Surface RT vs. iPad: a Comparison 357
First time accepted submitter thetechblock writes "On Tuesday, with the release of pricing and pre-orders for the new Surface RT tablets, Twitter exploded with comparisons to the iPad. So, I decided to put together a little comparison chart to contrast two equivalent models." The comparison is interesting, but note the source; you can discount the conclusions of writer Jeff Blankenburg by as much as you want for his role as "developer evangelist" for Microsoft.
Add a comparison of the nexus 7 product line (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm thinking the nexus line is more comparable to the surface tablet, mostly since no itunes.
I'm somewhat leery of continued support from Microsoft given their history of Plays For Sure, Zune...
It's got Office and that's good enough for some (Score:2, Interesting)
10 years ago, people were paying £450 for a full Office software suite, so the idea of spending an equivalent amount for Office on a tablet isn't that much of a dealbreaker when you consider it.
subject (Score:4, Interesting)
"Ever wish you could charge your phone with your iPad?"
No. I can charge my phone with my Android tablet if it weren't the stupidest suggestion I've ever heard. But it is.
Re:Yawn (Score:5, Interesting)
Slashdot is extremely biased. But that is not a bad thing if you are into Unix and computer science. I thought Slashdot was moderate 10 years ago before I turned more conservative in my views and warmed up to Microsoft as I started working more and more in corporate area. MS and its products really did blow 10 years ago. Today they make sense in certain scenarios. Windows 7 is ok. Notice I did not refer to it as great :-)
Anything with MS is bashed galore here and I have been accused all sorts of names for stating why I switched back to MS Office from LibreOffice as an example.
Neowin is no different. It is filled with those who like Microsoft and those who are neutral as well. I see Android users on there too bash the surface with a few surface trolls go at it back and forth. Nothing like here on slashdot. Hairyfeet is the only user I know who does not get modded to -1 when defending Windows over Linux but he is an exception.
Re:Yawn (Score:5, Interesting)
And then the really strange part is his assumption that people will use this for Office apps? Is that what people are doing with tablets?
It's a little backward to say that no one uses office-type software on tablets, when to date office-type software on tablets has been universal trash. I've been waiting specifically for something like surface to come along. Sure it's not ideally suited for touch (I argue that office applications can never be suited for touch; by their very nature they are optimized for keyboard+mouse), but the ability is there.
When I'm traveling on business, I can use full office to make light edits with touch to documents and know those changes will be 100% compatible with my colleagues working at home. When I'm stationed in the hotel, I can connect the Surface to the hotel TV and a keyboard+mouse and I have a full office suite right there. iPad cannot do this, and it's a killer feature of the Surface for me and those similarly situated.
Re:People who buy a Surface for Office (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Yawn or the Cure for Cancer (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, we've had the cure for cancer for almost a decade now.
Basically, it involves heating the cells 1 degree F internally.
That takes care of 50 percent of all human cancers.
We also have cancer-targeting ligands that allow us to provide docking receptors for targeted drug delivery, have binding tags that add phosphorescent snippets to cancer cells so we can locate any missed cancers during surgery (we actually turn out the lights and the cancer glows in the dark, it's way cool), and we have remote blood sugar measuring with wristwatch devices.
But human trials take a lot longer than you think, and we have to start with mice, which we squish flat between plates to measure cancer growth and then chop open at the end. And that makes you all squeamish. But it works.
Now .. you were saying?
Re:Some thoughts from an iPad user. (Score:5, Interesting)
First of all, I do have an iPad. And an Android tablet. So I'm not talking hypotheticals here, but basing it on my own experiences using them.
If you want to store more photos, why don't you get a bigger SD card for your camera. At $700/64GB the iPad makes for a very expensive SD card replacement, if that's actually the role you've envisioned for it.
I did not suggest to store photos from your camera on your tablet. The idea is to view the photos from your camera on your tablet, especially when you want to show them to someone else.
It's a lot like the keyboard dock (which Apple no longer sells) in that regard. Once you use the iPad, you really see that there's no sense attaching a keyboard to it.
That is true, but it's because iPad is plainly not designed for use with a keyboard (much less a mouse!). It gives you the very basic capabilities, like entering text in textboxes, but you still have to rely heavily on touch. Consequently, few apps are designed to use the keyboard to its full extent when it's there.
On the other hand, something like Android fares much better, because Google has actually taken care to promote keyboard support throughout the OS - there are many useful keyboard shortcuts, like switching apps or keyboard layouts, and browser has a bunch of its own as well (e.g. Ctrl+L to activate the address bar). They also give you a real mouse cursor when you have mouse or a trackpad connected, which makes it possible to do some precision pointing where it matters. Now, there are still few third-party apps that are similarly attentive, simply because few Android devices come with a convenient arrangement to be used with mouse+keyboard, but those that do are indisposable (e.g. a VNC/RDP client that understands both).
Win8 is designed to be used for convertible devices from the get go. So when you attach the keyboard (and, to remind, it also has a trackpad), it's a fully supported use case throughout the OS - and don't forget that it has the classic desktop, too. Much easier for things like file management in Explorer, or when you have to surf that website with Flash that wants hover. Or Office, which is probably the biggest deal. Even more importantly, because it is, essentially, the "standard configuration" for Win8 tablets, all third-party apps that are published to the Store will take it into account, and will be designed to be not only touch-friendly, but also keyboard-friendly.
If you don't get my point, my suggestion to you would be your own: try it. Find a store that has Asus Transformer (an Android tablet with a keyboard/trackpad dock that makes it look like a laptop) on display, and see how it works compared to your iPad.