|
AgentHaiTo posted:Well, I went by the Microsoft Store today, and with my university discount, snagged a Surface RT 32GB for $214. I like it ok especially for that price, but I didn't get either of the keyboard covers for it, and I'm still on my x120e typing this post.
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2013 01:33
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 1, 2024 16:16 |
|
|
waffle posted:Is this a specific university thing or a general education discount? I wouldn't mind picking one up for $200 to play around with, but I haven't been able to find anything at my university like this. From what I can tell, it's a deal with the University System of Georgia. http://www.srs.usg.edu/07-10-13-Microsoft-Surface-for-Education-limited-time-offer-for-faculty-staff I emailed that guy and asked if I can make a personal purchase and not have to fill out the form posted there(that's specifically for purchase by the school itself) and he said yes and forwarded me on to the Microsoft Store in Atlanta.
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2013 01:37
|
|
|
For 200 dollars, I'd at least pick one up to have one. 350 still feels out of budget for a toy.
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2013 01:49
|
|
|
AgentHaiTo posted:From what I can tell, it's a deal with the University System of Georgia. VV Edit: Fair enough. Oh well, that's $200 not spent on a toy waffle fucked around with this message at 02:04 on Jul 25, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2013 01:51
|
|
|
AgentHaiTo posted:From what I can tell, it's a deal with the University System of Georgia. It's meant solely for schools. You're going to be the exception in this case. Edit: Engadget link, and the PDF about the discount. The blurb in that USG link is simply copied from Microsoft, save for the CC e-mail address. Unless they're honoring it in a different way than when it first started, it's meant to be for commercial purchases (ie. departments ordering them), that's why there's only one order form. \/\/\/\/ The Windows 8/RT on-screen keyboard is average, at best. Android and iOS have much more comprehensive autocorrect solutions than Windows does. It's serviceable, but the touch/type covers are absolutely the way to go. Android and iOS have the advantage of having smartphone lineage where a soft keyboard is a necessity. sleepwalkers fucked around with this message at 05:40 on Jul 25, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2013 02:02
|
|
|
Yeah university students in general get a 10% discount. You lucked out. Also I like the Surface on-screen keyboard a lot although I've never used an iPad one to compare it to.
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2013 03:29
|
|
|
I just got a form email from a generic Microsoft account explicitly saying the same thing you guys just said, so it looks like one sales guy was just being a bit too zealous. I wasn't trying to be weird about it either, as I clearly asked them that I want to buy it for personal use with my own credit card. Well, I'll keep it under my hat then, as I was about to email my whole department at my school about the deal, thinking I was doing Microsoft a favor.
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2013 13:06
|
|
|
AgentHaiTo posted:Well, I went by the Microsoft Store today, and with my university discount, snagged a Surface RT 32GB for $214. I like it ok especially for that price, but I didn't get either of the keyboard covers for it, and I'm still on my x120e typing this post. Technically they're not supposed to do it in store for students/faculty. That's why. Glad they were able to hook you up though.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2013 05:59
|
|
|
I've successfully held out on picking up a tablet and still lug around my 4 year old netbook. Surface pro is simply too expensive and the Surface RT won't run any legacy apps or old games. Hoping the next batch of tablets will refresh with maybe a Surface "lite", with legacy support so I can still run some old games like age of empires, etc. Although I have to say the newer atom based tablets run pretty well for their price range. Zarfol fucked around with this message at 01:06 on Jul 29, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2013 01:04
|
|
|
Zarfol posted:I've successfully held out on picking up a tablet and still lug around my 4 year old netbook. Surface pro is simply too expensive and the Surface RT won't run any legacy apps or old games. Hoping the next batch of tablets will refresh with maybe a Surface "lite", with legacy support so I can still run some old games like age of empires, etc. Yeah, I don't think either of the Surfaces is really what you're looking for, but several of the cheaper OEM devices are basically netbook replacements with tablets built in. I'm starting to get fed up with my Acer W510 -- I initially bought it because it was a full Win8 device with good battery life and a clamshell-style keyboard dock, but at the end of the day it's still an Acer netbook and it's starting to show its age with random freezes etc. I'll probably switch up to a touch-ultrabook-type device as soon as a really good one comes out, but if you're coming from a netbook and are expecting netbook-level performance you could probably do worse.
|
|
#
?
Jul 30, 2013 13:46
|
|
|
Rawrbomb posted:For 200 dollars, I'd at least pick one up to have one. 350 still feels out of budget for a toy. I'm not sure it's even worth $200, $150 feels more reasonable to me. And it's definitely not a toy, it's way too limited for that (there's not even any particularly good games). It has one use that makes it worth buying as far as I can see from using it for nearly a year: Office. Even then, the lack of macros is a huge issue. I have it because I teach and have an assload of quite involved Powerpoints that never work properly on other Office suited, and being able to bring them up immediately in small class environments is useful. It's pretty useful for document editing on the go too. Aside from those narrow uses, however, there's nothing it brings to the table that an iPad or Android tablet doesn't, which is why I haven't recommended it to anyone else. Also it's horribly unstable for how limited it is.
|
|
#
?
Jul 30, 2013 18:41
|
|
|
I bought one last week after the price drop and I'll be returning it today. I thought it was great, but not $350 great. I keep thinking "oh I can still return it next week" and I shouldn't have to do that. I can't put my finger on why I feel that way, but it probably has something to do with its limitations in the back of my mind. I honestly don't really care if there are no apps for it as I bought it for light web browsing, Netflix, and Youtube. But I feel for $350 it should be able to do more. My favourite aspect is the design of the chassis. It'll be tough to replace it with a tablet from another manufacturer as everything else will just feel cheap. I'll wait for the next Surface iterations and try again. 10000lbsofbananas fucked around with this message at 16:24 on Jul 31, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2013 16:20
|
|
|
10000lbsofbananas posted:I honestly don't really care if there are no apps for it as I bought it for light web browsing, Netflix, and Youtube. In my experience, though, any prolonged use of Flash-heavy websites means playing the crash lottery.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2013 13:02
|
|
|
Surface RT with touch cover for $199 http://www.ebay.com/itm/32GB-Micros...fepn=5335869999
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2013 17:09
|
|
|
Don Lapre posted:Surface RT with touch cover for $199 This is a stupid good deal. Picked one up as a gift for my parents since they were looking for a laptop to buy anyway. Worst case I have a glorified Internet Explorer box for youtube/hulu/watchespn on the go if they decide it's trash.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2013 18:05
|
|
|
RT is still pretty gimped but $200 for the full gimped experience is worth it, in my opinion. If I didn't already have a 10 inch tablet I would buy one.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2013 18:26
|
|
|
Here's some other dumb poo poo I just had to endure: I haven't used my Surface RT for months, since it's only there to test my apps. So I had to install tons of updates. Turns out that piece of poo poo goes to sleep during the update process, even when plugged in, so if you leave it overnight, then pick it up for some random surfing while on the shitter next morning, you'll still be faced with Windows Update, picking up where you left it. Jesus Christ.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2013 23:05
|
|
|
My old gaming laptop was recently stolen, and I have to replace it in pretty short order. My old HP laptop was decent, but I got a really nice warranty on it (long since run out) where I could send it back for repairs free for 4 years. I'm considering reverting back to a desktop for the short term, and asking for an iPad/Surface for Christmas to fill the gap in mobile computing. Can any of you suggest a retailer that offers the best combination of price/performance/warranty for Desktop/Laptop PCs? I have not messed with windows 8 at all, and have no idea what I'm getting into there. I am also a computer scientist (mostly on the software side) so I could probably figure out how to build a computer from parts if need be.
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2013 17:05
|
|
|
H posted:My old gaming laptop was recently stolen, and I have to replace it in pretty short order. My old HP laptop was decent, but I got a really nice warranty on it (long since run out) where I could send it back for repairs free for 4 years. I'm considering reverting back to a desktop for the short term, and asking for an iPad/Surface for Christmas to fill the gap in mobile computing. You want the laptop thread and maybe the PC Building thread in SH/SC. There is no desktop PC thread around. I'm guessing because they are mostly the same with terrible warranty support in the consumer space except for Apple which is $$$. This thread is for the ARM based Windows 8 tablets which would fill your need for the mobile computing. However, it's hard to say if you should buy or not because a new iPad is coming out in the next month and possibly a new Surface RT before the end of the year. You can try asking in the tablet recommendation thread closer to Christmas time but most people will steer you towards an iPad unless you need Office. gariig fucked around with this message at 17:23 on Sep 1, 2013 |
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2013 17:20
|
|
|
Combat Pretzel posted:Here's some other dumb poo poo I just had to endure: I haven't used my Surface RT for months, since it's only there to test my apps. So I had to install tons of updates. Turns out that piece of poo poo goes to sleep during the update process, even when plugged in, so if you leave it overnight, then pick it up for some random surfing while on the shitter next morning, you'll still be faced with Windows Update, picking up where you left it. Jesus Christ. yeah it's probably the stupidest loving thing possible
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2013 02:25
|
|
|
Are there any mainstream PC games, other than Civ5, that effectively use the touch controls? I was hoping it would work with Torchlight 2 or any other RPG, but can't seem to find anything.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2013 01:47
|
|
|
SimCity 4 works surprisingly well with touch.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2013 04:36
|
|
|
Finally got around to setting the $200 refurb Surface RT for my family. So far, really good deal for $200 with the touch cover. Was confused for a bit when a whole bunch of sites were slow as poo poo, but after updates, seems to work pretty well. The build quality is very nice. Amazon prime HD streaming through Internet Explorer is great and is smooth. MS Office RT works well enough for my parents since it's not like they are going to use macros or anything. Plugs into their printer absolutely fine with no driver issues. Parents didn't understand why desktop apps didn't work (Can I download Firefox?). Microsoft should really get rid of the desktop for RT. Would have been nice if Windows phone ran on RT as well. Standby during updates is annoying a hell and is incredibly stupid. To move tiles it's stupid that you hold over the tile and then drag down to bring up the menu, why couldn't it just be tap and hold? The "running programs" side bar works fine on a computer with a mouse, with a touchscreen it's rather annoying. There should be a shortcut for an ALT-TAB with a scrolling interface or something. Standard HDMI port would have been nice rather than the HDMI-D. Dumb that there is no version of Silverlight for RT. Still a good device. $300 with a keyboard would be a good deal. If you're just surfing the web, watching youtube or movies, it's great. IE10 on a touchscreen tablet really is a nice browser. Although I think if they just slapped an Intel Atom processor on it and it ran full Windows 8, I think it would have sold well. Give it 2 USB's and sell a docking station with all the connections you could want and it could be a good desktop replacement/"On the Go" tablet for a lot of people.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2013 00:20
|
|
|
I changed the settings so you get the whole task list when you swipe in from the left. Otherwise you have to swipe right then back to the left again to see it.
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2013 21:34
|
|
|
With keyboard, the shortcut to access the Windows app task switcher is Win-Tab.
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2013 21:58
|
|
|
Couple of things --Zarfol posted:Standby during updates is annoying a hell and is incredibly stupid. I believe this goes away with 8.1, so that's good news! Zarfol posted:To move tiles it's stupid that you hold over the tile and then drag down to bring up the menu, why couldn't it just be tap and hold? That's actually what they changed it to for the start menu in 8.1, since there's now the "all apps view" when you pan down. Zarfol posted:The "running programs" side bar works fine on a computer with a mouse, with a touchscreen it's rather annoying. There should be a shortcut for an ALT-TAB with a scrolling interface or something. You can bring up the bar of all running programs by sliding your finger in from the left edge and back out without lifting, or you can use Windows-Tab to leaf through these. The way it works changes only slightly in 8.1
|
|
#
?
Sep 17, 2013 14:17
|
|
|
Is the ASUS VivoTab supposed to be 32bit Win8 out of box? The one I played with today was 32bit and I was kind of turned off by that as I've got a handful of 64bit apps I'd like to install if I get one. Sorry if Surface Pro questions are out of the scope of this thread but I couldn't find a Pro thread. Or I just didn't look very hard. edit: Oh the processor is only 32bit. Duh.
|
|
#
?
Sep 17, 2013 23:42
|
|
|
Martytoof posted:Is the ASUS VivoTab supposed to be 32bit Win8 out of box? The one I played with today was 32bit and I was kind of turned off by that as I've got a handful of 64bit apps I'd like to install if I get one. Yeah, all the atoms being used in Windows 8 tablets are 32bit. Pretty sure next rev is too 
|
|
#
?
Sep 18, 2013 04:07
|
|
|
Maneki Neko posted:Yeah, all the atoms being used in Windows 8 tablets are 32bit. Pretty sure next rev is too Bay Trail is x86-64, but for one reason or another all launch devices with Bay Trail will use 32-bit Windows. Might be a matter of drivers, but with these more restrictive devices don't expect to be able to upgrade to 64-bit Windows or anything. I imagine 64-bit Bay Trail devices will follow though.
|
|
#
?
Sep 18, 2013 09:24
|
|
|
Cybernetic Vermin posted:Bay Trail is x86-64, but for one reason or another all launch devices with Bay Trail will use 32-bit Windows. Might be a matter of drivers, but with these more restrictive devices don't expect to be able to upgrade to 64-bit Windows or anything. I imagine 64-bit Bay Trail devices will follow though. Yeah, it wasn't exactly clear to me why the limitation exists, just that 64-bit software support won't be present in launch devices.
|
|
#
?
Sep 18, 2013 15:28
|
|
|
Maneki Neko posted:Yeah, it wasn't exactly clear to me why the limitation exists, just that 64-bit software support won't be present in launch devices. It's because Microsoft hasn't finished connected standby support in x64 yet: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2048599/windows-81-tablets-with-64bit-atom-chips-not-coming-until-q1.html
|
|
#
?
Sep 18, 2013 16:53
|
|
|
Naffer posted:It's because Microsoft hasn't finished connected standby support in x64 yet: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2048599/windows-81-tablets-with-64bit-atom-chips-not-coming-until-q1.html The Clover Trail Atoms for the first Windows tablets were 64-bit capable as well, but they didn't support Connected Standby in 64-bit, so all of the tablets so far have been 32-bit. You think after all this time they would have it ready.
|
|
#
?
Sep 18, 2013 18:34
|
|
|
Kazy posted:The Clover Trail Atoms for the first Windows tablets were 64-bit capable as well, but they didn't support Connected Standby in 64-bit, so all of the tablets so far have been 32-bit. You think after all this time they would have it ready. No they weren't: http://ark.intel.com/products/70105/Intel-Atom-Processor-Z2760-1MB-Cache-1_80-GHz Instruction Set 32-bit
|
|
#
?
Sep 18, 2013 21:30
|
|
|
Sources are stating that the Surface 2 (RT version) is going to start at $499 again for the 32GB and with the same display as the prior surface pro. Surface pro looks to be the same price range. I can understand the surface pro being $900, especially with full windows 8, haswell processor, intel 5000 (hopefully) graphics, and a touchscreen since it's directly competing with "Designer" ultrabooks. Surface RT at $500 again is too much. If I had $500 to spend on a tablet, I wouldn't be getting anything with RT on it.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2013 02:27
|
|
|
Zarfol posted:Sources are stating that the Surface 2 (RT version) is going to start at $499 again for the 32GB and with the same display as the prior surface pro.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2013 02:44
|
|
|
Zarfol posted:Sources are stating that the Surface 2 (RT version) is going to start at $499 again for the 32GB and with the same display as the prior surface pro.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2013 03:28
|
|
|
Syrinxx posted:And Microsoft shows once again it has absolutely no loving clue how the world works any more. Basically this. Your first RT tablet did not sell well at $500. The second isn't going to be a different story.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2013 03:36
|
|
|
But windows 8 point one! It's point one better at
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2013 03:45
|
|
|
Fatal posted:But windows 8 point one! It's point one better at I actually like Windows 8.1. RT, however, is about the stupidest poo poo any company could ever pull. Let's see Apple make an iPad running an ARM build of OS X. "Why can't I install iPhoto!?"
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2013 03:53
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 1, 2024 16:16 |
|
|
What's the deal with 7-8" tablets too, do they have anything coming or are they going to miss the boat for another year?
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2013 04:14
|
|