Usefulness of Surface 2 for school.

[thatdennis]

So I would like to share my experience on using the Surface 2 for 4 months at school:

-Replaced my textbooks, just have them in the .pdf version and just open it up on the reader app.
-Notebooks? Oh, you mean One Note! Organized my notes with perfection. Just open it, pick a category and start taking notes by typing.
-Intricate diagrams your teacher drew? No problem! One Note takes care of it with integrated camera, so just shoot that diagram and BAM, it's in your notes.
-No pens, no need to write anything again.
-Seamless typing with the Type Cover 2
-Bored with the lesson? Mute the sound and watch youtube, or play some cards through Microsoft Solitaire app.
-Take selfies with your friends? Why not!
-Nonono, no need iPod, just listen to music through the Surface 2
-Chargers? please, it lasts a whole day, why do you even need chargers?
-New e-mails? It reminds you in the home screen, just check the mail app.
-Oh look new news, no need to open the app. Live Tile's got you covered. Flipboard and Bing News highlights are given a brief summary in the tiles.

And many more uses. Just laughing at friends who use the Mac and kept saying "Can I borrow your charger?" or "Oh sorry I can't open that in my Mac." They still bring their textbooks and notebooks around, making the bag so heavy.

I just bring my Surface 2 to school, that's it.

 

[Coreldan]

Pretty much same here. Wouldn't consider going back to any other form factor for my university need (meaning that I have a Surface RT, but would take Surface 2 or either 1st or 2nd gen Pro).

Was worth every penny

 

[Dominik Dominik]

can some one tell me difference between android and windows/RT tablets? I'm in a great dilemma about that. How it is with writing (with pen) on each of them. what about windows vs windows RT?

 

[pcellura]

I just got the surface 2 also. This thing is awesome! One question in reply to your post: How do you get the books in PDF form? I assume the PDFs have to be available from the publisher right?

 

[aitt]

can some one tell me difference between android and windows/RT tablets? I'm in a great dilemma about that. How it is with writing (with pen) on each of them. what about windows vs windows RT?

on the tablet side hands down RT is THE BEST thing to happen to tablets. And that's being said as not a WinFanboy. I have used three different Android tablets and they have always been somehow limited to my needs. The main benefit I have found with RT is compatible peripherals. The fact I can print everything I need was a huge plus factor. The second was flash player. Every website working for the most part flawless a desktop. I have also found RT as a more stable OS than Android. Better uniformed UI.

 

[RodimusMajor]

I don't have a Surface 2 specifically, but I have been using my Lumia 2520 for schoolwork for a while now, and I can definitely agree that WinRT is great for school. The PDF reader, Flash Player, full Office, OneNote, it's all great, and the battery life and memory are superior to what I got on my old Nexus 7 when I tried to retrofit it for schoolwork. About the only thing I need for it to be perfect is my power keyboard, whenever that decides to show up, lol.

 

[onysi]

that's riskay taking the surface 2 alone. id still bring a notebook because some professors do open note tests but only using notebooks and laptops/electronics.

 

[xandros9]

can some one tell me difference between android and windows/RT tablets? I'm in a great dilemma about that. How it is with writing (with pen) on each of them. what about windows vs windows RT?

In a nutshell, Windows RT is practically full Windows without legacy compatibility. (sounds bad, but then again, neither does Android nor does iOS run OSX apps.)
Full Windows like on most tablets today is what you'd expect from a full Windows computer.

Android is a phone OS upscaled to a tablet and Windows is a desktop/laptop OS downscaled to a tablet.

as for pen input, it really depends on the individual device. For many like Kindles and the iPads, the best is those rounded styluses. But some have support for an active stylus. Dell's Venue Windows tablets have support for a fancy stylus (although its been pulled and being retooled)
Another has been announced with Wacom support, but u forgot which one it was.