Arthur Posted October 16, 2012 Posted October 16, 2012 The bit I liked was this: Me too. I hope more manufacturers PvD tablets and other electronics. I refuse to buy anything made with glossy black plastic!
Arthur Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 Interesting article on The Verge. Under the Surface: an inside look at how Microsoft's tablet came to be http://youtu.be/OVSyp9OUM1s?hd=1
sted Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 Its also daft the 64gb one can only be bought with a black floppy keyboard unless you want 2 keyboards
Arthur Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 $499 32 GB Surface sells out, backordered for three weeks
Theblacksheep Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 Once again they've chosen to go with a 1366x768 screen on the above models though? Surely it can't cost them that much more to up it to 1920x1080? I'd let them away with it on a low end tablet for £200-300 but these things will likely end up being priced around £600. Is it really too much to ask! My laptop is full hd on a 13" screen (vaioz21) and its too much, need to adjust OS to 125% to actually see things properly. High resolution is nice but needless in some cases, especially on an even smaller screen. Other devices get away with it by doubling the scale, a bit pointless.
localzuk Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 I think that even with their massive advertising budget and concerted efforts to take over from the iPad, they might still struggle. People see Apple as the Ferrari of the computing and phone world. They see Microsoft as the VW. So, if they have a choice of a £349 VW or a £399 Ferrari, which do you reckon they'd go for? If I had been running it, I'd've been pushing it as a loss-leader, like they did with the Xbox. MS would make the money back on apps.
Quackers Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 The Pro version is mildly appealing, mainly for running PARS or SIMS on. But this RT version i really do not get it, its got that vile Windows Metro interface with the headache of not being able to run any of my Windows programs, may as well use an ipad iOS has a nicer interface. At least with the Pro for a few specific tasks i think i can refrain from stamping on the tablet as Metro drives me round the bend with its bad design, but guessing the Pro will be priced at a level we do not want to pay.
localzuk Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 The Pro version is mildly appealing, mainly for running PARS or SIMS on. But this RT version i really do not get it, its got that vile Windows Metro interface with the headache of not being able to run any of my Windows programs, may as well use an ipad iOS has a nicer interface. At least with the Pro for a few specific tasks i think i can refrain from stamping on the tablet as Metro drives me round the bend with its bad design, but guessing the Pro will be priced at a level we do not want to pay. I dunno, most people who have used the Metro interface on a touchscreen device come back saying the same thing - it is a very nice interface on that medium. The iPad interface is *horrible* in my opinion, it annoys me so much, so often when I have to do anything on the few we have here. On a tablet, in general, use of traditional Windows applications is going to be somewhat limited even if you have x86 chips - as the interfaces are not designed for big flabby fingers... So, on a design basis, the tablets have a very good chance. On a price basis, they've shot themselves in the foot. 1
flyinghaggis Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 (edited) My laptop is full hd on a 13" screen (vaioz21) and its too much, need to adjust OS to 125% to actually see things properly. High resolution is nice but needless in some cases, especially on an even smaller screen. Other devices get away with it by doubling the scale, a bit pointless. You're right. The font scaling was a real problem on Windows 7 (and even worse on previous versions) but AFAIK Windows8 scales everything in the 'metro/modern' UI by default so presumably it wouldn't be an issue. The only time you might encounter problems is when running legacy desktop software but the RT version doesn't even support this so it's a non-issue! Admittedly it's not the end of the world but put up against the displays in the ipad3 (2000x1500) and the slew of 1080p android devices that are hitting the market it relegates MS's surface instantly into 3rd place in the display department. Edited October 17, 2012 by flyinghaggis
arwen Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 I was only ever interested in the Intel version. But it looks like its gonna cost a small fortune. :-/ Looking at them from a works point of view. I don't see the advantage of having an RT Surface over an Android/ipad (as in integrating it to the network). Or am I missing something?
HMCTech Posted October 17, 2012 Author Posted October 17, 2012 I was only ever interested in the Intel version. But it looks like its gonna cost a small fortune. :-/ Looking at them from a works point of view. I don't see the advantage of having an RT Surface over an Android/ipad (as in integrating it to the network). Or am I missing something? Someone may know more but I always believed that the RT was the one you had at home and used for personal use and was the iPad equivalent. The advantage for a school or enterprise was the Surface Pro and the ability to join to the domain, be managed centrally and give access to what all middle managers are "desperate" for. Access to documents, collaboration and be more efficient. So I am looking forward to January when we take away their iPads and give them Surface Pro's as they tick all their initial requirements for a tablet where as the iPad ticked less than 20% of what they wanted them for.
Max_Power Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 Someone may know more but I always believed that the RT was the one you had at home and used for personal use and was the iPad equivalent. The advantage for a school or enterprise was the Surface Pro and the ability to join to the domain, be managed centrally and give access to what all middle managers are "desperate" for. Access to documents, collaboration and be more efficient. So I am looking forward to January when we take away their iPads and give them Surface Pro's as they tick all their initial requirements for a tablet where as the iPad ticked less than 20% of what they wanted them for. Same here (nail head job done) anticipate they will still want their ipads for angry birds. The way in which they will be able to join the domain and access the shares etc as you mention will be an instant crowd pleaser amongst our staff.
HMCTech Posted October 17, 2012 Author Posted October 17, 2012 Yes I am looking forward to ousting these staff who don't want efficiency, collaboration or working on the move they just want iPads and iPads the school pay for which they wont have soon. We have ordered two of the RT's to see what they are like and if they are any better than an iPad. And to test out Office 2013 which can link our domain accounts to SkyDrive accounts so the more mobile of users can save to SkyDrive from Office 2013 and open on the RT and visa versa. This may or may not work but worth a try for those that don't require a full Surface Pro.
Jamoire Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 Someone may know more but I always believed that the RT was the one you had at home and used for personal use and was the iPad equivalent. The advantage for a school or enterprise was the Surface Pro and the ability to join to the domain, be managed centrally and give access to what all middle managers are "desperate" for. Access to documents, collaboration and be more efficient. Windows RT is supposed to be manageable using Windows InTune at some point early next year which obviously isn't as nice as joining it to your domain and using existing tools but there will be the option to do it. Haven't seen anything to indicate what you will actually be able to manage with it though.
Theblacksheep Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 (edited) Local GPO can be enabled on RT devices and according to the app development guide it can also access network shares. Edited October 17, 2012 by Theblacksheep
arwen Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 Someone may know more but I always believed that the RT was the one you had at home and used for personal use and was the iPad equivalent. The advantage for a school or enterprise was the Surface Pro and the ability to join to the domain, be managed centrally and give access to what all middle managers are "desperate" for. Access to documents, collaboration and be more efficient. So I am looking forward to January when we take away their iPads and give them Surface Pro's as they tick all their initial requirements for a tablet where as the iPad ticked less than 20% of what they wanted them for. Cool, thats exactly what I thought :-)
flyinghaggis Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 I'd kind of hoped that the Windows RT tablets would be a budget alternative to be honest. If they're going to cost upwards of £500 then personally I'd rather go for an x86 based version providing it doesn't hurt the battery life too much. Hopefully Intel can pull something special out of the bag with their upcoming clovertrail atom CPU's.
localzuk Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 I'd kind of hoped that the Windows RT tablets would be a budget alternative to be honest. If they're going to cost upwards of £500 then personally I'd rather go for an x86 based version providing it doesn't hurt the battery life too much. Hopefully Intel can pull something special out of the bag with their upcoming clovertrail atom CPU's. They won't be running Atom CPUs... They'll be running i5 processors from all the blurb that's been going around.
flyinghaggis Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 They won't be running Atom CPUs... They'll be running i5 processors from all the blurb that's been going around. Sorry, I went a bit OT there. The x86 surface pro is going to be an i5 but i was just referring to Windows 8 Tablets in general! The surface pro sounds awesome but I worry about the effect of that Core i5 on its' battery life. The upcoming atom is promising power usage close to an ARM CPU so if Intel can match the performance of the tegra3 that would probably be a better fit for a tablet device IMO.
3s-gtech Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 Considering what Intel achieved with the mobile Medfield chip, I think there'll be some impressive x86 chips about for tablets in the next couple of years. Low power usage with impressive performance is already there.
edutech4schools Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 Not sure why people compare the surface pro with an i-pad. I-pads are for consumption and the surface pro is for production, 2 completely different things.
gshaw Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 Still seems odd that you can't domain an RT... if you were happy with the Metro apps for Office and wanted to primarily view documents on it surely the domain feature is simple enough to add in there? I think they missed a trick on that one (or alternatively have made a clever move by forcing people to spend more £££ on the Pro version to get the feature set they want)
jamesfed Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 Just to put the record straight – the Surface RT is (mainly) a consumer device; it does not run full Windows 8 applications and should be compared against an Android/iPad Tablet. The key advantage it does have however is the fact it runs Windows. That means yes to (among many other things) Native network share connection Native Word/Excel/PowerPoint However the Surface RT is just as suitable in education as the Apple iPad – which basically means it is wholly unsuitable and the worst possible (I would use the word stupid if speaking to someone direct) idea you could come up with. The Surface Pro (and other Windows 8 tablets) however ARE ideal for education/business as they can above all else be domain joined and managed using the tools that we all know and love (you can even manage Modern UI/Metro style applications through GPO!).
CyberNerd Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 Just to put the record straight – the Surface RT is (mainly) a consumer device; it does not run full Windows 8 applications and should be compared against an Android/iPad Tablet. The key advantage it does have however is the fact it runs Windows. That's not really an advantage then. The reason windows is/was good is because of its apps. There is a serious shortage of functional educational metro apps for RT which really makes it less functional than an ipad which is "wholly unsuitable and the worst possible idea you could come up with." 1
jamesfed Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 That's not really an advantage then. The reason windows is/was good is because of its apps. There is a serious shortage of functional educational metro apps for RT which really makes it less functional than an ipad which is "wholly unsuitable and the worst possible idea you could come up with." A shortage of Metro Style Apps yes - but on a full on Surface/other x86 Windows 8 tablet EVERY program you use in your school (be it Google Earth/2D Design/Adobe CS6/RM Maths/ect) will all work as well as the Modern UI style apps. So anyone who says Windows 8 has a shortage of Apps......point them at the millions of Windows programs that are already out there. As I said the Surface RT is not suitable for education but neither is the iPad (IMO) Surface Pro......yep thats the ticket!
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