Microsoft Surface
 

Sales just started on the Microsoft website for the RT.

Anyone here buying?

Nope. I'm good.

I'm definitely in.

Why a joke? Are there any 32GB 10" tablets I don't know of at that price range? I'm pleasantly surprised at the price.

I know you read a lot of tech news. Any idea whether the Pro will be able to run Outlook, Word, Excel and Powerpoint? (Actually the first two would be enough for me.)

If given $600 to spend on a 32GB tablet, I'd rather go with an iPad. At least it has a real screen.

Microsoft shot themselves in the foot thinking they could get away with a 720p screen and pricing it exactly the same as the iPad.

Edited to add: Oops. The $599 price tag includes the fancy keyboard cover. Regardless, the $100 price different won't sway many consumers, I think.

I'm a bit dissapointed that they chose to sell their base model without the cover. To me, that is what is the trademark of the surface. And to charge $120 for it, seems REALLY expensive. The surface still has many compelling features that others have brought up, such as the expandable memory, and the fact that you have ports, and some productivity software included.

That said, I've never been that interested in the RT version of the surface, and would be more interested in the Pro. But, if I had to guess, I would guess the pro will be $1000-$1200 to purchase, and at that point, I think i'd rather just get an ultrabook with a better processor, ram and storage, and I believe you can now get ultra books with touchscreens, if that was truly important to me (its not).

The pricing also includes Word, Powerpoint, and Excel, which nobody else does

Convertibles are being announced every few days now, and I expect by the time Windows 8 is out everybody will have one.

Lenovo for example sent their pre order mail today

http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/la..._hp_11_nr_hero

Very nice specs at a good price. Impressive. Might upgrade Mrs. Swede's laptop to this. Too bad it has such a horrible name.

Pc Magazine

Pay What?! Microsoft's Surface Tablet Is Too Pricey

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2411044,00.asp

They too seem a bit upset about the cost of adding on a keyboard


The 32GB is $499 with no keyboard or an additional $119 to $129 (depending on the color) bundled with the cover, which probably costs all of $7 to manufacture in China. The loaded 64GB model comes with a cover for $699.

Yes, if this was an Apple product, it would be priced similarly. But it isn't, and to compete with an Apple product, it must be priced aggressively lower. Apple always prices at a premium. It has made an art out of premium prices. Microsoft has not and cannot price the same way.

Wirelessly posted (Nokia Lumia 800: Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows Phone OS 7.5; Trident/5.0; IEMobile/9.0; NOKIA; Lumia 800; Vodafone))

In!

Seamless integration between my Ultrabook, phone and tablet ...no brainer (and no Cupertino coodies) ;)

Even though I work at Microsoft, I thought the price was kinda disappointing. I was expecting them to do better. :(

yeah, and it also makes it more expensive than any other tablet out there. (with the cover and with the apps which are unbundled elsewhere.)

I think the pricing is going to be problematic for them.

-David

Is the Sony Duo 11 a "convertible?"

Yes, I would assume that anything that functions as a tablet (touch screen without a keyboard) and a traditional laptop like (with a keyboard) would be considered to be a convertible.

If you are considering buying one make sure to spend some time with it, PC magazine in their review

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2410808,00.asp

had a couple of deal breakers for me. I'm not sure they have not fixed them by now or not. One was as a laptop, the screen was not adjustable, it had only one position. That just won't work on an airplane, every time the yahoo in front of you moves their seat you need to adjust the screen, and when used as a laptop there are delicate cables exposed.

Granted, at this time we don't know if the Microsoft Surface has the ability to adjust the screen or not, though most of the reviews do like the kickstand to prop it up.

Remember, the Surface RT does NOT run Outlook. Just Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. For me, that's a deal breaker.

Not making me ready to run out and by one. Who's in their focus groups anyway?

Me too. And for the record, if the iPad uses the same mail program as iOS 6 for the iPhone, I don't want it either. A truly awful mail program (email client?).

While I don't argue that Surface RT doesn't come with Outlook, I get the impression you could add it, if you wanted to, you'd just have to buy it.

Quoting from the Surface website, emphasis mine-

None of the Microsoft Office Home and Student Versions come with Outlook (or Access), but that certainly does not mean you can not add them on.

Not saying you can in the tablet, but just because they choose Home and Student instead of Professional to include does not in and of itself mean it can not run it.

This is actually not true. Given the Surface RT runs on an ARM chip and not a traditional x86 chip, all apps that will run on it have to be specifically compiled for it. Microsoft has no plans to release Outlook on ARM, so as I said, there is no way to run Outlook on the ARM-based Surface RT.

This is what bugs me about Microsoft's messaging of Windows 8 and Windows RT. you get the impression you can install other software like any other computer but this is not the case at all. You can add anything sold in the Windows Store that is Windows RT compatible, but you can't install regular x86/x64/Wintel stuff. It just simply won't work.

Unless Microsoft specifically comes out with Office Professional for RT or Outlook for RT, and they've indicated no plans that this is the case, you won't be able to run Outlook in the Surface RT. A shame, too. What a huge miss.

They actually have a page describing the differences between Surface Office and regular

Your Windows RT tablet does not support Outlook or other desktop email applications such as Mozilla Thunderbird or Opera. Due to this, certain email features available for Office documents in other Office versions are not supported in Office Home & Student 2013 RT:

"Send as … (attachment)" features in the Office Backstage view

Word mail merge features related to email

Sending email links to share slides using the PowerPoint Broadcast Slide Show button on the Slide Show tab

OneNote email share options and email-related options in the Tools/Options menu

Many email-related buttons in the Office Ribbon and Quick Assist Toolbar
Instead, you can open your Windows RT email app or use another email app that may be available from the Windows Store, manually create an email message and attach your document to it.

in addition the following are not supported

But because tablets have special needs for security and mobility, a few features are unavailable in Office Home & Student 2013 RT, including macros, add-ins, and other custom programs written by users or developed by third parties.

And if you have to reset the tablet, it will revert back to the trial version until it has a chance to fully download the regular version again.

Details here

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ho...103210361.aspx

As a power user, I want to agree with your last statement, but as I look at the general user base, outlook just doesn't matter. How many of your family & friends use gmail, yahoo mail, hotmail or other web based email program instead of outlook. Most people I talk to either don't know what outlook is, or just know they don't use it, and and don't want it. I'd argue 70%+ of typical consumers don't care about outlook.

Business users are the ones using outlook, and they would likely be more attracted to the Pro version of Surface anyways, which does run traditional desktop apps on x86/64 based processors.

I bought a 32GB Surface with a Cyan touch cover yesterday...
What sold me?
The kickstand, Excel, Word, ability to work on two apps (programs?) side by side, the microSD card slot, and of course the touch cover...
BTW, will Flash run on the Surface RT?
Also, will I be able to upload pictures from my Canon 7D (or other camera) to the Surface?

Flash - According to this post by a Microsoft support Engineer, yes Flash does run in RT mode - http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/i...f-605385078009

Digital Camera - I'm running the preview version of Windows 8, and when I go into the RT mode to look at pictures using the photo app, I do see the option to communicate with your digital camera, so I'm going to say yes you can. With it having a USB port, I would be shocked if they somehow disabled that capability in Surface RT.

According to the order website:


You can only install printers, mice, keyboards, and other devices that are certified for Windows RT.


So devices may or may not work. Great way for the device people to sell a few more items.

I don't see the problem - a camera could certainly be certified for WinRT - in fact it probably is.

The following link is to install a codec pack that gives Windows RT (and Windows 8) the ability to view RAW format from a variety of cameras, including Canon EOS 7D. Supporting the RAW format for the 7D in RT all but confirms that it is supported as Big Mac is wondering about.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2712101

Ok, sorry I'll stop after this - I also found this from the Windows 8 Compatibility website - it shows the 7D as a compatible device in Windows 8.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windo...4&Locale=en-US

It could be or maybe it would not be.

I didn't say there would be a problem.

I said there could be a problem.

I'm fairly certain my exact wording was

I certainly would not be buying it in hopes the stuff I want to connect to it will just work when Microsoft is issuing a warning that things possibly won't work. I would personally wait to be sure before spending the money.

Microsoft: Surface display superior to iPad display

...

http://www.tuaw.com/2012/10/17/micro...-ipad-display/

-David

20gb tablet. 12gb for the OS and Office :eek:

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comment...dsu8?context=2

Are they planning to release a 3/4G one?

No. It has a USB port, so whenever RT-compatible dongles or modems come out, you could attach one, but nothing native.

Overall, Microsoft has to have a credible response to this question: "Why wouldn't I just buy an iPad?"

I can't run Outlook? Why wouldn't I just buy an iPad?
I can't run any third-party apps right out of the box? Why wouldn't I just buy an iPad?
No cellular connectivity built in? Why wouldn't I just buy an iPad?
It's the same price as an iPad? Why wouldn't I just buy an iPad?
I can't join it to a domain or manage it with my existing IT tools? Why wouldn't I just buy my users iPads if I have to build a new management structure anyway?
etc...

Last time I checked the iPad doesn't allow me to seamlessly move between the tablet and the PC or even OSX.

It's the $110 magnetic keyboard, you can't get that on an Ipad so you have to buy the surface.

I'm quite frankly stunned that they aren't offering a native 4g version.

How seamlessly will you be able to move when your Surface RT won't run Outlook or any of your desktop apps? I wouldn't call that "seamless." It might be more possible than it was before in a Windows-centric environment, but it certainly ain't seamless.

Especially when you consider some of the improvements made to Windows 8 that specifically deal with monitoring cell-based connections (for data metering, among other things).