Tablets anyone here have experiance with the surface 2?

[Krazy Bill]

Simple, they don't want to use a MacBook for their tasks.

Then they are stuck with the limitations of iOS on an iPad.

If it comes down to a Surface+keyboard or an iPad+keyboard... the 11" iPad Air can be a logical compromise for somebody who wants the power of OSX and the ecosystem of iOS.

 

[laserfox]

Honestly you are better off asking this question on a non-apple site to get a better idea of what using the surface 2 is like.

I had the surface RT for a year as a student and let me tell you - it is hands down a GREAT tablet to use in school.

Full office with the type cover is better than anything the iPad offers. Micro hdmi allowed me to dock to my 22inch monitor and knock off huge research papers.

Multitasking is amazing. In metro you can snap apps side by side. In desktop you can resize windows and use multiple programs just as a pc. This is HEAVEN for writing while having a website open for reference.

USB port means MANY of the keyboards, mice, printers, usb drivers, cameras, scanners, phones etc JUST WORK. Its amazing how useful this is as a college student. Yes Windows RT supports all this.

It has a micro sd card port.

I never want to buy another tablet without a kickstand. Once you have it you WILL miss it.

Remote desktop with cursor MOUSE support is just great.

Internet Explorer with flash support.

So while the surface rt was a bit slow and it got better with 8.1, the Surface 2 is FAST. Handles multitasking like a breeze.

The only pitfall of the surface 2 is the limited app store compared to the iPad but as a productivity tablet is hands down wins.

 

[Rav7]

OP

Check this out

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wG1b0yBJHLM&desktop_uri=/watch?v=wG1b0yBJHLM

 

[Macalway]

It depends on what you need, if you need the windows ecosystem then a windows tablet is the way to go, but NOT the surface 2. It always amazes me how so many people miss the Atom powered tablets. They complain that the surface 2 doesn't run full windows programs, or they complain that the surface Pro 2 is too expensive, thick and heavy, but the Atom powered ones solve all of those problems.

You can get the Asus T100, for example, which comes with a keyboard dock making it act pretty darn close to a laptop for freakin $399, that's nuts. It's a FULL windows tablet where you can run any windows program you like, yes including photoshop, games, etc. It's got a USB port so you can hook up whatever you like to it. Battery life is very comparable to an ipad so no worries there. Screen is overhyped IMO, windows cleartype does a great job and you don't notice it's lower res. It also comes with Office 2013 included for that $399.

You should see more Atom tablets come out very soon for this holiday season. Make sure you look into the current generation called Baytrail and stay away from last years models.

The SP2 is a desktop replacment

The Atom and Haswell are in different categories. Also, the Haswell has USB 3.
It's true, the new Baytrail atoms are great, but they are not anywhere near the Haswell as far a performance; hence the fans, heat sinks, weight

Also, the SP2 has a Wacom pen, which is an integral part of a TabletPC

 

[Liquorpuki]

I agree with this. The Surface is a really beautiful device. The problem with it is that it's something of a hybrid between a laptop and a tablet, and yet it gets compared to straight tablets (as defined by the iPad and Android tablets). As a pure tablet, it's not that great. The battery life can't compare and it's heavier. It has more potential than just that, but the potential is overlooked because that's not what most people are using their tablets for.

I use my iPad mini for work. Remote desktop, presenting Keynote presentations made on my Mac, note-taking applications, information lookup through dedicated app... it's all there. This is not a gaming device or a "toy." A Surface could probably perform those same functions, but the weight and relative lack of battery life make it a no-go for me. It doesn't help that it doesn't nicely integrate into the Apple ecosystem, either.

Honestly, if I were a college student today then the Surface would be a very compelling device. It can function as your primary system, yet it's portable and tablet-y enough to be used in that ultra mobile tablet-like fashion. It doesn't particularly excel at either, but when you don't have the luxury of storage space or money then it'll do quite nicely. On the other hand, if you already have a Mac system and an iPad then the two make for a very compelling combination that can accomplish quite a bit. It's personal preference.

You gotta differentiate between the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2. Two different beasts here

 

[NewbieCanada]

a lot of people were saying the ipad is just a toy and i would be happier with a surface

Do any of those people actually own one?

 

[spinedoc77]

The SP2 is a desktop replacment

The Atom and Haswell are in different categories. Also, the Haswell has USB 3.
It's true, the new Baytrail atoms are great, but they are not anywhere near the Haswell as far a performance; hence the fans, heat sinks, weight

Also, the SP2 has a Wacom pen, which is an integral part of a TabletPC

I disagree. There are very few applications you can't run on Baytrail, at that point the memory might be a limiting factor with things like large files in Photoshop. For the vast majority you could connect a Baytrail tablet to a monitor/keyboard/mouse and use it as a desktop. For those few that can't do that I'll bet they wouldn't choose the SP2 anyhow and probably go with a high end laptop.

As for the wacom pen, my thinkpad tablet 2 has a wacom digitizer/pen setup and that's an atom cpu. It's last generation though and the thinkpad tablet 3 has not been announced yet. The T100, as one example, has a usb 3.0 slot on the keyboard dock, I'm not sure if the micro-usb on the tablet itself is only 2.0 though.

 

[isephmusic]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG1b0yBJHLM

someone please talk me out of returning my ipad air and buying a surface 2 lol please.


i just think its dumb for 499 i only got 16gb while the surface is $450 for 32gb PLUS a slot for micro sd card which i have 64gb but nothing to put it into !

for those of you who made the ipad work for you in college and other productive tasks how did you do it ? what apps specificilly did you use for taking notes or remote desktop of syncing email/notes with a desktop , how did you print how did u send and receive files , ect.

 

[weespeed]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG1b0yBJHLM

someone please talk me out of returning my ipad air and buying a surface 2 lol please.

Thanks, that is a great video. I didn't know the RT 2 was capable of all of that. I don't know why MS decided to do dancing, clicking, and flying RT commercials. This simple youtube video would have helped them move a lot more units.

I'm seriously considering the Surface Pro 2. But after the video, I may think about the RT 2.

I picked up an iPad Air last night, and I'm not impressed. It is nice and all, but really it's not much thinner than my iPad 2. Also I hate iOS 7 on the iPad, so ugly. Also got the smart case, and it can barely hold up the light iPad Air. I move it back and it collapses.

I really don't know what Apple was thinking.

 

[alex2792]

I'm typing this on the surface 2,its the best tablet I've ever owned hands down. It pretty much replaced my laptop, which is something that the iPad could never do.

 

[alex2792]

Do any of those people actually own one?

IPad IS a toy, and yes I've owned multiple iPads before. Getting anything more than checking emails, light web browsing and YouTube on ios is a PITA. The OS is geared towards complete idiots to the point where productivity is severely neutered.

 

[laserfox]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG1b0yBJHLM

someone please talk me out of returning my ipad air and buying a surface 2 lol please.


i just think its dumb for 499 i only got 16gb while the surface is $450 for 32gb PLUS a slot for micro sd card which i have 64gb but nothing to put it into !

for those of you who made the ipad work for you in college and other productive tasks how did you do it ? what apps specificilly did you use for taking notes or remote desktop of syncing email/notes with a desktop , how did you print how did u send and receive files , ect.

Wow this is great. I love it. and you can even do all this on the 8inch windows tablets too. CRAZY!

 

[Ledgem]

for those of you who made the ipad work for you in college and other productive tasks how did you do it ? what apps specificilly did you use for taking notes or remote desktop of syncing email/notes with a desktop , how did you print how did u send and receive files , ect.

For note-taking I use Notability with one of those cheap, fat-tip styluses. Notability isn't free, but it's surprisingly cheap for what you get (I bought it on sale for $1, I think it costs $4 now). Notability generates a magnified writing box at the bottom of the display, which allows you to write fairly easily even with the fat-tipped styluses. There are some other automated features that make writing easier, as well. They work well, but they require some adjusting to. Don't expect to pick it up and write on it exactly as if it were a piece of paper. I used Notability during classes and I use it in clinical practice, and while I'd say that I'm probably a bit faster with a pen and paper than with Notability, my writing with Notability is more legible (the speed decrease and increased legibility are due to being forced to write with larger strokes). I tried the Adonit Jot Pro and was disappointed by the skipping issues. If you want to make a direct comparison then the Surface, with its digitizer, should be superior.

Remote desktop: I use Citrix Receiver (free app to download) to remote in to my institution's systems. This is corporate software; I'm not sure that you can set it up to remote in to your home computer.

File management: I use Documents (by Readdle, free app). Keep the app open and your iPad or iPhone appears on your network as a mountable drive, where you can easily organize and add or remove documents. It can also pull down documents from Dropbox or Google Drive. I primarily use this for keeping books (PDF format) and information slides available for easy access and referencing.

Email syncing: all of my email accounts are IMAP or Exchange, which keeps mail synchronized by design. I just use the default mail clients on both iOS and OS X, but with IMAP and Exchange it really doesn't matter what client I use, nor what system.

 

[NewbieCanada]

IPad IS a toy, and yes I've owned multiple iPads before. Getting anything more than checking emails, light web browsing and YouTube on ios is a PITA. The OS is geared towards complete idiots to the point where productivity is severely neutered.

I was asking the OP a question about the people he's spoken to. Your opinion is quite irrelevant.

 

[terrywfoster]

Your work buys these knowing you don't or won't even use it? I need a gig like that

That's correct.

I have a couple Droid tablets in that drawer too. Oh and a Dell Latitude 10 Win 8 tablet. It's all collecting dust.

Welcome to the world of education.

 

[isephmusic]

theres been a very mature discussion here. u have no idea the responses i would get in the ipad forum or the microsoft forums lmao. thanks all for the advice