillysJeepMan]

Well I always like to weigh up my options before spending loads of dosh on these things. What draw me to the Surface Pro/Windows 8 tablet range was the ability to use an up to date office suite, same as my work, dive a bit deeper into the Microsoft eco system and battery life. However now I have more information I think I will wait for the Surface Pro 3 to come out and review it again.

That makes sense.

If you can, I'd recommend waiting for the 3rd generation Surface devices. There's a possibility of Microsoft producing a BayTrail equipped Surface 3 (non-Pro) with the same hardware specs of the Surface 2 but running full Windows 8 (not RT). That might be a nicer option than a Pro with a CPU fan.

 

[MicrosoftFoLife]

That makes sense.

If you can, I'd recommend waiting for the 3rd generation Surface devices. There's a possibility of Microsoft producing a BayTrail equipped Surface 3 (non-Pro) with the same hardware specs of the Surface 2 but running full Windows 8 (not RT). That might be a nicer option than a Pro with a CPU fan.

Have they said what chipset they'd be using for this? The current set won't work.

 

[ergattonero]

I was this close to buy the Surface 2 Pro with 128GB, today. Switching back from Macbook (I have a 2011 Macbook Air, too).

What stopped me was the video editing: is there anything similar - in use and results - to iMovie by Apple? I was a little bit taken aback by that.

I'm a content manager and I need a computer able to:
1. Make me type fast and move across different tabs -> check (kinda)
2. Make me do light photoediting -> even if with 4GB, it seems is possible -> check
3. Make me do light videoediting -> EEEEEEHHHHHR.

​I don't know what to do. Any idea, guys? I'd really like to buy it (I'm in San Francisco and there's a huge saving from buying it in Italy where I live usually)...

 

[onlysublime]

I was this close to buy the Surface 2 Pro with 128GB, today. Switching back from Macbook (I have a 2011 Macbook Air, too).

What stopped me was the video editing: is there anything similar - in use and results - to iMovie by Apple? I was a little bit taken aback by that.

video editing is such a broad topic so you need to more precisely describe what you mean by "video editing".

if it's simple stuff like editing, combining clips, etc., there are a number of programs out there like VideoReDo which is fantastic. Windows Movie Maker is pretty good for free. if you need a powerful linear editor, you've got stuff like Sony Vegas Pro or Adobe Premiere Pro.

 

[ergattonero]

I know, I know

I used "iMovie" as a benchmark for this reason: I put together clips, add some background music if necessary, and add a logo via Picture in Picture. Some effects, if necessary: stop.

Of course, in the end I bought the Surface2Pro. And I'm already starting to use it, and... well, maybe it's not ready enough for *my* job (I will use it for working, too). The CMS I use for the magazine I work for use some javascripts which don't get along very well with explorer, it seems.

I'm a bit sad.

 

[Berryal202869]

Hello all,

This is very simple but I would like your thoughts. I currently have a 2011 Macbook Air, got it from new, and the reason I got it was for full portability at work and full desktop capabilities, however the time has come to upgrade it. I was originally thinking of getting a Macbook Air retina (if released this year) but the Surface Pro 2 has caught my eye.
I currently own, and love, a Nokia 1520 and I've had a few WP's before so I have dabbled in the ecosystem a bit.

What are you thoughts and is there anything you may suggest I consider?

I moved from a late '09 unibody white macbook, so im in a similar boat to you. The Surface Pro 2 is a brilliant little machine, however it does end up more expensive than the Macbook airs im pretty sure, however it should be more capable with tasks that require graphics usage and such, i would hope. Anyway, there are a few things that someone like us will experience when moving between platforms. These are some for/against(s) for switching from apple laptops to surface:

Pros:
1. The hardware design is pretty much just as pretty, even though Apple is renowned for good looking hardware, the surface devices do also look very nice.
2. Windows 8 has some cool features that OS X doesnt, eg: the multitasking by splitting the screen, more flexibility generally.
3. Gaming is much better on surface than pretty much any mac laptop
4. Having a touch screen and digitizer is a brilliant advantage that apple likely wont innovate with for a few years yet.
5. The pen is really good for note taking.
There are more, but lets stop there.
Cons: (Bear in mind, i had a macbook for 4+1/2 years and have had a surface pro 2 for about a month)
1. The hardware is not as polished: the keyboard on the type cover, the kick stand, the track pad (especially), they just dont have quite the same precision and polish as macbooks do, though apple are known for brilliantly designed hardware like this.
2. OS X (in my opinion) is a much prettier operating system.
3. OS X is also more stable and less prone to crashes, again, in my experience.
4. Battery life on surface is much worse than macbooks.
5. The ports available are much less.

All this being said, i would happily take these downsides, even if they can be a little irritating, im focusing that mainly on the awful trackpad on the type cover 2 and the pointlessly few amount of angles the kickstand goes to (Wow, 2 angles?! What an innovation!)

I find it irritating they had to phase out more angles for the kickstand, like people would need to upgrade just to get even more kickstand positions. They should have just gone with the continuous stand on the first pro, or at least the pro 2.

That being said, i love my surface pro 2 and wouldnt swap it for anything else (apart from maybe a pro 3 but thats just bad timing on my part).

 

[RajeevT]

I find it irritating they had to phase out more angles for the kickstand, like people would need to upgrade just to get even more kickstand positions. They should have just gone with the continuous stand on the first pro, or at least the pro 2.

I would have loved the SP3 kickstand in the SP1 or 2 as well, but let's be honest, they've been steadily innovating and improving it with each successive generation and I can't even stand (no pun intended!) tablets with no integrated kickstands now.

 

[Berryal202869]

I would have loved the SP3 kickstand in the SP1 or 2 as well, but let's be honest, they've been steadily innovating and improving it with each successive generation and I can't even stand (no pun intended!) tablets with no integrated kickstands now.

I guess so, but its still either really short sided of them or just purposeful to get people to want to upgrade.. if they'd done any testing on lap use with the surface pro 1 they would have realised it was ridiculous to only have one angle.. and I'm assuming they did.

 

[RajeevT]

I guess so, but its still either really short sided of them or just purposeful to get people to want to upgrade.. if they'd done any testing on lap use with the surface pro 1 they would have realised it was ridiculous to only have one angle.. and I'm assuming they did.

There's no shortage of devices where succeeding generations have drastically improved on features in the previous ones, and have often come out fairly quickly as well. Can't keep complaining every time that you got short-changed with what you bought, knowing full well what its pros and cons were when you decided to go for it.

 

[Reflexx]

Well I always like to weigh up my options before spending loads of dosh on these things. What draw me to the Surface Pro/Windows 8 tablet range was the ability to use an up to date office suite, same as my work, dive a bit deeper into the Microsoft eco system and battery life. However now I have more information I think I will wait for the Surface Pro 3 to come out and review it again.

That sounds like a good idea. From what you've been saying, it sounds like the Surface Pro 3 would be perfect.

 

[TheMightyCraken]

Go with a Surface Pro 3 instead. .. that's what my sis is gonna do but she's coming from a Mac Book Pro 2010

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