Hands-on With the Surface Tablet Running Windows RT

[Marcus Yam]

Microsoft debuts its new-age computing device for Windows RT. We go hands-on to give you our first impressions.

Hands-on With the Surface Tablet Running Windows RT : Read more

 

[NightLight]

it looks solid and nice!

 

[rohitbaran]

[citation][nom]NightLight[/nom]it looks solid and nice![/citation]
To add to that, Tim Cook called it a flying car. While the intention was to make it look bad, it ends up sounding more awesome for the Surface lol.

 

[back_by_demand]

Flying cars are awesome, so is this feat of engineering, but Surface Pro is always going to be the one for me. I want my XBMC on it to watch movies in tablet mode, then run some basic games from my Steam collection, and maybe even connect to my company's exchange server so I can get some work done - all without having to carry a laptop and a tablet
...
Lord of the Tablets, one device to rule them all

 

[freggo]

so far it looks actually much better than prob. most have expected.
If M$ has some smarts they will allow editing of the GUI !
These square blocky buttons simply look terrible and yeah, rounded corners would have meant licensing fees to the fruit market...

 

[damianrobertjones]

So... where are the people that posted hundreds and hundreds of negative posts? QUite a nice device but I've gone for the Dell Latitude 10

 

[Pinhedd]

Apparently the touch/type covers don't do anything for the spelling and grammar in a Tom's article

 

[bystander]

[citation][nom]damianrobertjones[/nom]So... where are the people that posted hundreds and hundreds of negative posts? QUite a nice device but I've gone for the Dell Latitude 10[/citation]
Taking a quick look at the Dell Latitude 10, that seems to be setup for a home or office user that doesn't take the device off site with the intent to do productivity. Having a docking setup would be nice for that.

 

[Guest]

I love my Surface RT. I'm not giving up my desktop for serious work, or my Xbox w/40" television for serious gaming, but it does make for a great portable tablet/netbook like experience. Being able to print, connect my usb hard drives, cameras, etc. is great. It also helped that I've been using my Xbox for renting movies and the Zune software for music rather than itunes for a couple years now.

 

[xpeh]

Everyone's buying themselves a new Surface RT, and I'm just sitting here waiting for AMD's APU tablets.

 

[bebangs]

It's a flying car!!!! omg!

lol

 

[jayarr8]

I picked up a Surface on Saturday from the MS Store, along with my Win8 upgrades which I need for work. I am a huge early adopting Apple fan, with a home full of iphones, ipads, a mini, T-displays, Macbook Pro Retina, etc. I use Paralells for Win.

But, I must say the Surface will replace my work iPad for just one reason: superior work related connectivity with my company's Win7 network. It's a bit early to tell if Win8RT is a winner, but so far vpn, remote connect, network, device, Exchange and directory set ups are all working very smoothly. Easy to set up in a win environment. And the cover keyboard is terrific -- i got both the pressure pad and the chicklet pad. I can't understand why Apple didn't develop its cover to work as a keyboard. (my Brookstone keyboard for iPad is so clunky,)

I don't need 200,000 available apps, nor do I need 3G or LTE on Surface. Basic every-day work-related, fast connections to my company email, files, desktop, company collegues is all I want on my Surface as I roam the company from one meeting to another. And i can save docs to a proper doc folder, or to a usb drive. All the things that are frustrating in iOS are available on the Surface including Flash and html5.

But make no mistake, iPad / iPhone are my preferred personal devices. I'll use those on the road and at home.

 

[southernshark]

Yeah what kind of Tech Person is going to be like "oh its like a flying car... that sucks..."?

I don't think Tim Cook gets who he is talking to. Just another suit trying to fill a role he doesn't have the juice for.

 

[lpedraja2002]

[citation][nom]southernshark[/nom]Yeah what kind of Tech Person is going to be like "oh its like a flying car... that sucks..."?I don't think Tim Cook gets who he is talking to. Just another suit trying to fill a role he doesn't have the juice for.[/citation]

When I read the headline of that article I thought he was complementing Microsoft for its Surface Tablets lol.



Question to whoever can answer it. How does the cover/keyboard work? is it communicating via bluetooth or does it "clip" to the tablet itself? Also, I noticed the tablet has like a kick stand, is the viewing angle good when using the kickstand or does it suffer a bit ?

 

[tobalaz]

[citation][nom]freggo[/nom]so far it looks actually much better than prob. most have expected.If M$ has some smarts they will allow editing of the GUI !These square blocky buttons simply look terrible and yeah, rounded corners would have meant licensing fees to the fruit market...[/citation]

Well duh, the buttons are square because Apple has the patent on square with round corners!
Seriously though...
I wonder if MS has a patent on that keyboard design with snap on function or if we'll be seeing it on Android and iOS soon as well.

 

[The_Trutherizer]

Although critical of Win8 on desktops I will be first in line to say that this is what Win8 was meant for. So no surprises if it is an excellent device.

 

[rebel1280]

[citation][nom]jayarr8[/nom]I picked up a Surface on Saturday from the MS Store, along with my Win8 upgrades which I need for work. I am a huge early adopting Apple fan, with a home full of iphones, ipads, a mini, T-displays, Macbook Pro Retina, etc. I use Paralells for Win. But, I must say the Surface will replace my work iPad for just one reason: superior work related connectivity with my company's Win7 network. It's a bit early to tell if Win8RT is a winner, but so far vpn, remote connect, network, device, Exchange and directory set ups are all working very smoothly. Easy to set up in a win environment. And the cover keyboard is terrific -- i got both the pressure pad and the chicklet pad. I can't understand why Apple didn't develop its cover to work as a keyboard. (my Brookstone keyboard for iPad is so clunky,)I don't need 200,000 available apps, nor do I need 3G or LTE on Surface. Basic every-day work-related, fast connections to my company email, files, desktop, company collegues is all I want on my Surface as I roam the company from one meeting to another. And i can save docs to a proper doc folder, or to a usb drive. All the things that are frustrating in iOS are available on the Surface including Flash and html5. But make no mistake, iPad / iPhone are my preferred personal devices. I'll use those on the road and at home.[/citation]
What VPN do you use, as far as i know (not saying i know a lot just saying as far as "I" know ) Cisco, Sonicwall and Netgear dont have any clients for Windows 8 tablets.

 

[Guest]

My Surface, ordered on Friday 26th, arrived this morning - in just 5 days! First impressions are good - I had it connected to wifi and working in less than 5 minutes. It compares well with my iPad2, which I've had since launch, and so far I have had no issues. Its major advantages are compatibility with my other MS devices and familiarity of use. Using the Cloud to exchange data with others is simple. I like the on-screen keyboard better than the iPad's, and the handwriting reader is amazing. I cannot imagine that I will bother with my laptop when I travel as the Surface has everything I need in a lightweight compact package. Don't let the naysayers put you off - I wager it will decimate the laptop market.

 

[Guest]

Pre-ordered my Surface, and so far I'm quite thrilled. It does everything my old iPad 1 would do, minus a few apps. I feel that the touch gestures, once learned, are more intuitive than pressing, or double pressing, the home button the iPad. I have all of the apps that I 'need', and I'm sure th others will fill out over time. The hardware is wonderful, the Touch Cover is quite nice (only wish it would hold against the screen when closed, instead of being loose, but it has caused no problems so far), and is adequate for casual typing, and I could even use it for real work!! One of my favotite things is how easily it found and installed network printers at my home office, making it trump the iPad for me immediately. People were wondering why I was walking around, laughing out loud, while looking at the screen of the Surface and hearing a printer fire up to spit out a test page. I think Microsoft has done a fine job, and I look forward to seeing this experience refined over time.

 

[rebel1280]

..... the two above posts somehow seem ...cheesy I know they are being positive but.... just seems cheesy

 

[-Jackson]

Apparently the touch/type covers don't do anything for the spelling and grammar in a Tom's article

Oh come on, your display name is "Pinhedd"