4GB of RAM is fine, although it would be nice if it was customizable to 8GB.
They really shouldn’t sell a 64GB model, though. That’s not enough space to be usable, and NAND is quite cheap these days.
Odd choice to me, only offering 8GB in the super high-end models. 8GB of RAM seems to appeal to a much larger audience than the subset of people who want a 256GB tablet hybrid (and are willing to shell out the money for it).
I dunno, if you’re looking to make it your primary computer, which is completely feasible for non-gamers with a haswell tablet/ultrabook, you want the extra storage. Depends on what they’re charging for it, really.
The Surface 2 looks really nice from the hardware side, but I just have no interest in Windows RT.
Kids may have differing opinions, but a 10.6" display is too small for laptop usage and too big for tablet usage. The type keypad is better than most iPad bluetooth keyboard cases but mediocre as a laptop keyboard. Don’t buy this. Get an N7 or an iPad mini and an Ultrabook.
WinRT is still dead as a doornail.
Few confirmed things.
- lpddr
- does not use pci express ssd, but is “low power” msata
- HD 4400 despite what stusser said (sorry bro)
Battery focus looks encouraging and more than “we slapped in a haswell!” deep. Lighted covers is a surprise.
Also 10.6" is a fine size for tablet use. The extreme widescreen layout is more problematic than the absolute size, per se. It is pretty minor.
GPU is a shame. Oh well, you can’t really game on it. Still pretty sexy.
Remember a lot of the battery improvement is windows 8.1, too.
Sure, that’s why everyone wants 7" tablets instead of 10" tablets. It’s fine compared to the stone tablets the commandments are etched on. WRT comfortably holding a gadget for reading or browsing it’s too big and too heavy. Unless you’re using it w type keypad in laptop mode, then it’s too cramped. Oh, also a terrible touchpad.
Hey, that product no one had interest in last year? Now you can have no interest in it w/ even longer battery life!
Destined for failure again.
It’s too small to comfortably use as a laptop in desktop mode at 1920x1080 at only 10" LCD.
Agreed - if they put out a 13" version with a slightly better GPU, I’d be all over it. As it stands, I’m telling myself the same thing as the first edition - meh, guess I’ll wait for the next version.
13" would be unbelievably painful as a tablet. Tried it with the Yoga and it is comically bad, a brick, totally unwieldy. Why don’t you guys dock if you need hugescreen?
Also stusser I don’t think you have tried the HD 4400, it is actually kind of amazing, provided you can give up MSAA (fxaa and its ilk are fine) and you are ok with 720p.
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2013/09/the-2013-htpc-build.html
Grid 2 runs over 40fps easy at medium+ 720p settings for me and it is graphically incredible. As for older titles, they are cake: Arkham Asylum is 60fps at high settings on 720p. Really just avoid msaa, stick to 720p, and Haswell GT2 is god damn amazing relative to the shit Intel foisted on us previously. It Just Works, which I have never ever been able to say about any other Intel crap before.
p.s. you can trivially overclock the GPU in the bios, I pushed mine from 1150 to 1400 at load and it is rock stable. Also easily more than a HD 4600 which is what, 1200? Haswell GT2 is your huckleberry. Check my twitter for relevant screenshots of GPU-Z showing the settings.
And this whole message was typed on a Surface Pro in bed. Too big to comfortably hold? Lol.
I don’t hold my iPad when I’m using it, pretty much ever. 90% of the time it’s on a stand (built into the keyboard case), and the remaining 10% it’s on a flat surface. It’s not too big to hold if I have to, but it is too big to use unsupported for any significant length of time.
So I guess I’m using in “laptop mode.” Except that there’s a real difference in effective form factor, I have a 15" Windows touchscreen laptop that I purchase recently, and I do not use it casually the way I use my iPad. It’s simply too big and heavy, moving it about is far more of a production than moving the iPad. That, and Firefox’s touch support is pretty crappy, so really using it means grabbing the mouse as well, which adds to the energy barrier.
Too cramped in laptop mode? Not remotely. Sure, it’s not my dual-24" desktop, but it’s great for doing things like typing this message in bed, exactly like Wumpus. The screen is just big enough for most web browsing. It was too damned small for reading a comic using the Kindle app, but most of the time it’s fine.
So, I don’t own a Surface, but I’m not buying the criticism of the form factor. So far, I don’t want a 7" tablet personally, I think web browsing would suffer the same sort of difficulties I have on my iPod while not nearly as casually portable as a phone-sized device. The 16:9 aspect ratio of the Surface does seem like it would be awkward, but I’d have to use one for a while to say for sure.
You can play some older games on a 4400 at low settings, yes. But it’s not comparable to the HD5000 in the macbook air, and titles ported from the next console generation will probably not be playable.
It was too damned small for reading a comic using the Kindle app, but most of the time it’s fine.
I’ve never used the Kindle app for comics, so maybe it’s something to do with that, but given that an iPad screen is bigger than a print comic, I’m struggling to understand this statement. I read comics all the time on my iPad - it’s the single best use case for it as far as I’m concerned.
I suppose there are a small minority of comics that actually use the double page spread as an active part of the layout where it might feel small, but sadly (from an artistic perspective) those are few and far between.
Incorrect. Grid 2 is a new game and runs great on the HD 4400 on medium settings. While not every new game works, those games that cross release on the now ancient ps3 and x360 are likely to be fine.
like I said, you just need to be ok with 720p, and no MSAA. So many pc reviewers are on the 4k crack, but you gotta think like a ps3 owner when it comes to Haswell.
also per TechReport’s review the iris pro stuff is faster, nominally, but strangely crap at high resolutions. So the same advice applies.
Also on the Mac Air and the HD 5000:
these are bad, bad numbers. Limiting the package to 15w is crippling. The HTPC in my previous link can push up to 50w thermals no problem, plus the GPU limit was moved in the bios from 1150 MHz stock to 1400 MHz. It is god damn amazing for a $140 part.
I couldn’t read the text without using the zoom function. It may have something to do with the amount of whitespace they had around the art.
That said, that doesn’t seem right. I don’t own any print comics to compare, but I remember them being much bigger. A quick search said they’re 6.5" x 10.25", which is about what I remember. My iPad screen is 5.5" x 7.5".
Grid2 is a current-gen console port, and you can’t run it at full quality and native resolution. Current-gen console ports will of course be petering out over the next year.
The surface pro 2 will be similarly constrained in thermals and power to the macbook air, if not more so.
Huh, you’re right. It certainly doesn’t feel that way, but I guess the bezel takes up more space than I thought. Even so, there’s no white space on my dedicated comics apps (eg Comixology, Dark Horse). Just a centimetre or so of letterboxing on either side to keep the proportions right. Lettering is perfectly legible, even at well beyond normal reading distance.