Microsoft Surface

We just got our surface at work. I spent most of the morning with it playing around. Thoughts on it so far.

Word, Excel, and Power Point work well. Word with the keyboard is such a better experience than any other tablet for doing that kind of work. I opened up several documents that I have and each of them opened very well and looked right. I was able to map a network drive to a share and edit pages just like I was on a pc on the network. I only opened a couple of excel/ppt documents but those worked fine.

I spent some time in the desktop mode and found having IE and word open at the same time worked well. I was able to open two separate browser windows and work in both at the same time. This allowed me to look at emails and work within our CMS at the same time. The same goes for email and IE in the Modern UI. It really is a game changer for the type of work I typically do. Switching back and forth between email and a browser is a pain and takes too long. Word did show some slowdown with large documents. I had a 4 meg file with just over 200 pages and scrolling in side the document was not very fast. It wasn't terrible but not great. Typing was fine for me within that document.

The typepad and touchpad are very nice. The typepad is almost exactly like a laptop keyboard. Travel on keys is similar and the feel is similar. The touchpad is kind of a hybrid of the typepad and an on-screen keyboard. I had little trouble using the touchpad but a co-worker didn't like it and had trouble typing his password. I feel I would be perfectly fine on the touchpad.

It is usable in your lap. With either keyboard it tends to be a bit floppy. You have to put pressure on the keyboard to keep it upright but it isn't bad. I felt it was as usable as my 7" kindle fire HD. Typing with they keyboard off and using the screen it was the same as any other 10" tablet.

I was disappointed that the auto-correct in windows phone didn't seem to be there. I tested it in the modern ui and on the desktop and the auto correct is the same as it is in word. I think the auto-correct in WP7 is very nice and quite usable and would like to see it in RT.

Remote Desktop worked very well and was quite usable. Left and right click worked as you'd expect. Screen size was a little bit of an issue but not a major issue. Scrolling in web pages when remoting was a bit of a pain as you could not use the screen to scroll easily (as you would in RT using two fingers). It did work to two finger scroll with the touch pad.

Overall, I liked it a lot. I think it is a much better device (due to the OS and the keyboard) for doing work than the ipad or any other android tablet I've tried. For consumption, obviously, the ipad and android OSes have many more choices for apps. Office works well and is mostly all there (macros, Outlook, and Access are missing). Discounting Access databases I could do pretty much all my work on this device without too much of an issue. That is about the same as what I can do on my Macbook laptop.

EvilHomer3k wrote:

Word, Excel, and Power Point work well. Word with the keyboard is such a better experience than any other tablet for doing that kind of work. I opened up several documents that I have and each of them opened very well and looked right. I was able to map a network drive to a share and edit pages just like I was on a pc on the network. I only opened a couple of excel/ppt documents but those worked fine.

Have you tried editing docs stored on SkyDrive? I'm curious how this works on RT. Does it save the file locally and then sync up to SkyDrive or does it edit/save in a temp area and then save directly to SkyDrive. I do know the Modern app doesn't actually download any files like the full Desktop app and I'm guessing you can't install the Desktop version in RT.

EvilHomer3k wrote:

Word did show some slowdown with large documents. I had a 4 meg file with just over 200 pages and scrolling in side the document was not very fast. It wasn't terrible but not great. Typing was fine for me within that document.

This is the scary part for me. Was that document open over a wireless connection or on the device? Do you think the slowdown was the connection or word itself? Average size of our documents is 500 pages with 100+ footnotes, which is why other tablets are not even considered an option.

PaladinTom wrote:
EvilHomer3k wrote:

Word, Excel, and Power Point work well. Word with the keyboard is such a better experience than any other tablet for doing that kind of work. I opened up several documents that I have and each of them opened very well and looked right. I was able to map a network drive to a share and edit pages just like I was on a pc on the network. I only opened a couple of excel/ppt documents but those worked fine.

Have you tried editing docs stored on SkyDrive? I'm curious how this works on RT. Does it save the file locally and then sync up to SkyDrive or does it edit/save in a temp area and then save directly to SkyDrive. I do know the Modern app doesn't actually download any files like the full Desktop app and I'm guessing you can't install the Desktop version in RT.

RT exposes you if you want to the full file system.. you can save files locally and open them through a traditional Explorer interface...or directly to Skydrive

edit

to be clear..there is no "Metro" Office.. Office on the RT tablets is a desktop app

PaladinTom wrote:
EvilHomer3k wrote:

Word, Excel, and Power Point work well. Word with the keyboard is such a better experience than any other tablet for doing that kind of work. I opened up several documents that I have and each of them opened very well and looked right. I was able to map a network drive to a share and edit pages just like I was on a pc on the network. I only opened a couple of excel/ppt documents but those worked fine.

Have you tried editing docs stored on SkyDrive? I'm curious how this works on RT. Does it save the file locally and then sync up to SkyDrive or does it edit/save in a temp area and then save directly to SkyDrive. I do know the Modern app doesn't actually download any files like the full Desktop app and I'm guessing you can't install the Desktop version in RT.

The file was opened from a network drive (not skydrive) so it was not local. I'll see if I can find a larger document to work with. Most of mine are much smaller but I have a few that are 200+ pages. I'll also try copying it locally and to my skydrive and seeing how those work.

Surface Pro pricing announced - available in January.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft...

Nice, that seems like it's fairly on par with ultrabook pricing. No plans to get one because I don't need a tablet.

Edit: Ha! This is a hilarious statement: "This is an amazing feature for all you note-takers or document editors out there, especially since it has expanded capacitive and digitizing technology we’re calling Palm Block that will prevent your handwriting from getting interrupted if you accidently place your palm on the screen as you write."

How else would you write but with your hand resting on the screen? They should have worded that differently.

A grand for 128GB? Price-wise, that seems pretty darn reasonable. And now I really, really, really want one.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

A grand for 128GB? Price-wise, that seems pretty darn reasonable. And now I really, really, really want one.

That's rather pricey as a personal tablet for me, but when it comes time to replace my laptop... hmm. A few more years when I'm up for a work upgrade, I'd be rather tempted to look at one of those. Just hook it into a few monitors at my desk, slip under arm and carry off to meetings. Or hey, in a few years when I have the home budget to upgrade my personal laptop - just converge on one device - that really excites me. I really like a lot of the convergence now - from my Surface RT I love being able to just open a video and tell it to play to XBox, then go back to playing Angry Birds or browsing.

I think i'd still rather go for a Macbook Air, and then switch to a Surface RT when our current iPad needs to be replaced.

But the pricing is not bad.

The pricing's not bad at all. Not enough to get me to switch to them from the epically awesome HP Folio 9470w units we just started buying but pretty cool nonetheless. Might come back when we do our hardware refresh next year and see what OEMs do with their offerings.

If the stylus digitzer works as advertised and the battery lasts at least 8 hours with moderate use then I'm in for the 128GB model. I got to play with Work's RT this afternoon and honestly even that would work for a large number of our users.
I'm still keeping an eye on some of the hybrids that are hitting the market, but at $1100 the Pro is a strong contender.

That's about what I expected, but I kind of figured they'd have to include one of the keyboards at that price. That's the only downer.

That and it's not Haswell. Hopefully it will get a rev when that hits. Maybe around mid-year.

Looks like the battery life for the Surface Pro will be about 4(!) hours.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/29/3...

Between that, and having to pay extra for the keyboard cover, Microsoft has priced themselves right out of the game with this sku. People are either going to buy a tablet for half the price (or less) or an ultrabook for the same price.

This is a pass for me. Looks like I'll be picking up one of the convertible ultrabooks and hanging onto my iPad for the foreseeable future. Bummer.

Four hour battery life isn't that out of the norm for an 11" ultrabook. For instance, see the two ultrabooks here.

I am really looking forward to reviews. I want *something* like this and the Surface is just so close, if not there.

MannishBoy wrote:

Four hour battery life isn't that out of the norm for an 11" ultrabook. For instance, see the two ultrabooks here.

That's my point. For a tablet, the battery life's way too short. But for an ultrabook with similar battery life, I'd get a way better mouse/keyboard experience and a bigger screen for equal or even lower price than the Surface Pro.

Microsoft is pricing this device at a premium. I always considered Windows the affordable computing option, and Apple the over-priced premium hardware maker. I guess Android really undercut the lower end of the market for tablets.

Microsoft seemingly didn't learn anything from the netbook era from a few years back. I personally think they are missing a huge opportunity for a real no-compromises hybrid that performs well at way under $1,000. People have grown accustomed to laptops that run perfectly fine for under $500. Windows RT tablets also should have been priced less than iPads.

With Android on the low end, and Apple in the mid-to-upper range, I don't see a market for Microsoft right now. For someone like me who is on a budget and wants to stick with Windows, I'm going to stay with the separate tablet/notebook duo for a while longer. Surface just doesn't do it for me.

PaladinTom wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:

Four hour battery life isn't that out of the norm for an 11" ultrabook. For instance, see the two ultrabooks here.

That's my point. For a tablet, the battery life's way too short. But for an ultrabook with similar battery life, I'd get a way better mouse/keyboard experience and a bigger screen for equal or even lower price than the Surface Pro.

Microsoft is pricing this device at a premium. I always considered Windows the affordable computing option, and Apple the over-priced premium hardware maker. I guess Android really undercut the lower end of the market for tablets.

Microsoft seemingly didn't learn anything from the netbook era from a few years back. I personally think they are missing a huge opportunity for a real no-compromises hybrid that performs well at way under $1,000. People have grown accustomed to laptops that run perfectly fine for under $500. Windows RT tablets also should have been priced less than iPads.

With Android on the low end, and Apple in the mid-to-upper range, I don't see a market for Microsoft right now. For someone like me who is on a budget and wants to stick with Windows, I'm going to stay with the separate tablet/notebook duo for a while longer. Surface just doesn't do it for me.

They've said all along this was to be priced at ultrabook levels. It should perform very similarly, and offer the tablet experience option on top of the ultrabook functionality with an i5.

Comparing it to a crappy low res screen, 5 lb 15" laptop isn't really a valid comparison to me.

I don't see this being priced at a premium, other than the fact that there is no reason this should come without a keyboard. That's the stupid part to me.

Windows RT tablets also should have been priced less than iPads.

They are?

TheGameguru wrote:
Windows RT tablets also should have been priced less than iPads.

They are?

No way, man. They're priced the SAME as the iPad. Nevermind that you get more at the same price. It should have been less...er... (tongue-in-cheek)

I received my Surface this week - 64GB with Touch Cover. So far I'm really enjoying it, and I'm going to use it for awhile to see if it can replace my laptop for the majority of my mobile use. So far there are a few things I definitely miss:

* VPN access into work because the smartcard software isn't ARM compatible (coming sometime soon)
* Spotify
* Games - and specifically games emulators. I'd love a GOG client on this thing so I could play Myst and Riven and Monkey Island, etc.
* problems getting IMAP and my Dreamhost'ed mail accounts to work with the Modern Mail app correctly (IMAP syncing isn't working when I delete from the device, and I cannot send successfully).

Battery life is OK, but not great. Overnight it seems to lose about half its charge in sleep mode, which seems odd. I'm looking into it to see if this is normal...

Things I love:

* Skydrive
* OneNote
* Office Suite
* Touchpad keyboard is awesome
* Display is beautiful
* USB allows me to connect USB memory, wireless mouse, HDD - you name it!
* A lot of tweaking is available in Desktop mode that I thought would be crippled!
* Learning new shortcuts and gestures in the modern UI

Symbiotic wrote:

* Games - and specifically games emulators. I'd love a GOG client on this thing so I could play Myst and Riven and Monkey Island, etc.

I would love this. It's pretty much perfect for old adventure games. I tried Adera, but it just felt like a pale shadow of adventures past - too much hand holding and on-rails exploration. Someone port Scummvm, quick. Unity3D WinRT plugin is in the works, but not released yet. MonoGame currently is working with WinRT, but not sure how mature it is quite yet.

Symbiotic wrote:

* Learning new shortcuts and gestures in the modern UI

I'm so used to the quick gestures on my Surface that it's a bit hard to switch back to desktop Win8 - keep wanting to swipe and pinch.

They pushed an update for Windows 8 this week which GREATLY increased battery performance for the Surface RT. Where I used to get only 2 days on standby, I now get standby and usage times that easily rival our iPad 2.

Symbiotic wrote:

They pushed an update for Windows 8 this week which GREATLY increased battery performance for the Surface RT. Where I used to get only 2 days on standby, I now get standby and usage times that easily rival our iPad 2.

That's rad. I will likely be getting an RT at some point. I just need something that will work very well to do the following while being light and very portable: Skype, Email, Casual Web Browsing (GWJ), and Play Music via Subsonic. I checked the app store and there isn't a native subsonic app for Windows 8 yet. It looks like you can hack IE10 so that it will allow Subsonic to run on a Surface, though.

Does Windows 8 RT allow you to play FLAC and ALAC music files via the native Music app? I'm thinking I could set up a USB hard drive with all of my music next to my living room stereo until a native Windows 8 Subsonic app comes out.

I've been very surprised at how much the performance of my Surface has improved with the monthly updates Microsoft have pushed out since I first got it. At the beginning of November it was as sluggish as the reviews said, but now its speed feels just about right and all that remains is for some dodgy apps to be fixed up (and one of the worst is getting updated as I type this so fingers crossed the People hub thing will finally work reliably).

Seeing as Surface Pro is coming in early 2013, I think I will hold off. I can easily put up with the size (2 lb and about a half inch thick). I really would like to be able to run JRiver on the thing, so it would be just about right for me. I can't wait for some reviews. Having the option to run all my normal windows programs on it is just too tempting.

So I just won either an 11" Macbook Air or Surface Pro... choices... I already have a Surface RT (and a Macbook Pro Retina through work), but for that size the convertable tablet form-factor is so much more interesting than traditional laptop.

Interesting? Maybe, but I wouldn't consider the 11" Air to be just another traditional laptop. It's a formidable combination of distinctly non-traditional components.

How long can you wait to choose? The Surface Pro isn't out yet so if that's what you're leaning towards, it might be worth waiting for some reviews.

The Air is still just a laptop (yes it's thin and light) but it's still a laptop and if you've got a MacBook Pro already, it's probably a bit redundant.

Kurrelgyre wrote:

Interesting? Maybe, but I wouldn't consider the 11" Air to be just another traditional laptop. It's a formidable combination of distinctly non-traditional components.

You left out "revolutionary".