What, no thread here yet? What speculation have ye tech gurus? I like the keyboard thing built in and the onboard storage with microSD expansion is a nice touch. Guess it's a wait and see?
Too early to say at this stage but I predict the Jobbies will simply not be able to stop themselves from expressing their (negative) opinion
I have an iPad3 and like it for a lot of reasons. Productivity isn't one. If the keyboard/cover thingy on the Surface really works and I can get a proper MS Word software complete with annotation/correction functionality that seamlessly syncs with my Windows laptop AND it's cheaper than an iPad, I would seriously consider it.
To me, that thing missing with all these devices, if you want to be productive that is, is a mouse type device - I don't want to keep touching the screen, I want a mouse or trouchpad right there by my hand.
It appears that there is a touchpad in the center of the Surface keyboard and it also has a USB port so I'm assuming you could plug a mouse in there.
I have yet to find anything as good a and flexible as my Acer A500. It's fast, loks great, does everything I need and more, and I have a full sized USB Keyboard for when I HAVE to use it for things that warrant a keyboard instead of the touch screen one...which is stellar BTW.
I did see that. I'd still prefer the option to use a mouse (and a 'proper' keyboard) as well so if the USB port allows you to do that, that's a good thing in my book.
I'm really looking forward to see the Win 8 version. Be nice to run Bascamp on and very portable. Supposed to be in the 'ultrabook' price range (which is a wide spread). Have to wait till fall I guess. Hope a new Macbook Air won't follow me home before it comes!
I have a zoom, 4g/wifi. I get a lot of use out of it. Its handy, but if I wanted to be productive, I'd take a laptop. Some of the tablets seem to want to bridge this gap - but I'm content with my tablet being a TV/receiver/htpc remote, game, Netflix/movie/music/book, GPS, email/Facebook/phone/SMS text machine - and for productivity stuff such as excel/remote desktop/SSH/SQL client/etc in a pinch. Most tablets have Bluetooth so any really can have a mouse and or keyboard - but if I have to take a laptop bag, I'll take the laptop. Otherwise any semblance of convenience is lost, not to mention trying to fit a square into a round hole. As a convenience device it rocks as most tablets do. I work from home, primarily on a laptop and go away to the site in a different state monthly. The tablet helps minimize how heavy that bag is, while still allowing me to keep in touch with the family and to allow for some entertainment while on the road.
From what I have been reading, the Surface will arrive in two waves. The first to get it to market with Windows RT or whatever they call their mobile platform and a Tecra mobile processor. The second a couple of months later will be the Surface with a full installation of Windows 8 Pro running on an Intel i5 processor. If you can't hook a USB mouse and keyboard up to that, then MS should fully consider scraping the entire program right now.
Since we're all talking based on pretty much no knowledge about the thing, allow me to speculate: There is no reason it won't work with a full sized keyboard and/or mouse. You already can use a keyboard/mouse with nearly any android tablet via both bluetooth and the usb port. I have plugged in a full size keyboard on my A500, used a usb mouse, and used it much like a laptop. There is an app (can't remember the name now and don't have the tablet handy) that lets you use an actual MS Word/PowerPoint/Excell, etc via cloud networking. Works and looks exactly like the computer version, and the files created pull up the same on any computer. So, considering nearly any Android tablet already has this functionality the Surface definitely will. I'm guessing the built in keyboard will work just fine, but won't be quite as good as an actual keyboard, no surprises there. The touchpad will be a nice touch. Hopefully the price is reasonable. I'm not willing to spend ultrabook prices on a tablet, especially something unproven from Windows. If they were to do some sort of promotion like they did with the Windows Phone where people could trade in their old device for a huge discount on the Windows Phone, I would be very tempted to give the Surface a try. I have to say, it would be REALLY nice to have a tablet with an actual OS on it. Apps are fun and handy most of the time, but there are many times where I just want to use a real program. As good as apps can get, they're not the same thing.
Yes the keyboard does have touchpad mouse area. The other cool thing is that the keyboard is magnetically attached to the tablet, so if you don't need it, take it off. I'm looking forward to the Intel version. It's going to have a pen! Yep, I said it... it will have a pen. Back in the 90's I had the idea of a 'book' pc. Two screen left right that was pen based, or one of the screens could be touch with a keyboard. I've always preferred using a pen/stylist over my finger. The idea of an electronic book for me is more logical than tablets. But the technology just wasn't there back in the 90's. I know that MS has a new patent for fast response pen screens. Granted they said it would be a couple of years before they get it to consumer ready. But... who knows, they might have it ready now. I hope so. MS does have handwriting recognition in W7, and it's actually damn good. It's just that most screens are slow showing the actual line(s).
The dimensions are odd, 16X9. The photos of it being held in someone's hands look strange. It looks like portrait orientation will be too narrow and landscape will be too short.
Depends. Could have been done so that it would be more stable when propped up on a user's lap, or so that there would be extra screen end real estate for an on screen keyboard in portrait without giving up aspect ratio. I'm hoping that this is MS's attempt to build a IBM-PC of tablets. To run out in front of Google and Apple and establish an open, broadly accepted hardware spec that blows open the market and undercuts Apple (again).
Irony of irony: I had a huge reply typed on my iPad and safari crashed and lost it. MS said it is 16:9 for media playback. No need to speculate on the reason. MS has been losing market share to Apple for years due to really poor hardware design. The problem is that MS has almost no control on hardware. Intel did a great job enforcing specs on the ultrabooks. I think this is MS's way of doing the same with tablets. If they can set the bar high with their own brand, the other manufacturers will need to follow suit to stay competitive.
What I see so far looks like a better idea than the iPad but I don't yet see anything that would make me want to replace my netbook.
