Surface RT or Surface Pro

[MAkhdar]

So my laptop is basically not a laptop anymore I have replaced it numerous times but still it can't last for 5 minutes and it has an overheating issue. I was only planning on spending about $500 to get the Surface RT without the touch cover and connecting it my 27 inch monitor when needing to do anything in Office or some Web browsing and then using it as a tablet for everything else but I am not sure anymore now that the Surface Pro is coming out in a few weeks. It is about double the price so that is a huge negative but it seems that it would be much more future proof and more useful. The only things I really don't like about the Pro would be the thickness and price, so I am not sure if I am better off getting the RT.

I would appreciate any advice that you guys have especially if you own a Surface RT.

Thanks!

 

[dootndo2]

If you're planning on doing ANYTHING on the desktop besides the few desktop applications (Notepad, Office 2013, etc.) that are supported, then I would get the Pro version. The PRO is a real computer. The RT is a tablet device. If you don't want to spend the $1000+ dollars on the Surface Pro and want a x86 tablet, then I would look at CloverTrail x86 tablets. An example would be Dell Latitude 10 or an Asus.

 

[jonathanrn]

If you are primarily going to be using the Surface as a tablet (and I'm assuming yes because you wouldn't get a touch cover for it), then I would steer away from the Surface Pro. I have an RT, and I can't imagine using it if it were half a pound heavier and ~4mm thicker. I'm sure you know all the disadvantages/limitations of the Surface RT, so I won't go into that, but I don't think my wrist could handle a 2 pound tablet for longer than a few minutes. I've heard good things about some of the other Windows 8 tablets with Clovertrail.. maybe look into those if you are still nervous about RT?

I really like my Surface RT by the way. I just can't stand how many times a day someone comes up to me and asks me, "is that an iPad?" AAAaarggghh!!!

Jonathan

 

[MAkhdar]

Thanks for your advice. I have looked at the Clover Trail devices such as the Envy x2, but they lack on the battery side and nearly all have been called out due to their low performance.

 

[MAkhdar]

I was just doing so research into Ultrabooks because if I would go with the Surface Pro, I might as well look at other devices in that range, and I came across the Lenovo ThinkPad Twist Convertible Ultrabook PC | ThinkPad Twist Laptop, Rotating Monitor with Win 8 | Lenovo (US). It looks very intriguing and has 5 star reviews, does anyone here have one has some insight?

 

[dootndo2]

I was just doing so research into Ultrabooks because if I would go with the Surface Pro, I might as well look at other devices in that range, and I came across the Lenovo ThinkPad Twist Convertible Ultrabook PC | ThinkPad Twist Laptop, Rotating Monitor with Win 8 | Lenovo (US). It looks very intriguing and has 5 star reviews, does anyone here have one has some insight?

If I was able to get 16GB of RAM, I would not hesitate for a moment to get the Dell XPS 12 convertible tablet. It has i7 processor and 8GB RAM. Very neat form factor.

I'm waiting for the 7 inch HTC Windows RT tablet. That I would buy. The 10 inch RT is too large for what it's capabilities are. Please remember, if you want to run ANY desktop apps, you CANNOT on RT.

dootndo2

 

[MAkhdar]

If I was able to get 16GB of RAM, I would not hesitate for a moment to get the Dell XPS 12 convertible tablet. It has i7 processor and 8GB RAM. Very neat form factor.

I'm waiting for the 7 inch HTC Windows RT tablet. That I would buy. The 10 inch RT is too large for what it's capabilities are. Please remember, if you want to run ANY desktop apps, you CANNOT on RT.

dootndo2

The Dell XPS 12 is very expensive and I used to have a Dell Duo which would be considered its predecessor and I didn't enjoy it that much. As far as RT goes, I don't think that it makes sense now that I think of it, I really need Outlook so it doesn't work. I am almost certain now that I want the Surface Pro, it will replace my laptop and when I want to use it as a tablet I can. The only issue that I see in the future would be storage, I currently have a 320 GB HD and I have used up over half of it. Maybe a external HD will solve this? What do you think?

 

[dootndo2]

The Dell XPS 12 is very expensive and I used to have a Dell Duo which would be considered its predecessor and I didn't enjoy it that much. As far as RT goes, I don't think that it makes sense now that I think of it, I really need Outlook so it doesn't work. I am almost certain now that I want the Surface Pro, it will replace my laptop and when I want to use it as a tablet I can. The only issue that I see in the future would be storage, I currently have a 320 GB HD and I have used up over half of it. Maybe a external HD will solve this? What do you think?

The Dell Duo and the XPS 12 really don't have much in common. The Dell Duo was a netbook and the XPS is a full high powered laptop with tablet capabilities. The Surface Pro is going to be $1000+ USD. I would also recommend actually going to a Microsoft store and using the keyboard covers to ensure that they will meet your needs. Even the type cover is not as well off as a standard laptop keyboard.

You can use the Mail application on Windows 8 (RT Included) and it works great. It also has a Calendar app that works very well. Surface Pro comes with a 128GB HDD. So the Microsoft approach would be to upgrade your SkyDrive account to make up the space. Or, you could buy a separate SSD at 256 and put that in the Surface Pro and reinstall everything. This also assumes that you can get the Surface Pro open.

dootndo2

 

[MAkhdar]

The Dell Duo and the XPS 12 really don't have much in common. The Dell Duo was a netbook and the XPS is a full high powered laptop with tablet capabilities. The Surface Pro is going to be $1000+ USD. I would also recommend actually going to a Microsoft store and using the keyboard covers to ensure that they will meet your needs. Even the type cover is not as well off as a standard laptop keyboard.

You can use the Mail application on Windows 8 (RT Included) and it works great. It also has a Calendar app that works very well. Surface Pro comes with a 128GB HDD. So the Microsoft approach would be to upgrade your SkyDrive account to make up the space. Or, you could buy a separate SSD at 256 and put that in the Surface Pro and reinstall everything. This also assumes that you can get the Surface Pro open.

dootndo2

I have used a XPS 12 but it still doesn't seem that intriguing. It's too expensive for what it is and the swivel screen is nice but not that practical. If I'm going to the Surface Pro route I won't get a cover because I already have a keyboard and my network storage HD will take care of my storage needs, so that makes it $899 for Surface Pro 64GB plus taxes. Do you think there is any other tablet that would be around the same price point but comparable?