Discussion on:

Why the Surface Pro won't fit my computing needs

You mention that the software problem is a big considerable for you... RT has a lackluster app store, but the Pro will run any desktop app you can throw at it. How is this a problem? Is this not far, far better than any tablet that's come out yet?

For me, the ability to run any Win8/Win7 capable desktop applications is the sole reason I'm going to get one. For that, I can take the hit on battery life.

Hi Jack,

The problem with Windows 8 isn't the over all software catalog, but applications that specifically work in tablet mode. As I tried to convey in the article, my ideal machine would be one that works like a traditional laptop (a use case Surface Pro nails) and one that can compete with the iPad in Tablet mode (where Surface Pro and RT fail).

Frankly, I don't care if Apple creates an iPad that will run Photoshop and Word, or Microsoft gets the Tablet side of Windows 8 working, neither can do both at this stage of the game. I find Microsoft seems to be thinking more clearly in this direction, and has come frustratingly close to executing on it, but for the reasons articulated in the article it's not yet there for my usage.

Ah, I didn't see that come through very well in the article. A fair point, though for myself it's more the "tablet that acts like a PC" that's the selling point. After all, we can expect that the available apps will grow, likely at an exponential rate from here on out.

I'm really rooting for the concept of "one device to rule them all," especially since MSFT seems to be the one that "gets" it conceptually at this point. We just need execution to catch up to the concept.

MSFT has got the concept right, the Surface W8 is not an annoying toy, I have to run virtualbox, Linux virtual machines and eclipse on whatever I use to replace my current Core i5 notebook running W8 Pro. My current notebook is fast and sort of light. I would go for a Surface if it had the power of my current Asus K-53.

That's a W8 issue, not a Surface Pro one. I acknowledge you can't get a Surface without W8, but if the application won't run on any W8 platform then it's not a hardware issue.

If the Surface is a true Wintel platform, then it should be able to run Win7, and possibly Win XP 64-bit (drivers being an issue.) 7 And XP may not handle the touch screen too well, but (again with the drivers) could handle the pen input. An interesting thing to look at is to see if someone can get the touch screen input to translate to something like touch pad input, for times when it's inconvenient to use the actual pad on the keycover. As for the rest of the hardware, the specs look like about everything else that Win 7 already runs on with Ultrabooks. Don't forget there's always virtual XP mode over Win7/8--have fun with that.

It still has the same issues as its ancestors--the full desktop Windows. Yes, it does have everything so many people demanded was "absolutely necessary for any tablet" when the iPad came out, but every one of those arguments ignored the fact that tablets with desktop Windows had been out for almost a decade even then. The only difference now is that the device is easier to carry and lighter in weight, yet still suffers with next to no battery life which was one of its main failings originally. Add to this that the vast majority of Windows apps are STILL not touch-centric and the Surface Pro simply loses every advantage it should have.

While it is true that legacy programs built for windows 7 and earler windows operating systems are not "touch centric", programs on the Surface pro and other windows 8 tablets with a stylus are "stylus friendly".
I have been using a stylus with all of my Windows tablets since 2003.
You can do anything with a non-capacitive stylus in Windows 8 that you can do with a mouse. Often times, you can do it much faster and more accurately with a stylus vs. a mouse. This has been true since Windows XP for Tablets.
Please refrain from repeating the old stylus-causes-screen-damage story. It just has not been true any of the Windows Fujitsu, InMotion, HP, and Lenovo tablets I have ever used.

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On a resistive screen, you have to put enough pressure on the plastic overlay to create a kind of contact on the sub-layer. Over time and with heavy usage, the more-used pressure areas become unusable or at best intermittent in operation. Mind you, I'm talking a minimum of one year of heavy use; the machine itself may or may not die before the contact pad.

On the other hand, a capacitive display requires NO pressure and as such will not wear out with use. Granted, it is notably more sensitive to inadvertent contact, but the display is not damaged in any way and can remain as clear and sensitive years later as though it were new. So your request to refrain from the old "stylus-causes-screen-damage story" is still in-valid. The newer technologies are notably better than the old resistive displays.

Personal opinion: I like the Wacom type of stylus better than the typical capacitive foam tip--but it's also more expensive and needs its own charging or power supply which increases cost of ownership. You get the accuracy of the older resistive system with the sensitivity and variable-pressure capabilities of the Wacom tablets--on your active screen. It's unfortunate for now that the Wacom pen stylus doesn't work on the iPad--as far as I know. I would take it in a heartbeat.

What apps will you not have? How long it the battery life? If you stay in Metro and not Desktop, how slow are the apps you are running?

supported by a significant number of people who have reviewed the Windows 8 experience.

You won't have Facebook. You won't have Twitter. Sure, you can just drop into Classic mode and run those in a full fledged app - but that model doesn't work well when you're trying to use the device in a tablet mode, and the People tile is OK for light consumption, but poor for interaction. There are too many areas where the suggestion is, "you've got a full fledged PC there, why would you *want* to do this using a mobile app"?

Because, there are times when I'll write an entire two or three paragraph response on my Nexus 7 on Google Plus or Facebook. That kind of experience sets the benchmark for the mobile device experience, and Windows 8 isn't there, yet.

Speaking of which, no Google Plus app. Sharing isn't as well integrated into the Modern-UI apps in Windows 8 as it is on Android and iOS. I can name countless things about Windows 8 that disappoint me. I'm not the only Windows 8 reviewer who has noticed that the Modern-UI apps are too slow starting up. There are a *lot* of ways that I feel like the experience is superior to either iOS or Android, too, though.

I'm with Patrick on this. I've got an ASUS ultrabook with touch screen and Windows 8 pro at my desk right now, I'm writing a blog on it in Google Docs in the desktop browser (Chrome). That experience is superior to anything any Android or iOS device can currently deliver. But too frequently I find myself going right to the desktop and not using the Modern UI. Microsoft is headed in generally the right direction, but things are still rough right now.

Social media is where Windows 8 is weakest. If I had a hybrid or convertible or Surface Pro, it *would* have Netflix and Kindle - and those are two of the biggest mobile apps for a decent mobile experience. There are just some really big gaps in their app market offerings.

There isn't a facebook app yet so I access it through the browser. I would be surprised if one is not being developed though.

Google is intentionaly dragging there feet in writing apps for Win8 and Wp8. this is a strategic decision that is intended to hurt Microsofts new efforts because they are in direct competition with Goolge. So much for Google's "Don't be Evil" mantra. That left behind when they became a publicly traded company.

You're completely wrong about sharing too. Sharing is massively integrated into Win8 and WinRT. Maybe you don't know all of the features yet.

I do agree with you on some of the Modern UI. Some of the apps are great but some of them are too blocky (like the browser). Microsoft should automatically sense whether you are using the device as a laptop or a tablet and adjust the UI accordingly. Maybe detecting a mouse or something with the gyroscope would be successfuly.

Win8/Metro is definitely a first generation effort and hopefully will be tweaked to make it better with each iteration.

Last time I checked, maybe two weeks ago, it wasn't. Good. Although Twitter is the LEAST important social media outlet to me to have a native mobile app for.

And it doesn't matter if Google is dragging their feet or not... it is Microsoft's problem if they don't have hot apps for their platform. I used to make this argument about Linux all the time. If Linux doesn't have the competitive apps that users want, they don't care if it is because the vendors won't *write* for Linux... they'll go with the platform that has what they want. So Linux distros had to figure out that problem... how do we get Netflix, for example. Now Microsoft is in that situation. They better figure it out.

Sharing is massively POORLY integrated into Windows 8 for cerain, and if it works the same way in RT, for that platform, too. I'm not wrong. If you're at all familiar with how well integrated sharing is in Android and iOS, you can't deny that Windows 8 has a poor attempt at integrated sharing. Conceptually the IDEA is cool... but, just to double check, I'm staring right now at a Windows 8 Desktop with a side-bar that reads, "Share, Nothing can be shared from the Desktop".

Now I've opened an image in the Moder-UI image browser. I've opened Share, and my options are "Fresh Paint, Mail, Skydrive and Windows Phone". Sharing and sharing integration is massively LAME in Windows 8.

When I pull down the sharing menu in gallery on my Android device, it automatically has my LAST sharing destination selected, and has the following destinations.

Amazon Send to Kindle, Backup Assistant Plus, Bluetooth, Email, Facebook, Gmail, Google+, Online Album, Photo Share, Picasa, Text Messaging, Blogger, Color, Drive, Dropbox, Foursquare, Instagram, Messenger (FB), Perfectly Clear, Skype and Twitter.

Sorry, I'm completely RIGHT about Windows 8 sharing. Wish I wasn't, but I am.

It appears that the iPad is still the best overall option since integration is more capable, but I will also note that the current concept for RT/Win8 is still the better one. This may be a case, again, that even though Apple doesn't do the job first, they'll be the one that gets it right--first.

Will make it available to the masses under a more ethical business model.

But I would certainly say, 'less expensive business model.'

Can't find it in the market. Please elaborate.

If it isn't in the official market, by the way, even if it exists, it might as well *not* exist.

I found it through the Store icon which came as part of Windows 8. I am at work now so I can't give you many more details but I believe that it is the official Twitter app for Win8 Metro. I don't trust using 3rd party apps to login to anything so I am pretty good about checking who the developer is.

If it isn't coming up for a search for Twitter... that is a problem, too.

My, you're really racking up the '-1's on this one

When you search from the store and the Search interface pops up on the right hand side you might need to click on the "Store" entry. It was searching my machine and Apps instead of the store. I think that it was because of some settings that I chose previous to that.

My favorite kind...

"I don't like what you say enough to ding you, but not enough to tell you why..." Helpful readers are helpful.

Sorry about that. I don't know what happened. I checked the developer for the Twitter app and it is not official Twitter. I rarely trust anyone other than the official site with my credentials but I only use twitter to read tech tweets so maybe I decided it wasn't important in this case.

There isn't a twitter app for the start menu. There are third party apps but no app from Twitter.

Once logged into Google +, twitter, or facebook, you can pin them to the start menu. From then on, you will have a tile on your start screen to get directly into the browser version of the app.
Doesn't this work for you?

Directing you to a legacy desktop web app that is optimized for mouse/keyboard input is a huge elephant in the room for Windows 8 RT and IA (8 and Pro) right now.

It is a crutch. When I am in the Modern-UI gallery and I want to share a picture, and the options are Fresh Paint, Mail, SkyDrive, and Windows Phone - Microsoft has an integration problem with the maturity of their touch-oriented interface. Windows 8 needs to have *all* social media as integrated throughout the OS as Android and iOS, and right now, they're not even in the same ballpark. Windows needs stand alone Modern-UI apps for Facebook, Twitter and Google+ that meet or exceed what is available for Android and iOS, and in some of those cases, the decision to create an authorized 1st party app for those media services is outside of Microsoft's control. That could be a big liability for adoption of Windows 8 *outside* of professional productivity models.

Right now that is EXACTLY how I do things like sharing images or links or other information to social sites - I drop back into Classic mode and do it in a regular web browser. That works, and arguably having that flexibility can be an *advantage* (things that I wouldn't be able to do on an Android or iOS device until I got back to a "real" PC, I can do on one Windows 8 device, right then) - but it also doesn't offer the convenience or transparency of execution that mobile platform users expect.

It is one of the biggest obstacles to getting mainstream consumer adoption of Windows 8 as a single unified platform across their devices.

I am talking about using the "Metro UI" version of IE 10 to access FB, Twitter and Google + - Not the desktop version of IE 10. It is slightly more touch friendly than the desktop version with Pin to Start, Tools, Refresh, Find on page, drag down to see open windows, swipe, etc.
I can zoom in and out if I want to use my finger to interact with the screen but that is not really my style.
Personally, I do not like virtual keyboards taking up 1/4 to 1/3 of my screen so I will always opt for a real keyboard for more than 140 character input. In addition, I am a stylus user. I have been using it for so long on Windows tablets (8 years) that it's just second nature to use it to navigate legacy programs (I'm talking about non Metro-ized Windows 8 apps) just like most people use a mouse or trackpad. I also use my stylus a lot on my Galaxy Note 2.
I use touch (finger) input only for large motor function tasks - swiping a window or scrolling tiles.
I am probably pretty rare in this respect.
I fully agree with you about the ability to share from different "Metro apps".
It is certainly not as prevalent as it is in Android.

What I'm hearing in all these comments is that Surface Pro is great for a lot of uses, and has deficits for some Android- and iOS-style uses. Given that Surface AND Win 8 have just emerged, and the others have been refining for years, I give full marks to Microsoft development.

So it might take 8.1, .2, .3 to achieve nirvana, what's new? I hear everyone saying Surface is the right strategy, so I'm getting on board, and can't wait for the day when I run a single OS on Server, Client, Laptop, Tablet, and Phone, and that OS runs them ALL really well. Knowing quite a lot about product development and planning, I can see nirvana from here, while Android & iOS just don't have that kind of potential. All aboard the Microsoft express.!

I'ts just amateur hour around here - the same short blog style posts with no new content.

This is what passes for tech journalism these days; it's become a race to the bottom.

I'm using the Samsung Smart PC Pro, so very similar to the the Surface Pro. Samsung has a larger screen and different keyboard. And I'm told the active digitizer is better on Samsung.

I love mine. Finally great processor, RAM, screensize and active digitizer all rolled into one.

And OneNote is the best program ever.

I have been waiting a long time for this release. What interests me the most is the ability to run VBA macros in Excel. Currently this cannot be done on any tablet without third party servers (or at least I haven't found another way).

Aside from software though, I think the surface pro is great in regards to battery life. Yeah it may not outlast the Ipad on a single charge, but you can't replace an Ipad battery like you can with the surface. Carry an extra battery or two with you!

The two things I would truly like to read about in an article/review are the heat dissipation and noise level of this tablet. I work in sales and and clients will not be fascinated if this tablet is too hot to hold or too noisy to have a conversation over.

Remember that Li-ion batteries only have a shelf life of 3 years typical, up to 5 if you only use it or store it in an air-conditioned room with great circulation. So 3 years then. How many iPads in the landfill needlessly?

Keep in mind that nearly every hybrid and electric car on the market uses Li-ion batteries and have an expected battery operational life of over 7 years, not three. As such, the argument about the Li-ion on the iPad as a weakness is hardly valid. I'm still using a first-gen iPad and still get more than 5 days of standby time with no usage and it really depends on how I use it as to how fast it depletes its charge. Since I don't use it at home as much as I do on the road, three days of intermittent use is normal for me and almost two days of fairly heavy use when relying on a weak 3G signal where no other internet source is available. It still recharges to full power in about 3-4 hours of charging off the car battery port.

When will I buy a new iPad? When this one dies, or iOS itself advances to where its integration with OS X makes it that much closer to fully replacing a laptop so that I can do anything on it that I do on my desktop at home--including playing the same games.

"...Im left with carrying a laptop and tablet for most of my computing tasks."

I've read similar comments from others who say they have to carry a laptop and a tablet. I'm not a mobile worker, and my tablet experience is limited to loading an OS and apps on XP-era equipment and handing it to the end user. With that background in mind, I ask:

If you're going to carry the laptop, why bring the tablet along? What functions does it provide that the laptop can't, and are they worth toting two devices?

Here are a couple of examples:

1) On the plane, if I want to relax my tablet (these days usually an iPad) goes in the seatback pocket. I'll catch up on a book via Kindle, read the WSJ through their app, or read RSS feeds. There are no good "standard" Windows 8 equivalents to these apps (except perhaps Kindle), since desktop apps are designed for a connected, keyboard/mouse-driven experience.

2) In meetings, I use the iPad as a digital notepad. I know many people use their laptops to take notes, but I find this diminishes the client interaction (ever try talking to someone while furiously pecking away and staring at a screen)? A nuance perhaps, but 95% of my job is interacting with people in a small conference room setting, so this is a major factor for my type of work.

I use the laptop for standard business tasks: spreadsheets, email composition, document creation. The tablet doesn't do this well, but does the above tasks so well it's worth the space in my bag.

I want my leisure device and my content creation device to be a single, thin, light, quick, silent device that runs for an entire coast-to-coast flight with juice left over when I land and can sit on standby for an entire day and still have most of its battery left when I need it.

But I also want something that will work with web apps like Google Docs, that will get me into Facebook and Google Plus and Tech Republic so I can write posts like this.

Without having to lug around a backpack full of so many cables and wires and electronic devices that I end up holding the entire TSA patdown line up an extra 20 minutes while they figure out what to do with me.

It is a holy grail for highly mobile users who do a lot of content creation, I think, especially those ones who like to use their devices for personal as well as professional pursuits.

Android is moving in that direction, and Windows 8 is moving in that direction, but they both still have enough challenges that I see myself carrying around a Windows laptop and an Android tablet for at least the next 11-18 months.

I don't really care if ARM gets me there or Intel gets me there, if Windows, Android or iOS gets me there. Whoever can get me there first will get to take my money.

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I agree completely. I don't care who gets the feature set correct first, but right now it looks like Surface Pro is my jam. I need that USB-Serial support. I need that "external monitor that isn't just duplicating my tablet display" support. I need that digitizer pen support, not the usually-pathetic capacitive stylus that forces awkward palm-rejection solutions.
Unfortunately I also want 10 hour battery life but I guess that's the thing to go for now.

Both Gray and dcolbert above point out that they want a single device that can do everything they need. As yet, no one device really meets those needs, though the Surface tablets and the iPad come close--with Android carrying a couple of different advantages. Still, if they don't have the battery life, would any of them truly meet mobility needs?

A small anecdote:
I write fiction and do private tech consulting for income. I use an iPad whenever I'm not at home. This past Wednesday, I had to take my wife to the doctor's for a followup after cancer surgery (no, I'm not asking for condolences or pity, just making a point). My iPad was fully charged and by the time my wife came out I'd used about 10% of that battery. On returning home, I accidentally left the iPad in my car--where it remained for 48 hours in temperatures that went from near-70 degrees on Wednesday to 26 degrees on Thursday night. When I retrieved the iPad from the car, the battery still read 89% despite the 36 hours off of a charger and sitting in sub-freezing temperatures for a minimum of 16 hours. Please note that this is a first-generation, 3G model, not one of the 'latest and greatest' with the newest battery technologies.

With this, I personally feel that the iPad is still the best all-around product for productivity and entertainment in a mobile device--despite the other platforms' other advantages. The Surface RT is, to me the best non-Apple device despite its other limitations while honestly Android for now seems to be the better productivity platform--on a hybrid device like the ASUS Transformer. Microsoft has the concept down, but doesn't yet have the execution. Android lacks the concept and the execution of integration while iOS lacks the concept but succeeds with the execution as far as it goes (based on this article Apple's integration and automatic synchronization of data is still better, though it doesn't run desktop apps themselves.) Use what you like; hate what you will; no one product will meet everybody's needs or desires.

Maybe Apple got the standby thing right from the get-go. Android didn't. My first tablet drained so fast, I had taken to shutting it down on longer periods of inactivity. Nothing to do with battery chemistry or capacity, thus was all software.

My replacement, a Transformer, seems to use no power for even days on standby. Even with a faster clock, it seems way ahead of what I've heard of the Surface RT. The good news is, they're similar enough hardware, this might be a patch to the Surface and/or WinRT. First place to look: Android uses the tiny 5th processor in the Tegra 3 during standby. The Surface, not yet.

As for the Pro, sleep mode on regular windows may be more evolved, but with hotter hardware, that may just take some time...

and only lose 1% of battery charge in 48 hours--with a first-generation model. Why?

Yes, I would have to say it's in the software, but it's also in the design of the device. An ARM or Atom processor doesn't draw as much power as an x86 and as such automatically extends the life of a given battery by some factor. It has already been reported that the Surface RT gets roughly 8 hours of battery in use while the Surface Pro gets about 3 hours. Assuming all else the same for just the moment and we see that the different processor alone makes a huge difference in performance. By turning things around and jailbreaking the SurfaceRT, you find you get access to all of Windows 8--but desktop performance is abysmal.

In other words, it's not just software that gives longer battery life, it's the combination of hardware and software--the engineering of the device along with the operating system that controls how well a given product will perform. This is also why the so-touted "tech specs" are such a poor measure of how well a machine will work for any given individual.

Apple is miles ahead of anyone else on battery technology in these areas, although it looks like Android smartphone manufacturers have caught up and even exceeded Apple on the iPhone/iPod Touch.

But even the Macbook Air does magic things with standby and battery runtime that the best Windows Ultrabooks can't quite match.

I think it has something to do with Steve Jobs and black magic.

I had my Android tablet just yesterday, in a meeting that went from 8AM to 6:30PM, taking notes with a stylus all the while. Most everyone else had to plug in, and type. I had a keyboard when I needed it (some involved emails at lunch), but I find this far superior to a laptop for this kind of thing. And while the Surface Pro may find a niche, it's basically a keyboard-optional ultrabook, even to the price. It's going to need a plug, just like all the laptops. To me, anyway, having used Android tablets even before they got good, the fundamental thing about a tablet, the thing Apple got right after a decade of Windows tablets, is all-day untethered operation. Without that, you may not have a keyboard, but you're not a proper tablet.

The Atom tablets may fix that for Windows 8. And they'll probably run Metro apps as well as the Surface RT. But they'll offer the same real-Windows performance that's all but killed the Netbook. And if users are complaining about Surface Pro performance -- with a mid-range laptop CPU -- that doesn't bode well for Atom driven Win8 tablets. Also, Microsoft got one thing fundamentally correct in the Pro: the wacom-style digitizer. You don't have the right interface to Windows desktop with a finger driven capacitive touchscreen.

Or the lack of storage.
http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/29/3929110/surface-pro-disk-space-windows-8

On a device that can easily hook up to a 1TB external 2.5" hard drive.

If you purchase the high-capacity version of any tablet, Android or iOS, you spend far more than the extra memory actually should cost. If you buy Android and you buy the right tablet, then it is a simple matter to hook up an external USB drive, be it a Thumbdrive in 32, 64 or 128GB capacity or a hard-drive with up to TBs of storage.

On the original Surface RT 32GB the space remaining is very limited and that can cause a lot of hardships when trying to install larger mobile-Apps. The wildly popular Nexus 7 only released in 8GB and 16GB versions, and Google decided to disable the ability to mount external filesystems. THAT was a mistake. The 8GB is now discontinued, the 16GB is the low end, and the 32GB is the answer to that problem... which is still not an ideal solution.

But with a Windows device, this isn't a question. It is part of the OS philosophy to mount external file systems and the hardware supports it through SD cards, and USB drives.

16GB on a Nexus 7 wasn't enough for me, ever. 16GB has never been a problem for me on my TF101 or TF300 tablets, though - because they both easily support external memory.

But seriously, that's the base install, after a year of windows updates, you will have no space left at all.
And most applications still want to install to the C drive, especially everything from Microsoft.

And I have a Nexus 7 32gb, so they made them with more storage.

"And most applications still want to install to the C drive, especially everything from Microsoft."

So override the default and install to an external drive. Yes, you're going to have to lug that around too, but I suspect if you're installing enough apps to fill the drive, a tablet may not be the best device for you.

Just one ignorant opinion based on a complete lack of practical experience, you understand.

Like everything labeled windows live, or metro apps.
Various frame works.

So what would take up 23 gigs?
My whole music folder is 22gigs.
Movies are about 700megs and up, a 1080 movie reaches around 13 gigs.

I guess if the typical use is web browsing, its fine, but then why not use the RT model instead?

I don't have a need or desire for a portable computing / communication / entertainment device. Among my reasons are the limited drive space issues you point out.

However, my previous point was referring only to 'traditional', non-Metro applications. I haven't seen one of those in years that didn't allow redirecting the installation process to the folder or drive of your choice. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

about storing your complete music collection and movies on your Nexus 7 with only 16GB of storage?

Really... I don't get this... you're complaining about a Windows device only having 23GB free, yet you have an Android device that comes out of the box with less than 16GB available, and the Android device is NOT user expandable *by design*.

That makes no sense.

So it is less of an issue.

The Surface Pro is targeted as a PC replacement.

Modern-UI apps are? I'm assuming they're smaller than full blown Classic Desktop apps. But I don't know.

I don't think it is a replacment... it is a HYBRID. Somewhere inbetween. If you're a power user, they would probably suggest an Ultrabook. You've got to know what your target use is.

not an all-out replacement unless your needs are very, very small.

Why in the world would you want to store a bunch of 1080 movies on a tablet? That just seems idiotic to me. Why would you not just get a network storage device that lets you stream you movies directly from it? 128GB in a tablet is far more memory than you should need. A tablet is never designed to store every single photo or movie that you have. This is why they make external storage.
As far as music, why keep your entire music library on a mobile device. You would not be able to listen to all 22GB for the rest of this year. Again, stream it from a network storage device, or carry it on an SDXC or thumb drive.
Memory is the least important thing here, because there are always ways to expand it. But battery life, comparable to other tablets, should be number one, followed by RAM and processor.
The App store will grow, very quickly. It's Microsoft people, they have a little bit of sway. If people want to mess around with them, Microsoft can strong arm them right back. There is no other company that has the resources of Microsoft.
The software will improve, as well as the apps. And don't forget, anyone can write and publish apps for Windows, without having to get approval from the Gestapo, as you do for all Apple systems.

You have to jailbreak the RT to access the rest of Windows, and honestly performance will suffer if you do. But that does explain what's taking up 23 Gigs, now doesn't it?

That's what I do with my Android phone. Load your music on the Micro SD and when you switch phones, you can just plug your music back in; No need to download them all over again.
Micro SD cards are smaller than your pinky nail and you can often get one online for $40 to $50.
I keep one handy on my keychain in a USB drive.

I'm going to bet that the vast majority of PC casuals have no idea how application installations work, and install all to the C drive. Have no idea where their photos are except that they are in the "photos" library, no idea where their movies are except for the "Videos" library.
I bet they are going to run out of space, and think their expensive "laptop" or "tablet" is broken.

True, most people don't know how application installations work. They just accept the defaults.
But I have to disagree on the photo issue. Most people DO know about USB flash drives. They know they can store files such as photos on a USB flash drive. It would not be a stretch for them to understand that a MicroSD is another storage device like a USB flash drive. Some people even know that if you insert a USB Flash drive with music on it in their car radio, it will automatically find and play the music.
I don't know how friendly Windows 8 is to a MicroSD card but my android automatically catalogs music and photos from my MicroSD so I don't have to think about where they are stored. Hopefully, Windows 8 works the same way.

But on their own, I think many would have problems.
I know its difficult for us IT people to think of it as difficult. But you have to remember many users have the attitude that they don't want to learn, they think its an IT thing and they aren't interested.
So the question is, are these the people that will buy the surface pro? Or is the surface pro a purely IT product?

Maybe Win8 could have fixed this issue by having the expandable storage automatically merge with the C drive, sort of like how phones do. Thus removing the concept of drives.

"So the question is, are these the people that will buy the surface pro?"
Sure, many people are attracted to bright and shiny objects.
Will they install lots of apps? Probably. Most of them are free!! Yay!
Will they store lots of music locally? Maybe. Maybe not.
Will they install lots of desktop programs? Probably not. Most of them cost serious money. Booo!
Will they run up against "insufficient storage" issues? Probably
Then what will they do? Hopefully, they will call someone who knows IT who will clean it up and explain how to manage their computer storage better. It will probably fall on deaf ears and they will call the IT guy or gal when it fills up again.
But isn't that what we are here for?

"Or is the surface pro a purely IT product?" Absolutely not.

Or even friends, at best I get a pie or something when I fix an old ladies laptop.

In fact, I just had to replace the hard drive in a client's MBP because he filled up iPhoto with 37,000 images. Interestingly, the drive he had been told was 'toast' now serves as an external drive as I replaced the 320GB internal drive with a 1TB model and moved all those images to the external one which is now only half-full.

I try to encourage them to solve it themselves.

Thankfully Windows added some useful features.
An often forgotten one, but is very useful for people that don't understand "Drives" is the send to menu. USB drives automatically show up in the send to menu. That's how I tell people to copy their files to a USB drive. I think this feature was added first in Xp (or maybe 2000, I never really used 2000)

I look at "free support" as a deposit in the favor bank.

If you're installing so much that you need an external drive, you're a power user who knows how to deal with these things.

It really seems like pretty much a non-issue to me... or one that is easily addressed, if it presents a problem.

You know why? Because 16GB and no SD or USB Host was a stupid idea. Especially when the answer was, "leverage the cloud, with your wifi only device..."

I gave that one (the 16GB) to my kid. 32GB is still limiting. When and if I hit that ceiling, that is really IT. I can do an OTG cable and Nexus Media Importer, but that is a total APPLE way to do it.

With the Windows tablets, you CAN use an extrnal hard drive.

Your points about updates and base installs to C:... you might have a point there. We'll see how Microsoft handles that. I think it is too early to say for sure that the traditional Windows approach will carry forward with Windows 8. Android had that problem too, which caused aftermarket solutions like "App2SD" and eventually forced Google and manufacturers to address that fact... that an 8GB system with a portion used up by the OS and updates didn't leave much for apps and media if you couldn't move things to some sort of external drive. So it isn't like this is a uniquely MICROSOFT problem, and if Android was able to overcome it, so should Windows 8.

Isn't this all you need?
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=95_96&item_id=029464&sid=8c11190d51e0g4pv7jn7g2vc03

Nexus 7 does not support mounting external file systems. You need a OTG USB cable (different than what you've linked to), and an aftermarket, third party utility called Nexus Media Importer...

And then you can only copy one way... from the external storage to the Nexus 7, not from the Nexus to the thumb drive.

Sounds like maybe TR needs an article on this.

Then why did they use a USB port?

Apple's Camera Connection Kit did that for the original iPad. Easy enough to transfer photos to the external drive.

Is a great example of where Apple's stubborn "there is the door if you don't like it" attitude annoys me.

But yet not only are you right about the Apple kit offering this kind of feature in a limited scope - but it actually does it *better* than the Nexus 7.

I just reviewed an HTC DNA for my personal blog, and with a simple micro-usb to usb-B (host) adapter you can mount and access external file-systems directly, copying from any location on the drive to any location on the device, or the reverse, or just loading media from the USB stick. On the Nexus, even with a USB OTG cable, you still can't actually directly access the file systems, you've got a very limited scope of what you can do. Google is behaving very Apple-like with their Nexus devices. I'd buy the HTC DNA over the Nexus 4, for that reason, if I were replacing my phone today.

I can see that possibly being an issue on the RT, but not the Pro. The Pro is the full installation of Win8, so you have full control over everything, just as you would on a laptop or desktop. Even if it didn't give you the option during installation, go into the registry and change the setting. It is quite simple to do, especially for a supposed "power user."

My Asus Transformer has 64GB internal, 64GB on a microSD. Add a USB dongle, and it can use a USB stick or HDD, even NTFS. Add the keyboard, and you get USB and a full SD card slot, great for backing up or offloading cameras on the road.

I think Google is cutting flash to save costs. But also, they are pushing the web centrisim as their mandate. Which is fine for some people, but a big problem if you don't have good, constant internet access.

The spin Google has put on it is that mounting external file systems is a security and stability risk. I don't believe that at all. I think it is about Google wanting to push users to their cloud solutions. They think if they can get enough devices out there to enough consumers, the demand for persistent, ubiqtious, affordable high speed mobile broadband will make the carriers deliver that. I don't think that is the case.

for file storage--NOT for application installs. Still, unless you're running full desktop apps, your files are likely to be much larger than the app that uses them--especially when you're working with graphics. I just replaced a client's internal hard drive on an '09 MacBook Pro and set his original 320GB hard drive up as an external, pocket-sized drive that perfectly meets the need for carrying large numbers of photos and Photoshop files--the files that originally filled up that drive when it was the System boot drive.

Every one forgets about SkyDrive and Google Drive. You get 7GB on the former, I have Google Drive, but don't use it. Not sure of capacity.

Having external storage can be (or not) a valuable security feature. On the one hand, if you lose the USB or SD you lose files. If you lose the tablet, you lose files and the finder may be able to access your online storage. Being security conscious (password protection on the bios and the OS, for example) and making (Oh, what is that word?) backups are becoming more essential than ever.

My parents have a 10gb max on their "high speed internet".

And that and other stupid things like outrageous speed restrictions are common around here.

I pay 70 bucks a month for this. I probably have better speeds than most thanks to low congestion because I live in a condo.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/2479658050.png
It says right on it I am faster than 77% of Canada. That must mean I am faster than nearly everyone in Ontario, Quebec, BC, and Alberta.

My SD card writes at a minimum of 80Mb/s, reads much faster, and I can transfer all 64GB if I like. Until about a week ago, my internet was 1.5Mb/s peak, with a 550 MB cap before being all but shut off. And today a peak of 12Mb/s and a 25GB monthly cap. Why would I upload media from my PC to the web, having to deal with low speeds, caps, net congestion, and 100x more power consumption, just to get this on my tablet. Not to mention the SD card cost $60, once. The internet is $130/month.

Sure, most have better net options, but why spend net resources on things better done locally. There are plenty of good uses for the net, but it doesn't do everything better.

The Pro will be both a great consumption device and a brilliant workhorse.... Battery a problem ... That is no big deal at all ... Your review is complete bias and garbage

Patrick,
From your unsubstantiated comments you are clearly an apple fan boy. There is nothing wrong with this as I also have an iPad that was supplied to me from work. If you like apple products just come out and say it, as there is nothing wrong with preferring one over the other or even liking multiple platforms. What is ridiculous however are completely false comments about battery and software not being able to meet your needs. Anyone who knows anything technically will absolutely disagree with you on these statements. If your going to write an article about products and how they are successful or fail to meet your needs, please submit substantial data backing up your comments. We don't need an article on unsubstantiated data that is comprised of personal preference.

The article is about why the author won't be getting one. It's his opinions and his needs, it's not about other people usage.

I agree that when I read an article pertaining to a device I am looking into purchasing I would like to see some numbers and facts regarding it's performance, etc. But the title of the article does state very clearly that it is why HE will not purchase one.

I still plan on getting one but after reading this article it makes me want to find more articles with actually benchmarks for comparison.

Godwin's Law should be expanded to include a 'fan boy' corollary.

I vote we simply block any message using the term.

Months and months ago.

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/career/five-online-behaviors-that-are-overused-and-misapplied/4411?tag=content;siu-container

Well, that was trolling... but in the forums, I've expanded it to the Fanboy label, too.

Just because you say something I don't agree with doesn't necessarily make either of us fanboys. But you wouldn't know it, reading blogs and forums. I do suspect that the more of a fanboy you are, the more likely you are to apply, and particularly misapply, the label.

Case in point: I said a few true things about Apple some days back, and a suspected Microsoft fanboy immediately assumed I was one of the devoted residents of the reality distortion field. I mean, me, an Apple fanboy? I last used MacOS in 1997, around the time Jobs came back and proceeded to try and kill all the Mac Compatible companies.. mine included. Didn't even use it much then -- CAD tools run on Windows. Which I use, along with Linux, on my desktop. Android alone occupies the OS slot of my mobile units.

Overused, indeed. And improperly applied, without much thought.

I've never used any of their products, and have seen only a '90s-era desktop up close.

If so, I'm sure you deserved it.

I don't think even you could stretch the truth that much out of recognizable shape. I recall it was some 'one-post wonder' who strutted his hour upon the stage, etc.

/sarcasm
Do you feel better now?

I'll be getting one. I have an RT that works quite well.I've handled a couple of IT emergencies now with it, tethering to my HTC 8x for internet access away from any hotspots.

The RT works well as a window into a more powerful computer (RDP for the win!) Opening and working with Excel docs is clean and works great. The mix of touch and keyboard works just fine for me. But it's missing the ability to install true Windows applications and proper Outlook.

For the apps, I need wifi heat mapping and some console emulation tools that I use fairly regularly. ATM my Macbook Pro does that. For Outlook, well... I need more than the silly RT app has. I need Outlook and my shared contacts lists.

It's really nice to have a unified interface between my 3 primary devices: Windows Phone, Win 8 desktop, and Surface tablet.

My family has a rich variety of smartphones and tablets - the whole gamut, from Apple to Android to Microsoft. I've tried them all. Until recently I was headed for the XYBoard Android, but then I got my hands on a Surface RT. After finding out more details about the Surface Pro, I have set my many pennies aside for it.
After all, I'm a Microsoft shop-type-guy: all my certs are MS and Cisco. I may regret the short battery life but I will love that all my apps and tricks will work with this. With a full-size USB 3.0 port, Intel processor......yeah, I'm taking the plunge.

I have similar work demands, and have arrived at the same conclusion. I spend time at the office, travel on the plane where I use my iPad mini for movies, music, and web browsing. The Macbook Pro is my power laptop for traveling, and I use it for PowerPoint presentations. The Galaxy Note 2 takes care of my mobile needs (Calendar, email, tasks, notes, okay games too).

What I wish for is a Surface Pro that looks like the RT version, has good battery life, can run iTunes, Office software (it already does), integrates my Google ecosystem, so I can simplify my life. I want one device I can work and travel with for media consumption, and perhaps a decent smart phone (even a BB10). That's it!

Perhaps battery technology, integrated touch-friendly software, more apps, and a special focus on usability vs utility will get me to switch over.

p.s. My work and home desktops are pre-Windows 8 PCs.

Don't jump on the guy for expressing his opinions.
Granted I disagree with them.
I think most his criticisms are not accurate. I can read any article or do any work on my equivalent tablet.
But his discussion of how the TABLET apps are not up to speed with comparable Ipad apps is true. Windows needs to develop some method of making finger input easier on its desktop apps. I personally think that their tablet apps are not that far behind, and irrelevant, but then I use desktop mode for everything - and have on tablets for years with no problems.
His issue with battery life is a valid concern for him. Maybe his laptop gets much better battery life, or the combination of ipad and laptop give him enough battery life. Honestly never been a big concern for me, as I can normally find an outlet - but if he can't and needs more then that is an issue.

I have never been happier with a computer or tablet and finally have exactly what I have always wanted.

I personally can't wait until the Surface Pro is released! I currently use a PC at work but also have an iPhone, iPad, and MacAir. The Surface Pro will allow me to replace the PC, iPad and MacAir with one device. I've had an iPhone since they were first released but if this goes well I will also make the switch to a Windows phone. Meeting all my business and personal needs with only 2 devices is extremely appealing.

I'll be adding the surface to my arsenal. I use a Dell Lattitude for my desktop, meetings, and home. I'll use the surface for my meetings and home.

Your not getting it for battery life because your at the airport/ on the plane? You do realize there are plenty of outlets in the terminal, and every plane in 2013 has an outlet in the passenger seat, I don't know what chicken coup your flying in.

I do in excess of 100K miles/year, mostly on US Air, and it's delightful 80's vintage fleet. I've never thought of their planes in the context of a chicken coop analogy (would a "chicken coup" be a poultry-driven revolution?), but it seems appropriate. There are few outlets on US Air, and when they are there, and they're actually working/turned on, they largely follow the Empower plug standard which appears to have been largely abandoned.

I know only of the one in 'Chicken Run', where they overthrow the farmers / pot pie makers.

out of POT?

No wonder you were seeing flying chicken coups.

Aren't I screwed up enough for you as it is?

I have a small portable charger that gives me up to 3 charges for my cell. It can fully charge two devices at once (cell and laptop, etc). and is the size of a slightly wide cell phone. I would think two of these would keep the Surface Pro running into the wee hours. Better still.... What if MS bought a company that manufactures these and puts one in every Surface Pro?

When was the last time you flew in the US or Europe? Unfortunately, the major world air carriers have yet to consult me about the condition and/or age of their fleet, but the majority of planes I end up on are 80's vintage, and do not include outlets. When you fly more than once a year, this might actually become a legitimate business concern.

a US-style two-prong or grounded three-prong 110v outlet on a plane? I admit I only fly once a year or so, and have never had a reason to look for one, but I can't believe I've overlooked them completely up until now.

In the newer business class cabins they tend to have the cool "universal" AC outlets that will accept any international AC plug (they look like what you'll tend to see on international outlet converters, the ones that have a dozen or so holes). Probably 90% of my travel is domestic so this doesn't help.

Most domestic flights that have power run DC in the guise of "cigarette lighter" plugs or "Empower," the latter of which seems to have fallen out of favor with the 3rd party power adapter manufacturers. I'm not sure if DC is somehow more efficient in an airplane-type environment or what. In either case, since it's DC it's another adapter and mess of wires to throw in the bag that I'd like to avoid.

I'm in violent agreement with those here that suggest my usage is unique. For most people a 4 hour battery is perfect. For someone that's highly mobile, or in situations where you can't "plug in" during the workday (arguably more common than jumping on planes for many knowledge workers) this would be a major detriment in what I see as the perfect computing device: one that can combine laptop functionality and an iPad or Android-like tablet experience into one device.

So either I don't have them back in steerage, or didn't recognize them as anything except cigarette lighters (which I -assumed- were disabled when smoking on board was banned).

But very rarely. Maybe that was on the international flights on 747s.

That makes sense. Or maybe I was flying business class in a 737 across the country. It seemed like it would become a common thing, then it just disappeared. Maybe around the time laptops started catching on fire?

I always figured they can't, that's why I have never seen one.

I never liked the idea of 120 rows of seats all plugged in with their laptops sucking juice from the airplane. I'm sure it is on a system isolated from the plane's flight systems... but it just never felt right to me.

Are a tiny insignificant portion of the world.

Situation is similar (although I have less experience) in China and the ME but I commented on the routes I ply the most frequently.

Ryan279.

I forgot Australia was the financial, cultural and technical hub of *all* of western society. Where would we be without Mel Gibson, AC/DC, and The Wiggles?

Come on. I hate this response. US and Europe are not only vital hubs for international commerce, industry, technology and cultural exchange...

But how can you ding a writer for NOT writing about something that he DOESN'T claim to have any expertise in? If I write an article and you're in a remote province of China... many of my observations are not going to apply to you. I don't think I should need to point that OUT, and why would anyone ELSE need to point it out?

I used to get the "Nokia is HUGE in Europe" argument when I would write Android articles.

Yeah? Well it was almost completely ABSENT here in the U.S. by that point... which is where I live and what my focus was on.

Sure enough... that turned out to be somewhat SIGNIFICANT for Nokia.

This always reminds me of complaints when a US Citizen refers to themselves as an American and someone else makes a big deal about Canada, Mexico and South America *also* being full of "Americans". It is politically motivated - it has nothing to do with the technology discussion taking place.

Ok... heh... "Replying to Ryan..." got it... in the context of a RESPONSE to that particular message... I see the point you were making, and retract my above rant. You've accidently discovered one of my hot buttons. Sorry, you may go on about your business, and my apologies to any Australians I may have offended in the bargain... Your country is a lovely place full of intriguing culture and history. But Crocodile Dundee was a mistake.

Don't go hating on The Wiggles.

AC-DC while originally Australian live in the UK now.

Col

I really don't care what "business" thinks. There are 6-7 billion people on the planet. You work out what fraction is the USA and Europe and hence their relative importance.

Patrick, I've written several pro-Windows 8 pieces here at TR, and those have been largely subjective opinion (which I like to call *experience*). I've had a couple readers politely me call me out on that, but nowhere near the kind of vindictive and angry response you've gotten here on what is a pretty fair and non-biased review of the Windows 8 experience.

Not only was Patrick clear that this was his opinion in the actual headline, but he is right. This isn't Apple fanboyism. There are some significant liabilities for Windows 8 at the moment. It needs some maturity. Some things don't work well and Microsoft needs to figure out how to fix that. The app store is bare. Performance isn't on par with an ASUS TF101 OG Transformer in many cases... despite being on high end Intel multi-core processors.

It shuts down, suspends, boots and resumes super-quick, even on dated hardware. It manages battery life better than any previous Windows OS. It has the foundations of the *best* design philosophy and innovative and unique approach for a touch-screen OS of any of the platforms that are currently viable. iOS and Android really just took the traditional icon-based desktop application approach and shrunk it down onto a mobile device with icons big enough and spaced far enough apart that they were easy to launch. Microsoft is looking at what a mobile-touch OS should be from an entirely different perspective, without legacy design baggage. That is risky but exciting, and cool.

I just bought an ASUS touch screen laptop, and I'm really considering selling my ASUS TF300 and just keeping the Nexus 7 for my portable tablet. The ASUS laptop isn't good enough as a mobile device to replace my Android devices completely, but it sure makes the TF300 look under-powered and behind the curve for the *docked* usage model in Android. I'm absolutely an Android advocate, there is no doubt about it. But the reasons I advocate Android, if Windows can do it better, they'll lose a pundit.

But we're not at that point yet... in *my* opinion.

This whole, "we only want facts, not opinions" direction troubles me too. Facts are just spec sheets and benchmark tests. The intangible part that is subjective is what makes one device wildly successful (like the iPad) where another device that beats it on paper fails to win the market. Anyone can present the raw facts - but if you can find a trusted *opinion*, that is worth 10 times as much.

The only sign of fanboyism I see here are the uncalled for attacks against the writer for daring to say something not glowingly positive about Windows 8. Windows 8 has warts, Patrick called some of them out. Good, they need to be called out, so they can be fixed.

I've been called far worse on TR and even to my face, so no worries. I find there is an overabundance of "feature peeping" in IT, so my focus has always been how I'd use a device, and whether that device would augment and enhance my IT "tool belt." I frankly don't care if there's an extra GB or gHz somewhere on the spec sheet, if it takes 3 seconds to delete an email when the competition does it in 0.3 seconds that's a usability problem. As you clearly stated, there are dozens of news outlets that will hammer on specs and benchmarks all day long, whereas TR is trying to do something unique and show how these tools might be used effectively in the enterprise.

Windows 8 is a bold move and one that I think is in the right direction, but after my time with the Surface RT, I find the product is just not there for my usage, and the Pro doesn't address my concerns without adding additional compromises. Some aspects are tantalizingly close, but it's not tipping the scales enough to suck a grand out of my pocket just yet.

Now that the poor horse has been flogged, kicked, accused of "fanboyism", etc., ad nauseum, I'll make this my final comment. As always, I'll gladly respond to email should anyone wish to discuss this further.

If you agree with me you are a great Bloke who knows it all and if you disagree you are a Fan Boy who hates what I like and loves what I hate.

There are a couple of things to take into account with AC on Aircraft the most obvious is that they are not True Sine Wave Power and may do damage to batteries that they charge because the Voltage isn't a True Sine Wave or so tightly voltage controlled.

Over all it's OK for most devices but it may be an issue for some and Airline Companies tend not to refit aircraft every few years once they have then fitted out as it's expensive and cause fares to increase or their Share Holders to be less likely to get a Profit. So what is in the aircraft tends to stay put and even if some of it needs replacing because of a Biological Hazard condition it gets replaced with what was removed so if they have one type of Power Socket and the seats need replacing they get replaced with the same type of seats and power sockets as what was removed. That way it saves money in needing to pull in an electrician to rewire things or more importantly have more spares available.

It's also much faster to unbolt one part and bolt in the same thing as a replacement than it is to fit new different components to the same aircraft, not to mention that new seats tend to have different coverings and look different and cause Passenger Issues with some feeling that who ever gets allocated those new seats is somehow being Upgraded and getting something for free with the other passengers are not getting. Defiantly not a great idea to do something like that in a high volume low profit environment where complaints are common and legal action not uncommon.

For that reason alone many airlines will purchase used aircraft of the same model as what they currently have to save the costs of needing a Special Fit Out on any replacement aircraft and keep their fleet Standard over their Service lives.

Col

his response of ,"My average workday might consist of a few hours in the office in the morning, several hours in an airport and on a plane". To which I wrote, if your only real biased of surface Pro is the battery when the few hours your in the office there is an outlet in there for you, or the terminal, or even on the plane itself.....meeting clients is the only time out of your busy day where an outlet is not really ideal. H says he's worked for fortune 500 companies, well in this case no wonder the economy is doing so bad. Problem solving skills and common sense is lacking in the industry full of these great analysts. When your in your office your usually sitting next to outlets..... when in the terminal waiting for the plane you either drink, get food, or sit which in anyone of these cases your by an outlet, commercial flights have outlets......his main justification is just loaded with non sense. I can't even imagine how he ties his shows in the morning or if their velcro because it makes it faster to get along with the day. He should really read what he types when saying an opinion that is so easily objectified with common sense.

I would imagine you've never been in client service... most CxO's won't patiently wait while you power down your device to change batteries, or think much of you scrounging around on the floor of their office looking for a power outlet. Then again, what would I know, since you've clearly identified my myriad deficiencies and even critiqued my choices in footwear.

I responded to your outlet and aviation related comments above, which you appear to have ignored. If you'd like to continue your ad hominem attacks I'd be happy to do so via email.

I'm going to by a Surface Pro when it is released next Saturday. I know it will not be perfect, mainly for the battery-life reason the author highlights. And I am also worried that it will be just-a-bit-too-heavy to use as a tablet. I expect both of these to be fixed in the next iteration, but that won't be until the end of the year and I am unwilling to wait. It was hard not to buy the RT!

The points about lagginess seem silly - Pogue and everyone else who has touched the Pro says it's snappy. and of course you can run any win sw.

Even though I could argue the point that the classrooms I attend have plugs in each part of the desk or outlets on the floor for each desk, or library.....and its really no big deal because I have to carry a book bag full of text books whats the big deal to throw a small charger in my book bag.........You can actually formulate an opinion and explain it and give a valid discussion not like what the writer did. In reality lugging around a charger is no big deal because student have to carry back packs. As for business people that travel they still carry around a carry on, briefcase, man purse..........
all that aside you actually thought of away to point out your thoughts, not just make a statement that has no context to reality.

I really hope i don't flagged for this because it is a great life lesson.... i won't actually type it but just figure it out, " opinions are like a_ _h _ l_e's everyone has one". That is why people want facts, most people are not stupid show them what the product does and doesn't and let them decide. This is why news right now is so garbage.....

I have a Surface and quite like it but the lack of Pen input is a frustration. Does anyone know if I nwill be able to upgarde my current Surface to take Pen input or do I have to throw it away and buy a new Pro Surface?

I am no longer looking at a Surface Pro. The RT has proven itself to be an excellent daily tool, doing everything I need due to the killer combination of Office, desktop mode for network file access, NTLM authentication so it CAN work quite happily on a domain, and long battery life. Speaking to Microsoft on the BETT stand yesterday, they are developing server management tools as W8 apps. That's everything I need.

It's my iPad that sits unloved in the drawer.

'Reviews' like this should just be banned. They server no purpose other than to fan the flames of playground bitching sessions. We want technical facts, benchmarking and real-time video as hard evidence, not some **** guffing off rhetoric, conjecture and narcissistic opinion.

It's an opinion piece - just read the title!
Of course the fan-atics manage to grub up every discussion.

I take my notes all the time on my iPad (since last month on a mini) and have no problems at all. I guess you aren't using the right applications. Before that, I was using OneNote.

If you can get away with only 1 device (an iPad e.g.) depends on your job. I am a project manager working all over EMEA and the only thing I take with me is my iPad mini. I can work on my MS Project plans, connect to the company over VPN and access my shares using FileBrower and edit all Office documents. I use the VGA adapter and give me presentations straight from my iPad. The other device I use but hardly take with my when travelling is a Macbook Air as you are thinking about. Can only recommend it.

I think his comments are fair. He's expressed an opinion and he's made it clear that it is exactly that...an opinion. He's not lambasting Microsoft or the Surface Pro and I think his callouts are fair.

I personally cant wait to get my hands on a Surface Pro. I do jump from meeting to meeting but I also eat lunch and that always seems like a good time to charge up. My current laptop dies after 2-3 hours anyway and its a great big hulking big Lenovo with CPU and memory that would make many desktops look shy in comparison.

Having retired from the world of IT, my needs are a lot simpler, So I thought the Surface was the perfect answer to my current lifestyle. In preparation I have just upgrades my 3 PC Home network to Windows 8, I am content with 8 but not over the moon. So my search for a new Laptop/tablet started, Given I have a working 1gig network, and an all on windows 8 it has to be that route, As I use my systems for Video editing I need decent power, So I decided on an Intel i7 cpu. After a bit of research I think I am decided on the ASUS AiO. Shame really because as the author says, Surface looks like THE solution. Stewart

I have been using the surface since it was released. My work takes me to various engineering sites where I program and automate processes. I use remote desktop to view and program the site equipment.
I will be getting the surface pro as soon as it released in the UK. It is what I have been waiting for, for years. I have never been interested I tablets because they do not do what I need.
One of the best things about the Surface RT is it just works straight out of the box. I hope the Pro will be the same.
As for "confused interface and slow tablet computing experience" and "Slow transitions between tablet and desktop mode, long load times, and a lackluster application catalog"
Window 8 is a very good operating system the RT version is also good. I don't miss the start menu and when in desktop mode it feels like windows 7 and people don't know its widows 8 until I show them. Switching between tablet and desktop mode, I press the windows key and blink and its changed, how quick does he want it to change. With regard to Apps I have hundred's of apps I have downloaded to my 3 iPhones I have owned an may use just a few of them. The same is true the iPad and will be with the appstore.
Before any one buys a tablet they should ask the question:
"What am I going to do with this?"

Everything you say about the RT may be true, but that isn't the device we're talking about.

From all that I've learned about it, there is just one aspect of the Surface Pro that makes it unacceptable to me. It's not battery life, because I could power it off my car or a solar battery; it's not computational capability, as it can run anything I might wish to run, especially considering that I could install another operating system under the Hypervisor. No, the one intolerable drawback is the ten-inch screen. I turn 69, next week, and my eyes just don't have the resolution that they had forty years ago. Trying to use a computer with one hand while holding a magnifier with the other is insane. If there were a version of the Surface Pro with an eighteen-inch screen, I'd jump at the chance to buy one, even pulling money out of my IRA to finance it.

You can expand or diminish what you are reading, or looking at, according to need. Sometimes the print is too small, sometimes to large, so that I am constantly expanding or contracting. I find that the lack of that ability is partly why I have Stopped using any thing that is not touch.

Well apart from the 'lacklustre application catalogue'. This is a new product so its harly surprising.

The app loading experience differs from app to app.

So you'd rather carry a laptop and a tablet than a surface pro and its charger??
Don't get it.
As for the software, it's just windows 8, so what's the problem compared to your laptop, another win8 tablet or an android tablet?

Since you know the Surface Pro wont fit your computing needs, keep it to yourself. Thank you but no thanks! Lets find out for our self. There has been too much of Microsoft bashing especially from tech journalists many of whom are tech journalists. And I am beginning to vote with my mouse for whom to read or not. Recently I stopped reading the column of a New York Times tech journalist because it would be preferable to read Apple press release form its own website. Every day there is a stories and rumours about how brilliant apple products are, or what is coming next. Each time they tweak the iOs, there is a rave about it. Let's just pause a minute and take a considered look at these matters. For instance, these fanboys did not cry foul about the iPad storage issue even though other tablets had more storage capacity and ports than the iPad. Now that Apple is coming out with the 128GB version, they've all gone gaga with what it will mean to them. Why have they kept silent for so long? Why like My Gray didn't they blitz the tech media about not purchasing an iPad because it didn't meet their storage need?

Yes, the IPAD has a very good battery life. However, the surface has about 500 mins which is 8 hours. To me the hits the mark just fine. Not everyone has their device on straight for 10 hours.

I dont think at this point the surface will totally replace a laptop. At this point the tablet has its place but I am sure the will change.

I have an iPad. Biggest draw back to me is it's very problematic in the note taking area. Seeing the Surface has a pen stylus will move to purchasing a Surface W8.

Being completely objective, I understand the complaint about battery life. I don't see it as a problem myself as I can always find a plug if I need it.

However, where the argument breaks down is this -- if the 5 hour battery life of the Surface Pro is insufficient, getting a laptop with similar or even lower battery life to use in its place will somehow alleviate your problems? Or are you assuming you will use the laptop half the time, and the tablet half the time?

I would look at getting a battery and a dock charger instead, giving you another 5 hours of battery life on the Surface Pro.

If your into note taking like you said, why note get the Galaxy Note 8" next month? Stylus, awesome note taking apps, all day battery. Seems it would fit your needs much better than that joke of a tablet ipad mini.

I've been interested to watch the unfolding of tablet use in general in the office environment. In our office, PC/Mac usage is about 60/40, so when tablets became an option, most of the ones I saw were Apple iPads, though I have seen Samsung unit or two as well.

For a few months last year, tablets began cropping up all over, and in a large meeting it wasn't uncommon to see as many as 4 iPads around the table. Then by Thanksgiving it was 3, then by Christmas it was 2, then it dwindled to one. Now I can't recall the last time I saw someone in a meeting with a tablet.

When I asked some of the folks who used to use them why they weren't using them any more in meetings, these were the answers I got:

1) I can't really take notes with one ... the process of taking notes just isn't convenient or fast enough (onscreen keyboard), and I found I was missing content while I struggled with the interface.
2) I can't access my network (intranet) documents fast enough to reference them on a timely basis during the meeting.
3) Without universal wifi coverage through out all corners of the office complex, keeping up on email via iPad (or other tablet) isn't viable. (Someone with a 4g plan might not have had that problem).
4) Not well integrated into the MS Outlook system used for managing meetings, conference rooms, email, etc.

What has evolved over the last six months is people using their smart phones to keep up on email and calendar during meetings, using paper for personal note taking, and for those in charge of keeping minutes or making presentations, they use their laptops.

People really WANTED the idea of tablets to work in the office. I LOVE the idea of tablets. But at this point, in our office (and in the previous one where I worked in for 3 years), they just aren't catching on. Functionally, for most office workers, the ability to interface with key work systems and to create and edit information on the fly just isn't up to par yet. Most folks are finding its simpler to keep notes on paper and transfer the essential bits to their PC's back a their desk. This tells me the tablet has a long way to go in terms of functional design before it overtakes existing technologies on the desks of most office workers.

So what are folks using their tablets for if not for use in meetings, etc.? They do watch movies on them at lunch.

This article is full of personal preferences and lack of real information. There's not even real information about the product he's complaining about, but just expectations and speculations without real facts. I do not believe your claiming about the battery life and the store falling short of applications; that has not been my experience at all. I felt very much like you before I started using Surface RT. Kudos to Microsoft for this great new product.

I agreewith the author here. Surface looks like a good next step up from the iPad for those of us that are power users, but it lacks the easy and clean user inteface of the Apple product. Give them a year to get the app catalog built up and solve the sliggish performmance an confusing interface and I may switch back to an MS powered product. Until the=n my iPad works great for my on-the-go productivity needs (Don't know why folks complain about the on-board iPad keyboard. I priofduce well with it.). One day we'll get that all-in-on prtable PC, just not today. No wif someone could just get me that flying car I've always wanted!

At least to me. I have been watching closely and trying to decide how to spend my money. It has been hard to justify $1,000 of my own money for a tablet that has very little storage and battery life. I'm looking for a replacement for my work laptop and I want it to be a tablet that I can take with me on the fly. This article spoke to me as a user and a tech. I can live with some shortfalls, but what's the point of having a tablet/laptop that can't hold up to my needs? I will be waiting for Microsoft to add storage and battery life before I spend my hard earned money on something that won't meed my needs just yet. Microsoft, I'll be waiting and when you improve it, I'll be glad to give you my money.

So I finally made it into the Microsoft store to check out the Surface RT only because I've convinced myself for some time now that the Pro version was what I really was waiting for and at least by playing with the RT for a bit, I would get a decent taste of what was to come in the Pro. I found the device "fun" and easy to use and seemingly sturdy and well built. Surely the Pro would be everything I hoped for especially given that I would be able to run full fledged "real" software on it and not be confined to run the half-baked, child-like, application wanna be software that seems to make up a majority of the Windows 8 arsenal (but that's a whole other joke... I mean story). Like everything in life, at least from a business perspective, deciding to purchase a Surface Pro ultimately comes down to a cost / benefit decision and for me, at least, I just don't see it as being there. As I was informed by the Microsoft Store salesperson, a beefed up Pro with the keyboard would end up running me well near the $1,100 to $1,200 range (if not more). Really? Why? More importantly, why would I want to spend that much for a device that effectively doesn't really do that much more than my $250 Netbook does? Realistically, when seated at a desk or conference table, with the Surface Pro on it's little kickstand with the keyboard flipped out, you're taking up about the same footprint as the Netbook would take up. Of course, the Netbook doesn't have the nifty touch screen that the Surface Pro has, but as far as I'm concerned, while the touch screen is a neat - even fun - aspect of using Windows 8, it's not a necessity and I've been using Winows 8 on my desktop - without a touchscreen - just fine for months now. So it's back to a cost / benefit analysis. For the same price as the Surface pro, I can buy a new, well equipped laptop which, for my needs, will perform as well as the Surface Pro, offer more RAM, more storage, more adaptability AND pop for a couple of touch screen monitors to have at my desk when I work from home AND have enough left for a decent night on the town. So while the idea that tablets are the end-all, be-all for the future of the computing world, if I were to judge that based on the Surface Pro, and If I owned a chunk of stock in laptops, I wouldn't be too worried. Get the Surface Pro down to the $500 range - with the keyboard - and then we'll seriously talk but until then, at $1,200, the cost / benefit ratio is way off base.

Patrick,

"Obviously" the "faults" you have mentioned are merely opportunities for other vendors to "supplement" the Surface with "pirepherals.

first a Bigger battery....
with everyone going green, the old heavy and energy dense car batteries will be in abundance. using the Microsoft (side pack) you could carry a car battery and use that to supplement the poor battery life.

The battery could also have a "mini server rack" on it to carry a powered file / application server to supplement the "svelt" form factor of the surface.

The whole package, Car battery (wrapped in colorful microsoft fabric could be called the "power user pack, and will then provide the computing experience that you are looking for. Frankly this fits the marketing model of the XBOX, which required after market fans to keep the power wire ont he motehrboard from overheating and fusing to the motherboard. So Die Hard Zealots ould welcome the "extra 10 to 40 lbs of batteries.
As far as "unusable" that is semantics.

HAH!!

I was excited about the Surface but neither the RT or the Pro will work for me. I will stick with my Kindle Fire and my iPad which meet my needs despite not having 3.0 USB ports, micro SD ports and picture passwords. I am not sure why Microsoft is not addressing the issues to make the Surface better.Microsoft seems to be designing a device that they think we want without actually considering what users want/need. The price is already high, granted it is cheaper than Asus or Samsung devices running Windows 8 but their battery life beats Surface RT and Pro in my analysis.

I have not seen outlets (regular or cigarette lighter style) on planes in a while. I would welcome that again while flying if I could charge devices other than a cell phone but it still won't make me buy a Surface.

... if I were in need of a new Windows 8 PC. Instead, I bought a Surface-RT as a companion device.

It is clear that the Surface 8 Pro is a fully capable notebook replacement, and with a docking station and a larger monitor and a Bluetooth Keyboard and mouse, it becomes the perfect desktop system as well.

Since I have two more years of warranty left on my Dell Latitude notebook, it makes no sense to buy a Surface 8 Pro today. That said, their is value to using the Surface RT as a companion device when I don't need full all the bells & whistles. The Surface RT permits me to access my employer's Citrix environment so I can access all my critical applications and IE 10, and cloud storage meets most of the rest of my needs. Far better than my iPad or my Kindle Fire ever did.

Ok, I can understand the whole Modern vs Desktop view, and maybe it is slow to switch. I also can understand if battery life is somewhat limited. Outside of that I am curious about the software situation.

I know that Microsoft has fewer title names than iOS or Android, but numbers don't tell the story. What apps are missing or what can you not do because there isn't a current app is more important.

Years ago Apple was arguing that while they had fewer software titles than Microsoft, but how many word processors do you need? And they emphasized the quality of the apps over quantity.

For example, one Microsoft Office takes the place of a dozen word processors.

So I am genuinely interested in what applications or category of applications are found lacking.

A tablet, by its definition and form factor, is designed for consumer use; and to a limited extent, as an auxiliary computer to laptops or desktops for business/enterprise users. So, depending on one's computer needs, a tablet may or may not be appropriate. There is just no way of getting around the fact that its keyboard can't compare to those used with laptops or desktops. [If and when one adds on a "full-size" keyboard to use with the tablet, because serious data-entry is necessary, you end up with a two-piece laptop.]

Yep, dump that Apple hardware for some real hardware that will works with a real operating system. I stuggled with a MacBook Air and pitched it because of lackluster performance, WI-FI and bluetooth. Tried using it on a trip to Malaysia and Singapore, frankly is was worthless except for viewin video and reading. I opted for a Kindle Fire for longer battery life for reading and viewing movies. My feeling about MacAir Book... beauty is only skin deep. I switched to the iPad and must admit it's a pretty good platform when wandering about and using cloud services. When back in my office, it's back to my trusty quad core Dell laptop where I have some some real local storage. Needless to say once ASU qualifies the PRO, I'd dump the iPad.

Did Microsoft make the mistake of inaccessible batteries? So often, having a 2nd charged battery and being able to start each day with 2 batteries can be the best answer.

I have an iPad and the Surface. I like them both; however for work-related use I prefer the Surface. It's note taking features and the Notepad application make it my first choice for work. I can live with the power issue; in a perfect world power would not be an issue, so that is ok with me. And the keypad is not bulky compared to iPad keyboard cases I have tried...and I've tried quite a few.

Thanks, Patrick. People asked you if you'd be getting one or not, and you say no, and tell why - it doesn't meet the needs for your preferred way of working.

Fact is, it doesn't meet mine either for similar reasons. But the note taking features, the promise of real/full windows apps (we'll see), and the pen (!) mean I'm going to give it a try, and maybe it'll be worth it enough for me to change my preferred way of working...just a bit.

I'm sure I don't have to tell you, but you can ignore the fan-boy comments and those who post negative opinions telling you they don't want your opinion...

As for me, I need the flexibility that an Android gives currently. So my tablet of choice, at least prior to hands-on evaluating a Surface Pro, is an Android device. Your opinions and preferences will give me something else to test on the Surface when I get the chance.

Everyone is a fan of what they like. Everybody should be encourage to use what fits them best. My wife is best served by an iPad, and my daughter by an iPad mini. We all run Macs, with Windows in a virtual machine so we have the best of all worlds right at our fingertips. That's the way we work, that's our preferences. We're all fans of being productive and the platform that gets us there is the best one - for us.

Lets face it, the Microsoft Surface line didn't cut it. It was a nice start down the right path for Microsoft, but its a path that has been well traveled by others for years now. The Surface RT should have been priced at about $249, $299 tops. It's got good hardware specs, looks classy, but lets face it. Windows RT needs some tweaking, the Appstore needs to grow, developers need to jump on board before out of the gate you price compare to the ipad line. iPad is the priciest out there, and why is that? Because its the best out there, (no i'm not an Apple fan boy, I own Android tablets in the Nexus line, and a Thrive.) Bottom line is for the Surface to be a success it needs to be lowered in price to allow adoption, which might help developers jump on board as well! Sales were lackluster, so they put in retail stores against other hardware partners wishes, and sales still are lackluster. This remind anyone of the great HP Touchpad liquidation? Microsoft, get a clue! An $800 Pro version is not the answer.

This article articulates a biased preference of one user who is obviously (and for mind boggling reasons) an Apple fan.

Plan remote meetings (save costs where possible), shut off the laptop and make eye contact with customers in meetings, then maybe things will be a lot more productive and you could listen to itunes better.

Having a little fun...

Microsoft is a punching bag for these apple boys, they cover up probs with apple but come out against Microsoft in a vociferous manner.

Patrick, I wonder what your clients think. From looking at Prevoyance Group's website, I get the impression that you are a one man shop. If that is the case, I think it's been fairly well communicated that this product was never meant for you. It's designed to be integrated into a Windows domain environment. Furthermore, as a consultant whose own website states that your clients are "Past clients include Baker Hughes, CA (formerly Computer Associates), Gillette, Nissan, OfficeMax, Pitney Bowes, SAP and other Fortune 500 and 1000 companies", I would think you would have written this article about how this soon to be release product will fit into those environments. You know, the ones intended for the Surface Pro. When I hire consulting firms, I could care less what they use personally. What I want is for them to help me decide which products are best for my company.

Great journalism. The author decided without even TRYING the product that it's not good for him. This shows how much WE can trust HIS journalism - and to be unbiased in future reporting.

You are supposed to try something and then confirm that it doesn't suit your purpose before you say a single word are you?

Isn't that not only wasteful but very expensive?

I don't need to go out and buy a F1 Ferrari to know that the wife will be unable to take it to the shops and stuff all of her shopping in it so it's useless to her for her needs. Why is it any different to say the same thing about any bit of Tech? The 3 Hours of battery is a killer for me and for that reason alone puts the Surface Pro off the Must Have list of things that I want to play with after shelling out my own funds to get one.

Personally I buy what suits my needs and not what quite obviously will not suit them and I consider every factor of each and every item. It does however depend on what you need as apposed to want though as way too many people think that they need something justify that need to themselves incorrectly and then buy it and then try to make it fit the way that they work. Great if you are a seller of the stuff doesn't really matter what it is as you get a sale but terribly wasteful and it ends up giving the product a bad name if a lot of people buy something that they can not make it useful to themselves.

This is what Apple has done right the iToys are not Tech they are a Fashion Statement and not actually really meant to do anything other than look pretty and be a Status Symbol so you must have one or more where as any Real Tech needs to fulfill a need for that person and that is the reason why you should or should not buy one.

Trying to deride a person because they don't have a need for any device is nothing more than Downright silly and is more of a reflection on the person complaining rather than the Sensible Person who realizes that any particular device doesn't suit them personally.

Just because something is available doesn't mean that you have to buy it and more importantly if you do buy it and it doesn't suit your needs what it say about you?

If you believe that just because something is available you have to buy it, I have a Bridge for sale it's well maintained and only used by a Little Old Lady on her way to church on a Sunday. I am selling if for 25 Billion so pony up the money and it's yours. Yes I know you can not move it and it's in a different country to you but how dare you imply that you don't have a use for it you have to buy it as I want the money I'll get from selling it.

Col

You are right for the entire first half of your argument; you fail when you hit, "This is what Apple has done..." While I realize that the iPad doesn't meet YOUR needs, but that doesn't mean it's strictly a "fashion statement" because quite honestly it can do "Real Work" very well, just differently from a desktop machine. Until you realize and fully understand that a tablet is not intended to replace a full desktop/laptop machine, you simply won't understand what makes the iPad so popular. This is the same reason why Windows failed for so long on x86 tablets and convertibles. The software of the desktop OSes simply aren't touch centric and as such makes using them much more difficult with desktop apps. Windows 8 offers a means to have Mobility and Desktop on the same device which is an excellent concept that will work better than any previous system, but the high resolution combined with high ppi means desktop fonts will be too small for easy reading and navigation. A larger machine or lower native "resolution" will moderate the issue but only a context-sensitive OS that either understands the surrounding environment or is physically selectable between Mobile vs desktop/tabletop use that prevents desktop use when being operated in the hands will the system really be more user friendly. What I'm trying to say is that when you're walking down the street or driving a car, you need the display as simple and easy to use as possible; when sitting as a passenger or at a table/desk, then the full power of the device can be brought to bear. Windows 8 begins to offer this ability, but too many people are trying to use it the way they're used to using their laptop/desktop--emphasizing the weaknesses without recognizing or using its strengths.

I spent few minutes reading this awfull article....

My major gripe about any of the Apple or Android offerings is real productivity software and printer support. Although in some cases they have USB, they cannot truly print to a printer unless it has another computer running to support the printer. Both Cloud and wifi for those products print to another computer which in turn sends information to the printer. Yes there are some HP and others with a computer in the printer that will work, but that entails carrying a printer with you. I want to print to just about any printer out there with or without another computer tied to it. This has caused me to hold on to my outdated HP TC1100 tablet. It has abysmal battery life. (3-4 hours at best) but does have capabilities of hot swapping of batteries. The question I want answered is what is the battery life of the Surface PRO and whether or not it has printer support, which I would hope it does. This is just an opinion piece and does not have an actual review of a product. I can write an opinion about a lot of things that I have not seen or tried and they would not be accurate. This article is a waste of peoples time. We need a review of the Surface Pro from an objective, hands on trial. Then I can see if it would really do what my old TC1100 can and improve battery life and size.

What dock? This is the first reference I've seen regarding a dock. Have I missed something?

... we have about $600.00 worth of disposable income a month. And that goes towards food, fuel and entertainment each month. And as you can guess, after food and fuel, there isn't much room for entertainment. At any rate, though I would dearly love to buy a Surface Pro, i've looked closely at the Surface RT. I'll hopefully be able to convince the wife that we can swing a Surface RT when we get some other bills paid off. In looking at the RT a lot and talking to owners of the platform, for the limited amount that I use our laptop, I think I'll be more than happy with the RT box.

Rather than carry a laptop around, it might be better to investigate the availability of a spare power source.
I believe the Acer Windows 8 tablet has a detachable keyboard that also serves as a second battery.
I would rather have the spare battery / keyboard over an iPad and a laptop.

As for apps, I believe that MS will catch up. How long did it take Android to catch up to iPad?

You're saying that the surface pro "TABLET" wont suit your "COMPUTING" needs? The difference between a tablet and a PC is not clear to you yet?

If so, then what do you think it is? An entertainment device? A communications tool?

Seems to me, a Surface Pro, with an external battery to charge while in your briefcase would be lighter, and more useful than a laptop and a iPad Mini.

I ran into this many years ago with the Motorola brick Phone I Could by spare batteries but I had to wait several moths for a charger to be made available for sale.

How any NB or tablet batteries can be charged out of the device?

Col

easy
Rotate your battery usage and charge them in the laptop when there is a power outlet available.

I buy spare batteries for my laptop.
Depending on the length of the trip and the potential lack of adequate AC outlets, I might bring two fully charged spares.
I had a battery charger from Lenovo that could charge two spares at once. Plug them in overnight along with the laptop and you are always good to go. I used to be able to "hot swap" the lenovo batteries while the laptop ran on ac. That was sweet.

Here you need the NB Battery plugged into the NB to charge it. More than slightly difficult to switch over so they charge the spare batteries when you are asleep and no where near enough time for a full charge when you wake up in the morning have a shave, shower and whatever that third s word is and breakfast.

I suppose you could of course carry 2 NB's and use the second one to charge the spare battery for your first NB but that seems rather expensive not to mention Excess Baggage prices.

Col

Actually I was looking forward for that device as a replacement for my Full blown Dell XPS15 with 256 SSD and a spare drive and 8 Gb memory.
After realising it has only on e USB 3 ( and I must have USB 2 ) and also there is no way to upgrade to 8Gb I decided just to pass surprisingly to the Gigabyte expected 11" tablet.
Also the lack of integrated Broadband is a showstopper for me especially with a single USB left.

Patrick? Seriously? You would rather play with phone apps? LOL...I personlly think you should move to the Apple ecosystem. Since what you are really good at in the first place is talking about and telling others how they should strategically focus their IT use to better leverage expenditures. Maybe you should strategically focus your computer use on delivering a strategic value and streamline your personal usage results..........LOL I mean really, why use something you really dont care about.

I just take a couple of small portable 5000mW/hr chargers with me, keeping them topped up at every opportunity. Problem solved.

Thanks, Patrick, for a great review. Your perspective is always valuable to me.

I think Surface (all types) is a great concept and I applaud Microsoft for taking the risk and doing it. The problem is that they've copied Apple's pricing and are obviously shooting for the same market. If they can lose about 2/3 of the price, I might buy one. My hope is that this is just paying the development costs and soon they'll be able to do just that. (But I doubt if that's their business model.) I don't look down on or envy the Apple fans who like shiny, pretty toys and need some way to unload all that heavy cash. But as a retired programmer living on Social Security, I need for someone to build that Surface functionality and adaptability into a $250 phablet w/ a keyboard cover that contains an extra battery. Perhaps if they marketed the elements separately, I could eventually put it all together.

The timing is certainly right with Windows 8 offering the prospect of a single system on all devices. It will no doubt take a few years to smooth all that out. I just hope that Microsoft is able to hang in there until all the bumps get sanded down. It will certainly be a challenge for them, but hopefully they are big enough to pull it off. I imagine that their hardware partners will pick up the lead eventually.