Microsoft Surface

[scourge]

I bought the 32GB Surface with touch cover bundle from Challenger. I have read a few months ago that some touch covers split due to the bending of the cover back while holding or something. I'm wondering if this issue is still occurring with the recent touch covers?

 

[kekacofmmhkfoll]

I bought the 32GB Surface with touch cover bundle from Challenger. I have read a few months ago that some touch covers split due to the bending of the cover back while holding or something. I'm wondering if this issue is still occurring with the recent touch covers?

I got mine since December, and no signs of it spliting to date.
Not really a concern anyway.

wah lao eh i not here to shoot microsoft and be a android fanboy leh!

i wanted to buy the Surface RT to play play
Because i tried it at challenger and it feels like a Windows OS laptop in a tablet form

but research further and read read online, seems like RT is not good/popular choice

Why Windows RT is hurtling toward disaster | PCWorld

Editorial: Windows RT is Microsoft's biggest mess - Neowin

How Microsoft Can Save Windows RT, Surface RT | CIO Blogs

Microsoft's ARM blunder: 7 reasons why Windows RT was DOA ? The Register


I thot it can be a "tablet that works like a PC" for my wifey
she's always surfing flash sites or some streaming video websites

some of these sites/videos doesn't play on her ipad/note2

Honestly, I'm sick of those unprofessional and unfair reviews/ANAL-yst. They are just bashing/ writing anything negative for the sake of getting more attention. They don't care about the truth, and don't see the need to verify facts or just plain stupid.
Just look at the recent IDC press release on the steepest decline in PC shipments. So many facts were left out. The fact that no ultrabook, no tablet based W8 PCs were included in their report; the fact that they blame it entirely on Windows 8 & Microsoft when Mac is suffering it far worst.

Yes I'm a MS fan, I admit. And I do have Asus Transformer, Galaxy S2, iPad 3, Lumia 800/900/920 myself.
===

Try it out yourself and tell me what you think later. Don't simply look at the bad side of it, or what others say, what you hear.

>> If you just read those articles carefully, don't they apply to Android tablets and iPad too? Did anyone say the iPad or Android 3 (tablet) is a disaster, DOA when its out?

-iPad/Android doesn't even have desktop apps for you to multi task on
-You can multi task with snap mode on Windows 8 while its impossible on Android (I know its on galaxy, but none of the apps are optimized)/iPad
-iPad/Android don't have MS Office
-Android apps are pretty much 90% scaled up phone apps, makes no difference to have a tablet to a phone (The same app on Android tablet and Windows 8 is a huge difference apart)
-iPad/Android are never build as a 'productivity' PC like Windows, but rather an entertainment device
-To date there's 60,000 Windows Store apps & its only 6 months. Give it a year and it can well overtake Android tablet that's more suitable for 7 inch market at the current path its going
-You can play any flash content on IE10 (there's no flash on iPad and limited support on Android)

On the other hand, a jailbroken Surface RT can actually run ANY Win32 apps as long as its recompiled by the developer. The potential of RT is just up to Microsoft, if they want to open it up or not. I really hope they do, once the Windows Store reached a certain level such that app count won't matter much already.
I'm waiting to see what Microsoft have to offer on Windows Blue update, if they are able to merge both Windows Phone 8 & Windows 8 app store into one mega ecosystem.

 

[SVG84R]

can run matlab or vba on rt?

 

[SINple]

I got mine since December, and no signs of it spliting to date.
Not really a concern anyway.



Honestly, I'm sick of those unprofessional and unfair reviews/ANAL-yst. They are just bashing/ writing anything negative for the sake of getting more attention. They don't care about the truth, and don't see the need to verify facts or just plain stupid.
Just look at the recent IDC press release on the steepest decline in PC shipments. So many facts were left out. The fact that no ultrabook, no tablet based W8 PCs were included in their report; the fact that they blame it entirely on Windows 8 & Microsoft when Mac is suffering it far worst.

Yes I'm a MS fan, I admit. And I do have Asus Transformer, Galaxy S2, iPad 3, Lumia 800/900/920 myself.
===

Try it out yourself and tell me what you think later. Don't simply look at the bad side of it, or what others say, what you hear.

>> If you just read those articles carefully, don't they apply to Android tablets and iPad too? Did anyone say the iPad or Android 3 (tablet) is a disaster, DOA when its out?

-iPad/Android doesn't even have desktop apps for you to multi task on
-You can multi task with snap mode on Windows 8 while its impossible on Android (I know its on galaxy, but none of the apps are optimized)/iPad
-iPad/Android don't have MS Office
-Android apps are pretty much 90% scaled up phone apps, makes no difference to have a tablet to a phone (The same app on Android tablet and Windows 8 is a huge difference apart)
-iPad/Android are never build as a 'productivity' PC like Windows, but rather an entertainment device
-To date there's 60,000 Windows Store apps & its only 6 months. Give it a year and it can well overtake Android tablet that's more suitable for 7 inch market at the current path its going
-You can play any flash content on IE10 (there's no flash on iPad and limited support on Android)

android does have other office app though, still quite usuable. And the pdf supports highlighting, textbox, sticky note etc. Does RT have?(I asking a real qn as I not very sure. Windows 8 phone does not have a pdf that can put sticky note or highlight)

Android plays most flash content.

At the end of the day, RT is good as long as you are not a computing professional

 

[E_T]

I've not tried the Asus Vivotab (Atom) but HP Envy X2 (Atom) is quite fast. Lenovo Thinkpad 2 (Pre-production unit at Win8 launch) was ok if you're mostly doing office work so I think dual-core Atom is good enough for most people.

As for Haswell, you can actually get Haswell power performance now by switching to Power Saving mode with 50% CPU speed, that'll give you a TDP of about 10W which will buy you a bit of battery life.

Core i3 uses about 12W. The Southbridge or ICH chipset uses another 4-5W. Atom SoC only use like 7W total... about the same as a quad-core ARM-based SoC.

I would love an Atom-based Surface.

 

[keitaro123]

I got mine since December, and no signs of it spliting to date.
Not really a concern anyway.



Honestly, I'm sick of those unprofessional and unfair reviews/ANAL-yst. They are just bashing/ writing anything negative for the sake of getting more attention. They don't care about the truth, and don't see the need to verify facts or just plain stupid.
Just look at the recent IDC press release on the steepest decline in PC shipments. So many facts were left out. The fact that no ultrabook, no tablet based W8 PCs were included in their report; the fact that they blame it entirely on Windows 8 & Microsoft when Mac is suffering it far worst.

Yes I'm a MS fan, I admit. And I do have Asus Transformer, Galaxy S2, iPad 3, Lumia 800/900/920 myself.
===

Try it out yourself and tell me what you think later. Don't simply look at the bad side of it, or what others say, what you hear.

>> If you just read those articles carefully, don't they apply to Android tablets and iPad too? Did anyone say the iPad or Android 3 (tablet) is a disaster, DOA when its out?

-iPad/Android doesn't even have desktop apps for you to multi task on
-You can multi task with snap mode on Windows 8 while its impossible on Android (I know its on galaxy, but none of the apps are optimized)/iPad
-iPad/Android don't have MS Office
-Android apps are pretty much 90% scaled up phone apps, makes no difference to have a tablet to a phone (The same app on Android tablet and Windows 8 is a huge difference apart)
-iPad/Android are never build as a 'productivity' PC like Windows, but rather an entertainment device
-To date there's 60,000 Windows Store apps & its only 6 months. Give it a year and it can well overtake Android tablet that's more suitable for 7 inch market at the current path its going
-You can play any flash content on IE10 (there's no flash on iPad and limited support on Android)

On the other hand, a jailbroken Surface RT can actually run ANY Win32 apps as long as its recompiled by the developer. The potential of RT is just up to Microsoft, if they want to open it up or not. I really hope they do, once the Windows Store reached a certain level such that app count won't matter much already.
I'm waiting to see what Microsoft have to offer on Windows Blue update, if they are able to merge both Windows Phone 8 & Windows 8 app store into one mega ecosystem.

well written,

i agree with most of your points here.

coming from an android and a ipad user, those are exactly the points that pointed me to a RT tablet.

I have yet to get it myself, but you mentioning the jailbreak to run a EXE files just strengthen my chance of getting one.

Any sites that i can read more about the benefits of jailbreaking?

 

[davin]

I think you can find some of these desktop apps for "jailbroken" Surface RT here:

Desktop apps ported to Windows RT - xda-developers

Frankly I think any new platform will get bashed in the beginning, same thing happened to Android tablets about the lack of apps, it's still being criticized for the lack of tablet-optimized apps.

So, don't expect MS to get a free pass here, especially when the Store is lacking official apps from big names like Google. With only like 4 Windows RT devices in the market, I don't expect developers to be too interested about the platform.

The smart money (imo) is still on x86 for tablets (if you're keen on Windows 8/productivity angle)--Intel's coming up with quad-core Atom by end of the year, which could make RT irrelevant if it can provide both battery life and performance (fill the gap between current Atom and Core i CPU).

If all you need is to surf net, watch videos, play games, iPad/Android tablets is cheaper and will continue to have more apps.

 

[E_T]

A quad-core Atom will not buy much speed improvement to day-to-day usage of Win7/8 actually. The out-of-order instruction scheduling of Core CPUs is the one that will gives the performance boost.

It'll also probably be responsible for giving the Atom the extra 2 cores through Hyperthreading, which is actually an advanced form of out-of-order CPU operations. (Nevermind if you don't know what I'm talking about, just wait till the end of the year to see if I'm right about the quad-core Atom having 2 physical cores & 4 logical cores.

Intel also announced this new SoC will be built on a smaller process so power consumption should be on-par with current Z2760.

The new Atom Soc will probably get HD4000 instead of SGX graphics currently.

MS will probably continue to develop RT & WP8 as part of "Blue" so we can expect 1 x86 Win8 & 2 ARM Win8 by end of the year.

Intel have a lot of proof if it wants to take over the mobile crown from ARM.

I think you can find some of these desktop apps for "jailbroken" Surface RT here:

Desktop apps ported to Windows RT - xda-developers

Frankly I think any new platform will get bashed in the beginning, same thing happened to Android tablets about the lack of apps, it's still being criticized for the lack of tablet-optimized apps.

So, don't expect MS to get a free pass here, especially when the Store is lacking official apps from big names like Google. With only like 4 Windows RT devices in the market, I don't expect developers to be too interested about the platform.

The smart money (imo) is still on x86 for tablets (if you're keen on Windows 8/productivity angle)--Intel's coming up with quad-core Atom by end of the year, which could make RT irrelevant if it can provide both battery life and performance (fill the gap between current Atom and Core i CPU).

If all you need is to surf net, watch videos, play games, iPad/Android tablets is cheaper and will continue to have more apps.

 

[davin]

Bay Trail will be out of order actually, 22nm with 3D transistors like current Ivy Bridge, and will have Intel HD Graphics 4000

 

[CherylW]

I might be selling my Pro soon.. Surface RT and a laptop is enough for now, waiting for the next version of Pro with better battery life on Intel Haswell

Atom is too weak for the general task while 'I' series is too powerful and power hungry.

Oh my! I took a back flip when I read this. I thought it would be the other way round.

Doesn't the pro fulfill its functions as an all-in-one?

I have waited for the Pro for far too long, I guess I'll skip the RT and have an android tab for the time being.

 

[kekacofmmhkfoll]

Oh my! I took a back flip when I read this. I thought it would be the other way round.

Doesn't the pro fulfill its functions as an all-in-one?

I have waited for the Pro for far too long, I guess I'll skip the RT and have an android tab for the time being.

I want a device that's able to replace my laptop and Surface RT. At the moment although it can, but its only the battery life that's bringing it down.

I would rather stick to RT for entertainment (8 hrs battery) and my laptop for work. Where its best at.. The pro isn't a bad device by any means, its just not enough for me, until the next processor arrives

 

[CherylW]

wow thanks alot for sharing. Do you find it comfortable to use the surface pro 10.6" screen as a main device?

I asked partly cause I am considering getting a Win 8 ultrabook and pair it with a compact tablet combination. And that's just Surface Pro's not here yet. haha, what a way to start.. thinking of giving it up before it arrived on our shores.

 

[lexmarq]

wow thanks alot for sharing. Do you find it comfortable to use the surface pro 10.6" screen as a main device?

I asked partly cause I am considering getting a Win 8 ultrabook and pair it with a compact tablet combination. And that's just Surface Pro's not here yet. haha, what a way to start.. thinking of giving it up before it arrived on our shores.

I do love the syncing between my surface RT and my windows 8 desktop. The surface RT size is actually okay for normal internet browsing, simple word editing. If you really do want to get serious work done, you may find the screen to be a little bit restrictive and small(when you use the office). That's what I feel after using my surface RT for 4 months.

However, since I only intended to use the surface RT as a companion device, it has been serving me pretty well. IMO, I feel the surface family has too small a screen size for serious work, but that's just my opinion. My programmer friend has a surface PRO and he is loving it, so it really depends on your preference and usage.

 

[lordlad0]

i will buy the next surface pro...(if there's one) just because the chipset from intel will be more stable for mobile usage then (Haswell) with the GPU boosted substantially......

i think the 1st gen surface is like the 1st gen ipad....the concept is nice but the hardware just isn't there yet...the 1st gen ipad has some really weak internal hardware if you can remember...

 

[merlot6230]

Can recommend android APs like MS office excel whereby type n edit like normal excel

 

[Johnteoh]

Just got my Surface yesterday and still exploring. Is there a SP for it at this moment?

 

[lexmarq]

Just got my Surface yesterday and still exploring. Is there a SP for it at this moment?

SP as in screen protector? I am not sure, but I haven't use any SP for my surface for 4 months already and the screen is still scratch less, other than the oil marks from the keyboard which was supposed to protect the screen.

 

[echoblue]

Just got my Surface yesterday and still exploring. Is there a SP for it at this moment?

yes, at burlington square 12sgd. a bit difficult to install though (SP in general). dust can get in the Sp very fast during installation , causing small bubbles. i ended up not using it - very annoying.

yes, so far no scratches on the screen.

 

[Rakulei]

I've tried the Surface, and I have to say i'm suitably impressed with it (so far). Still considering whether to get, my japanese colleagues say that there's a large demand for it in their country..

 

[Johnteoh]

Thanks for the advices on the sp. Anyway based on design, think there isn't any back cover like those those for ipad or Android tablets?