Microsoft Surface RT Priced

Fillado said:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/oct/24/microsoft-surface-thumbs-down-early-reviews

It's more of an overview of US reviews from various sources.

Not exactly what Microsoft are after...
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WOW sensationalist headline putting the boot in. Very poor journalism as none of the reviews actually did give it the thumbs down did they?

I liked this on their tablet section of the Guardian site: "Apple and Microsoft go head-to-head with tablet launches. Microsoft brings out Surface tablet with no-expenses-spared launch, while Apple prefers minimal PR strategy".

And then 7 articles on the Apple mini yesterday. Apple don't really need to do much PR when the media does it for them ;)
 
I really really really want to love this but it just seems to fall short in quite a few places, thankfully MS have the ability to bank roll it till its right. Roll on the Pro versions and fingers are firmly crossed for them.
 
ChileanLlama said:
Apple don't really need to do much PR when the media does it for them ;)
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Correct. The general bias is unbelievable.

Writers praise the tablet's touchscreen and battery life, but criticise the lack of apps, its poor camera and its weight
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It's a whole 30g heavier than the current iPad (3rd gen for the nitpickers) yet has a significantly larger screen. Reviewers get away with saying it "feels thicker" even though the measurements put it at the same or thinner than the iPad.

The camera looks pants but it's not there for taking still pictures, it's there for video. The lack of apps is a legitimate complaint.
 
bledd. said:
Wondering how 3rd party video codes will be handled in rt. Specifically xvid and mkv files
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In depth here, ok it's windows8 rather than rt specific but doubt its different

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/06/08/building-a-rich-and-extensible-media-platform.aspx

Windows 8 has excellent support for MPEG-4, most typically comprised of H.264 video and AAC audio. Several popular codecs, including Divx and Xvid, implement the MPEG-4 Part 2 standard, so many of these files play great in Metro style apps. The same is true for modern MOV files, which are based on the MPEG-4 Part 12 standard, such as videos captured on iOS devices. Fragmented MPEG-4 and 2K/4K resolutions are now possible. We have previously talked about MPEG-2 and DVD playback, which is available in Windows 8 Media Center.
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Formats popular among the enthusiast community or with specific developers such as FLAC, MKV, and OGG, can have their own CODECs packaged as part of a Metro style app, since the Windows 8 media platform is highly extensible.
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Cheers.

I reckon a VLC port is the best bet. Mpc-hc relies on dx, haven't really read up much on RT. I've ordered one regardless.

Build it and they will come
 
I think the App Store will feel up fairly fast. It's going to have a huge install base. Lots of top names have allready said or made an app.

It and been running at about 100 apps a day, this week has seen an increase and yesterday 459apps where added.

Allthough Chinese App Store is now bigger than Us App Store.

http://www.winappupdate.com/
 
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Amp34 said:
The comments are an interesting read... Out of around 30+ comments there were two positives/neautral... For the article. They are right in their comments though, a new low for the guardian tech section...
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It's a dreadful article. The Guardian tech reporters clearly love their Apple devices so much they feel the need to bash the hell out of anything else that does something similar. It's been the same with any Windows Phone devices. Shame on them.
 
This fascination with the number of apps makes me laugh.

I doubt I'll ever use want or need more than 100-200 apps (and that's on the high side), as long as they are good.

There's so much rubbish in all app stores, and that includes the current Windows Store, it's about time the debate spent a bit of time on the quality not just quantity.

It's true Windows doesn't have a lot of apps right now, certainly not big names and quality ones, and that's the risk everyone buying a Surface makes - that the good stuff will appear. It's a weakness at launch, and should be pointed out but it's hardly unexpected for a new platform/device either.
 
Glaucus said:
I think the App Store will feel up fairly fast. It's going to have a huge install base. Lots of top names have allready said or made an app.

It and been running at about 100 apps a day, this week has seen an increase and yesterday 459apps where added.

Allthough Chinese App Store is now bigger than Us App Store.

http://www.winappupdate.com/
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Quality not quantity. Besides games, all I want is..

Netflex
Video player
Winamp
Chrome or Ffox
 
Netflix is allready on as is Firefox.
Xbox will do videos and music.
If you want some of the less supported codecs you'll need a separate app.

Haven't heard anything about Winamp though. Chrome is planned but I don't think it's live yet.
 
ChileanLlama said:
This fascination with the number of apps makes me laugh.

I doubt I'll ever use want or need more than 100-200 apps (and that's on the high side), as long as they are good.

.
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Totally agree I won't ever get close to a hundred either.
I have 60 on ipad taht includes stock and things like settings.

There's about 13 I use regularly and the others are just in case or need deleting.

I've allready had a look and the only thing missing for me is iplayer, which I use once in a blue moon. The rest are catered for or in the case of bbc news have alternatives. I like the stock news app once you customize it.
 
bledd. said:
Chrome or Ffox
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Both have metro versions out (Firefox's is only in alpha however). Although they don't (and likely never will) run on the Surface RT.

Edit: the biggest thing IMO is the lack of games. Microsoft really need to get companies like EA and Unity to support WinRT ASAP. Maybe we'll hear some more on this on Friday? Fingers crossed :D
 
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Hopefully I won't be reliant on the on demand apps, there's an app in the works that will allow me to stream TV direct from my HTPC, and I can use the inbuilt apps to stream from my server any recorded TV.

Happy days :)
 
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Think seeing in one review IE10 on the RT is currently the fastest rendering browser on the tablet market right now. So it seems fine, and if jsut a bigger version of whats on WP right now ( the address bar at the bottom for touch input makes so much more sense), id be happy with that.
 
What I find odd is EU commision has no concerns about RT, but are threatening to "sue" MS for w8. Yet MS allows other browsers on win8. But it seems Apis that Firefox/chrome would need on RT are not available to them, but are used on ie10 in rt.
 
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