Microsoft Surface Pro

[StayTuned]

Seeing that the RT version starts at $499 ( 380€ ) instead of the previously rumored ~$300 I have to wonder how expensive the Pro version is going to be.

Anyone here who can straight out tell me if the Pro version is seriously going to be the best performance / money tablet on the market?

How does it compare to the Asus Transformer Pad TF700T?

[BicycleMafioso]

The Surface Pro will be an x86 platform and have a notebook CPU; These are significantly stronger than the ARM-processors currently employed, but I doubt it would be the most power efficient.

Either way, what are you going to use all that power for? I think the higher-end tablets are far more powerful than something I'll ever need, and I'd rather root them and underclock them personally, for more batterylife.

[vesseblah]

Pro version has essentially same hardware as current Ultrabooks, so you can expect it to be priced somewhere around high end Ultrabooks.

$1200-1400 sounds about right. Maybe $999 without cover.

[Keller]

Seeing that the RT version starts at $499 ( 380€ ) instead of the previously rumored ~$300 I have to wonder how expensive the Pro version is going to be.

Anyone here who can straight out tell me if the Pro version is seriously going to be the best performance / money tablet on the market?

How does it compare to the Asus Transformer Pad TF700T?

I'm guessing at around 900 to 1100 dollars.
And it's going to be fucking amazing. I wish i could get one.

- Wacom digitizer ( yay art tablet )
- Multitouch
- Metro
- i5 Processor, maybe even haswell.
- Standard hardware that will be developed on by devs in the winstore.
- A (M@#$%^&*!#@) Magnesium shell.
- 1080p

That's like exactly what the X200t/X220t/X230t series have been trying to be for years now. ( except you know, the form factor.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

I reckon it'll be $1199 with the touch cover and $1219 with the keyboard cover.

[StayTuned]

I reckon it'll be $1199 with the touch cover and $1219 with the keyboard cover.

Omfg. Good bye Surface. Why pay so much money if I cannot even use it as a full game station like my Laptop? Or can I?

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Omfg. Good bye Surface. Why pay so much money if I cannot even use it as a full game station like my Laptop? Or can I?

Perhaps it isn't aimed at the gamer market sector? Seems to me to be more aimed at the professional who needs a powerful slate PC, like an architect, a civil engineer - something along those lines.

[BicycleMafioso]

Omfg. Good bye Surface. Why pay so much money if I cannot even use it as a full game station like my Laptop? Or can I?

Gaming is an abysmal part of the computer industry. It's not really something Microsoft would highlight.
But it will still feature the HD4000 and the full Windows 8 x86, so why you would assume it is not possible to game on, is a mystery to me. You might want to angle it more toward indie-games and the likes though since it lacks discrete graphics.

[StayTuned]

Perhaps it isn't aimed at the gamer market sector? Seems to me to be more aimed at the professional who needs a powerful slate PC, like an architect, a civil engineer - something along those lines.

I wanted to use it for my university. To write papers on my way, use Skype wherever I am, etc. Biggest bonus was that I can finally have the real Word, Excel and Powerpoint and not some vastly inferior Android app version.

My friend has the Asus Transformer Pad and it works actually quite good, but I just don't like most of the substitute apps.


Greatest downside of the RT version is that it's missing USB 3.0....


BUT if I already have to pay $1200 for it, I'd like to be able to do more than just this.... What's the point of having great speccs if you can't even use it to its full potential? Or is the Windows 8 Pro version not going to be limited to apps only?

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

The Pro version is a full x86 computer, and you can install all the software you like on it. So, you like to use the beta version firefox? Go ahead. You want to install the copy of photoshop you get from Uni? Feel free. World of Warcraft? Why the hell not, go waste some time doing dailies while in class.

[StayTuned]

The Pro version is a full x86 computer, and you can install all the software you like on it. So, you like to use the beta version firefox? Go ahead. You want to install the copy of photoshop you get from Uni? Feel free. World of Warcraft? Why the hell not, go waste some time doing dailies while in class.

Now we are talking business. You can install whatever you want on it?

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Now we are talking business. You can install whatever you want on it?

I believe so, yes.

[vesseblah]

Now we are talking business. You can install whatever you want on it?

Yes. The pro version is fully functional laptop with i5 Ivy Bridge processor, 8GB RAM and SSD. Installing stuff requires using USB stick, downloading from internet or USB DVD drive.

[StayTuned]

Yes. The pro version is fully functional laptop with i5 Ivy Bridge processor, 8GB RAM and SSD. Installing stuff requires using USB stick, downloading from internet or USB DVD drive.

But can it really be compared to a computer or is it more... playstation'ish?

For example... would it beat my current laptop?

IntelCore i5 M460 @ 2,5ghz
4096 DDR2
ATI mob readon HD5850 3662MB

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Not sure about the graphics capability, but the CPU would make yours go cry in a corner like a little girl if it is the one I think it will be (something like an i5 3450T).

[vesseblah]

But can it really be compared to a computer or is it more... playstation'ish?

You can consider it to be full "all-in-one" computer without keyboard. You can plug in regular keyboard, mouse and monitor to it and it'll act like any desktop PC.

For example... would it beat my current laptop?

On WoW easily. Other games? probably not. 5850M is still one of the better laptop GPUs.

[StayTuned]

You can consider it to be full "all-in-one" computer without keyboard. You can plug in regular keyboard, mouse and monitor to it and it'll act like any desktop PC.



On WoW easily. Other games? probably not. 5850M is still one of the better laptop GPUs.

That's some pretty neat info right there. Thank you all. I might still consider paying a few extra bugs if its really a "portable" high end ultrabook with touchscreen that supports Win8 apps AND ordinary software

[StayTuned]

This way I could finally get rid of my desktop PC. I barely use it for anything anymore. I can play WoW and LoL, the only two games I play, on my laptop without any issues. I don't care if its not all on Ultra...

I could then use the Pro as my new "laptop" and my old laptop can stay at home and serve me as my new "desktop".

Given I can truly install whatever the fuck I want on the Pro.

[Lilfrier]

I would suggest looking at the alternatives as well, though. If you only play WoW and LoL, you could get something now, rather than waiting until February. Lenovo's got their $1,000 U.S. Yoga, which has an i5, 4 GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD (not sure about international availability). Instead of having a detahable keyboard dock or cover (like a Surface or Transformer or VivoTab), the screen folds all the way back to function as a tablet. I've not heard how good they are, but I have a classmate who got one and seemed to like it.

[OmniSkribe]

Now we are talking business. You can install whatever you want on it?

This is the main feature of Pro version. Full PC in your hands
On RT version u can use only Metro Apps and Microsoft Office in Desktop mode. U can't install any desktop apps.