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Portable So I bought a Microsoft Surface RT...

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Nexxo, 5 Jan 2013.

  1. longweight

    longweight Possibly Longbeard.

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    RELEASE THE PRO!
     
  2. GoodBytes

    GoodBytes How many wifi's does it have?

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    FEB 9! (for U.S and Canada).
     
  3. longweight

    longweight Possibly Longbeard.

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    Damn you!
     
  4. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

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  5. GoodBytes

    GoodBytes How many wifi's does it have?

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    You have the ISO disk backup into the tablet. This way you can re-install Windows 8 Pro without the need of a computer you can do it on the tablet itself. Plus you have the conversion of the capacity to the real capacity, then you have the format. Plus as it needs to be disk and computer independent you have the recovery tools which takes 5GB... so it all adds up.

    That's ok, because you have a micro SD card. Slip in a 16 or 32GB and your good.

    On my laptop, I have a 128GB SSD, I got Office, Access, OneNote, Visual Studio, MySQL workbench, and plenty of other programs, and 535MB of music, plus web browser cache which I never emptied (user profile of the account is 5GB). Windows reports that I have 52.1GB free. I can tell you space isn't an issue on my laptop. Plenty of room to put a bunch of movies, videos, and more music. As for Music in fact, you can just stream everything with XBox Music, so you don't even need any music. In my case, I got the subscription service for unlimited downloads, and be able to get music for my Zune MP3 player at unlimited amount (I download about 10-12 avg. albums per month).
     
    Last edited: 29 Jan 2013
  6. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    I sometimes think younger people need slapping with a wet haddock. Do they actually have any conception of just how much a gigabyte is?!? It's HUGE. I come from a time when we still measured in kilobytes. I remember when an 8Gb harddisk was superbig storage.
     
  7. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

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    Nexxo, that's stupid. Yes, I too remember hard disks measured in MB not GB - the difference is in what we do with the space. I'm not just filling drive space with text documents that take up a few Kb anymore, but films that clock in at 1-2GB, photos, music and so forth. I go buy another computer with a 128GB SSD and it isn't nearly half full before I get to use it.

    Surface Pro is basically a fancy ultrabook, yet artificially limited by MS in storage. Why does the OS need to be on the drive? Pro has USB ports, give me a recovery stick? Or make it operate over the net like Apple's system now. Any of these are better than permanently blocking off drive space.
     
  8. rollo

    rollo Modder

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    64gb one is worthless.

    What I intend to install

    Football manager 2013
    Office 2012
    Adobe cs5
    Sony Vegas
    Sage software

    These are the things I need / want access too on the move.

    Add in a few films and we are way beyond 15gb that is left for 64gb version.

    Where i work id consider that normal usage as well.

    64gb is maybe great for uni kids but even then its pushing it with the software packages they require these days.( depending on course its not just office)

    People seem uber quick to defend ms but if this was a laptop with this much space reserved there would be an out rage on this forum. Can't keep making excuses just cause its a tablet. Espicially at the cost.

    Many better ways to handle the recovery, USB , online backups been the big 2.

    Surface rt last I checked does not let you run applications from the USB slot, you can also not install to that location. Only thing it's used for is file storage.

    If surface pro follows similar usage restrictions then I'm not sure how adding a 16-32gb mem chip will help as it would be only useful for documents and films.
     
  9. GoodBytes

    GoodBytes How many wifi's does it have?

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    You can install Visual Studio, Office with OneNote, web browser, and get things done with a bit of room for a small-med project and document. So yes it's good for students on a budget that really wants it. Or anyone that wants it but on a tight budget. Netbooks had 64GB initially, those with SSD's, and most people were fine with it.

    Yes they should have used a USB key for recover, that would free up a lot of space. The problem is that most will throw it away or lose it. What Microsoft should have done is added a small memory chip, slow one.. heck even a USB flash drive chip, which is can use as recovery. That would not add much to the cost, and free up some space.

    You can change the location of the folder where Metro apps are installed. At least in Windows 8 you can. http://www.thewindowsclub.com/change-default-install-location-windows-8-store-apps
    So, if you are desperate for space, you can. Not mention that you can use a USB flash drive as well as an micro SD card. So 64GB is enough. For Music, you can just stream everything on Music app, it's free.

    You are I clearly need the 128GB model, because we plan to put games, and many large software. Most people need to run their work related software, like VPN or similar.. that's isn't several hundred megs big. The biggest thing they'll have is just Office. So, the 64GB model is more then enough.

    The 32GB Surface RT, that is the model I don't really get, unless you plan to install a few apps, and keeps all your personal stuff on the microSD card.
     
  10. lm_wfc

    lm_wfc Minimodder

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    FULL football manager on a tablet.
    [​IMG]

    Plus using dropbox you can sync the game and play the same game on PC and surface. Win.
     
  11. koola

    koola Minimodder

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    Having had a play on a Surface RT, I'll be sticking with my none MS tablet for the time being. I guess I'm in that minority that just wants a simple tablet with an OS designed for one and not a desktop OS with modern UI.
     
  12. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    I'd check that out, if I were you. Windows does not magically take up less space on another machine.

    How many films can you put on 23 to 83Gb? Ten to forty. How long do you think that train trip is going to take (I mean, this is the UK, but still...)?

    How much music? 1000 tracks are, like, only 6Gb. How many photos? A laptop is not your home server, no?

    Suppose your Surface Pro crashes while you're away in Tokyo. Crap, your recovery stick is at home. Suppose it crashes while you're working in your hide-away bolthole cottage in rural Devon, creating your next oevre. Crap, no internet connection. See the problem?

    That's OK. It is horses for courses, and all that.
     
  13. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

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    No, Windows doesn't take up less space, but with other computers you're not presented with an 8GB+ recovery partition, and then multiple GB of space that is partitioned off for no good reason. Windows takes about 20GB - what is the other 25GB or so being used for exactly?

    Films is one example. You'll also want some applications, some games, etc etc. 23GB can be filled incredibly quickly, even if you're pretty good at only copying the data you want on to a device.

    What happens if I want to go on holiday, or a longer trip? I might need several films, a stack of music, a game or three...and boom, out of space. Marketing a 64GB device when it has less available capacity for users than a 32GB tablet is a bit cheeky, don't you think?

    I'd rather prefer it didn't crash full stop. Do MS not have the confidence in their software to think that users don't need a recovery partition within reach constantly? We've all dealt with Windows on disc for years, providing a USB version or access via the 'net isn't much of a leap - and get that space back.
     
  14. GoodBytes

    GoodBytes How many wifi's does it have?

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    Stack of music is non needed. You have XBox Music, which is free, and the library is 30 million songs, which is close to just as big as iTunes.

    Movies you put that on your microSD card. You can even put games in there. You are not going to play BF3 on this, I can assure you that. Also, I remind you that the GPU is not a GeForce GTX 690. It's just an Intel integrated graphic solution, you'll be lucky to even get a game running, especially those that are out of the famous Intel list.

    Also, nothing stops you of having more than 1 microSD card, or a USB flash drive.

    You want the recovery partition. Anyone can get a malware or a virus due to a miss click/tap, friend USB key or wtv. Re-installing Windows on the go is a must.

    You must remember that Microsoft could play it safe.. maybe they assume future updates and "Service Pack" (or Windows 8.5, or whatever they'll call it), which, if I am not mistaken was the case with the Surface RT, Nexxo will have to correct me on that.
     
  15. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

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    You have Xbox Music, if you want to pay to subscribe (after the free period with adverts) and have a working internet connection. Not sure about you, but internet access on trains for example is distinctly dodgy.

    I get it, you can develop work-arounds by spending more money, be that on streaming services, micro-SD cards etc. It doesn't change the fact that MS are locking a huge amount of the onboard storage from day one. They could have spent the cost of a few packets of peanuts and provided a USB key, and saved 8+GB for each and every device.

    As for your reasons for needing a recovery partition, get real. I don't know anybody that needs to reinstall Windows like that. I also don't remember having to reinstall Windows on 'normal' laptops like that either. Modern OS's generally just work, and you have to do something truly special to cause it to go from working to dead in a day.

    Oh, gaming? The HD4000 is perfectly competent at playing L4D2 era games with decent settings. It isn't a GTX 690, and I never said it was, but it's also not a GMA 950. You clearly haven't actually spent any time with an Ultrabook have you?

    I also find it funny how you two are pretty much the only people trying to defend MS on this stance. C'mon, it's a bad move, just accept it. I'm not knocking the concept of Surface, just the fact that MS can't seem to deliver a properly thought out product when it comes to details.
     
  16. supermonkey

    supermonkey Deal with it

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    I've often wondered why people complain about not being able to take their entire media collection with them on holiday. What did people do 5 years ago? Besides, who goes on holiday to watch the same movies and play the same games that you have at home?*

    *True story - one of my coworkers always packs a full-size DVD player whenever he goes on a trip. It's especially comical when we go overseas and he ends up going over the luggage weight limit because he packed a DVD player, a stack of movies (Die Hard is a requirement), a 2-3 hair dryers.

    Some people.
     
    Last edited: 31 Jan 2013
  17. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

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    My entire media collection is over 500GB, so no, I don't plan to take the entire of thing on holiday. But I might want to watch some films on the plane/train/car trip etc...

    5 years ago I used an 80GB iPod that matched Surface Pro's capacity for media... Taking a full DVD player, on the other hand, is ridiculous.
     
  18. rollo

    rollo Modder

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    The surface pro will sell well to professionals in the 128gb category.

    For most people 64gb is too small for just the OS and documents.( my windows 7 disk is 128gb it only contains documents and swap file and its got less than 15gb spare space)

    64gb in today's market is too small, office + outlook is alot of space. Our outlook program is using 7gb of space up, as we use it as a datebase for our clients.

    Add in the amount of company crap in files and folders that most companies require you to read in PDF files PowerPoint presentations, video files and you will be pushing the cap quickly on a 64 machine.

    Your micro sd card idea is fine for consumers, but we will not be using it. Major security no no. Can you imagine loosing a card with valuable data on it. There would be hell to pay.

    It was to small even assuming 32gb of free space its way to small with 23gb.

    Microsoft wants you to buy the 128gb version they make more money.
     
  19. longweight

    longweight Possibly Longbeard.

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    Also remember that xbox music is completely **** at the moment.
     
  20. GoodBytes

    GoodBytes How many wifi's does it have?

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    Works fine for me.
     

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