Uncensored2008
Libertarian Radical
I'm a long time Android user/fan. I currently have a Xyboard tablet, which I like. But the Xyboard isn't even close to a Notebook replacement. It does the same task as my smartphone, and really nothing more. Yes, it presents Netflix a lot better, but it isn't any good for spreadsheets or documents.
The Surface Pro is the first tablet that bridges the divide between a tablet and an Ultrabook. While I have been fairly critical of Windows 8 up to this point, the Surface is the right platform for it. Touchscreen and gesture rich, it's what 8 was designed for. The I5 should have plenty of power and reviews confirm that no tablet is in the same class, with the Surface Pro besting most Ultras, including the Apple and Asus offerings. In fact the Mac Air is crushed by the Surface.
So the Surface Pro came in today. My initial reaction was to the weight. Contrasted to my Xyboard, this is one heavy tablet. It's also fairly thick.
I turned it on and it did it's cutesy little intro thing. Then had me set up local user privileges. I use a secured WiFi system so the tablet could not attach. No biggie, it skipped the WiFi setup and went directly into Windows 8. I went ahead and gave the Cisco 2504 domain user credentials and got on the WiFi.
Attaching to the domain took longer than it should, not because of the Surface, but because of my lack of familiarity with Windows 8 (how DO you right click on computer, when computer no longer is present?) Anyway, once I found the settings, the tablet joined the domain without complaint.
I quickly loaded Office 2010, our company ERP (Made2Manage), and our VPN (a Palo Alto firewall.) All went flawlessly. Pulled up the ERP and tested load times against my Alienware running Windows 7 64. Times were virtually identical, showing that the 54mb WiFi is the gating factor and the tablet has no issue with processing the .Net code. Office is likewise snappy, the applications pop up instantly. Files open from network shares with no issue.
At lunch, I enabled the hotspot on my Razr Maxx HD, fired up the VPN, and RDP'd into my mail server with no issue. Made sure outlook was sending and receiving outside the domain - no issues.
Bottom line, the tablet behaved exactly as an Ultrabook would. The I5 processor easily handles anything I've thrown at it so far. The display is gorgeous. The 1080P resolution is technically less dense than the iPad, but I honestly don't see it. It's crisp and bright with excellent color reproduction.
I don't know what they battery life is like yet. It came in with only about a quarter charge. I used it on battery at lunch, to test offsite features, but that was only for about a half hour. The rest of the time I've had it plugged in. The magnetic coupling for the power is a little annoying, like the iPad it wants to fall off all the time. The microUSB of the Xyboard is easier to handle when using the device plugged in.
It's interesting that websites don't view the Surface as a tablet, so it offers full sites as a default. Although the Xyboard (as well as iPad) can easily handle full websites, mobile versions would always load by default. It's nice that the Surface directly loads the full site.
I'm sure that a lot of this has to do with it being a real computer. I loaded standard versions of Flash and Chrome on it, neither of which were aware they were running on a tablet.
So far, I'm very impressed with the device. It shows what the iPad and Android tablets should be.
The Surface Pro is the first tablet that bridges the divide between a tablet and an Ultrabook. While I have been fairly critical of Windows 8 up to this point, the Surface is the right platform for it. Touchscreen and gesture rich, it's what 8 was designed for. The I5 should have plenty of power and reviews confirm that no tablet is in the same class, with the Surface Pro besting most Ultras, including the Apple and Asus offerings. In fact the Mac Air is crushed by the Surface.
So the Surface Pro came in today. My initial reaction was to the weight. Contrasted to my Xyboard, this is one heavy tablet. It's also fairly thick.
I turned it on and it did it's cutesy little intro thing. Then had me set up local user privileges. I use a secured WiFi system so the tablet could not attach. No biggie, it skipped the WiFi setup and went directly into Windows 8. I went ahead and gave the Cisco 2504 domain user credentials and got on the WiFi.
Attaching to the domain took longer than it should, not because of the Surface, but because of my lack of familiarity with Windows 8 (how DO you right click on computer, when computer no longer is present?) Anyway, once I found the settings, the tablet joined the domain without complaint.
I quickly loaded Office 2010, our company ERP (Made2Manage), and our VPN (a Palo Alto firewall.) All went flawlessly. Pulled up the ERP and tested load times against my Alienware running Windows 7 64. Times were virtually identical, showing that the 54mb WiFi is the gating factor and the tablet has no issue with processing the .Net code. Office is likewise snappy, the applications pop up instantly. Files open from network shares with no issue.
At lunch, I enabled the hotspot on my Razr Maxx HD, fired up the VPN, and RDP'd into my mail server with no issue. Made sure outlook was sending and receiving outside the domain - no issues.
Bottom line, the tablet behaved exactly as an Ultrabook would. The I5 processor easily handles anything I've thrown at it so far. The display is gorgeous. The 1080P resolution is technically less dense than the iPad, but I honestly don't see it. It's crisp and bright with excellent color reproduction.
I don't know what they battery life is like yet. It came in with only about a quarter charge. I used it on battery at lunch, to test offsite features, but that was only for about a half hour. The rest of the time I've had it plugged in. The magnetic coupling for the power is a little annoying, like the iPad it wants to fall off all the time. The microUSB of the Xyboard is easier to handle when using the device plugged in.
It's interesting that websites don't view the Surface as a tablet, so it offers full sites as a default. Although the Xyboard (as well as iPad) can easily handle full websites, mobile versions would always load by default. It's nice that the Surface directly loads the full site.
I'm sure that a lot of this has to do with it being a real computer. I loaded standard versions of Flash and Chrome on it, neither of which were aware they were running on a tablet.
So far, I'm very impressed with the device. It shows what the iPad and Android tablets should be.
