With 128GB, iPad Hits Surface Pro, Ultrabook Territory

noh8rz10 writes "Holy moly! iPad gets a heavyweight sibling, clicking in at 128GB. This places it in range of storage for Surface Pro and ultrabooks. It's clearly targeted at the professional market, as the press release cites X-rays and CAD files as reasons. Should Microsoft be afraid? Methinks so. Best part, pricing is growing by log 2. Just as the 32GB version is $100 more than the 16, and the 64 is $100 more than the 32, this new version is $100 more than the 64!" Update: 01/29 16:00 GMT by T : Here's Apple's announcement itself.

Re:ridiculous!

[Murdoch5]

When I can run Matlab at full power on a tablet at the same time as transcoding a video and doing a folding computation then I'll give the tablet a computer rating.

Re:Uh yeah

[BronsCon]

So no you're got your iPad, which of course is in a case, and a bluetooth keyboard to carry around and keep charged. That's 2 items, with 2 batteries, and 2 different chargers needed. The surface, which happens to be a complete PC, with an Intel Core i5 CPU and a complete desktop OS, has a case available that also happens to be a keyboard, which just so happens to be powered by the device itself, so only one item to carry and one battery to charge, and all your desktop apps can come along for the ride.

Yes, iPad and Surface pro are equivalents and iPad wins because the OS is smaller. Except that they're not and you're a jackass. My wife will be more than happy to have her iPad back on February 9th and I'll be more than happy to be able to stop lugging my 6.8lb 17" laptop (17" or bigger is really your only choice if you want 1080p) to work, in favor of a much smaller and just as functional 2lb tablet.

Re:Uh yeah

[halltk1983]

I have a logitech keyboard case for my ipad. I use it in all my meetings to take notes, send emails, etc. Much easier than ending all my SSH sessions, closing out IRC and other comms systems, unhooking my extra monitors and dragging along the laptop. The tablet with the keyboard is like a 10" laptop, and it types fine, even with my large hands. It's a little cramped, but not much worse than the laptop keyboard.

Re:Uh yeah

[SuperKendall]

He covered all your points. His case is a keyboard, and charging something once every few months does not really add overhead.

As for "more functional" I would argue the iPad at this point is more functional for a small form-factor device, simply because all the software (and there is a LOT of software) is designed to work in that space. On a "real PC" as the Surface Pro is, you are going to be running a lot of PC software really built for larger displays. If all you are doing is browsing and running word I'm sure the Surface Pro is fine; some of us want more capability.

The Surface Pro is a Macbook Air competitor, not really an iPad competitor... even if the Surface does have touch.