Discussion on:

Why the Surface Pro won't fit my computing needs

Hi There,

I'm unsure what the "substantial data" you request on on my needs would consist of. I've fortunately (or unfortunately) been subjected to my vagaries 24x7x365 for nearly 4 decades, so I feel I have a fairly reasonable grasp on what my needs are.

I buy products that help me accomplish some task, which might be anything from getting productive work done, to exemplifying some new or compelling technology, 90% of them with my hard-earned cash. Over my working life the tools I've used have been all over the map, and I've long since given up on "fanboyism" in the interest of getting things done. Currently an iPad is generally the right tool for what I need in the tablet space, and in the past it was a Windows Tablet PC, and way before that a Pilot 500. If MSFT could work out the "kinks" in the tablet side of the experience, and provide an 8-10 hour battery in the current form factor, I'd be all over it.

I try to share how I work, and the tools I use since the days of being chained to a single desk/physical location are drawing to a close for many workers, and while I'm probably more mobile than the average bear, I hope my take on the tablet market sheds some light on those trying to determine how to integrate these devices into their personal workflow or company.

I thought it was pretty clear that this article detailed why *I* won't be buying Surface Pro, and the rationale articulated was about how it would not work for *my* usage, but if that wasn't clear I apologize.

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.