Surface Pro or MacBook Air?

[XboxMySocks]

I feel like asking between a Windows and an Apple device on an Apple forum is going to lend you slightly biased answers... but as most people have said, the Macbook Air is by far a better device. Don't let Surface users fool you, the Surface is not a laptop with a touchscreen. It is decidedly a tablet, and painfully so in some aspects.

 

[jamezr]

I feel like asking between a Windows and an Apple device on an Apple forum is going to lend you slightly biased answers... but as most people have said, the Macbook Air is by far a better device. Don't let Surface users fool you, the Surface is not a laptop with a touchscreen. It is decidedly a tablet, and painfully so in some aspects.

Thats a great point...is it fair to compare a Surface Pro to the MBA?

 

[XboxMySocks]

Thats a great point...is it fair to compare a Surface Pro to the MBA?

I'm not honestly sure that it is. Sure people would argue that the Pro is a full windows install but it's still decidedly a tablet due to its architecture.

 

[JGRE]

The major draw to mac is OSX, and you can still use windows. If you get the surface then no OSX. That factor alone makes the Air the better buy.

OSX is not a drawback and if you still think so than boot Windows; problem solved

 

[Vegastouch]

The first thing is more apps......
Doesn't the platform only have like 50K apps? That not enough considering the iPad have about 10 times that many.
Ease of use....the metro interface needs to be more user friendly.
I can make my ipad 4 look and feel anyway i like.
My 5 year old can get on my ipad and play games and watch netflix with no help at all.....that says allot.
Data service...i have my iPad on AT&T with data service. I have an internet connection anywhere i want to go. I can bring it on trips and my son can watch netflix and movies to keep himself entertained.
I also have the option to use it for navigation as well. My other son plays sports...i go to pick him at at practice or go to games and bring my iPad. I am always connected to email and so forth.
Better battery life......

How many do you actually use? Of the 700,000 Apps on Android, i have 110 of them. MS has the biggest apps being used for the most part....that i use anyways.

I dont have either one(MBA or Surface Pro) but im planning on getting a SP at some point. I really like the idea of full laptop features while being able to use it as a tablet as well. Im just waiting for the 8.1 update to come around or most likely just wait for the 2nd gen. I get the Wi-Fi only devices.

When i go to my Kids games...i actually watch the games. How demoralizing it must be for your kid to see you in the stands looking at your iPad instead of the game. I know how excited my kids got when they made a goal or a nice hit and asked me if i saw it.

 

[zhenya]

isn't it better to carry one device(surface pro) than carrying two devices( MBA and a tablet)?
maybe you should consider surface RT(better battery life)?

In a word, no. The Surface pro is a challenge to do real work on without it docked to external monitors. I used it as my primary computer for several months. I could do my work on it, but it was always a compromise, always a bit of a struggle without an external monitor. And it basically sucks as a tablet for the day to day stuff I use my ipad for. 16:9 is terrible for extended reading, it's way too heavy, and the battery life and standby life are awful. I can easily bring my ipad with me on a trip as a second device with no need for a charger. I recently brought it to Europe on a 10 day trip, used it both ways on the plane and a bit every day and never charged it. That's convenient.

I'd way rather have a great ultra book for work and a great tablet for me than a mediocre device trying to do it all.

 

[spinedoc77]

True...the Surface Pro or the Macbook Air have data service. But i was comparing the Suface Pro to my ipad and explaining why I think the product needs to mature as a product offering. I don't need a MBA...i have a rMBP.
Personally....i would not consider replacing a notebook with a tablet. But that is just me. A better comparison would be tablet to tablet.
So if I look at the Surface Pro...i compare it to my iPad 4
Apps.....Data service....ease of use.....all day battery life.....
I don't take my rMBP everywhere....unless i know it will have WiFi. But my iPad goes everywhere with me.......If i had the choice between my current iPad 4 and the newest MBA...i would choose the iPad every time.
Edit: I am in no way putting down the Windows 8 platform. I want to try it very much....but for me it is not there yet....

Yeah the Surface Pro has to mature, and that includes hardware. It's just not feasible for most functions IMO, it's too limited by battery life and also compared to other tablets size and weight. That's why I harp on the atom powered tablets so much, same size/weight and battery life as an ipad but having FULL windows to play with.

But I think a surface Pro versus MBA debate is a LOT different than a MBA versus iPad debate. The surface Pro and the MBA are real computers, while the ipad is not. Of course it depends what you do, if you just consume content then the ipad is good enough, but at that point any crappy $99 android tablet would be as well to some extent.

As for Win8 not being there yet, yeah I have to agree. Although I have no issues using win8 desktop on a tablet, I think I'm probably in the minority, and this is on a lower resolution tablet. I think it was a terrible mistake on MS part to not fix their DPI and scaling issues before putting Win8 on the surface Pro with it's higher resolution. Metro also is not ready for prime time, and has so many terrible decisions baked into it like the start screen and Metro IE10.

----------

In a word, no. The Surface pro is a challenge to do real work on without it docked to external monitors. I used it as my primary computer for several months. I could do my work on it, but it was always a compromise, always a bit of a struggle without an external monitor. And it basically sucks as a tablet for the day to day stuff I use my ipad for. 16:9 is terrible for extended reading, it's way too heavy, and the battery life and standby life are awful. I can easily bring my ipad with me on a trip as a second device with no need for a charger. I recently brought it to Europe on a 10 day trip, used it both ways on the plane and a bit every day and never charged it. That's convenient.

I'd way rather have a great ultra book for work and a great tablet for me than a mediocre device trying to do it all.

Yeah that's the main issue, the surface pro is a crappy laptop AND a crappy tablet. I think that will change in future iterations, but in this first form it's just not useful enough to replace either of those.

 

[jamezr]

How many do you actually use? Of the 700,000 Apps on Android, i have 110 of them. MS has the biggest apps being used for the most part....that i use anyways.

I dont have either one(MBA or Surface Pro) but im planning on getting a SP at some point. I really like the idea of full laptop features while being able to use it as a tablet as well. Im just waiting for the 8.1 update to come around or most likely just wait for the 2nd gen. I get the Wi-Fi only devices.

When i go to my Kids games...i actually watch the games. How demoralizing it must be for your kid to see you in the stands looking at your iPad instead of the game. I know how excited my kids got when they made a goal or a nice hit and asked me if i saw it.

LOL...why would you even go there? I also use my iPad as a camera and to take videos!! So you assume incorrectly......The camera on the iPad is awesome...and videos are great. Plus after i take them they are in the cloud before the game is even over. I can update FB with those photos for family that could not attend the game or live out of state.........data service is so nice to have. Oh...then there is GPS and Google maps for driving directions.

 

[spinedoc77]

The major draw to mac is OSX, and you can still use windows. If you get the surface then no OSX. That factor alone makes the Air the better buy.

OSX is not a drawback and if you still think so than boot Windows; problem solved

Or you could easily hack OSx onto a PC, it's quite easy to do and you are still buying the OSx license. I was going to try to get OSx to run on the Surface Pro, but then decided to return it so I never got to do that experiment. But I do have OSx on my home built PC desktop and it runs quite well.

 

[jamezr]

Yeah the Surface Pro has to mature, and that includes hardware. It's just not feasible for most functions IMO, it's too limited by battery life and also compared to other tablets size and weight. That's why I harp on the atom powered tablets so much, same size/weight and battery life as an ipad but having FULL windows to play with.

But I think a surface Pro versus MBA debate is a LOT different than a MBA versus iPad debate. The surface Pro and the MBA are real computers, while the ipad is not. Of course it depends what you do, if you just consume content then the ipad is good enough, but at that point any crappy $99 android tablet would be as well to some extent.

That is a great point...the iPad does not have a full OS.....
TBH i do not do content creation on my iPad other than video and pictures if those count.
But I have my rMBP for that kind of stuff with a 15 inch screen for my old eyes.....
For me the Surface Pro would not replace my rMBP. For me the MBA is too small....i like a bigger screen. For me the Surface Pro (or RT) would only be a iPad replacement.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I have a 2011 MBA, and a Surface RT. I'm not sure which I prefer, and assuming that MS updates the Surface Pro to Haswell (why wouldn't they?) I'm again not sure which is better.

The Air is a great laptop - I'd go as far as to say it's a better Windows laptop than the 13" MacBook Pro due to the resolution supporting Windows Snap. On the other hand, the Surface Pro is probably the best tablet you can get.

Basically, IMHO what it comes down to is whether or not you want an indestructible tablet or an tin-foil laptop?

 

[Vegastouch]

LOL...why would you even go there? I also use my iPad as a camera and to take videos!! So you assume incorrectly......The camera on the iPad is awesome...and videos are great. Plus after i take them they are in the cloud before the game is even over. I can update FB with those photos for family that could not attend the game or live out of state.........data service is so nice to have. Oh...then there is GPS and Google maps for driving directions.

Good points, ....your right. I didnt even think of that,lol.

In anycase, i really like the Surface Pro but i would like to wait for the next Gen to see what they bring to the table. I think they are overpriced right now for what they do.

 

[jamezr]

Good points, ....your right. I didnt even think of that,lol.

In anycase, i really like the Surface Pro but i would like to wait for the next Gen to see what they bring to the table. I think they are overpriced right now for what they do.

I think the Haswell chipset will bring better battery and performance gains. I might have to get one later this year!

 

[Liquorpuki]

I feel like asking between a Windows and an Apple device on an Apple forum is going to lend you slightly biased answers... but as most people have said, the Macbook Air is by far a better device. Don't let Surface users fool you, the Surface is not a laptop with a touchscreen. It is decidedly a tablet, and painfully so in some aspects.

It's not really that biased here. Most of the people in this thread who have opinions on the Surface have actually bought one and tried one. Some went back to their iPad/MBA combo. Others decided an Atom device was better. Some are like me and have no regrets switching over to the Surface Pro. That thing is my goto device every day and I carry it around like a portfolio

And the Surface Pro is a converged device, a disruptive product. If it was just a tablet, it be foolish for MS to stick the x86 instruction set on it since 99% of x86 software is for desktops. Instead the x86 instruction set is one of it's main selling points.

 

[joudbren]

It's not really that biased here. Most of the people in this thread who have opinions on the Surface have actually bought one and tried one. Some went back to their iPad/MBA combo. Others decided an Atom device was better. Some are like me and have no regrets switching over to the Surface Pro. That thing is my goto device every day and I carry it around like a portfolio

And the Surface Pro is a converged device, a disruptive product. If it was just a tablet, it be foolish for MS to stick the x86 instruction set on it since 99% of x86 software is for desktops. Instead the x86 instruction set is one of it's main selling points.

+1

Count me in as another one who uses Surface Pro every day. I replaced my 2012 MacBook Air months ago with the SP 128GB and not a single regret. I have to run Windows for work and I was booting the MBA into OSX, then Fusion, then Win7. That started to get old really fast. I really loved the MBA but when I played around with the SP I was hooked.

Mine is used every day and goes with me everywhere. It's a little lighter than the MBA and battery life on the SP was the same or better than my MBA. (of course not compared to the new MBA)

In the office my SP is connected to a 24" monitor using my old Apple DVI to mini dvi adaptor and works like a charm as a dual screen setup. The Type keyboard cover is excellent so I use that as my main keyboard along with a MS bluetooth Wedge mouse.

It's amazing having an actual computer that is also a tablet. It is good enough as a tablet, supports flash and as a result, my iPad is almost never used now either. The pen has also turned out to be surprisingly useful as well. This is definitely a workhorse.

It's of course not perfect but I'm lovin' the hybrid concept and I love a device that lets me run whatever I want on it. Very liberating to have that flexibility. I will definitely be in line for version 2 whenever that comes out. Cheers!

P.S. And I LOVE how fast the thing boots! Power off to full Windows in about 8 seconds. That really rocks and I never use standby mode any more. Windows 8 is actually not bad on the Pro. I hated it on PC's but it's kind of neat having a choice of a tablet OS when I want or flipping over to Windows when I need to run that. Very slick but I am waiting patiently for 8.1 to come out. I really miss my start button and most of the time I do run it in Windows so I'd like the option to have it start direct to desktop instead of Metro. Both are promised features in 8.1.

 

[Esoom]

No way in hell I'd buy a first gen MS product. I'd wait till gen 2 or 3.

 

[spinedoc77]

It's not really that biased here. Most of the people in this thread who have opinions on the Surface have actually bought one and tried one. Some went back to their iPad/MBA combo. Others decided an Atom device was better. Some are like me and have no regrets switching over to the Surface Pro. That thing is my goto device every day and I carry it around like a portfolio

And the Surface Pro is a converged device, a disruptive product. If it was just a tablet, it be foolish for MS to stick the x86 instruction set on it since 99% of x86 software is for desktops. Instead the x86 instruction set is one of it's main selling points.

+1

Count me in as another one who uses Surface Pro every day. I replaced my 2012 MacBook Air months ago with the SP 128GB and not a single regret. I have to run Windows for work and I was booting the MBA into OSX, then Fusion, then Win7. That started to get old really fast. I really loved the MBA but when I played around with the SP I was hooked.

Mine is used every day and goes with me everywhere. It's a little lighter than the MBA and battery life on the SP was the same or better than my MBA. (of course not compared to the new MBA)

In the office my SP is connected to a 24" monitor using my old Apple DVI to mini dvi adaptor and works like a charm as a dual screen setup. The Type keyboard cover is excellent so I use that as my main keyboard along with a MS bluetooth Wedge mouse.

It's amazing having an actual computer that is also a tablet. It is good enough as a tablet, supports flash and as a result, my iPad is almost never used now either. The pen has also turned out to be surprisingly useful as well. This is definitely a workhorse.

It's of course not perfect but I'm lovin' the hybrid concept and I love a device that lets me run whatever I want on it. Very liberating to have that flexibility. I will definitely be in line for version 2 whenever that comes out. Cheers!

P.S. And I LOVE how fast the thing boots! Power off to full Windows in about 8 seconds. That really rocks and I never use standby mode any more. Windows 8 is actually not bad on the Pro. I hated it on PC's but it's kind of neat having a choice of a tablet OS when I want or flipping over to Windows when I need to run that. Very slick but I am waiting patiently for 8.1 to come out. I really miss my start button and most of the time I do run it in Windows so I'd like the option to have it start direct to desktop instead of Metro. Both are promised features in 8.1.

I'm curious what you guys need the surface Pro power for, I've gotten by just fine with an Atom powered tablet and it runs whatever I throw at it. I owned a surface Pro for a couple of weeks and the concept intrigued me, but I found it a subpar tablet, too heavy, too thick, poor battery life, and poor scaling just made it awful, I hate to use such a strong word but I was pretty disappointed after all the excitement and waiting. I have no doubt that a Haswell surface Pro refresh made a bit lighter and thinner won't be an incredible machine that I will be first in line to buy, it's just that today's surface pro felt like too much of an alpha product.

As for the start button, you should try Classic Shell http://www.classicshell.net/ . It's pretty darned good as a start button, and very customizable.

 

[Liquorpuki]

I'm curious what you guys need the surface Pro power for, I've gotten by just fine with an Atom powered tablet and it runs whatever I throw at it. I owned a surface Pro for a couple of weeks and the concept intrigued me, but I found it a subpar tablet, too heavy, too thick, poor battery life, and poor scaling just made it awful, I hate to use such a strong word but I was pretty disappointed after all the excitement and waiting. I have no doubt that a Haswell surface Pro refresh made a bit lighter and thinner won't be an incredible machine that I will be first in line to buy, it's just that today's surface pro felt like too much of an alpha product.

As for the start button, you should try Classic Shell http://www.classicshell.net/ . It's pretty darned good as a start button, and very customizable.

For me, the big things are games (I've run GW2, Sim City, Civ 5, and Eve Online) off my Pro and Presonus Studio One, which is a music workstation. For Studio One, I connect a USB hub to the Pro and end up have 5 different MIDI devices connected to the hub as inputs.

I also use my Pro as a small form factor desktop. I use the W8 second screen function to HDMI out to an external monitor, connect a BT keyboard, and set the Pro flat and use it as a trackpad. The Pro's i5 guts give it performance on the level of a Mac Mini.

Originally I was also gonna install Matlab on it to run classification algorithms, but I finished that project already.

 

[hempcamp]

No way in hell I'd buy a first gen MS product. I'd wait till gen 2 or 3.

I just bought a Lenovo Tablet 2 with Windows 8. Loved the hardware, but the software side was buggy as hell. Returned it, going back to the iPad.

I think Windows 8 has great potential as a tablet interface, but it's not quite ready for prime time.

 

[onthecouchagain]

I think the choice is very clear. The MBA. The latest one is probably one of the best Apple products you can purchase -- I sort of wish I hadn't pulled the trigger so early on the rMBP. I'm not convinced by the Surface or Windows 8.

 

[sonicrobby]

I think the choice is very clear. The MBA. The latest one is probably one of the best Apple products you can purchase -- I sort of wish I hadn't pulled the trigger so early on the rMBP. I'm not convinced by the Surface or Windows 8.

Just out of curiosity, why do you kind of regret getting the rMBP?

 

[onthecouchagain]

Just out of curiosity, why do you kind of regret getting the rMBP?

It doesn't get 12-13 hours of battery life, for one!

Also, the retina screen... yeah, it's nice, but I don't know if I'd choose that over half a day's worth of battery life. The retina screen is a little bit more hype than it's worth. It's not even really the specs it advertises in; the resolution is actually less but that does make everything sharper.

What Apple's achieved in the latest MBA is ridiculous.

 

[jrswizzle]

It doesn't get 12-13 hours of battery life, for one!

Also, the retina screen... yeah, it's nice, but I don't know if I'd choose that over half a day's worth of battery life. The retina screen is a little bit more hype than it's worth. It's not even really the specs it advertises in; the resolution is actually less but that does make everything sharper.

What Apple's achieved in the latest MBA is ridiculous.

Seriously.....I can't wait to pick up one of those bad boys - unfortunately we just plunked down $800+ for a new TV, so I'll have to wait a little while until the wife decides I can

I was on the fence about which iPad (mini 2 or 5) I would grab this Fall/Winter.....the MBA announcement has clinched my decision - going mini 2 (probably the same 32 GB I have now). Not sure about LTE vs. WiFi only....too bad I can't tether my unlimited data plan......