It has the keyboard and screen of a laptop. Except the keyboard is from the ZX81, and it's some bright clashing colour that doesn't fit the rest of the machine.
All the hardware is in the screen section, which now needs a built in stand.
There's a stylus.
This thing is like a deliberate failure. They've sat down and threw together all the worst ideas just to see what people would approve. Or maybe they made a laptop-like tablet because ballmer is confused by dem kids and their tablets.
I do know though that this thing is going to fail. Maybe even zunelike. I've never seen a zune, did they even launch outside the US?
Yeah the I think Surface blew a few people away. It's like a tablet, but with the ability to be productive as well as consumptive.
What does this mean?
Why can't you be productive on a real tablet?
Falken on
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Blake TDo you have enemies then?Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.Registered Userregular
edited June 2012
See, I think the case is fucking amazing and will make it an actual business tablet.
Yes, the case is completely useless if you are futzing around on the couch. But it's already been proven that people are perfectly happy to touchscreen type on the couch.
Tablet's weaknesses are that they aren't good for multitasking and proper office editing of documents. This bridges that with its trackpad, keyboard and ditching ARM. This is a device that important business people can do proper business things with while on the go. They aren't dependent on an app. They are dependent on programs that they already have in the office.
It has the keyboard and screen of a laptop. Except the keyboard is from the ZX81, and it's some bright clashing colour that doesn't fit the rest of the machine.
You can just pick up the gray one. Blue is just the one they enjoy.
All the hardware is in the screen section, which now needs a built in stand.
It has the keyboard and screen of a laptop. Except the keyboard is from the ZX81, and it's some bright clashing colour that doesn't fit the rest of the machine.
All the hardware is in the screen section, which now needs a built in stand.
There's a stylus.
This thing is like a deliberate failure. They've sat down and threw together all the worst ideas just to see what people would approve. Or maybe they made a laptop-like tablet because ballmer is confused by dem kids and their tablets.
I do know though that this thing is going to fail. Maybe even zunelike. I've never seen a zune, did they even launch outside the US?
Yeah the I think Surface blew a few people away. It's like a tablet, but with the ability to be productive as well as consumptive.
What does this mean?
Why can't you be productive on a real tablet?
Try typing on a iPad for an extended period of time. Or work a real version of Photoshop. Or a full-fledged productivity suite like Office.
K.
Also, your reasoning is wrong: The keyboard snaps to the back of the damn thing... you never have to use it if you don't want to. Hell, you can remove it and never worry about it. They also have the grey/black keyboard for those who don't want "clashing color".
A stylus is bad? A stylus is AMAZING, especially for educational and note-taking purposes. Samsung Note showed that there's still a market for it.
It's got a lot more potential than an iPad. Especially with the inclusion of USB ports at a super thin form factor. I don't see how you can say this is a bad product or it's a failure out of the gate.
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jungleroomxIt's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered Userregular
Engadget gave their hands-on a pretty glowing review. They said the actual build construction was everything MS talked it up to be, it was responsive, had a crisp screen with incredible viewing angle, and the rest (power test, battery life, keyboard) would have to wait.
See, I think the case is fucking amazing and will make it an actual business tablet.
Yes, the case is completely useless if you are futzing around on the couch. But it's already been proven that people are perfectly happy to touchscreen type on the couch.
Tablet's weaknesses are that they aren't good for multitasking and proper office editing of documents. This bridges that with its trackpad, keyboard and ditching ARM. This is a device that important business people can do proper business things with while on the go. They aren't dependent on an app. They are dependent on programs that they already have in the office.
Why not just buy an Ultrabook with HDMI, more USB ports (which you could hook a mouse up to for better control than a trackpad), ethernet, and a bigger screen with a higher resolution? Or a Thinkpad for half the price? Or an iPad with Office (which is almost definitely coming out in the fall) and a bluetooth keyboard cover? I wish someone could answer that for us, but no one has the info to do so. No specs, no indications of battery life (5 hours is quite low for a tablet, if comparing to an Ultrabook), no price points, no hands-on indications of how functional the covers are, and no idea how W8 is as a tablet or hybrid computing experience (just limited indications as a laptop/desktop experience).
The more I think about this thing, the more questions I have that basically boil down to one main point: how can Microsoft say the Intel version will be competitively priced with Ultrabooks when we don't know what that market will look like in 7 months? The Ultrabook market itself is still really new, and who's to say what it will look like then? And will having Surface competitively priced, as opposed to flat out cheaper (sub-$1000 max), attract people to it or drive them away in confusion? Will Microsoft even be able to price it competitively in 7 months? I'm having a hard time understanding why the Intel version even exists. The ARM version makes sense to me because, across the line, these are primarily W8 tablets in form and function. You can buy tablets with keyboard accessories right now. You can even buy them with laptop docks, and some of those docks even give you extra battery life. They just don't have the performance of an Intel processor behind them (or W8, obviously). But that brings us back to the original question: why not just buy an Ultrabook?
I can see how Surface could be a great product. What I know so far leaves me doubtful, and I don't think these products will be met with much enthusiasm when they hit the market, but I'd love for those doubts to be washed away. That may very well happen as more info about Surface is released. I'm hoping my doubts are relieved, and I'm hoping Microsoft brings some really strong competition with them, but right now I'm not convinced. I would also be perfectly fine with Surface, and W8, failing. I think I actually prefer that it fail. I would much rather see the tablet experience further refined and improved upon instead of trying to create some bastardized hybrid between it and PC software. Tablets are very, very different experiences than laptops, desktops, and even smartphones, and I simply disagree that the philosophy behind W8 is the right one to follow. I would rather companies focus on refining and improving the tablet experience and making it more useful and unique instead of trying to fit two disparate ways of computing into one superficially similar but fundamentally disjointed product.
Try typing on a iPad for an extended period of time. Or work a real version of Photoshop. Or a full-fledged productivity suite like Office.
Typing is equally a problem because the keyboard is made the same way the buttons on a microwave are. It's just a membrane, nothing moves. The other comments are about software, which isn't the device's fault, soooo?
Also, your reasoning is wrong: The keyboard snaps to the back of the damn thing... you never have to use it if you don't want to.
But then I'll burn my hands from all the heat it's intel processor generates. And don't mention the ARM version, we both know windows 8 ARM is so gimped as to make it worthless over an iPad.
It's got a lot more potential than an iPad. Especially with the inclusion of USB ports at a super thin form factor. I don't see how you can say this is a bad product or it's a failure out of the gate.
It doesn't. The iPad has already won. The iPad doesn't need USB ports, in fact having USB ports would only serve to make the iPad thicker and less comfortable.
I say this is a bad product because it's been designed as almost a laptop. With the keyboard out, you've got to put it on a desk. Now you've got a touchscreen laptop with an absolutely terrible keyboard (good keyboard sold separately), a bright pink ZX81.
As a laptop it's bad.
Now, tablet mode. It's several times thicker than an iPad, it doesn't have a high-res display like an iPad has, and it forces you to care about if you bought the ARM or Intel model.
Yeah, fun times for grandma. I can't wait to explain the concept of an instruction set and how there's a 50% chance she bought betamax again.
So a tablet, the very definition of a I-don't-give-a-shit computer, it's bad.
And I can say it's failed already because a) the iPad got there three years ago, b) by trying to be both laptop and tablet it's worse at both, and c) microsoft have consistently failed to succeed anywhere outside of keyboards and mice, the windows operating system and office, and the xbox. They've got an amazing track record of failure and no direction as a company in the slightest.
It's telling they're reusing the name of another failed product. Remember when Microsoft Surface was a giant table?
They managed to make me curious, even excited, about Surface and then almost entirely uninterested within the span of a single presentation. For me, and I think everyone else, it boils down to one question: what are you going to use it for?
A laptop at work, and a tablet when I'm on the couch.
The one thing that disappoints me with Surface is that it's apparently landscape only. There goes any desire to write with a stylus or to use it as an e-reader.
So far nothing. It's iOS competitive, maybe? But it's a whole lot less of a thing than the x86 version.
What's the point of this device again? It's like a tablet only sometimes you can use it as a bad laptop? Is that it? You can type on a membrane keyboard? You can type on your membrane keyboard using software designed for a normal computer? Or you can type on your membrane keyboard into software designed for a tablet?
What is the purpose of this thing? What does it do that a tablet or laptop won't do better? Why are there two processor architectures? Why are there two* Operating Systems?
If you want an iPad, what happens is you buy the iPad. If you want a Microsoft Surface you have to spend forever educating yourself on all the differences between the Surface and the Surface, and make sure you don't get mixed up with the Surface!**
*one of which splits between home premium all the way to prawn cocktail versions.
**the giant table they're reusing the name of so it doesn't look like they wasted all that money.
Do you have any actual valid criticisms, or are you just gonna continue fanboy thread shitting?
Pretty much what I'm thinking.
WindowsRT is the Metro side of Windows 8. It's the iPad-esque, "I only can use apps delivered through the app store" version. As far as "It has nothing," well no shit. It's not out yet. We haven't seen the depth of the Windows App Store. We know of some apps (Netflix, Office), but that's about it.
I've always thought that the "Well, no tablet can possibly compete with the iPad because of a dearth of apps" argument was specious. The vast, vast majority of iOS apps are shit. It's not the quantity of apps that matters, but the quality. There's what, 100-150 apps out of the thousands that are good? Most of which are also available on Android.
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Surface has been re-branded as PixelSense, which is actually a more descriptive term for what it is.
I agree that it's a shame that both tablets will be named Surface. The ARM should be Surface, while the Intel should be Surface Pro. That would make the distinction far clearer than just Surface for WindowsRT and Surface for Windows 8 Pro.
They managed to make me curious, even excited, about Surface and then almost entirely uninterested within the span of a single presentation. For me, and I think everyone else, it boils down to one question: what are you going to use it for?
A laptop at work, and a tablet when I'm on the couch.
This scenario is fucking huge. I'm a little bit boggled by how it seems to be so mysterious to the world at large. Perhaps the utility of having a desktop/laptop/tablet hybrid device that's good at all three isn't apparent until you've tried it for a while? I dunno.
Do you have any actual valid criticisms, or are you just gonna continue fanboy thread shitting?
Hmm. So anything negative is fanboy threadshitting.
Who am I a fanboy of again? Let's check my most recent technology purchase:
Well damn, aren't I one of those apple loving hipsters. Gonna go take my Macbook down to the starbucks, amirite?
Here's some news:
Microsoft wouldn't let reporters type on the keyboard when it was attached to the tablet with its magnetic connectors -- which are clearly modeled after the iPad's cover -- but it's safe to say the very, very slightly raised keys will take some getting used to. There's almost no way to feel where to place your hands without looking.
Hmm. This product is so good they want it to be a surprise! Thanks Microsoft, those pesky journos can't spoil it for us!
Soo... we're not allowed to know screen resolution.
I agree that it's a shame that both tablets will be named Surface. The ARM should be Surface, while the Intel should be Surface Pro. That would make the distinction far clearer than just Surface for WindowsRT and Surface for Windows 8 Pro.
When I was watching the keynote, I thought they made this exact naming distinction between the ARM and Pro version.
I'm finding it really interesting reading all the thread shitting comments here. I think there are some people that just don't get it. The neat thing about this is that I don't need to have multiple devices to be productive as well as consumptive in my computing. All my stuff, all my tools, everything I need a computing type device for comes with me always and can do all the things I need it to.
Incidentally, my hands are not burning while typing this (or using Photoshop CS6 with a stylus!) on my i5 W8 slate. I can't say the same for the iPad or MacBook Air or MacBook Pro I used to have for work.
AHahahah, oh god, they're using words like "light" and "practical" instead of "weight" and "accessories".
Light : one kilo!
The RT cripplepad gets office, the Pro gets a stylus. Makes sense.
I'm just going to throw this out here:
If you need something ultraportable (like a tablet) but need a serious keyboard and desktop OS for productivity (like a laptop) Buy a MacBook Air.
I'm not kidding. I could say "Buy an Ultrabook" but those are more expensive. Best of all, you can actually buy them!
It's cool, they're on sale now. You won't have to wait until winter. What they looked like at the announcement is what they look like when you buy one.
Falken on
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jackalFuck Yes. That is an orderly anal warehouse.Registered Userregular
The clashing color covers can tell the tablet what color they are and the tablet will change the background color to match it.
AHahahah, oh god, they're using words like "light" and "practical" instead of "weight" and "accessories".
Light : one kilo!
The RT cripplepad gets office, the Pro gets a stylus. Makes sense.
The RT gets Metro Office. On the Pro, they expect you to shell out for real Office.
I'm just going to throw this out here:
If you need something ultraportable (like a tablet) but need a serious keyboard and desktop OS for productivity (like a laptop) Buy a MacBook Air.
I'm not kidding. I could say "Buy an Ultrabook" but those are more expensive. Best of all, you can actually buy them!
It's cool, they're on sale now. You won't have to wait until winter. What they looked like at the announcement is what they look like when you buy one.
I want both. I want a tablet/netbook hybrid. Judging by Surface and the other hardware products at Computex, someone will give me what I want. Surface looks nice, but I'll probably end up getting something like this:
Sometimes I just want a goddamn tablet. Sometimes I need to write, like when I was covering E3. Sometimes I want to pop in Steam and play Bit.Trip Runner or something. Being able to use native Windows applications is enticing to me, otherwise I'd already have an iPad.
okay. you don't like it. I think I got that from your first post. You don't need to stay and keep giving your opinion about this.
I came to this thread to see if anyone had any info that wasn't in the presentation, not to see someone shit all over a product that was just announced.
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jackalFuck Yes. That is an orderly anal warehouse.Registered Userregular
AHahahah, oh god, they're using words like "light" and "practical" instead of "weight" and "accessories".
Light : one kilo!
The RT cripplepad gets office, the Pro gets a stylus. Makes sense.
The RT gets Metro Office. On the Pro, they expect you to shell out for real Office.
I'm just going to throw this out here:
If you need something ultraportable (like a tablet) but need a serious keyboard and desktop OS for productivity (like a laptop) Buy a MacBook Air.
I'm not kidding. I could say "Buy an Ultrabook" but those are more expensive. Best of all, you can actually buy them!
It's cool, they're on sale now. You won't have to wait until winter. What they looked like at the announcement is what they look like when you buy one.
I want both. I want a tablet/netbook hybrid. Judging by Surface and the other hardware products at Computex, someone will give me what I want. Surface looks nice, but I'll probably end up getting something like this:
Sometimes I just want a goddamn tablet. Sometimes I need to write, like when I was covering E3. Sometimes I want to pop in Steam and play Bit.Trip Runner or something. Being able to use native Windows applications is enticing to me, otherwise I'd already have an iPad.
The one thing that disappoints me with Surface is that it's apparently landscape only. There goes any desire to write with a stylus or to use it as an e-reader.
we both know windows 8 ARM is so gimped as to make it worthless over an iPad.
O_o
I own an iPad2. I don't find iOS 5 to be amazing. I don't see what it has that Windows RT doesn't.
Personally, I can't remember the last time I used my ipad in portrait mode. It'd be useful in note taking but even I'm usinging it as an ereader I'm using it in landscape.
The one thing that disappoints me with Surface is that it's apparently landscape only. There goes any desire to write with a stylus or to use it as an e-reader.
Personally, I can't remember the last time I used my ipad in portrait mode. It'd be useful in note taking but even I'm usinging it as an ereader I'm using it in landscape.
I dislike landscape for reading. The pages are so short, and for technical reading (like programming or web design books) the cutoff points are generally in bad places.
But, yeah, they seem to prefer showing everything in landscape, but I think that's because their real sale looks to be the gulf between tablets and laptops.
okay. you don't like it. I think I got that from your first post. You don't need to stay and keep giving your opinion about this.
I came to this thread to see if anyone had any info that wasn't in the presentation, not to see someone shit all over a product that was just announced.
Well then, everyone who does like it, we've got that from your first post. You don't need to stay and keep giving your opinion about this.
I've provided info. Info like it's a device that will make lots of heat and is flammable. And that nobody is allowed to try it properly. And if you try to check resolution they take it away.
And I can say it's failed already because a) the iPad got there three years ago, b) by trying to be both laptop and tablet it's worse at both, and c) microsoft have consistently failed to succeed anywhere outside of keyboards and mice, the windows operating system and office, and the xbox. They've got an amazing track record of failure and no direction as a company in the slightest.
I don't mean to be feeding, but a business that can succeed in peripherals, OSes (flagship btw), other software, and consumer gaming electronics doesn't seem to have such a terrible track record. Their direction seems to be to make money hand over fist.
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jackalFuck Yes. That is an orderly anal warehouse.Registered Userregular
If a Pentium 4 with Windows XP does everything you want then I think this device isn't for you. It really isn't for me either (nor any tablet), but I can see how it could be for someone else.
And I can say it's failed already because a) the iPad got there three years ago, b) by trying to be both laptop and tablet it's worse at both, and c) microsoft have consistently failed to succeed anywhere outside of keyboards and mice, the windows operating system and office, and the xbox. They've got an amazing track record of failure and no direction as a company in the slightest.
I don't mean to be feeding, but a business that can succeed in peripherals, OSes (flagship btw), other software, and consumer gaming electronics doesn't seem to have such a terrible track record. Their direction seems to be to make money hand over fist.
That is a terrible track record.
The Xbox is two products in like, ten years.
One of which had severe reliability issues for years.
Peripherals are just stuff you buy when you need. They're like tampons or toilet paper. This isn't cutting edge shit.
Windows doesn't even count as a consumer product. You don't buy windows, you buy a computer.* Windows is a component. Let's all get stoked over PCI connectors!
Windows is, however, the lifeline. Since every PC in the store has it, no matter what, they get some money coming through the door. That's why the first and second surface, the zune, the first xbox, Windows Mobile,windows phone 7 and every single tablet computer push microsoft has made have been giant failures but they still never sunk.
Microsoft coast on Dells. That's it. That's how they survive. That's how they lose every market apple enters outside of desktops but still don't have financial troubles.
*I mean really, don't even pretend that people selfbuilding are buying copies of windows in significant amounts.
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jackalFuck Yes. That is an orderly anal warehouse.Registered Userregular
People (normal people) do occasionally update their OS. Plus businesses. And even if it comes OEM, MS still gets paid. PCI connectors are commodity items.
Is it known whether the pen is pressure sensitive? This series 7 slate just might need upgrading around Christmas.
Does the Series 7 digitizer pen work really well? I've been looking for a tablet that could double as something I can use for digital art. Although that is a pricey slate.
People (normal people) do occasionally update their OS. Plus businesses. And even if it comes OEM, MS still gets paid. PCI connectors are commodity items.
So is microsoft windows.
I've never been inside a PC world (UK computer store with a complete monopoly on retail) that had PCs that didn't run windows.
Windows is just a component. It's a PCI connector or a capacitor.
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jackalFuck Yes. That is an orderly anal warehouse.Registered Userregular
It is not a commodity. Do you know what commodity means?
But, yeah, they seem to prefer showing everything in landscape, but I think that's because their real sale looks to be the gulf between tablets and laptops.
Sweet!
Such a shame I got my iPad2 last X-mas. Surface would be perfect for my needs.
Is it known whether the pen is pressure sensitive? This series 7 slate just might need upgrading around Christmas.
Does the Series 7 digitizer pen work really well? I've been looking for a tablet that could double as something I can use for digital art. Although that is a pricey slate.
It does work quite well. My biggest complaint is that Wacoms drivers are terrible for built in digitizers. The one for the slate completely fail in W8. I'm hoping that there is an updated driver when W8 is officially launched.
Info like it's a device that will make lots of heat and is flammable. And that nobody is allowed to try it properly. And if you try to check resolution they take it away.
Posts
It's a wrongtop.
It has the keyboard and screen of a laptop. Except the keyboard is from the ZX81, and it's some bright clashing colour that doesn't fit the rest of the machine.
All the hardware is in the screen section, which now needs a built in stand.
There's a stylus.
This thing is like a deliberate failure. They've sat down and threw together all the worst ideas just to see what people would approve. Or maybe they made a laptop-like tablet because ballmer is confused by dem kids and their tablets.
I do know though that this thing is going to fail. Maybe even zunelike. I've never seen a zune, did they even launch outside the US?
What does this mean?
Why can't you be productive on a real tablet?
Yes, the case is completely useless if you are futzing around on the couch. But it's already been proven that people are perfectly happy to touchscreen type on the couch.
Tablet's weaknesses are that they aren't good for multitasking and proper office editing of documents. This bridges that with its trackpad, keyboard and ditching ARM. This is a device that important business people can do proper business things with while on the go. They aren't dependent on an app. They are dependent on programs that they already have in the office.
Satans..... hints.....
You can just pick up the gray one. Blue is just the one they enjoy.
Like a tablet.
Optional for the Pro version.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/
I write about video games and stuff. It is fun. Sometimes.
Try typing on a iPad for an extended period of time. Or work a real version of Photoshop. Or a full-fledged productivity suite like Office.
K.
Also, your reasoning is wrong: The keyboard snaps to the back of the damn thing... you never have to use it if you don't want to. Hell, you can remove it and never worry about it. They also have the grey/black keyboard for those who don't want "clashing color".
A stylus is bad? A stylus is AMAZING, especially for educational and note-taking purposes. Samsung Note showed that there's still a market for it.
It's got a lot more potential than an iPad. Especially with the inclusion of USB ports at a super thin form factor. I don't see how you can say this is a bad product or it's a failure out of the gate.
Why not just buy an Ultrabook with HDMI, more USB ports (which you could hook a mouse up to for better control than a trackpad), ethernet, and a bigger screen with a higher resolution? Or a Thinkpad for half the price? Or an iPad with Office (which is almost definitely coming out in the fall) and a bluetooth keyboard cover? I wish someone could answer that for us, but no one has the info to do so. No specs, no indications of battery life (5 hours is quite low for a tablet, if comparing to an Ultrabook), no price points, no hands-on indications of how functional the covers are, and no idea how W8 is as a tablet or hybrid computing experience (just limited indications as a laptop/desktop experience).
The more I think about this thing, the more questions I have that basically boil down to one main point: how can Microsoft say the Intel version will be competitively priced with Ultrabooks when we don't know what that market will look like in 7 months? The Ultrabook market itself is still really new, and who's to say what it will look like then? And will having Surface competitively priced, as opposed to flat out cheaper (sub-$1000 max), attract people to it or drive them away in confusion? Will Microsoft even be able to price it competitively in 7 months? I'm having a hard time understanding why the Intel version even exists. The ARM version makes sense to me because, across the line, these are primarily W8 tablets in form and function. You can buy tablets with keyboard accessories right now. You can even buy them with laptop docks, and some of those docks even give you extra battery life. They just don't have the performance of an Intel processor behind them (or W8, obviously). But that brings us back to the original question: why not just buy an Ultrabook?
I can see how Surface could be a great product. What I know so far leaves me doubtful, and I don't think these products will be met with much enthusiasm when they hit the market, but I'd love for those doubts to be washed away. That may very well happen as more info about Surface is released. I'm hoping my doubts are relieved, and I'm hoping Microsoft brings some really strong competition with them, but right now I'm not convinced. I would also be perfectly fine with Surface, and W8, failing. I think I actually prefer that it fail. I would much rather see the tablet experience further refined and improved upon instead of trying to create some bastardized hybrid between it and PC software. Tablets are very, very different experiences than laptops, desktops, and even smartphones, and I simply disagree that the philosophy behind W8 is the right one to follow. I would rather companies focus on refining and improving the tablet experience and making it more useful and unique instead of trying to fit two disparate ways of computing into one superficially similar but fundamentally disjointed product.
Typing is equally a problem because the keyboard is made the same way the buttons on a microwave are. It's just a membrane, nothing moves. The other comments are about software, which isn't the device's fault, soooo?
But then I'll burn my hands from all the heat it's intel processor generates. And don't mention the ARM version, we both know windows 8 ARM is so gimped as to make it worthless over an iPad.
So it doesn't have to be hideous, they just made it hideous for the ads. Well done guys.
The note has sold seven million since october. Apple sold 15.4 million iPads in Q4 2011.
I'm going to go out on a limb here, most people would prefer to tap in stuff on the onscreen keyboard than deal with "eat up martha".
It doesn't. The iPad has already won. The iPad doesn't need USB ports, in fact having USB ports would only serve to make the iPad thicker and less comfortable.
I say this is a bad product because it's been designed as almost a laptop. With the keyboard out, you've got to put it on a desk. Now you've got a touchscreen laptop with an absolutely terrible keyboard (good keyboard sold separately), a bright pink ZX81.
As a laptop it's bad.
Now, tablet mode. It's several times thicker than an iPad, it doesn't have a high-res display like an iPad has, and it forces you to care about if you bought the ARM or Intel model.
Yeah, fun times for grandma. I can't wait to explain the concept of an instruction set and how there's a 50% chance she bought betamax again.
So a tablet, the very definition of a I-don't-give-a-shit computer, it's bad.
And I can say it's failed already because a) the iPad got there three years ago, b) by trying to be both laptop and tablet it's worse at both, and c) microsoft have consistently failed to succeed anywhere outside of keyboards and mice, the windows operating system and office, and the xbox. They've got an amazing track record of failure and no direction as a company in the slightest.
It's telling they're reusing the name of another failed product. Remember when Microsoft Surface was a giant table?
Christ
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
A laptop at work, and a tablet when I'm on the couch.
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
Also:
O_o
I own an iPad2. I don't find iOS 5 to be amazing. I don't see what it has that Windows RT doesn't.
So far nothing. It's iOS competitive, maybe? But it's a whole lot less of a thing than the x86 version.
What's the point of this device again? It's like a tablet only sometimes you can use it as a bad laptop? Is that it? You can type on a membrane keyboard? You can type on your membrane keyboard using software designed for a normal computer? Or you can type on your membrane keyboard into software designed for a tablet?
What is the purpose of this thing? What does it do that a tablet or laptop won't do better? Why are there two processor architectures? Why are there two* Operating Systems?
If you want an iPad, what happens is you buy the iPad. If you want a Microsoft Surface you have to spend forever educating yourself on all the differences between the Surface and the Surface, and make sure you don't get mixed up with the Surface!**
*one of which splits between home premium all the way to prawn cocktail versions.
**the giant table they're reusing the name of so it doesn't look like they wasted all that money.
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
Pretty much what I'm thinking.
WindowsRT is the Metro side of Windows 8. It's the iPad-esque, "I only can use apps delivered through the app store" version. As far as "It has nothing," well no shit. It's not out yet. We haven't seen the depth of the Windows App Store. We know of some apps (Netflix, Office), but that's about it.
I've always thought that the "Well, no tablet can possibly compete with the iPad because of a dearth of apps" argument was specious. The vast, vast majority of iOS apps are shit. It's not the quantity of apps that matters, but the quality. There's what, 100-150 apps out of the thousands that are good? Most of which are also available on Android.
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Surface has been re-branded as PixelSense, which is actually a more descriptive term for what it is.
I agree that it's a shame that both tablets will be named Surface. The ARM should be Surface, while the Intel should be Surface Pro. That would make the distinction far clearer than just Surface for WindowsRT and Surface for Windows 8 Pro.
This scenario is fucking huge. I'm a little bit boggled by how it seems to be so mysterious to the world at large. Perhaps the utility of having a desktop/laptop/tablet hybrid device that's good at all three isn't apparent until you've tried it for a while? I dunno.
Hmm. So anything negative is fanboy threadshitting.
Who am I a fanboy of again? Let's check my most recent technology purchase:
Well damn, aren't I one of those apple loving hipsters. Gonna go take my Macbook down to the starbucks, amirite?
Here's some news:
Hmm. This product is so good they want it to be a surprise! Thanks Microsoft, those pesky journos can't spoil it for us!
Soo... we're not allowed to know screen resolution.
When I was watching the keynote, I thought they made this exact naming distinction between the ARM and Pro version.
I'm finding it really interesting reading all the thread shitting comments here. I think there are some people that just don't get it. The neat thing about this is that I don't need to have multiple devices to be productive as well as consumptive in my computing. All my stuff, all my tools, everything I need a computing type device for comes with me always and can do all the things I need it to.
Incidentally, my hands are not burning while typing this (or using Photoshop CS6 with a stylus!) on my i5 W8 slate. I can't say the same for the iPad or MacBook Air or MacBook Pro I used to have for work.
AHahahah, oh god, they're using words like "light" and "practical" instead of "weight" and "accessories".
Light : one kilo!
The RT cripplepad gets office, the Pro gets a stylus. Makes sense.
I'm just going to throw this out here:
If you need something ultraportable (like a tablet) but need a serious keyboard and desktop OS for productivity (like a laptop) Buy a MacBook Air.
I'm not kidding. I could say "Buy an Ultrabook" but those are more expensive. Best of all, you can actually buy them!
It's cool, they're on sale now. You won't have to wait until winter. What they looked like at the announcement is what they look like when you buy one.
Can it change the colour of the actual device? Because that's the problem.
(No)
Turns out they're made of some Magnesium alloy. Hooooo boy.
The RT gets Metro Office. On the Pro, they expect you to shell out for real Office.
I want both. I want a tablet/netbook hybrid. Judging by Surface and the other hardware products at Computex, someone will give me what I want. Surface looks nice, but I'll probably end up getting something like this:
http://www.slashgear.com/asus-tablet-600-and-tablet-810-hands-on-04231680/
Sometimes I just want a goddamn tablet. Sometimes I need to write, like when I was covering E3. Sometimes I want to pop in Steam and play Bit.Trip Runner or something. Being able to use native Windows applications is enticing to me, otherwise I'd already have an iPad.
Your most recent tech purchase is a computer with an OS that came out almost eleven years ago?
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/
I write about video games and stuff. It is fun. Sometimes.
I came to this thread to see if anyone had any info that wasn't in the presentation, not to see someone shit all over a product that was just announced.
So the keyboards' colors are clashing with black?
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/
I write about video games and stuff. It is fun. Sometimes.
It's indie man.
Satans..... hints.....
Personally, I can't remember the last time I used my ipad in portrait mode. It'd be useful in note taking but even I'm usinging it as an ereader I'm using it in landscape.
Satans..... hints.....
I dislike landscape for reading. The pages are so short, and for technical reading (like programming or web design books) the cutoff points are generally in bad places.
Hopefully. They put one in the keyboard.
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/10/20/optimizing-for-both-landscape-and-portrait.aspx
But, yeah, they seem to prefer showing everything in landscape, but I think that's because their real sale looks to be the gulf between tablets and laptops.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/
I write about video games and stuff. It is fun. Sometimes.
Well then, everyone who does like it, we've got that from your first post. You don't need to stay and keep giving your opinion about this.
I've provided info. Info like it's a device that will make lots of heat and is flammable. And that nobody is allowed to try it properly. And if you try to check resolution they take it away.
It's probably the most cost-efficient computer purchase possible, considering it does everything I need and was about 20 quid.
I don't mean to be feeding, but a business that can succeed in peripherals, OSes (flagship btw), other software, and consumer gaming electronics doesn't seem to have such a terrible track record. Their direction seems to be to make money hand over fist.
It's probably the most cost-efficient computer purchase possible, considering it does everything I need
That is a terrible track record.
The Xbox is two products in like, ten years.
One of which had severe reliability issues for years.
Peripherals are just stuff you buy when you need. They're like tampons or toilet paper. This isn't cutting edge shit.
Windows doesn't even count as a consumer product. You don't buy windows, you buy a computer.* Windows is a component. Let's all get stoked over PCI connectors!
Windows is, however, the lifeline. Since every PC in the store has it, no matter what, they get some money coming through the door. That's why the first and second surface, the zune, the first xbox, Windows Mobile,windows phone 7 and every single tablet computer push microsoft has made have been giant failures but they still never sunk.
Microsoft coast on Dells. That's it. That's how they survive. That's how they lose every market apple enters outside of desktops but still don't have financial troubles.
*I mean really, don't even pretend that people selfbuilding are buying copies of windows in significant amounts.
Does the Series 7 digitizer pen work really well? I've been looking for a tablet that could double as something I can use for digital art. Although that is a pricey slate.
So is microsoft windows.
I've never been inside a PC world (UK computer store with a complete monopoly on retail) that had PCs that didn't run windows.
Windows is just a component. It's a PCI connector or a capacitor.
Sweet!
Such a shame I got my iPad2 last X-mas. Surface would be perfect for my needs.
It does work quite well. My biggest complaint is that Wacoms drivers are terrible for built in digitizers. The one for the slate completely fail in W8. I'm hoping that there is an updated driver when W8 is officially launched.
Do you any sort of proof of the heat issues? At all? The already existing i5 tablet doesn't. The iPad seems to though.