* The Official Microsoft Surface Thread *

MagicBoy · 4 Mar 2015 at 23:55

They're far better than the gimped Atoms that most people remember from Netbooks a few years ago.

In normal business use I can't discern any performance difference between the quad-core Atom and the i3 versions of the Dell Venue 11. Intel basically use a desire for more than 2GB of RAM to force the i3 option as far as I can work out.

Trig · 5 Mar 2015 at 11:25

Well an Atom might do the job then, I've not touched one in a while, as long as they do basic stuff like email, internet, youtube stuff like that then thats ok with me, I have my SPro3 for doing any actual work on but just want a smaller device to replace my iPad Mini..

BlackCoat2k10 · 5 Mar 2015 at 14:04

I have an Atom powered Venue 11, I use it for all sorts of office type things, emails, word, excel, browsing etc. and then I use it for programming including Visual Studio.

I've experienced no major slow downs doing this, however I have had slowdowns when messing around with Lightroom 5 and when I have 10 chrome tabs open with grooveshark in one of them playing music. These can range from the odd stutter when opening something new to having no response for a couple of seconds.

I think for the price (£120 due to Outlet) I got a good bargain, it runs on my IPS monitor (with stand - £20 from the river) nicely and with a usb switcher and a 5 port hub, in one click I am going from tablet to PC, and of course I can carry it around and take it anywhere I need to.

Unless you are into some design/photography (CAD, photoshop, Lightroom) or gaming then don't pass the Atom off so easily, it's come a long way since the olden days and with the new tech coming it's bound to get even better.

Emlyn_Dewar · 5 Mar 2015 at 14:56

Hoping some of the upcoming Atom devices will have a bit more memory on them.
But think MagicBoy is probably right, it would eat in to the i3/i5 device sales.

Trig · 5 Mar 2015 at 16:36

From my POV its a perfect companion device, I want a smaller phone so I can have the S-Mini for small stuff and then the Pro3 for desktop stuff.

Trig · 6 Mar 2015 at 19:22

Just looked at ARK and compared the N450 that I used last, even maxed on RAM with an SSD it was crap, the Z3740 that i have in a mates Toshiba thing seems to run rings around the N450.... He wants me to sell it but i might have a faff with it and see how it compares first...

bledd · 18 Mar 2015 at 16:55

Looks like another nail in the coffin for the RT..

http://www.neowin.net/news/upgrading-to-windows-10-here-are-the-supported-paths#comments

Glaucus · 18 Mar 2015 at 18:42

bledd. said:
Looks like another nail in the coffin for the RT..

http://www.neowin.net/news/upgrading-to-windows-10-here-are-the-supported-paths#comments

Maybe.

The rumour for several years is that phone and rt will combine. Maybe why it's changed to mobile rather than phone.
And we now rt is getting upgraded, as they've said so.

All though I am starting to come round to other peoples thinking. But I still think media are speculating far more than they've actually been told.

Anyway, Where's my cherry trail tablet. I need it before I start doing to much hiking this season. So I can sit in tent and edit photos in the evenings.

Martini1991 · 31 Mar 2015 at 15:06

http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/31/8317597/microsoft-surface-3-tablet-features

We're finally at Atom in the Surface.

Can Glaucus now accept that the crap MS have been peddling is dead?!

Should have happened with Baytrail.

But MS were too stupid.

Scottland · 31 Mar 2015 at 15:13

New one looks quite nice, still priced a little high compared to similar tablets though. I expect when Windows 10 launches we'll see a 7/8" version running Windows 10 (phone style) OS and hopefully a SP4 with Core M (and i5/i7 options).

Glaucus · 31 Mar 2015 at 15:33

£420 upwards ouch, Z8700 so high end cherry trial.

They should have kept the old aspect ratio. Think i'll wait to see who else releases cherry tail tablets. At a more reasonable price.

Martini1991 · 31 Mar 2015 at 15:37

If they launch at 400 pound, then Microsoft have learnt nothing.......

POB · 31 Mar 2015 at 15:39

Glaucus said:
£420 upwards ouch, Z8700 so high end cherry trial.

They should have kept the old aspect ratio. Think i'll wait to see who else releases cherry tail tablets. At a more reasonable price.

No. Apart from movies the new aspect ratio is significantly more usable. It makes a big difference.

Martini1991 · 31 Mar 2015 at 15:41

I don't find 3:2 that bad for a tablet, but as far as content consumption goes... Meh.

My 16:9 Blu-rays aren't too bad, but when you get to the 21:9 ones, urgh...

Glaucus · 31 Mar 2015 at 15:41

POB said:
No. Apart from movies the new aspect ratio is significantly more usable. It makes a big difference.

Disagree, much prefer old aspect ratio. Much prefer the surface to old iPad I had.

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msuk/en_GB/pdp/Surface-3/productID.314926700
419.99 for 64gb WiFi
499.99 for 128gb WiFi

Then LTE ones haven't released the price yet. I expect it'll be an extra £80-100

Stupid prices. This is far out the league of a consumer tablet.
And windows mobile (RT) is only for tablets up to 8". So you won't get any cheap tablets at this size on arm.

Scottland · 31 Mar 2015 at 15:44

I find 16:10 best, as it gives a little more height while still allowing for decent playback viewing. The Lenovo Yoga 2 is 1920*1200 and is a nice size.

Glaucus · 31 Mar 2015 at 15:48

Also what idiots, 13w charger, rather than 24w on old surfaces.
So yay twice as long to charge. Why did they go to micro USB charger.
Micro USB is a disaster for charging, if you use the tablet whilst charging, USB and other male/female connectors like on laptops, nearly always snap the port on the debice. Meaning you can't charge the device.
Magnetic just falls out and is far superior, worth the extra hassle if a separate charger. Just be nice if someone made a universal high w charging magnetic port.

How long till the cheap Chinese ones come out. At least they are cheap, usually rubbish batteries but cheap.

How can one company lead the field, then screw themselfs up the rear without lube on marketing/pricing and the finer details.

Martini1991 · 31 Mar 2015 at 15:50

Jesus.

Someone needs to sack the entire marketing department for the Surface division.

Microsoft have failed again with the pricing.

GG Microsoft.

Another potential product ruined by its pricing.

Microsoft should look at some of the laptops available, because with the keyboard it's probably going to be 500 quid.

lsg1r · 31 Mar 2015 at 16:00

I was like ooooh nice, not to bad atom, 4GB ram etc then I saw the price.... ok I suppose that includes the stylus, nope that's extra and then there's the price of the keyboard/cover (lets be honest it's the reason you buy a surface), that's just stupidly high.

Admittedly you need to buy the cover on the surface pro too but by the time you've added on the cost of a stylus (which is included with the pro) you may as well buy the bottom surface pro 3 which is better in all respects except maybe battery life and ssd space. It's only another £100 give or take for the i3.

The surface 3 needs to be at least another £100 cheaper and include the keyboard and stylus, if Asus can do it with the transformer models then there's no reason MS can't.

As to the USB charging.. pretty sure that's down to it being atom based, all atom slates (and laptops iirc) seem to use that for charging at the moment.

Martini1991 · 31 Mar 2015 at 16:03

Your charging point makes no sense lsg1r

It doesn't matter that it's atom based.

But over than that, I agree. I currently have a Surface 2 (Which since Microsoft has all but said we've ditched a proper ARM W10 update, I have little happiness about it, it's just a blank slate that basically can't do anything

) and an S3 Pro.

I'd have loved to get an S3 Atom, but meh.

*** The Official Microsoft Surface Thread ***

* The Official Microsoft Surface Thread *