Microsoft launches Surface and Surface Pro tablets

Plowman

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testicle

Plowman wrote: »

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Nothing confusing about it. One runs Windows RT and the other runs normal Windows 8. One is Metro only, and the other has Metro & Desktop like any other Windows 8 install.

AlmightyCushion

The core i5 isn't a quad core. It's a ULV dual core processor.

Overheal

I have this:

http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/tablet-pcs/XE700T1A-A03US

Great little device. This predates the launch of the "surface" keyboard so it doesnt have that feature but its still an i5, 4gb of ddr3 and a 64gb ssd. Have it running 8 consumer preview and its pretty nice. Problem is, it costs about $1200...

Plowman

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Overheal

runs fine, not hot. battery is about 4hours i think

it has a pretty serious ventillation system which dumps hot air, all in all the tablet itself stays pretty cool.

evolutionqy7

Overheal wrote: »

I have this:

http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/tablet-pcs/XE700T1A-A03US

Great little device. This predates the launch of the "surface" keyboard so it doesnt have that feature but its still an i5, 4gb of ddr3 and a 64gb ssd. Have it running 8 consumer preview and its pretty nice. Problem is, it costs about $1200...

Mmm I wanted that one, just couldn't bite the price at the time, now that I can it seems a bit pointless seeing as W8 ones will be out soon and will drop down in price a little bit. Probably will end up getting the Surface Pro Version anyway. Depends on the battery life the offer.

Overheal

For some people it will depend on the surface itself: you cant really write or draw on tablets at large; except for professional tablets with corresponding pen styluses. Consumer grade iPads and Android tablets have cheaper capacitive touch screens that only work with rubber-tip styluses which offer piss poor responsiveness and absolutely no pressure sensitivity.

stevenmu

Pricing has been announced today

$499 for 32GB with no cover
$599 for 32GB with touch cover
$699 for 64GB with touch cover

$119 for a touch cover on it's own
$129 for the type cover


Link

Torqay

stevenmu wrote: »

Pricing has been announced today

$499 for 32GB with no cover
$599 for 32GB with touch cover
$699 for 64GB with touch cover

$119 for a touch cover on it's own
$129 for the type cover


Link

Fail!

So much for the $199 subscription model...

If they want to stand a chance against the might of Samsung and Apple in the 10" tablet market they must undercut their prices drastically. Microsoft's last endeavour into the realm or ARM was a disaster and I can't see customers going crazy over Windows CE (Reloaded, with Tiles = RT) with an attached app store.

_Kaiser_

Torqay wrote: »

Fail!

So much for the $199 subscription model...

If they want to stand a chance against the might of Samsung and Apple in the 10" tablet market they must undercut their prices drastically. Microsoft's last endeavour into the realm or ARM was a disaster and I can't see customers going crazy over Windows CE "Reloaded" with an attached app store.

Indeed.. seems very pricey for something people would be taking a punt on.
If you're going to spend that kinda cash I think most will opt for an iPad or decent Android tab myself.

Basing this on EU pricing as per this post

Torqay

Very poor understanding of the tablet market on Microsoft's part. If they really wanted to make an impact they should have come out with a subsidized killer offer... but now we'll see just another tablet and the hype will be over soon.

Business customers will go for Intel tablets, consumers may think twice before coughing up 500 Dollar for another "gadget". For those who don't want Apple, the Galaxy 10.1 Note for the same price or even less seems to be more attractive. Or Google's Nexus 7 with the same power for $199.

Overheal

http://gizmodo.com/5952258/dont-preorder-microsoft-surface

Excellent points made by giz here.

I can vouch for Windows 8 in general, having interacted with the Yoga both as a PC and as a tablet. And an HP Envy 23 Touchsmart All in One PC. And a bunch of other things I have on display. But nobody has played with Surface. As pointed out in the article, the MSFT reps will tell you how fast they were able to type on the keyboard of Surface, but won't actually let you try it out. Not as of yet. That is worrying.

It indicates to me that the Surface's keyboard, while a clever idea, may not be all it's cracked up to be. That remains to be seen, but it will take some time. No retailer other than Microsoft-direct stores will be carrying the Surface. Meanwhile other retailers will carry third party tablets. My own store is getting several RT Tablets, among them is a ASUS brand copycat of the TF700, - the Vivo Tab - that just runs Windows 8 RT. This will have virtually the same functionality, if $50 more expensive (but the keyboard DOES double the tablet's battery life...). I havent received that unit yet, but I expect it to hopefully arrive this week

More examples of some of the wild hardware coming out:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443675404578060592571020734.html

AlmightyCushion

Overheal wrote: »

http://gizmodo.com/5952258/dont-preorder-microsoft-surface

Excellent points made by giz here.

I can vouch for Windows 8 in general, having interacted with the Yoga both as a PC and as a tablet. And an HP Envy 23 Touchsmart All in One PC. And a bunch of other things I have on display. But nobody has played with Surface. As pointed out in the article, the MSFT reps will tell you how fast they were able to type on the keyboard of Surface, but won't actually let you try it out. Not as of yet. That is worrying.

It indicates to me that the Surface's keyboard, while a clever idea, may not be all it's cracked up to be. That remains to be seen, but it will take some time. No retailer other than Microsoft-direct stores will be carrying the Surface. Meanwhile other retailers will carry third party tablets. My own store is getting several RT Tablets, among them is a ASUS brand copycat of the TF700, that just runs Windows 8 RT. This will have virtually the same functionality, if $50 more expensive (but the keyboard DOES double the tablet's battery life...). I havent received that unit yet, but I expect it to hopefully arrive this week

More examples of some of the wild hardware coming out:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443675404578060592571020734.html

http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/16/microsoft-surface-behind-the-scenes/

Engadget had a play with the keyboard for a short time and they were "pleasantly surprised" with it.

Overheal

The Touch Cover was always one of the most intriguing things about the Surface, and yet, it's also been the most mysterious: there weren't even working units at that June launch event. Thankfully, the company had some working models on display during its lab tour, and allowed the journalists in attendance to spend a few minutes trying them out. All told, Microsoft claims that it could take four or five days for users to reach their peak touch-typing speed, which means our few minutes of use leaves us unprepared to make any definitive judgments. We will say that our uneasiness receded after about a minute; with practice, we were typing faster, and making fewer typos. And when we did make mistakes, the backspace key was easy to hit, as was the spacebar, which Microsoft made wider after some big-handed focus group testers hit the touchpad instead. We'll revisit this in detail in our inevitable review, but for now color us pleasantly surprised.

Understandable reaction, but somewhat worrying. Even the keyboard on my HP Ultrabook is unwieldy, especially when not on a flat surface it is notoriously bad for not registering Spacebar presses.

I think it would behoove people in this case to wait the 5 days to see what early adopters really think. Keep in mind, in fairness, this was a controlled event the journalists were invited to by Microsoft. It's a bit like Lamborghini insisting a journalist only review a model that was tuned by Lamborghini professionals to suit the specific test track, instead of the journalist simply driving a Stock-tuned model. Even in my case, Microsoft seems to have chosen the Yoga as the test bed it wants me to know Windows 8 on. I'm still curious to hear what real consumers will say about the surface.

Undead

I'm actually very annoyed that Ireland was excluded from the initial pre orders, although with no Zune Music Pass/Xbox Music or Bing Local Scout on WP7, I guess it's normal for MS to ignore Ireland.