My Surface for Windows RT Review

Martini1991 · 16 Jul 2013 at 18:59

Is it just me, or does the metro mail app not tell you when you've got an E-mail?
It doesn't actually display anything on the metro UI.

I have to manually actually open the app.

Given MS have sacked off MSN/Live Messenger with Skype (Which again doesn't show you E-mails) it seems kinda... Backwards. Sure, we've got outlook from the office pack (Which annoyingly is desktop, and doesn't seem that smooth) but what about on a system where I don't have office?
Surely it should be live at all times? I notice that with a few apps.

Glaucus · 16 Jul 2013 at 19:08

displays number of new emails in bottom right corner of the live tile.
if in desktop you also get a notification in one of those annoying pop up boxes top right corner.

Martini1991 · 16 Jul 2013 at 19:12

Glaucus said:
displays number of new emails in bottom right corner of the live tile.
if in desktop you also get a notification in one of those annoying pop up boxes top right corner.

I've only ever had one of the pop up boxes, and that was a breaking news about some celeb getting up the duff.

I could have swore it used to have stuff on the live tile, but since 8.1 it hasn't.

I ideally want EVERYTHING live and bustling, that'd be awesome, hopefully when 8.1 rolls out properly it'll be more akin to that.

Glaucus · 16 Jul 2013 at 19:14

it shows up on 8.1 at least on desktop, cant see RT being any different.

I would however like to set it to big tile and show email address & subject see for upto 5 new emails.

Martini1991 · 16 Jul 2013 at 19:17

Glaucus said:
it shows up on 8.1 at least on desktop, cant see RT being any different.

I neither see it on my desktop or RT.

Must be an issue my end, hmm.

Although even when it was working, I never ever got a message at the corner, is there a way to set that up or something?

Glaucus · 16 Jul 2013 at 19:21

Martini1991 said:
I neither see it on my desktop or RT.

Must be an issue my end, hmm.

Although even when it was working, I never ever got a message at the corner, is there a way to set that up or something?

open mail app > charms > accounts> select account, see if mail notification is set to ON.

Martini1991 · 16 Jul 2013 at 19:25

Cheers thanks.

theheyes · 16 Jul 2013 at 19:28

I get toast notifications all the time for mail. They're prompt, too. I know because I've usually got OWA open in a browser and I hear the notification, and then about 3 seconds later I get the metro toast.

Martini1991 · 16 Jul 2013 at 19:36

It's started working now.
Peculiar.

Might have the tile off on my laptop perhaps.

Glaucus · 16 Jul 2013 at 19:39

Np, it might be default to off i cant remember.

Is there a way to turn the annoying desktop pop ups off i hate them, just like i hate bormtifications on ios, a nouse is fine, if im not in range lock screen notifications.

theheyes · 16 Jul 2013 at 19:39

It used to be a bit dodgy in the early days - it was slow. Can't say I've had that problem for a while though.

theheyes · 16 Jul 2013 at 19:41

Glaucus said:
Np, it might be default to off i cant remember.

Is there a way to turn the annoying desktop pop ups off i hate them, just like i hate bormtifications on ios, a nouse is fine, if im not in range lock screen notifications.

You should be able to turn them off per apps in settings charm > PC settings > Notifications.

Glaucus · 16 Jul 2013 at 22:11

Ta muchley

Gazb · 17 Jul 2013 at 12:28

theheyes said:
As interesting as refreshes and 8 inch versions might be, what I'd really love to see is an answer to the MacBook Air.

13" Surface ultrabook with a great trackpad, great backlit keyboard, great touch screen and 10+ hours battery in a vapourmag case. Yes please.

This is something I'd love to see them do. Would really push the market and against Apple and their MacBook Air if they got it right.

JBod · 17 Jul 2013 at 13:36

Gazb said:
This is something I'd love to see them do. Would really push the market and against Apple and their MacBook Air if they got it right.

You know about Ultra books right?

wolvers · 17 Jul 2013 at 17:18

Fairly sure the answer is no said:
why is pro so expensive?

Because they specced it too high. My vivobook has a low powered i3 in it and is more than adequate for this type of device. An i3 would have helped it's rubbish battery life as well I would have thought.

Trig · 17 Jul 2013 at 18:12

Different strikes and all that, i5 works well fir me, i just want more ram...

Martini1991 · 17 Jul 2013 at 18:23

wolvers said:
Because they specced it too high. My vivobook has a low powered i3 in it and is more than adequate for this type of device. An i3 would have helped it's rubbish battery life as well I would have thought.

As far as I can tell, from Intels page, the tray price for the i3 ultra and i5 ultra are the same.

They're the same CPU, just one boosts, designating it an i5.

wolvers · 17 Jul 2013 at 19:57

So why doesn't my vivobook have the i5 in it? Is it all about battery life?

Gazb · 17 Jul 2013 at 21:52

JBod said:
You know about Ultra books right?

Yeah, but tbh I've yet to find one I'm entirely happy with and as nicely made and finished as a macbook air. Asus comes close but the surface pro was close to being better than an ultrabook.

Anyhow, I've actually been testing a surface rt in work today, but keep having wireless issues. The adaptor doesn't come out of sleep when we wake the tablet.