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When the Surface was a table, not a tablet? THAT was cool. If those were available and affordable, it would even be worth the pain of having to run Windows 8... Too bad Microsoft gave up on that.
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I bought a Galaxy Tab a year ago or so, thinking it would be great to have something more portable than a laptop for taking meeting notes, etc. I find the onscreen keyboard rather impossible to work with (not Galaxy's issue) and I have yet to find a decent bluetooth keyboard that actually works right - edit keys, etc. The docking station designed for the Galaxy Tab has never worked right, 90% of the time it simply doesn't see the keyboard.
Regardless of those issues, I find that I actually like using my phone much better for things like checking email, looking up words when my gf and I play Boggle, checking the weather, and so forth. In other words, the tablet is superfluous because my phone (an old HTC) is already totally adequate for what I need a portable device to do.
And since I'm already paying for the cell carrier service on my phone, I also have Internet access on it when I'm not around a free hotspot, so there again the tablet fails - I certainly don't want to pay for two cell phone carrier services, and my phone is also a phone, and I can also Skype on it, so again, the "advantages" of the tablet are lost.
What about you all? Is a tablet actually that useful to you?
Marc
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I have had an I-pad for over two years. It is a great toy and useful for quickly checking e-mail. It will never replace my PC for the following reasons...
No cursor keys
Typing is hard work
Apps are inferior to fully functional software like Office.
I can't develop software on an I-pad
There are many more reasons but it is ok for playing Sudoku.
I may not last forever but the mess I leave behind certainly will.
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If you look at a tablet like an internet-connected version of the old note paper pad, you carried/may still carry, to meetings it is very useful. It is really the same form-factor. Many of our employees/customers/prospects do that now.
I find using the web with a phone pretty tedious. In fact many of the higher-end features of the phone are tedious with that little real-estate. The tablet improves this a lot for me. This may just be me but mort others I know feel the same way.
I see a growing interest in adding the phone voice featuers to the tablet. There is even a new term for that I cannot remember right now. Amazon and others seems to be into that. I see the tablet gaining share and perhaps the phone losing share. Ultimately the phone and the tablet may change share positions over the next 5 years or sooner.
The complement of APPS is about the same right now. The large screen size and better keyboard make some new apps more practical on the tablet. It would be reasonable to assume the tablet will gain more share because of this.
I bought a cheap Xelio 10.1" Android tablet a few months ago. I got into it pretty deep. I wrote a couple of my own apps and downloaded a ton of others. I was impressed by what I was able to do once it was setup.
I think the tablet and the cloud with web-services subscriptions are going to be the norm soon. It will be developer group, like us, using the larger screens and desktops/notebooks, etc. The other 95% of the users will not be using them any more.
I keep seeing 3 year old kids on TV commercials starting off with a 7" tablet that is convertable for school use as they grow up. That is not going to stop. Parents are all for it. There peer group will force them into it for almost all kids. These kids are the developers and users of the future.
I think the Tablet-Revolution is already underway!
That's my 2 cents worth.
"Courtesy is the product of a mature, disciplined mind ... ridicule is lack of the same - DPM"
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I agree totally with you.
I use an iPhone 4s since the company gave it to me. But private I own no tablet and no smartphone.
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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I've got a 2 year old touchpad running cyanogen mod. It's primary use is keeping a Kleenex box from scratching the lid of my printer. I've also got an HP Envy x2; but haven't detached the screen from the keydock that turns it into a netbook since installing an anti-glare screen protector a few days after buying it.
At work I've done a bit of android work; but other than arguably being less of a pain to use the onscreen keyboard than a laptop style keyboard if you don't have a desk/table I really don't get the point either. If we didn't need offline support I'd be suggesting we turn it into a webapp and letting the user run it anywhere they wanted instead.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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I got a Nexus 7 for Christmas last year, and I use it a lot!
Not as much as I use my desktop - but not for the same things, either mostly - there isn't a lot of overlap.
The onscreen keyboard makes it a PITA to write more than an quick email, or a text based answer to a QA query. For code it is worse than useless, so I took C# off the tablet a couple of weeks after I put it on.
But...I use it for:
Cooking - recipes are brilliant! And the screen is dirty thumb proof unlike a cookbook.
Reading.
Emails.
Google.
Playing games.
As a calculator, shopping list, contacts book, appointments diary, movie watcher, mp3 player, navigation system, weather and tv guide.
In short, everything that used to take my phone plus a pocket full of cr@p. It's 7 inches, so it fits in my coat pocket - which means I have it with me all the time, like my wallet and car keys, and so I use it all the time. Having a bigger screen than my phone means it's both comfortable to use for all the above and easier to read too. Being able to google a recipe based on what looks good in Tesco, (and using their wifi to do it) is very handy.
And best of all it doesn't have a phone in it. So if I don't want to be called, I can still stay in touch via email... 
Best gadget I ever got.
The only instant messaging I do involves my middle finger.
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I never felt that much comfortable using tablet, any kind of it.
Better using notebook or laptop if I want a portable gadget to get over it, and scared enough for losing the guarantee if I fixed sth from tablet.
I do not find some adv from tablet.
KTBFFH
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Great for watching Netflix.
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Damn right! My Nexus 7 at a comfortable viewing distance has about the same apparent picture size as my main TV on the other side of the room...and Herself doesn't see what I'm watching, so she won't complain about Stephen Fry's lack of dress sense, or...
The only instant messaging I do involves my middle finger.
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I have a laptop and a Blackberry phone. Between them I get all the functionality I need when and where I need it. Why should I buy another device to carry around? I'm running out of arms. Every time I look at changing my phone to one of these Galaxy thingies or one of the useless clones of them (e.g. the Iphone), I can't see the point - they have nothing I need and cost a lot more!
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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The surface pro is not good enough with graphics as it should have been. I tried using my Surface Pro to run a graphic software BlackInk, and the performance was horrid!
It is time Microsoft understands the importance of graphic power, and equip their Surface 3 with an AMD or NVIDIA card and stop with the bullshit Intel integrated graphic.
Microsoft, if you are listening. Create a new edition, at least, of the Surface Pro 2 where you insert a dedicated graphic card inside.
Yes, I understand this will impact heavily on the battery time, and yes the surface will be more noisy as it needs more coolant. BUT at least it is a choice the end user can make so suit their needs.
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Not going to happen. For a tablet the Surface Pro is already too chunky to be viable anywhere outside of Redmond. If you need better gfx than the standard low power Haswell offers you're probably going to have to wait for Saltwell's die shrink next year which probably will double it. Something built around a 35W Haswell with Intel's top IGP (GT640M equivalent) isn't totally out of the question; but if it happens it's almost certainly going to be an 11.6/13" tablet+dock combo not 10".
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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To compare Surface Pro to a tablet or even calling it a tablet, is so wrong that it borders to the point of being axiomaticly wrong. Its like comparing an Iphone 3G with IPad 4, or saying that the IPad 4 with cellulare module is a phone!
The Surface is a tablet, the Surface Pro however is a PC/laptop shrinked to almost a tablet size.
Only thing Surface Pro shares with a tablet is Touch capabilities, period (except from obvious hardware things).
There is nothing stopping Microsoft, or others for that sake, to put graphic power into these devices. They would gain more of the marked, which consists of people on the move and work with graphics. Or semi gamers!
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If it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck, and quacks like a duck; it's a duck.
Designed for fingerprint smears as primary interface method: Check.
Hardware keyboard is an optional accessory: Check.
Marketed as a fondleslab: Check.
It's a tablet.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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I voted no, because I am aiming at a Surface 2 Pro 512...
But if it was for a tablet, I would, with no hesitation, pick Surface 2 or Surface RT. They are at a good price at the moment, and can do a lot more than other tablets:
- Surface 2 has free Microsoft Office, including Outlook. This is HUGE against the competition. It has USB3 port.
- Android tablets are toys really (I own a Sony Android tablet, I know what I talk about). Booting time : 2 minutes... (far too long).
- I also was given an iPad, to develop for it, but, well, what to say... I am at a loss with it: I am really not in love with its design (for example, I find the edges too thin, almost cutting, meh), it is quite heavy, the gestures are not logical, etc.. iPads were here first, but now, it looks like they lack behind. No ports (= no way to get my pictures on it).
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Ok, If you love Microsoft enough to get a Surface and you still can't get pictures onto an iPad then you are doing it wrong!
There are many options!
Cloud: SkyDrive, iCloud, GoogleDrive, DropBox
Wifi Sync
USB Sync
And what is not logical about the gestures?
Most high end tablets are much the same in terms of usage and I find them all extremely useful in my daily life. If I could afford a Surface I'd probably get one of those as well!
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It's just not worth it!
I'll likely try the new crop of < $400 convertible(laptop/tablet) using Bay Trail, or one of the Bay Trail Ultrabooks. Some starting at $249, see Fall 2013 Windows Tablet Preview[^]!
They have the better battery life with only slightly less performance.
Although I do think the "Blade" concept in Surface Pro is a winner, but here again, MS screws up and provides no SDK for developers!
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I'm tempted by the bay trail devices too; although marginally larger Haswell device is tempting if cheap enough. I have an HP Envy x2 tablet/netbook that I bought shortly after w8 launched; and like I suspected at the time BayTrail/Haswell is going to make it a one year lifetime computer.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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I would be more inclined to get a Surface 2 Pro 
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Microsoft has been missing the boat too much lately. the surface commercials where they try to compare themselves to an iPad is evident they don't even know their own competition.
you want something inspirational??
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Yes, I've already ordered one
Yes
No
Maybe
Can you repeat the question
"I had the right to remain silent, but I didn't have the ability!"
Ron White, Comedian
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With the new Haswell processor, I'll finally get "most of the day" battery life. I'll get the dock and the power cover too. I will probably get my daughter the Surface 2 (RT) version. It's a great replacement for the iPad.
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"No Elephanting way!!!" 
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
-----
Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience
Greg King
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I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.
Lily Tomlin, Actress
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I did not think that Surface 2 was the WinRT toy...
I would buy the Surface 2 pro... not sure why they keep naming it "Pro".
They should name it
"Surface 2 RT" versus "Surface 2", the Pro should be the default
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