Using these things on your lap with any of the available keyboards is pretty terrible. I'm not sure what his original point was, but it seems to me the argument isn't about computing power like you're assuming, it's about usability. With the keyboard it's best used on a tabletop which is fine for many, but for many others it's really not. When I'm on forums or email, I want a keyboard. Touchscreen typing is fine for short messages but I can't use it for anything longer than a text. So for typing on the couch, the way you have to balance the kickstand on your leg while keeping the keyboard supported enough to type on is so awkward it's not worth bothering. I took my surface back and got a Helix because of this issue.
What do you mean by "giving up a lot"? Surface Pro 3 has a better screen, better industrial design and build quality, better portability, better note taking, and similar performance.
The new Surface Pro 3 has a completely new hinge and a new keyboard that magnetically folds onto the bottom of the tablet to provide much better stability on a lap than previous generations of Surface (yes, not quite as good in lap as a laptop, but quite a bit lighter and more flexible in design too).
I am still struggling to think of a scenario where a surface pro is better because of its form factor than a 2 in 1. I just have to laugh at the picture of the SP3 on the lap; it looks like an uncomfortable balancing act.
I am still struggling to think of a scenario where a surface pro is better because of its form factor than a 2 in 1. I just have to laugh at the picture of the SP3 on the lap; it looks like an uncomfortable balancing act.
And if the cover is anything like the ones on the SP2. You're getting a sub par keyboard and touchpad that's more tolerable than usable.
You are struggling to think why a lighter, thinner device with pen input would be better than a heavier, thicker device with no pen input and the same amount of processing power? As for the lap comment, again, try to understand that the new type keyboard doesn't flex anymore on the lap unlike prior generations of Surface.
A thicker, heavier device with a much better keyboard and touchpad, and is much more stable on your lap, or any other uneven or soft surface.
A thicker, heavier device with a much better keyboard and touchpad, and is much more stable on your lap, or any other uneven or soft surface.
The keyboard and touchpad appear to be some of the biggest improvements in Surface Pro 3 (see the launch presentation), and reportedly are way better than any previous Surface product. As Chef Duffy would say, don't knock it till you try it. At the very least, wait for Anand's full review on the product.
I suppose the way to look at it is that the surface is better at tablet things than a laptop and better at laptop things than a tablet. It's just not as good as a laptop at laptop things and likewise for tablet stuff.
I don't think you can flatly state that the Surface is not as good as a laptop at 'laptop things'. I think it heavily depends on what 'laptop things' and 'tablet things' you're talking about. For instance, if you're talking about picking the device up by it's keyboard only, OK, the Surface isn't as good.
If it turns out to have the battery life, keyboard and touchpad, etc, to rival a macpro then I'll be more than happy to say that I was wrong.
I don't know why they can't make an ipad-air thin RT.
I wasn't trying to say you were wrong - just trying to say that you shouldn't say the Surface isn't as good as a laptop or a tablet period for everybody.
It all depends on how you use it.
I have a Dell XPS 12, i7, 8GB, 128gb, touchscreen, 8.1, was $1499 (work paid, whew).
Never touch the screen, never in tablet mode... its just a laptop. I have it set to skip the metro screen. I can't imagine what kind of real work, or any other application would make the touch screen useful. Are people actually writing on the displays? Filling in crosswords by hand? wth? If the SP3 isn't as sturdy/keyboard not as good as a real laptop then I'm struggling to buy into the idea thats is more productive then something like a macbook, or ca heaper windows laptop.
I get what they are trying to do and the SP3 certainly looks like a very good device overall but I just don't see the market for it right now. They are going back and fourth between tablet and laptop and nailing neither.
Maybe I'm just OLD (27), are kids using touch screens and pen inputs at work all day now?
That issue has been largely rectified with Surface Pro 3 and it's new hinge and new type cover that attaches securely to the bottom strip of the tablet display using magnets. Prior generations of Surface were not great in a lap because the hinge had only one or two fixed points of adjustment and because the keyboard would literally flex when in lap because it had a weak point of attachment to the tablet display. I recommend taking a look at Microsoft's demonstration to see it in action.
I don't know why they can't make an ipad-air thin RT.
I don't think a tablet + keyboard ever replaces a laptop. The Surface tries to straddle that laptop/tablet territory better, but it's not a true laptop and as a tablet it falls short. It doesn't have the apps that iOS has, and even compared to Android, there really isn't that much more. At 12" with that kind of weight, portability is also questionable.Well said, although I would add that Surface Pro 3 is about as good as it gets for productivity in this form factor. An iPad Air + keyboard doesn't even come close to replacing a laptop. In fact, Microsoft claims that 96% of iPad users still need to use a separate laptop for their productivity needs.
I don't think a tablet + keyboard ever replaces a laptop. The Surface tries to straddle that laptop/tablet territory better, but it's not a true laptop and as a tablet it falls short. It doesn't have the apps that iOS has, and even compared to Android, there really isn't that much more. At 12" with that kind of weight, portability is also questionable.
So what you're left with is something that's less than a laptop, yet in many ways not as good of a tablet as an iPad. I just find it a difficult pill to swallow at that price point.
Also, I cannot do things like this on a typical laptop. Not at all. (Hell, I KNOW one cannot even come close to doing this very thing on any sole use, Apple or Android tablet)
you can do this with mouse and keyboard only but it will take maybe 3-4 times as long to achieve the same results because of the lack of pressure sensitivity and accuracy of what a pen can give you. I have a friend who tried modeling with only keyboard and mouse and it takes forever to do each brush stroke because you need to constantly resize and reshape the stroke manually. This video was made over the course of 3 hours (because the cameras battery only lasted that long)
It hasn't been rectified, it's a bandaid on only half the issue. So they improved the keyboard a tad... okay, but I still need to balance a kickstand on my leg, so I can't use it the way I want to at home. Why would I deal with such an awkward balancing act when things like the Lenovo Helix exits?