This review is from: Microsoft Surface with Windows RT 64GB Tablet with Black Touch Cover PC Laptop Touchscreen
Approaching 50 yrs young, I’ve been into gadgets since I was young. I’m not a “fan boy” of any particular manufacturer. As such I own:
MacBook Pro iPad 3 “Retina” Windows 7 Laptop & PC Samsung Galaxy Note
As such I can give a balanced view point.
Firstly, just to dispel some myths about the Microsoft Surface.
1: You can easily type really well on the touch cover!
I have my own version of touch-typing, as I’ve typed for so long that I know where the keys are. Despite the “new” experience of typing on a keyboard, that lacks tactile-feel obviously, the experience is great. It is no more taxing than adapting to a keyboard that has different spacing’s – like a new laptop for example.
2: You can use the Desktop side of Windows 8 RT fine with your finger!
I’ve no idea why educated people on many technical websites have been negative about using a finger to navigate the Windows 8 desktop environment. I can only imagine that the aim was to mislead readers, and help them drag the review score down.
It causes no hardship at all to explore the areas you would on a home PC with a mouse, on the Microsoft Surface with your finger. You can liken it to simply navigating internet links on your iPhone, Blackberry – or anything else with a touch screen.
What does the Win 8 experience hold for those moving from XP, Vista etc?
A nice new touch one!
Being on Facebook and having a Hotmail account, when I set the Surface up, I log in using my Hotmail info – this is the norm now, or will be.
After updating the built in app’s online (it tells you that updates are available) anyone who has entered their date of birth now is highlighted via Calendar alerts. I’m warned when a friend has a Birthday tomorrow!
It’s an amazing, yet simple touch. I didn’t have to do a thing! If you haven’t guessed already, I’m all about working smarter, not harder.
Yes most home users, will have a learning curve with regards to Win 8 – but it’s well thought out. That much is obvious, again – despite what you may have read!
Windows 8 RT boots quickly, and navigating the tiled interface is both fast and fluid. Don’t forget though, that this version of Windows is for ARM CPU’s. Similar to those found in Android devices, and the iPad too. Due to the fact that basically ARM processors are budget versions, full Windows code does not run on them. So – any old Windows software you own, will not run on a Surface RT.
If this is a major issue for you because you have a huge collection of software that you cannot replace, then you need to look for devices that mentions either “Full Windows 8”, or “Windows 8 Pro”. Currently these devices are not only hard to find, but they’ll cost a minimum of £720 and upwards! That’s if you want to go for a powerful Intel i5 CPU. The Surface Pro will reportedly launch in January 2013, the UK price hasn’t been announced, and should launch with the i5 chip.
You can easily and quickly expand your Surface RT with applications, but via purchase/download from the built in MS Store that is included. Searching the store is simple. You can view choice by rating, by how new it is, and the price etc., etc. Now bearing in mind that Windows RT is brand new, obviously app’s are going to take time to grow. If gaming as a hobby floats your boat, then 46 of the top 50 games are coming.
Whenever I bought app’s for my iPad, I was very critical of the value that I got for my money. Yes, IOS has more app’s, but it also has a lot of crap too. Android is no different. The only game I’ve bought so far on my Surface is Angry Birds Star Wars. The game looks, sounds, and moves amazingly.
Already there are image editing app’s available too, so if you want to be able to edit pictures before uploading them to wherever you choose, then you’ll be fine. When I compare like-for-like usage on my Surface RT, with Android and IOS, there are compelling reasons to recommend it to others who are thinking of owning one. Regardless of whether you are a gadget freak, a person using Windows on a tired laptop (or broken for that matter), or someone considering an iPad.
This portable tablet/laptop hybrid easily gets a huge thumbs up from me. When you use a program in Window 8, if you swipe a finger in – from the right edge you can access settings for it. As such, what you use is “clean” and uncluttered. When using Internet Explorer if you swipe down from the top edge, or up from the bottom edge you can get access to features such as new tab, refresh, back etc. Again, at all other times you see full-screen web pages. If you have the cover attached then you can use the shortcuts to “home”, “page down” etc., etc.
For traditional desktop users, if you prefer to browse whilst looking at your tool bars, you can do that too. You have the best of…
This review is from: Microsoft Surface with Windows RT 64GB Tablet with Black Touch Cover PC Laptop Touchscreen
General
The feel of the device is that of a premium, quality product. the focus is the screen – unlike other tablets, where the screen vs. bezel seem out of proportion, this is perfect.
Hardware
Screen is bright, colours are great. The touch responsiveness is excellent – image depth under the surface of the glass seems really narrow – which is great. Other tablets I’ve handled have a similar resolution, but the pixels are evident, plus the image is deep under the touch screen and seems almost disconnected with the finger Kick stand – so useful and really tough – not a gimmick Touch keyboard – It’s been handled by my kids daily, passed around the office and their families – no sign of a split. easy to clean. I’ve easily paired a Bluetooth mouse, if that’s what you prefer – but regular keyboards/mice can work with the USB port 32GB – most tablets announce how much memory they have, not necessarily available – you c USB support Micro SD card support – expand it if you need more anyway Earphone – socket, obviously micro HDMI – socket for full HD external monitor TV Click-In – (magnetic attaching of keyboards) is not a gimmick – really cool and we use a lot. Camera’s – front facing, rear facing. really nice images, couldn’t fault them – they are web cam’s though – Skype integrates well.
Software
Remember – It is Windows 8 baked down to a tablet NOT a phone beefed up to be a tablet. Bluetooth/home networking/VPN/Printing/screen handling and all the serious OS systems work as usual. So each member of the family can have a login – and they can have their own picture password. They can’t mess the device up for others as the windows 8 apps are ‘sandboxed’ – only the first user (‘Administrator’) can do some of the more serious stuff. Stability – It has never crashed on me, although once or twice I’ve needed to quit a program (just swipe down from the top to the bottom to ‘close’ a program) Store – smooth, easy to navigate, growing fast calendar/mail/people/messaging – OK. generally keeping up-to-date the people hub works well. Xbox Music – great selection – tried with trial music pass and with the free streaming. Works OK, sometimes didn’t seem responsive though Xbox games – brilliant choice and the library is growing daily Xbox video – same selection as on the xbox, haven’t tried it with SmartGlass onto the Xbox yet Office 2013 – full Office on a tablet – brilliant. works efficiently with SkyDrive (7GB free online storage)
Extra’s Xbox 360 integration – SmartGlass – signed straight in and showed me all my Halo 4 stats, controlled the xbox and looked around the xbox 360 store to play a video. opened the picture library and I easy sent the image to the xbox, flicked through the images on the tablet and show the next photo I chose – really cool
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Microsoft Surface with Windows RT 64GB Tablet with Black Touch Cover PC Laptop Touchscreen
I was all excited when I saw this and even more excited when I bought it. The novelty wore off after a couple of days. This is such a great idea for a product but I think it’s way ahead of it’s time. You are restricted in browsers which is not a good start. Okay it’s not a major issue, but still an issue. I personally found the tablet part great, but it also seems to rely very heavily on the keyboard at times. If you’re a FB addict then steer clear of this. If you need flash player then think again, no flash player either. I bought this on a wimm and no where had it on sale except on here, I thought wow, just do it, so I did. Wish I’d been able to try before buying. Give this awide birth,you might be best off with an Ipad if you want tablet technology. Very over priced apps also compared to what Apple charge.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Stop Wondering And Buy A Microsoft Surface,
Approaching 50 yrs young, I’ve been into gadgets since I was young. I’m not a “fan boy” of any particular manufacturer. As such I own:
MacBook Pro
iPad 3 “Retina”
Windows 7 Laptop & PC
Samsung Galaxy Note
As such I can give a balanced view point.
Firstly, just to dispel some myths about the Microsoft Surface.
1: You can easily type really well on the touch cover!
I have my own version of touch-typing, as I’ve typed for so long that I know where the keys are. Despite the “new” experience of typing on a keyboard, that lacks tactile-feel obviously, the experience is great. It is no more taxing than adapting to a keyboard that has different spacing’s – like a new laptop for example.
2: You can use the Desktop side of Windows 8 RT fine with your finger!
I’ve no idea why educated people on many technical websites have been negative about using a finger to navigate the Windows 8 desktop environment. I can only imagine that the aim was to mislead readers, and help them drag the review score down.
It causes no hardship at all to explore the areas you would on a home PC with a mouse, on the Microsoft Surface with your finger. You can liken it to simply navigating internet links on your iPhone, Blackberry – or anything else with a touch screen.
What does the Win 8 experience hold for those moving from XP, Vista etc?
A nice new touch one!
Being on Facebook and having a Hotmail account, when I set the Surface up, I log in using my Hotmail info – this is the norm now, or will be.
After updating the built in app’s online (it tells you that updates are available) anyone who has entered their date of birth now is highlighted via Calendar alerts. I’m warned when a friend has a Birthday tomorrow!
It’s an amazing, yet simple touch. I didn’t have to do a thing! If you haven’t guessed already, I’m all about working smarter, not harder.
Yes most home users, will have a learning curve with regards to Win 8 – but it’s well thought out. That much is obvious, again – despite what you may have read!
Windows 8 RT boots quickly, and navigating the tiled interface is both fast and fluid. Don’t forget though, that this version of Windows is for ARM CPU’s. Similar to those found in Android devices, and the iPad too. Due to the fact that basically ARM processors are budget versions, full Windows code does not run on them. So – any old Windows software you own, will not run on a Surface RT.
If this is a major issue for you because you have a huge collection of software that you cannot replace, then you need to look for devices that mentions either “Full Windows 8”, or “Windows 8 Pro”. Currently these devices are not only hard to find, but they’ll cost a minimum of £720 and upwards! That’s if you want to go for a powerful Intel i5 CPU. The Surface Pro will reportedly launch in January 2013, the UK price hasn’t been announced, and should launch with the i5 chip.
You can easily and quickly expand your Surface RT with applications, but via purchase/download from the built in MS Store that is included. Searching the store is simple. You can view choice by rating, by how new it is, and the price etc., etc. Now bearing in mind that Windows RT is brand new, obviously app’s are going to take time to grow. If gaming as a hobby floats your boat, then 46 of the top 50 games are coming.
Whenever I bought app’s for my iPad, I was very critical of the value that I got for my money. Yes, IOS has more app’s, but it also has a lot of crap too. Android is no different. The only game I’ve bought so far on my Surface is Angry Birds Star Wars. The game looks, sounds, and moves amazingly.
Already there are image editing app’s available too, so if you want to be able to edit pictures before uploading them to wherever you choose, then you’ll be fine. When I compare like-for-like usage on my Surface RT, with Android and IOS, there are compelling reasons to recommend it to others who are thinking of owning one. Regardless of whether you are a gadget freak, a person using Windows on a tired laptop (or broken for that matter), or someone considering an iPad.
This portable tablet/laptop hybrid easily gets a huge thumbs up from me. When you use a program in Window 8, if you swipe a finger in – from the right edge you can access settings for it. As such, what you use is “clean” and uncluttered. When using Internet Explorer if you swipe down from the top edge, or up from the bottom edge you can get access to features such as new tab, refresh, back etc. Again, at all other times you see full-screen web pages. If you have the cover attached then you can use the shortcuts to “home”, “page down” etc., etc.
For traditional desktop users, if you prefer to browse whilst looking at your tool bars, you can do that too. You have the best of…
Read more
Was this review helpful to you?
|Now my family doesn’t need a laptop or an iPad – all in one and better,
General
The feel of the device is that of a premium, quality product.
the focus is the screen – unlike other tablets, where the screen vs. bezel seem out of proportion, this is perfect.
Hardware
Screen is bright, colours are great. The touch responsiveness is excellent – image depth under the surface of the glass seems really narrow – which is great. Other tablets I’ve handled have a similar resolution, but the pixels are evident, plus the image is deep under the touch screen and seems almost disconnected with the finger
Kick stand – so useful and really tough – not a gimmick
Touch keyboard – It’s been handled by my kids daily, passed around the office and their families – no sign of a split. easy to clean.
I’ve easily paired a Bluetooth mouse, if that’s what you prefer – but regular keyboards/mice can work with the USB port
32GB – most tablets announce how much memory they have, not necessarily available – you c
USB support
Micro SD card support – expand it if you need more anyway
Earphone – socket, obviously
micro HDMI – socket for full HD external monitor TV
Click-In – (magnetic attaching of keyboards) is not a gimmick – really cool and we use a lot.
Camera’s – front facing, rear facing. really nice images, couldn’t fault them – they are web cam’s though – Skype integrates well.
Software
Remember – It is Windows 8 baked down to a tablet NOT a phone beefed up to be a tablet. Bluetooth/home networking/VPN/Printing/screen handling and all the serious OS systems work as usual. So each member of the family can have a login – and they can have their own picture password. They can’t mess the device up for others as the windows 8 apps are ‘sandboxed’ – only the first user (‘Administrator’) can do some of the more serious stuff.
Stability – It has never crashed on me, although once or twice I’ve needed to quit a program (just swipe down from the top to the bottom to ‘close’ a program)
Store – smooth, easy to navigate, growing fast
calendar/mail/people/messaging – OK. generally keeping up-to-date the people hub works well.
Xbox Music – great selection – tried with trial music pass and with the free streaming. Works OK, sometimes didn’t seem responsive though
Xbox games – brilliant choice and the library is growing daily
Xbox video – same selection as on the xbox, haven’t tried it with SmartGlass onto the Xbox yet
Office 2013 – full Office on a tablet – brilliant. works efficiently with SkyDrive (7GB free online storage)
Extra’s
Xbox 360 integration – SmartGlass – signed straight in and showed me all my Halo 4 stats, controlled the xbox and looked around the xbox 360 store to play a video. opened the picture library and I easy sent the image to the xbox, flicked through the images on the tablet and show the next photo I chose – really cool
Was this review helpful to you?
|Surface shock,
I was all excited when I saw this and even more excited when I bought it. The novelty wore off after a couple of days. This is such a great idea for a product but I think it’s way ahead of it’s time. You are restricted in browsers which is not a good start. Okay it’s not a major issue, but still an issue. I personally found the tablet part great, but it also seems to rely very heavily on the keyboard at times. If you’re a FB addict then steer clear of this. If you need flash player then think again, no flash player either.
I bought this on a wimm and no where had it on sale except on here, I thought wow, just do it, so I did. Wish I’d been able to try before buying. Give this awide birth,you might be best off with an Ipad if you want tablet technology. Very over priced apps also compared to what Apple charge.
Was this review helpful to you?
|