Why Surface Pro (2) *should* catch-on with Professionals

[bilzkh]

I was at Starbucks in downtown Toronto and some lawyer asked me, "hey is that the Surface?"

So I answered "yeah, it's the Pro!" He responded, "what do you use it for?" and I said "everything..."

We got into a discussion about it and he was asking me the typical questions, "does it have Flash? Can I run Word? What about PDFs?" -- Yeah, honest.

I walked him through the Pro, started with Metro and walked through it and the apps/games I play, and then showed him the desktop with Photoshop and Illustrator running.

Then he asked about the stylus, mainly because he saw someone at work use a Pro with the pen, and I showed him the pen and how I take notes at work using OneNote, give feedback on MS Reader, etc.

He responded with, "wow! this is amazing, I never thought something like this could exist ... If only it had a USB port." ... Showed him that too.

I told him to go to the Microsoft Store at Yorkdale Mall, but man, there's no reason why Surface Pro can't catch on with professionals, just look at their 'requirements' ... "does it have Flash?"

It's ridiculous how Microsoft just isn't in the minds of these people, it's as though the only thing known to people is iPad.

 

[lafester]

The best buy near me has a new windows 'store' right next to the apple 'store'. The apple displays were deserted and everyone was looking at windows laptops and tablets.
They had 8 surface displays and at lest half of them were being used by various people. One bought a surface rt after barely checking it out.

 

[smoheath]

I completely agree. When people begin to understand the pros capabilities I think it will catch on with professionals and students. I just started grad school and my surface pro makes school so easy. I use it for handwritten notes, matlab, cad, and of course office. I kind of laugh at all the people in my classes and think, "Why are you all writing on paper?" The awesomeness of the pro will catch on. Especially with the second gen accessories. I'm so excited to upgrade to the surface pro 2. Just gotta find a buyer for my current one.

 

[rdubmu]

I can't wait for the 2nd gen accessories!

 

[bilzkh]

I completely agree. When people begin to understand the pros capabilities I think it will catch on with professionals and students. I just started grad school and my surface pro makes school so easy. I use it for handwritten notes, matlab, cad, and of course office. I kind of laugh at all the people in my classes and think, "Why are you all writing on paper?" The awesomeness of the pro will catch on. Especially with the second gen accessories. I'm so excited to upgrade to the surface pro 2. Just gotta find a buyer for my current one.

Exactly. I have a few real world examples too.

At meetings you'll find people hiding behind their laptop screens... When you should be open to your colleagues, you have this stupid obstacle in front of you, and more often than not, some use it to churn through emails, browse the web, etc. when in reality they should be meeting.

With the Pro, my tablet is always down on the table, I'm taking notes but I'm also engaging myself in the meeting.

Because of the Pro, I've become the center of attention/gravity at most meetings, even when I'm not there to talk.

 

[TheJoester09]

People always ask me about my Pro when I'm using it at school, and people sitting around always try to sneak a peak at what I'm doing. I've actually stopped using it for note-taking at work because people start asking me about it and it completely derails the whole meeting! Ha!

 

[toddpart]

I was at Starbucks in downtown Toronto and some lawyer asked me, "hey is that the Surface?"

I was at the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) Conference last month and I have never seen so many Surface Pro's outside of a MS Store. They just make sense for real productivity.

 

[bilzkh]

People always ask me about my Pro when I'm using it at school, and people sitting around always try to sneak a peak at what I'm doing. I've actually stopped using it for note-taking at work because people start asking me about it and it completely derails the whole meeting! Ha!

That happens.

I was at the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) Conference last month and I have never seen so many Surface Pro's outside of a MS Store. They just make sense for real productivity.

Amazing. One of my friends decided to buy a Pro 2 for a law school. See? lawyers get it

 

[milesmcever]

I couldn't agree more. I may be jaded but it just seems like we are going through a faze where everything is having to be redone so that it is tablet friendly where it currenly runs fine in windows. While I can take an android tablet or ipad and use it for work its just not as productive. I kinda feel wrong saying that.

 

[Polychrome]

I work at a VZW call center. My husband and I were the first surface pros at work. Other surface pros, and even a few RTs, have started to appear. I'm also seeing other manufacturers with win 8 tablets.

There's a lot to be said for these computers. I think it's starting to sink in at a lot of workplaces that iPads and android tablets are *toys*. They really can't handle a full-desktop workload, and really aren't intended to, no matter how much their fanboys wish so.

It's slow, but it's growing. I imagine an LTE model will only make it crazier.

 

[clemgrad85]

I'm in the investment/insurance business and have wanted to upgrade my computer recently. I currently have a desktop, but would like some portablility but don't want a laptop. So, when I saw the Surface Pro 2 come out, with the docking station and ability to hook up to a monitor, I thought this might be the perfect solution for me. So, I contacted our Tech team and the answer I got back yesterday was wanting to know 1) what version of Windows 8.1 it was going to use as we need the 64-bit version, and 2) what the processor speed will be of the i5. I would need the 8 RAM version, which would mean the 256 GB version, but I think everything else would work for what my company needs. So, I've tried to find the answers to questions 1 and 2, but has this info been released yet? Thanks.....

 

[Cleavitt76]

... 1) what version of Windows 8.1 it was going to use as we need the 64-bit version, and 2) what the processor speed will be of the i5.

1) Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit. The first get Surface Pro was also 64-bit.

2) Fourth-generation Intel Core i5-4200U "Haswell" processor, clocked at 1.6 GHz, but capable of running at up to 2.6GHz thanks to Intel's Turbo Boost tech. Intel HD Graphics 4400. It's a mobile processor so it's designed to change it's speed as appropriate to save battery power or increase performance. You can use or customize the different power profiles in windows to prioritize speed vs. processor cooling vs. power consumption. I have mine set to favor performance when plugged into wall power and to cap the PCU speed (and dim the display) when on battery.

 

[SwimSwim]

I'm excited. To my knowledge, I'll be the first kid at my high school with a Surface Pro. I've seen one Surface RT, but that's it.

I know I've repeated this many times on these forums, so my apologies if I'm driving you insane with my repetitions. Anyways, many of my teachers have approved students bringing in their own laptops in lieu of the sluggish school computers when it comes down to doing computer related tasks. I'm eagerly looking forward to all the amazed looks I'll get when I flip out the kickstand, attach my Type Cover and getting typing away, while everyone else waits for their computers to turn on, much less log-in.

Obscurity is a big part of Microsoft's problem. Most people aren't even aware anything exists beyond iOS and Android (and "tech blogs" don't help much, always only acknowledging the existence of those two and ignoring Microsoft). And even when people are aware about it, it's not considered cool to like Windows, it has a lot of baggage. It carries with it ideals of dorky enterprise, BSOD's, viruses, instability, etc. We of course know these to be true, but everyone is convinced Apple is hip, and then everyone else decides Android is the way to be part of the rebellion. Microsoft has a long way to go.

I often wonder if Microsoft should've titled it Windows Phone. As soon as people hear that, they immediately think of all the bad things I mentioned above, not the colorful, smooth, fluid, modern OS it really is. Perhaps something like Metro Phone, Modern OS, or even Live Phone or Xbox Phone (people absolutely love Xbox, whenever I pitch to people Windows Phone and show them how all my games are kept neatly in Xbox, they flip out with, "YOU GET XBOX ON YOUR PHONE?!"). Indeed, while WIndows has brand familiarity, it's not necessarily good familiarity. Oh well, that's behind us, too late now. Instead of wallowing in what could've been, we must press forward to throwing off the shackles of old.

But I digress, as I often do. Back on track, I feel that if we can get the Surface Pro's capabilities out there, not with dancing or Siri, but by showing off things such as processing raw 6k video, running Photoshop, built in Office, etc., then people will get interested. Show it doing this by having it pushing two different monitors, with it running Halo on the Surface, full Office on one monitor, and Photoshop on the other. When enterprises and professionals see this raw power (and an unlikely scenario, no less), I assure you they will be blown away. If Microsoft can have this sort of set up demoed in every Store, people definitely won't be able to underestimate this power. They may not buy it, but they will walk away knowing what great potential this little device has.

Sorry if I bored you with a wall of text, but case in point, Microsoft needs to just show the world the Surface's raw power. There is a beast that lays within this thing, the folks at Redmond ought to unleash it.

 

[PLGomez]

lol I'm a law student as well and I have a 256GB Surface Pro 2 pre ordered as well ;-) Good Post.

 

[Jas00555]

Its the same at my school too. My major shares the same building with the law students and I swear you'd think they were shooting a Microsoft commercial inside. The class before mine is some type of advanced law class and out of the 30 in there, 6 have Surface Pros. All of the law students have Windows probably due to multitasking being way better than it is on OS X.

I know they're Pros too because I've seen the same students in the library and they're using some program where its like Google Docs and you can share notes together, but I'm not sure what its called, but its a x86 program. I joke to myself how Surfaces are to lawyers how Macs are to DJs(though even that could change with the Surface Remix Project)

Honestly, I think this is the start to Windows tablets taking over. It starts at the professional level, then trickles into the enterprise (and to me, the Surface Pro + docking station + monitor is the holy grail of enterprise), then goes to the home.

 

[chezm]

Its weird to think of school with personal laptops...man im old lol. I had an old IBM ThinkPad when I took computer programming in college, that was a big deal...starcraft on the laptop was mind blowing haha.

I've got a MacBook pro and HP elite for work. MB is a powerhouse, but the windows just works with my job. I can see the pro catching on once people use it.

 

[bpmurr]

I've got two problems with Surface Pro 2 from an enterprise perspective.

1)No docking station on day 1
2)No 8GG 128GB model

 

[spaulagain]

I've got two problems with Surface Pro 2 from an enterprise perspective.

1)No docking station on day 1
2)No 8GG 128GB model

The docking station is coming shortly. Don't see how that's an issue for enterprises in the long run.and just use USB on the docking station as dedicated ReadyBoost.

 

[SwimSwim]

Its weird to think of school with personal laptops...man im old lol. I had an old IBM ThinkPad when I took computer programming in college, that was a big deal...starcraft on the laptop was mind blowing haha.

I've got a MacBook pro and HP elite for work. MB is a powerhouse, but the windows just works with my job. I can see the pro catching on once people use it.

Yup, the times sure are changing. I like my high school's current model where technology is being used as an accessory to learning, not a replacement. Well, one of my teachers wanted us to just learn by watching videos on YouTube for homework, then expect us to show up the next day knowing exactly how to do everything and to do our chemistry labs. He refused to answer any questions, saying it was all in the videos. Needless to say, I switched from his class and landed with a chemistry teacher who actually teaches us.

I hate teachers who just expect students to learn on their own, they're paid for a reason... I understand college is like that, but it's all about working your way there. I'm just not at a level where I can teach myself yet. I'm getting there, but baby steps.

 

[chezm]

Yup, the times sure are changing. I like my high school's current model where technology is being used as an accessory to learning, not a replacement. Well, one of my teachers wanted us to just learn by watching videos on YouTube for homework, then expect us to show up the next day knowing exactly how to do everything and to do our chemistry labs. He refused to answer any questions, saying it was all in the videos. Needless to say, I switched from his class and landed with a chemistry teacher who actually teaches us.

I hate teachers who just expect students to learn on their own, they're paid for a reason... I understand college is like that, but it's all about working your way there. I'm just not at a level where I can teach myself yet. I'm getting there, but baby steps.

I have heard this from others, it seems some teachers have missed the point of classroom interaction. I recently completed an intensive training course online only...it was well done but its not what is want in a college/university education.