surface pro 2 or a proper laptop

sybaris

sybaris

sybaris

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I am looking for either an ultrabook or at a surface pro 2 to take around with me while at work or on the move. I would like to run my windows software away from my desk, yet have a light and portable machine. Either the surface or a 11-13 inch screen laptop. Oh and to play some games, nothing hight powered but dont want it too laggy.

What do you suggest?
 
I am loving my Surface Pro 2.

It's a very capable and insanely portable machine, I've been sat waiting in the airport playing Super Meat Boy, HL2 and some StarCraft. Titanfall also played smoothly (always above 60fps) at minimum settings and 720p, and Streetfighter IV also never dips below 60 on minimum settings (on such a small screen boosting the settings doesn't net you much increase in fidelity fyi).Get the Surface Arc Mouse and Type Cover 2 too, they're excellent companions to the device.

This was purchased as a work machine, and I can't fault it really. I regularly use a mix of the mouse, touch pad, touch screen and stylus depending on my situation.
 
Can I run standard windows software and older games, simcity, fabel, football manager, mass effect, saints row 3. Not high demand games but average PC games?
 
I agree with everything Kreeeee has said. I have a Surface Pro 2 too and absolutely love it. I use it mainly for work but also a bit of play with Super Street fighter 4 with Xbox pad.

Its a full Windows machine so you can run any software that you like. I actually have VMware on mine so that I can run BusinessObjects VMs for training courses.

I haven't tried SimCity on it but I may give it a go now that it can be run offline. IGN ran it on a Surface Pro 1 and had to use minimum settings but the game seemed to have some form of touch controls.

I use an HP Bluetooth mouse personally. If you do get a mouse, just make sure its Bluetooth as you don't want to waste the USB on a mouse transceiver.

The one I have is 256GB with 8GB RAM.
 
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I am not sure how much better the intel HD graphics are between a 3rd generation and 4th generation core i5. There are people playing Titanfall on 4GB SP2 but haven't seen mention of SP1.
 
thanks for clearing that up was that on the lowest settings, not sure to wait to buy the pro 2 id like a bit more power to take some newer games out with me when im bored
 
tonyt3rry said:
is there any other games you have tried on it?
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I only have an Omni10 rather than Surface Pro/Pro2 but although the 2GB RAM on my tablet is a limitation, the lack of touch interface for the vast majority of games is a much bigger deal.

Adding a mouse and keyboard via USB will solve most issues, but that kind of defeats the whole point. So far I've managed to run Bejewelled (no surprise there) and Age of Empires 2 successfully. Many others start up fine but you soon find the resolution's all messed up, or the mouse pointer doesn't work properly even with a USB mouse attached, or you can't get back to desktop properly, or...

It's a shame. Seeing Doom3 or the Walking Dead load up fine, but then fail to navigate properly is frustrating. Not that I planned to play either, but it's interesting to explore what's possible*.

Ultimately I bought my Omni10 (£250) for a simple but specific desktop task which works well, so I'm not complaining (well, not much :->). I'm just not as impressed by the overall desktop mode use as I'd hoped. One particular annoyance is the way that when in Metro mode the keyboard automatically pops up when you tap to enter text. In desktop you have to bring it up manually, and that seems like a strange decision. I mean, under what circumstances would you tap in a text entry box and not want to use the keyboard? :-) At the very least it should be an option.

Overall these are interesting devices. But the longer I own this Omni10, the more I think a Win9 tablet might be the thing to buy. If I didn't have a particular task in mind, which neither iPad nor Nexus7 can accomplish, I'd have been tempted to send it back... though I will admit to being impressed, overall, by the Bay Trail processor's capability. This thing could easily be my main PC for everything except gaming, and a totally silent one at that.



*I've also failed to get Sine Mora, Torchlight II and Return to Castle Wolfenstein to work, though iRacing does! Driving a hardcore sim with one finger is something of a novelty. :-)
 
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Andrew_McP said:
I only have an Omni10 rather than Surface Pro/Pro2 but although the 2GB RAM on my tablet is a limitation, the lack of touch interface for the vast majority of games is a much bigger deal.

Adding a mouse and keyboard via USB will solve most issues, but that kind of defeats the whole point. So far I've managed to run Bejewelled (no surprise there) and Age of Empires 2 successfully. Many others start up fine but you soon find the resolution's all messed up, or the mouse pointer doesn't work properly even with a USB mouse attached, or you can't get back to desktop properly, or...

It's a shame. Seeing Doom3 or the Walking Dead load up fine, but then fail to navigate properly is frustrating. Not that I planned to play either, but it's interesting to explore what's possible*.

Ultimately I bought my Omni10 (£250) for a simple but specific desktop task which works well, so I'm not complaining (well, not much :->). I'm just not as impressed by the overall desktop mode use as I'd hoped. One particular annoyance is the way that when in Metro mode the keyboard automatically pops up when you tap to enter text. In desktop you have to bring it up manually, and that seems like a strange decision. I mean, under what circumstances would you tap in a text entry box and not want to use the keyboard? :-) At the very least it should be an option.

Overall these are interesting devices. But the longer I own this Omni10, the more I think a Win9 tablet might be the thing to buy. If I didn't have a particular task in mind, which neither iPad nor Nexus7 can accomplish, I'd have been tempted to send it back... though I will admit to being impressed, overall, by the Bay Trail processor's capability. This thing could easily be my main PC for everything except gaming, and a totally silent one at that.



*I've also failed to get Sine Mora, Torchlight II and Return to Castle Wolfenstein to work, though iRacing does! Driving a hardcore sim with one finger is something of a novelty. :-)
Click to expand...

My surface pro seems to do the things you mention you can't do.
 
MM-Seat said:
My surface pro seems to do the things you mention you can't do.
Click to expand...
It's interesting that the Pro has a better touch interface than Win8 on another device. Maybe it's an HP driver thing rather than an OS thing.

But I was under the impression that the lack of automatic keyboard pop-up for text entry on the desktop was definitely a Win8 "feature". I look forward to being wrong, because it's really annoying.

Edit: with a very cheap and cheerful usb keyboard case attached, swapping occasionally with a proper mouse when required I'm slowly discovering the Omni 10 is capable of running more games. Osmos does work but needs the keyboard occasionally. Far Cry 1 needs a mouse attached or it won't start, but then needs a keyboard attached or you can't control it, which is fair enough for a WASD game. I'd just hoped that MS would have found a way to keep the default onscreen keyboard active in some way. I guess I expect too much. :-) Torchlight2 works with the keyboard in place, and Civ5 runs in touch mode with nothing attached... which I guess could provide a lifetime of gaming all on its own.
 
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tonyt3rry said:
thanks for clearing that up was that on the lowest settings, not sure to wait to buy the pro 2 id like a bit more power to take some newer games out with me when im bored
Click to expand...

tonyt3rry said:
is there any other games you have tried on it?
Click to expand...

Yep, 1024x768 lowest settings.

Plays the following well:
Cs go
Insurgency 2
Cod Bo
Dow 2
Wargame airland battle
Sc2

Obviously at 720p not 1080p but on the 10"screen it still looks great. I picked up a razer orochi 2013 and use it over Bluetooth so I still have the USB port free
 
ninja2000 said:
Yep, 1024x768 lowest settings.

Plays the following well:
Cs go
Insurgency 2
Cod Bo
Dow 2
Wargame airland battle
Sc2

Obviously at 720p not 1080p but on the 10"screen it still looks great. I picked up a razer orochi 2013 and use it over Bluetooth so I still have the USB port free
Click to expand...

yeah i had a feeling lowering to 720p might be ok im happy with that is it ok streaming from steam if you have the beta that is
 
Is it really worth spending extra getting the SP2 over the SP1? I can afford the SP2 but cannot justify the price.

The SP1 128GB at £439 with free touch keyboard seems more sensible over the SP2 128GB at £719. £700 is stepping into the gaming laptop price range.
 
smsmasters said:
Is it really worth spending extra getting the SP2 over the SP1? I can afford the SP2 but cannot justify the price.

The SP1 128GB at £439 with free touch keyboard seems more sensible over the SP2 128GB at £719. £700 is stepping into the gaming laptop price range.
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The only tangible benefit in my eyes is the increase in battery life that the pro 2 has
 
But the SP2 also has the option for 8Gb of RAM which was a swinger for me.
I am a self confessed Surface Whore though, had the RT, had the Pro, got the Pro2, when the 3 comes out I'll no doubt get one of those as well :D
 
Trig said:
But the SP2 also has the option for 8Gb of RAM which was a swinger for me.
I am a self confessed Surface Whore though, had the RT, had the Pro, got the Pro2, when the 3 comes out I'll no doubt get one of those as well :D
Click to expand...

Yeah I love my 128gb pro 1. So tempted to get a 2 as I would love 8gb/256gb and the extra battery but i am trying to hold on for the 3!
 
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