The Surface is amazing!

19 minutes ago, Richard.Hein wrote

*snip*

Indeed, and also the VAIO Duo 11 Ultrabook looks nice too:  http://store.sony.com/c/VAIO-Duo-11-Ultrabook-Laptops/en/c/S_D_SERIES_PAGE 

I think the Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T looks nice as well: http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/tablet-pcs/XE700T1C-A01US-features.

Unlike the Vivo Tab, the keyboard doesn't have a battery to extend life, but the ATIV Smart PC has a full i5 instead of an Atom like in the Vivo Tab. Should be able to use this one for developing.

I think a touchscreen ultrabook would be much better for development than a tablet. Pretty much every laptop over $500 at Best Buy had a touch screen when we were there last weekend.

A desktop would be better than any touchscreen ultrabook as well. You're missing the point. The primary use is for portable consumption, aka tablet use. That said, I still want to be able to develop using the device in some situations. Not claiming I'm normal, but all the suggestions to use something else for development misses the point. I understand what I'm asking for, and I want a tablet which can be used, no matter how poorly, for development purposes.

@wkempf: I wonder when the TFS team will allow basic editing from the web. That, coupled with build automation equals develop from anywhere.

I see what you're saying. I guess, the question is: Are you willing to deal with more weight and less battery life for those "some situations"? If so, there are a lot of x86 tablets coming down the pike. One possibility might be the Surface Pro, since you can get the Touch (or Type) Cover and you'll have a built in keyboard and mouse.

Overall I have had a good experience. Remote Desktop itself has allowed it to be a laptop replacement for me. Performance is something Microsoft really needs to focus on. Animations, touch scrolling should be very very smooth but is not. IE is an exception and works very well.

If you move your finger at a slower rate on the Start screen you will see that the tiles jump by about 5 pixels instead of being a smooth slide. When you open a few apps and move to the Start screen, scrolling of the tiles starts to become sluggish. It was my assumption that as soon as you move away from an app Windows gives the app a little time to save state and then deactivates it where it is not consuming resources. This doesn't appear to be always true based on the sluggish performance of the Start screen.

I also hope they come out with a dock for this.

I cant wait to get the retail version of the Surface which has W8 installed.

1 day ago, codedj wrote

Overall I have had a good experience. Remote Desktop itself has allowed it to be a laptop replacement for me. Performance is something Microsoft really needs to focus on. Animations, touch scrolling should be very very smooth but is not. IE is an exception and works very well.

If you move your finger at a slower rate on the Start screen you will see that the tiles jump by about 5 pixels instead of being a smooth slide. When you open a few apps and move to the Start screen, scrolling of the tiles starts to become sluggish. It was my assumption that as soon as you move away from an app Windows gives the app a little time to save state and then deactivates it where it is not consuming resources. This doesn't appear to be always true based on the sluggish performance of the Start screen.

I also hope they come out with a dock for this.

Interesting. I have not seen that on the Asus VivoTab RT, even though the core hardware is the same (Tegra 3). It did have some trouble with the Adera game, but it was still playable (I'd guess a low of 20fps).

I looked at the Vivo RT last night, and it's pretty likely I'll own one by monday   I'd like to see a surface, but the Vivo has longer battery life with the dock.  I just don't have any need for the kickstand, but I'm open to any convincing arguments

BTW, NewEgg is offering the doc for free if you register the device, but I suspect that's an Asus thing.

2 hours ago, ScanIAm wrote

BTW, NewEgg is offering the doc for free if you register the device, but I suspect that's an Asus thing. 

Yep, it's all through Asus' website. http://event.asus.com/Vivotab/Mobile_Dock/

At first I was pretty sure I'd give RT devices a pass and wait for the Surface Pro or some other nice W8 tablet, but the more I hear about the Surface RT the more I want one. If I had the cash (and it wasn't a total pain to get one over here) I'd probably own one already.

@Bas: I just wish the Pro wasn't estimated to be ~$1000 (my i7 8GB crysis running laptop was $1200). Also, I don't feel comfortable carrying around a mobile device that costs that much (I don't carry my laptop around with me as freely).

@ScanIAm: There are two scenarios where you need a kickstand - typing or watching a video. Typing requires a keyboard and hence let's call it a draw between the Asus and Surface (Asus has a dockable keyboard, Surface has Kick stand + [Touch/Type] keyboard).

To watch a video on the Asus you will have to dock it into the keyboard which may be more of a hassle than quickly flipping out a kick stand. On the other hand you cannot control the angle of the kick stand and hence you have to adjust your position to the angle of the kick stand. The Asus works like a laptop giving you more flexibility with the angle of the screen.

Overall I like the Surface because all the features of the hardware work really well. The build quality, the wide profile, kickstand are all well executed. Now it is up to Mr. Sinofsky and team to match the software to the hardware. Hopefully they are working on it .

@MasterPie: Another problem is the weight and the vent for cooling. The Samsung tablets handed out at last Build had a fan and was loud enough to be noticeable. Let's see what the experience is with the Pro in that respect.

9 hours ago, ScanIAm wrote

I looked at the Vivo RT last night, and it's pretty likely I'll own one by monday   I'd like to see a surface, but the Vivo has longer battery life with the dock.  I just don't have any need for the kickstand, but I'm open to any convincing arguments

BTW, NewEgg is offering the doc for free if you register the device, but I suspect that's an Asus thing.

 

The Vivo RT is nice, but battery life ... I don't see that as something that should matter to most users, because the battery life on the Surface RT is absolutely fantastic, I haven't hit 20% once, and I rarely have it plugged in.

3 hours ago, Richard.Hein wrote

*snip*

The Vivo RT is nice, but battery life ... I don't see that as something that should matter to most users, because the battery life on the Surface RT is absolutely fantastic, I haven't hit 20% once, and I rarely have it plugged in.

I guess I assumed it would be important, but I'm on the vivo now and have plenty of battery left after 4 or so hours.  Typing while lying down in bed is annoying, but overall, I'm digging it,

The advertising is good as well, I was in a shop the other day (Best Buy) and a customer was asking about 'click on keyboards' - the sales assistant was showing them 3rd party add-ons for the iPad until I rather helpfully intervened (I happened to have my Surface with me)

Well I'm glad it got a glowing review from someone.

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/tablets/microsoft-tablet-just-scratches-the-surface-20121107-28xsx.html

Seems to be quite biased, but some points seem valid.