Still has potential for those who wouldn't find themselves often too far from a power source when using it. Shame about the price tag though, not much you can say to smooth over that bump.

Well, Intel based is a good thing. Too bad Intel hasn't figured out how to be power efficient yet.

cman: And Ballmer scratches his head wondering why Microsoft isnt succeeding outside the Windows/Office/XBOX world

Developers, developers, developers?

cman: sasbazooka: Well, Intel based is a good thing. Too bad Intel hasn't figured out how to be power efficient yet.

Better than having any sort of AMD CPU inside

Pretty much. AMD still has some high thermal envelopes going for it. They aren't bad for certain desktop setups though. Also rumored to be the brains int he ps4 when it finally releases.

ARM seems to dominate the mobile area right now, must be driving intel and others nuts.

Kazan: also since when is 5 hours of battery life bad?

About 2010.

cman: And Ballmer scratches his head wondering why Microsoft isnt succeeding outside the Windows/Office/XBOX world

there's still time for them to fail at the xbox/office/windows world too

Kazan: also since when is 5 hours of battery life bad?

it's half that of any laptop or competing tablet

sasbazooka: Well, Intel based is a good thing. Too bad Intel hasn't figured out how to be power efficient yet.

I just upgraded my qx6700 130W processor with a new i5-3570K 77w processor, I used a waterloop before due to extreme heat issues and it made a nice radiating heater under my desk. Now I use the stock cooler and the temps are lower and the thing runs faster than the qx but I've lost my foot heater and need to start wearing socks because of cold.

kalor: wearing socks because of cold.

My home rig is Intel/NVidia, and my wife's rig is AMD/ATI. My system will be cool and quiet, and when she runs her system, it sounds like a 747 gearing up for a takeoff, and the whole room feels like someone turn the car heater on high. It's crazy.

Manufacturers are constantly competing for "Thinner, lighter, more portable!" which reduces the space required for a battery inside the enclosure. I wouldn't balk at a tablet that's two millimetres thicker and an ounce heavier if it meant significant battery life improvement.

Last time I will ever get excited by any Microsoft hardware. For that price you can get a nexus 7 and a laptop with an i5. They missed the part where they have to offer something that's better than their competition. Their only chance at success is to go after the enterprise market. The price tag isn't outrageous if the office buys me one...

Why would anyone buy the top-end model of any tablet?

Should I get, for family use, an iPad or an MacBook Air?

That's actually fairly average for an Core i5-based system, both in battery life and in price. Yes, yes, I know, the iPad has better battery life, but the iPad is also not nearly as capable.

To put it in terms an Apple fan can understand, the Surface RT is the iPad. The Surface Pro is the Modbook. I'm not saying that I'm a fan of MS's current direction, but comparing the iPad to the Surface Pro is like comparing apples to bulldozers.

sasbazooka: kalor: wearing socks because of cold.

My home rig is Intel/NVidia, and my wife's rig is AMD/ATI. My system will be cool and quiet, and when she runs her system, it sounds like a 747 gearing up for a takeoff, and the whole room feels like someone turn the car heater on high. It's crazy.

ATI GPUs are plenty efficient. Generally better than Nvidia. The problem is that AMD really turned up the voltage and hit triple digits in CPU power consumption for some SKUs in order to still get beat handily by Intel in performance.

I once paid $0 for a laptop with a 10 minute battery life, so mine is infinitely better.

I'm getting tired of having to steer my boss away from mandating that everyone in the office start using a Surface.

He loves his but we have guys with dual 23" monitors who still want more space.

I'm anticipating by the end of Winter it will have devolved into scenarios where I'm slashing tires to keep him from going to Best Buy to pick them up or hiding his wallet.

Hagbardr: I once paid $0 for a laptop with a 10 minute battery life, so mine is infinitely better.

Hey, me too! Actually, I did have to spend $80 to throw a hard drive in it. It's down to about 30 seconds of battery life.

As a student, I'm looking forward to taking notes in a classroom with this. OneNote recognizes the handwritten symbols and operators used in college-level math classes. I've been lusting after better ways of taking notes in class and recording lectures and it looks like the Surface Pro will work wonderfully.

My only gripe is that it won't have Office 2010 (or 2013) already installed; I'll have to buy that separately.

Comparing the Surface Pro to the iPad is stupid.

BizarreMan: mtb9000: Last time I will ever get excited by any Microsoft hardware. For that price you can get a nexus 7 and a laptop with an i5. They missed the part where they have to offer something that's better than their competition. Their only chance at success is to go after the enterprise market. The price tag isn't outrageous if the office buys me one...

But why would the office buy you one when they can put out less money for more machine? The only thing you would be getting is a lighter form factor and face it, does your work really care how much you lug around?

If you were unfortunate enough to regularly lug a laptop around when the whole thing weighed ten pounds or more for more than a few years, it's likely you've ended up in the doctor's office with back or shoulder problems. The human body is pretty good at lifting things and putting them down over and over. It's not so good at having weight thrown on it for an extended period of time. Repeat that too often, and you'll find your body warping quite a bit.

So, yes, at least in our business, we care. It isn't worth it to us to cut a few hundred off the price of a device if it means we're going to decrease how long someone can work for us by even a few months in the long term.

/used to lug around a 15 pound laptop, no joke
//yeah, shoulder problems from it -- don't walk nearly a mile with 15 pounds on your shoulder!
///backpacks can help, but then random passerbys will beat you for wearing a backpack and not being a youngster. :)

IntertubeUser: As a student, I'm looking forward to taking notes in a classroom with this. OneNote recognizes the handwritten symbols and operators used in college-level math classes. I've been lusting after better ways of taking notes in class and recording lectures and it looks like the Surface Pro will work wonderfully.

My only gripe is that it won't have Office 2010 (or 2013) already installed; I'll have to buy that separately.

Comparing the Surface Pro to the iPad is stupid.

OneNote is available on the iPad for free.

IntertubeUser: Comparing the Surface Pro to the iPad is stupid.

And buying a Microsoft tablet for a grand so you can take better notes in a few classes is what?

If this is going to be a generic tablet thread I will say that I got a 7" Fire HD for my Mother in law and it is awesome. Only problem is that Amazon too has adopted the walled garden approach, and their garden is sparse as of this typing. However, for an Amazon prime member, the free streaming video itself is awesome, and the sound / resolution on the thing is fantastic.

tricycleracer: Hagbardr: I once paid $0 for a laptop with a 10 minute battery life, so mine is infinitely better.

Hey, me too! Actually, I did have to spend $80 to throw a hard drive in it. It's down to about 30 seconds of battery life.

I had to disassemble mine to put a drop of solder on the power jack.

stovepipe: IntertubeUser: As a student, I'm looking forward to taking notes in a classroom with this. OneNote recognizes the handwritten symbols and operators used in college-level math classes. I've been lusting after better ways of taking notes in class and recording lectures and it looks like the Surface Pro will work wonderfully.

My only gripe is that it won't have Office 2010 (or 2013) already installed; I'll have to buy that separately.

Comparing the Surface Pro to the iPad is stupid.

OneNote is available on the iPad for free.

Ever tried writing with an iPad and the styluses (stylii?) that are out there? Better yet, integral symbols, Greek letters, super and sub-script? It's miserable.

The Surface Pro doesn't have that damned capacitive touchscreen that iPad does.

Cinaed: Why would anyone buy the top-end model of any tablet?

I think a lot of tablet makers are focusing on making tablets that are really fairly portable desktop replacements, i.e. easy to carry around but will mostly stay in one place. Tablets provide easy input for Chinese characters, much easier than the awkward systems currently available. When you have such a large emerging market, it really makes sense to try to capitalize on it. In ten years, I doubt you'll see many keyboards in China outside of specialized environments where people have a lot of training in typing, like secretaries, and so can type faster than they can draw.

IntertubeUser: stovepipe: IntertubeUser: As a student, I'm looking forward to taking notes in a classroom with this. OneNote recognizes the handwritten symbols and operators used in college-level math classes. I've been lusting after better ways of taking notes in class and recording lectures and it looks like the Surface Pro will work wonderfully.

My only gripe is that it won't have Office 2010 (or 2013) already installed; I'll have to buy that separately.

Comparing the Surface Pro to the iPad is stupid.

OneNote is available on the iPad for free.

Ever tried writing with an iPad and the styluses (stylii?) that are out there? Better yet, integral symbols, Greek letters, super and sub-script? It's miserable.

The Surface Pro doesn't have that damned capacitive touchscreen that iPad does.

Err... yes, the Surface Pro does have a capacitive touchscreen. It just has an additional digitizer for stylus use, which is something the iPad lacks.

MayoSlather: IntertubeUser: Comparing the Surface Pro to the iPad is stupid.

And buying a Microsoft tablet for a grand so you can take better notes in a few classes is what?

Having a digital version of my class notes, which takes my crappy handwriting and makes it readable, lets me edit and rearrange and color code and highlight my notes, and can sync with recordings from the lecture ... a thousand dollars might be worth it. Hell, I could even get Kindle versions of my textbooks and lighten my backpack up even more.

sasbazooka: Well, Intel based is a good thing. Too bad Intel hasn't figured out how to be power efficient yet.

Except for the Atom processor based tablets. This thing offers an i5 or an i7 processor. You'd expect that in a laptop or desktop, not a tablet.

IntertubeUser: Kindle versions of my textbooks

How would that work for open book tests? You might find yourself screwed on exam day if you are only allowed the mandated text and one sheet of notes.

/engineering major
//many moons ago

HeartBurnKid: IntertubeUser: stovepipe: IntertubeUser: As a student, I'm looking forward to taking notes in a classroom with this.
The Surface Pro doesn't have that damned capacitive touchscreen that iPad does.

Err... yes, the Surface Pro does have a capacitive touchscreen. It just has an additional digitizer for stylus use, which is something the iPad lacks.

Oops. You're right. Sorry about that.

Hagbardr: tricycleracer: Hagbardr: I once paid $0 for a laptop with a 10 minute battery life, so mine is infinitely better.

Hey, me too! Actually, I did have to spend $80 to throw a hard drive in it. It's down to about 30 seconds of battery life.

I had to disassemble mine to put a drop of solder on the power jack.

That's what mine probably needs. You really have to fidget with the plug to get it to light up the charging LED. If it falls out of alignment, you have 10 seconds to fix it or the laptop will self-destruct.

/Okay, it won't explode. Just hibernates and subsequently dies.