Just played with the Surface Pro 2 at the MSFT store

[OneOfTheseDays]

Wow what an incredible device. I've been looking for something to replace my iPad as I find it to be bit restrictive in terms of what I like to do (especially in regards to multitasking).

I was intitially skeptical due to the clamor about its size and weight, but in person it's extremely manageable. I would not recommend for one hand usage, but for lap or sitting down scenarios it's perfect. The integrated kickstand is in a word, awesome. The second position perfectly nails the seated position and I even tried it laying down on the floor and it worked well.

The type cover is....ok. It's no replacement for a full blown keyboard, but it's miles better than using the onscreen one. Also the touchpad is very responsive and usable.

Now onto the good stuff. The screen is incredible. Colors looked great, super bright and plenty of contrast. Truly gorgeous to look at. The integrated pen is an awesome addition too even though I won't use it much. Performance wise, this thing simply flies. With SSD and 8GB of RAM I was having trouble overloading it no matter what I did. I could not get a good gauge for heat/noise, but I could not detect much in playing around with it for an hour.

I was sold. Preordered one on the spot and traded in my 16GB iPad 3 for $250 in store credit.

 

[zerogear]

Why Surface Pro 2 over maybe Dell Venue 11 Pro

 

[lopri]

Their ads are all over the web. Much better than the ads they made for the initial Surface. (except for the original one that they still compare w/ iPad)

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

This device is so capable. It can literally do everything you need.

Perfect for those that need their tablet to be more than just a consumption device.

If you want something simple, the iPad is king. But if you're looking for something a little more this guy can do it all. Only downside is the price, it's not cheap.

 

[Ravynmagi]

The tablet form factor makes too many compromises to be worth spending $1000 on to me.

It's more crap to carry, but I think I'll be happier keeping tablet and laptop as separate devices that each do their own thing without those compromises.

 

[ponyo]

The tablet form factor makes too many compromises to be worth spending $1000 on to me.

It's more crap to carry, but I think I'll be happier keeping tablet and laptop as separate devices that each do their own thing without those compromises.

I prefer real laptop for Windows productivity work. I like my Yoga 13 minus the extremely annoying fan noise. If not for the obnoxious fan, it would be perfect Windows device for me.

 

[desura]

How was the size/weight compared to the surface RT? I'd hope that Haswell resulted in a significant improvement in terms of size, as it has improved battery life by quite a bit, like 100% more than the first surface pro.

On the type cover, I'd still recommend getting a type cover because it is also...a really thin cover for the screen.

For serious typing, I'd just hook in a USB keyboard -- because you can! Any USB keyboard would also be better than the default type cover, and most importantly, you can use it in portrait mode very nicely.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

Why Surface Pro 2 over maybe Dell Venue 11 Pro

i was leaning toward getting surface 2 also until i saw that cheaper dell stuff. this new windows stuff looks pretty cool

 

[WelshBloke]

You laid down on the floor of the store?

 

[OBLAMA2009]

You laid down on the floor of the store?

i thought that sounded weird too, he really needed to do that?

 

[MrX8503]

You laid down on the floor of the store?

Lol that's pretty funny. If I saw that in the store I'd be like "That dude is serious". But hey I guess if you're spending your hard earned money its all good.

 

[Lil Frier]

How was the size/weight compared to the surface RT? I'd hope that Haswell resulted in a significant improvement in terms of size, as it has improved battery life by quite a bit, like 100% more than the first surface pro.

On the type cover, I'd still recommend getting a type cover because it is also...a really thin cover for the screen.

For serious typing, I'd just hook in a USB keyboard -- because you can! Any USB keyboard would also be better than the default type cover, and most importantly, you can use it in portrait mode very nicely.

Agreed on the USB option, but the portability comes into question there. I'd rather buy the Type Cover, because I'm not going to carry a USB keyboard with me to school or my grandma's house.

 

[zerogear]

i was leaning toward getting surface 2 also until i saw that cheaper dell stuff. this new windows stuff looks pretty cool

Yeah, I'm kinda torn between Surface Pro 2 and Dell Venue 11 Pro -- because to be honest, I really like the clamshell construction of their type keyboard. My ideal one would be Asus Transformer Book like, but with high end specs like that of Surface Pro 2. -- Like Thinkpad Helix, except cheaper and with Haswell.


Edit, one thing that really scares me is that from what I've read on MS forums, battery replacement for Surface Pro can cost upward of $450.

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

Weight wise it feels fine. It's like 2 lbs and it's a small footprint so it can easily be lugged around. It's no heavier than my ipad3 was with a proper cover.

The only downside to this device is price. It's expensive and there will be cheaper options from companies like dell.

 

[Ns1]

The only downside to this device is price. It's expensive and there will be cheaper options from companies like dell.

I'm sure it will also suck more and come with AOL preinstalled.

 

[zerogear]

I'm sure it will also suck more and come with AOL preinstalled.

Haha, uninstalling bloatware is almost a Zen thing for me nowadays. Not a huge issue. At least its removable, and not like those pre-installed stuff on Android/Carrier ones.

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

I'm sure it will also suck more and come with AOL preinstalled.

Yup which is partly why I don't mind paying a premium to MSFT here. I know the driver support will be top notch and the device won't be overloaded with garbage software preinstalled.

 

[gorcorps]

Yeah, I'm kinda torn between Surface Pro 2 and Dell Venue 11 Pro -- because to be honest, I really like the clamshell construction of their type keyboard. My ideal one would be Asus Transformer Book like, but with high end specs like that of Surface Pro 2. -- Like Thinkpad Helix, except cheaper and with Haswell.


Edit, one thing that really scares me is that from what I've read on MS forums, battery replacement for Surface Pro can cost upward of $450.

I'm torn too. Honestly I think Dell would win if they had a proper digitizer, but I don't think it does. Which is really odd because the Venue 8 does. Why they'd give proper stylus support to the small one and not the big one is really confusing.

 

[wasabiman123]

As someone who has a launch day Surface Pro (128 GB) and uses it the entire day for school day in and day out, it is an amazing device. The form factor makes it incredibly versatile, and it packs a punch, I can play many of my games on it, and it never slows down. I can never go back to a device without a proper stylus, it's so useful for math and just annotation/note taking, nullifies the use of paper for me, and I don't need to carry around notebooks/binders, just some folders for handouts our teachers refuse to put online.

The pro 2 is very tempting, gets rid of the issues the first gen has:
-Mediocre Battery life 4-5~ hours depending on usage/brightness.
-Get's pretty warm/hot even when not doing anything intensive.
-Kickstand not optimized for lap use.
-Better type cover, isn't as noisy as current one, and is backlit with a usable touchpad!!!

The only dissapointment in the Pro 2 is the lack of the upgraded cameras the Surface 2 has... I don't see why they couldn't engineer that in, kind of a bummer. No wireless AC is also puzzling, but not a big deal and won't be since wireless n is fast enough and proliferated already.

Going forward I hope they don't make it thinner, I'd much rather they keep the chassis/tweak it slightly and just use the improved thermal headroom for better performance on tap.

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

I wasn't aware the cameras were not updated in the S2Pro. That's a huge bummer as I was planning on doing lots of skyping with this little guy. How bad is the camera in the S1PRO?

 

[zerogear]

I wasn't aware the cameras were not updated in the S2Pro. That's a huge bummer as I was planning on doing lots of skyping with this little guy. How bad is the camera in the S1PRO?

They're both 720p. I doubt they're bad at all, maybe just low-light may be an issue.


Edit: http://www.techradar.com/us/reviews/pc-mac/tablets/microsoft-surface-pro-1123800/review/5

However they're much better as webcams than for still images, recording at 720p. The extra wide angle of the front-facing camera is great for video chat in Skype, and the colour balance from the Microsoft True Color system and autofocus do better than all but the very best built-in webcams in other notebooks.

Sounds like it's exactly what you want it for.

 

[wasabiman123]

Yeah from using it a little bit (not a huge video chat guy) it's fine, I was more interested in a better front camera to record class stuff maybe. But yeah it's a shame they didn't add it...

 

[hans030390]

Cameras should be fine for Skyping. I can't recommend the Type Cover highly enough over the Touch Cover (which was still surprisingly good).

 

[desura]

eh, just trying to say that I'm not really a fan of the type cover, but like the touch cover more.

 

[arod]

I'm torn too. Honestly I think Dell would win if they had a proper digitizer, but I don't think it does. Which is really odd because the Venue 8 does. Why they'd give proper stylus support to the small one and not the big one is really confusing.

Have then come out and said it does not? I thought it was all still rumors and speculation. I would actually be kind of surprised if the had one on the 8 and not use the same one for the 11.

I too am interested to see what the dell brings to the table.... The accessories for the surface really are very expensive and dell could significantly undercut them there.

I am going to get some kind of win8 tablet this year and am hoping the dell ends up being good because it seems like the better value package.