Microsoft Surface

Does anyone here have a Surface Pro 1? I'm trying to find anecdotal evidence that it's easy to play videos (iTunes DRMed) on a Surface Pro 1 by installing iTunes. My wife has some need for specific Windows applications on short business trips where she doesn't necessarily want to pack her laptop.

I wouldn't say it's any easier or harder than it would be for any PC with a 10.6" screen and an at-times flappy keyboard. The Day of the Doctor looked great in 1080p on it, and I assume any momentary jerkiness in the playback came from downloading it and playing it back at the same time when on battery power.

Surface 3 looks awesome.. I'm sold.. kinda soon after then Surface Pro 2 though.. argh.

I will be ordering one tomorrow. I only have the original Pro and had been sorely tempted by the Pro 2, but can not pass on the Pro 3...that thing looks very nice. I'm guessing that the I7 version will be somewhere north of $1200, right?

TheGameguru wrote:

Surface 3 looks awesome.. I'm sold.. kinda soon after then Surface Pro 2 though.. argh.

That's stopped you when ... ?

You called this one though, it's everything you seemed to have wanted.

TexasRay wrote:

I will be ordering one tomorrow. I only have the original Pro and had been sorely tempted by the Pro 2, but can not pass on the Pro 3...that thing looks very nice. I'm guessing that the I7 version will be somewhere north of $1200, right?

Specs and initial ERPs are linked from their press release:

i3/4GB/ 64GB $799
i5/4GB/128GB $999
i5/8GB/256GB $1299
i7/8GB/256GB $1549
i7/8GB/512GB $1949

Charger's down to 36W from 48W, but same $79.99 price, and the new type cover's $129.99. Docking station is forthcoming. Not all configurations will be available at the outset.

OK, so I want one.
I can't find anything regarding 3G/4G connectivity.
Can anyone confirm or deny?

i5/8GB/256GB $1299
i7/8GB/256GB $1549

Those are the two configs that make the most sense.. probably not worth the extra $250 for the i7 but it depends a bit on the GPU. Shame you can't get an i5/8GB/512GB version as that would really be the best option.

edit

Full sized SD Card slot somewhat alleviates my concern on storage..can put a 64GB in there for next to nothing for all my documents.

TheGameguru wrote:
i5/8GB/256GB $1299
i7/8GB/256GB $1549

I was thinking the same thing;
is the performance gain worth the additional money?

Yeah, I think the i5 8GB is the sweet spot. My i5 Yoga that I upgraded to 8GB is fine for most of the things I could imaging wanting to do on this.

And where's the Surface Mini?

There are plenty of surprisingly decent low-cost 8" Windows 8.1 tablets already, and if you can put up with sluggish Bay Trail performance, they do a good job of showcasing the software. Most of the larger slates before the Surface were, honestly, pretty horrible.

I'd say it's 8GB ram or nothing. Darn it, I said I wanted a really high resolution surface pro and then they put one out.
Still not gonna buy it, but I can't wait for the reviews, especially regarding performance, that's the one thing always bugged me about laptops.
I'm glad to see they actually made a product that meshes with their OS, this, a laptop replacement as they called it. Now perhaps they can do more to reverse their stupid decisions trying to put a tablet OS onto desktop computers, now they have a device that requires both styles to be present.

From a looking-at-pretty-images perspective, I'm curious how much it matters to have that high resolution screen in a 12 inch vs a 10 inch tablet.

Kurrelgyre wrote:

There are plenty of surprisingly decent low-cost 8" Windows 8.1 tablets already, and if you can put up with sluggish Bay Trail performance, they do a good job of showcasing the software. Most of the larger slates before the Surface were, honestly, pretty horrible.

Oh I know there are a lot of 8 inch Win 8 x86 tablets these days. It was pretty widely assumed and leaked that MS had a 8" tablet ready to go late last year but delayed it due to I believe supply constraints or similar. And that was what they assumed this event was for, with maybe a refresh of the regular Surface Pro.

RolandofGilead wrote:

From a looking-at-pretty-images perspective, I'm curious how much it matters to have that high resolution screen in a 12 inch vs a 10 inch tablet.

It's not just about pictures (which, yes, will be able to show a lot of detail), higher resolution means smoother font rendering, and if you spend all day reading and writing, it makes a difference. It has a slightly higher PPI than the current 1080p screens, so the change in screen size is really just about real estate and the better aspect ratio for pen input. A 16x9 device any larger than the existing models quickly becomes unwieldy in general, and always feels too narrow in portrait.

Pre-ordered the i5/256GB.. couldnt really see what the real advantage would be going up to Hyperthreading in anything I would do.. still would have preferred a 512GB option but my existing Surface 2 Pro has 256GB as well and I make do just fine.

TheGameguru wrote:

Pre-ordered the i5/256GB.. couldnt really see what the real advantage would be going up to Hyperthreading in anything I would do.. still would have preferred a 512GB option but my existing Surface 2 Pro has 256GB as well and I make do just fine.

I pre-ordered the same version for a home/wife friendly device. I plan on getting an I7 version for a "work" device later this year...Trying to figure out a way to get the company to pay for it!

I'm really tempted to get through this once I get a job if it doesn't provide one as the clunker laptop I'm currently having to use is brutal. My girlfriend also wants to replace her 2010 Toshiba laptop too and she was looking at a Yoga but this with a keyboard cover might really be what she needs. Definitely curious for reviews on it but it looks real good.

Most of the reviews have been brutal...

"waahhh this isnt a tablet.. .waahhh Windows 8 sucks.. waaahhh its too expensive... waahh its trying to be two things at once and it does neither very well"

It's clearly a niche product that's priced appropriately against more "functional" single purpose devices.. but fulfills a unique requirement of being a single device that can do everything pretty damn well. I think the pen as well provides a compelling option for those people that like to take notes in meetings.. I know a few people like that that are eyeing this device now.

Sure you can buy an entry level MacBook Air + and iPad (16GB) for the price of the high end Surface 3 but then you are buying two devices and carrying them around vs a single device. Additionally if you are invested in the Windows Desktop ecosystem then its more compelling than trying the alternative and running Windows via emulation/bootcamp.

Looks good, but I'll need to see/touch it first. No way I'm buying sight unseen. Thankfully I live near a MS store.

Anyone see anything about battery life?

Also, I'm thrilled they changed the aspect ratio. I just don't know if the keyboard cover will suffice for me. I just can't get over the mental hurdle of, "sometimes I want a tablet, and sometimes I want a laptop." My perfect device is an ultrabook with a detachable tablet as a screen.

I haven't seen much negativity though - I must not visit those sites!

Meet Surface Pro 3, the tablet that can replace your laptop. Wrapped in magnesium and loaded with a 12-inch ClearType Full HD display, 4th-generation Intel® Core™ processor and up to 8 GB of RAM in a sleek frame — just 0.36 inches thin and 1.76 pounds — with up to nine hours of Web-browsing battery life, Surface Pro 3 has all the power, performance and mobility of a laptop in an incredibly lightweight, versatile form.

No mention of screen brightness in that figure, but what I've read mentions 10%-15% longer than the Surface Pro 2.

TheGameguru wrote:

Most of the reviews have been brutal...

"waahhh this isnt a tablet.. .waahhh Windows 8 sucks.. waaahhh its too expensive... waahh its trying to be two things at once and it does neither very well"

So they're reviews of a tablet device that's not an iPad. Pretty standard.

Like you said though, this is definitely not a mainstream device, though I would also argue that Microsoft needs one if they want Windows on tablets to gain real traction. That said, I'd really like to play with one of these cause I could see both my girlfriend and I buying them.

Parallax Abstraction wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:

Most of the reviews have been brutal...

"waahhh this isnt a tablet.. .waahhh Windows 8 sucks.. waaahhh its too expensive... waahh its trying to be two things at once and it does neither very well"

So they're reviews of a tablet device that's not an iPad. Pretty standard.

Like you said though, this is definitely not a mainstream device, though I would also argue that Microsoft needs one if they want Windows on tablets to gain real traction. That said, I'd really like to play with one of these cause I could see both my girlfriend and I buying them.

I don't think they do.. .honestly Windows RT devices which are priced more appropriately to iPad's arent going to make any difference now or ever. It's to late for that.. the ship has sailed.. Surface Pro devices make way more sense.. especially when you consider a 64GB version is roughly price equivalent to a 64GB ipad and is really far more of a device... MS just needs to suck it up and price the 128GB version as the 64GB version and be done with it.

I know my company would buy a 128GB Surface 3 at $850 for every single field tech we have.

I think once you put windows on it, it can never be "just" a tablet. And I think that is its strength. A purpose that needs to be continually exploited.

Parallax Abstraction wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:

Most of the reviews have been brutal...

"waahhh this isnt a tablet.. .waahhh Windows 8 sucks.. waaahhh its too expensive... waahh its trying to be two things at once and it does neither very well"

So they're reviews of a tablet device that's not an iPad. Pretty standard. :)

Fo sho.

If the review doesn't point out that the Surface is really competing with the Air then they've more or less missed the point.

fangblackbone wrote:

I think once you put windows on it, it can never be "just" a tablet. And I think that is its strength. A purpose that needs to be continually exploited.

Agreed. I got a Dell XPS-12 a while ago. It's a hybrid with a flip screen. While I use it mainly as a tablet doing tablety kinds of things, the ability to also use it as a ultra notebook has proven invaluable on more occasions than I thought it would before I bought it.

TheGameguru wrote:

I don't think they do.. .honestly Windows RT devices which are priced more appropriately to iPad's arent going to make any difference now or ever. It's to late for that.. the ship has sailed.. Surface Pro devices make way more sense.. especially when you consider a 64GB version is roughly price equivalent to a 64GB ipad and is really far more of a device... MS just needs to suck it up and price the 128GB version as the 64GB version and be done with it.

I know my company would buy a 128GB Surface 3 at $850 for every single field tech we have.

Yeah, it might be a different strategy and segment they're aiming for. Windows RT is all but dead at this point I think, especially since there's no RT version of the Surface 3. Hell, I'd argue Windows RT was barely ever alive. Trying to make stuff that can compete with high end consumers and also be appealing in a business environment could be a good angle for them to take. I tell you what, if I was still at my old job, I might be looking at these with docking stations to replace our HP Folios that we were buying. And there is a market for cheaper tablets running full Windows like the Dell Venue 8 Pro if you want something as cheap (or cheaper) than an iPad but which is also a full-on PC, albeit not a super fast one. My girlfriend wants to replace her ageing Toshiba laptop soon and is looking at either a hybrid laptop or something like the Lenovo Yoga. If a retailer is demoing the Surface 3 Pro in Ottawa, I may take her out and see what she thinks of it.

The reviews I read we're not brutal. IIRC, The Verge was in the 8's, and I think even some of the typical Apple people like Pogue weren't that hard on it.

In the Surface Pro 3 Reddit AMA several people asked for the ability to connect to an external GPU via the Thunderbolt connection (existence hinted at by Microsoft) for high-end work. Response suggested they're not ruling it out, which could make it a pretty decent gaming platform as well.

Anandtech had a recent article on that. If I remember right the conclusion was you can get it to work jumping through some hoops but the cost involved is more than just buying a second computer that is more capable.