I've barely used any other tablet in those 2 weeks.
Only exception: Kindle Fire HD, being avid reader of Kindle books. But I don't really consider Fire HD being a tablet. For me, it's a media consumption platform for Amazon content. And as such a great one...
I'm switching back and forth between the 2 keyboards.
I'm not too enthusiastic about the type cover, when folding it back and feeling the keys move under my finger tips. But of course it's the better solution for "heavy typing".
Still: Both are the best keyboard solutions I've seen so far for tablets. Way better than the bluetooth ones. Way better than the docking stations that usually force the tablets into portrait mode.
And they are compact enough, to take them both with me on a trip. The touch cover attached to the tablet, the type cover as my backup for heavy typing in the very same sleeve.
I don't have any complaints at all about the display.
I've been testing 4 Blue-Ray Rips in MP4 format. On iPad 3 and in parallel on Surface RT.
Colors on iPad 3 are slightly more vivid, colors of Surface RT appear somewhat "cooler".
But I can't really say, which one to prefer. I certainly prefer both over the over-saturated colors of Samsung devices.
Sound is good enough.
Kindle Fire HD is more powerful.
Even iPad, with its mono speaker, is louder.
But Surface RT is more than adequate for watching a movie. For audio, it's limited. But what tablet is not? To my ears, only Motorola Xoom 2 and Kindle Fire HD really outshine the others. The rest is rather close.
The OS is great.
Somewhat inconsistent, for example the office suite falling back to the desktop, whereas there's an additional OneNote Windows 8 app.
But to me that's mainly about aesthetics. The desktop apps are more than usable. I'd prefer the swipe gestures (down from the upper bezel for the menu for example), but it's easy enough to use the well known Windows actions.
I'd like to see the option from former Windows versions though, to increase the size of all desktop elements. In Windows 7 for example you could increase the scrollbars and such. I haven't found such an option on Windows 8 RT...
But when Windows 8 is used properly, it's more or less benchmark: All menus in the very same place, all looking and acting the same.
Touch and feel.
I guess, "industrial" describes it best.
It's not that elegant or stylish.
But it's definitely high-end.
I think it compares best to Motorola Xoom (Xoom 1 more so than Xoom 2).
A bit clumsy, but not the least cheap or thoughtless.
Form factor.
Just a matter of taste.
But I've always preferred wide-screen (16:9 or similar) over 4:3.
Even Kindle Fire HD, in relation to its height, feels a bit too wide.
Meaning: I love to hold it. And its my first tablet that I'm using both in portrait and in landscape.
Reading = landscape. Perfect width then.
More or less anything else = portrait.
I've never switched between orientations on other tablets.
But that's not a bad feature, quite the contrary.
Other tablets did shine in one orientation and I hated it the other way. Here I love both orientations.
Kick Stand.
Clever idea, but I barely use it.
Maybe when watching a movie with a few other people.
But I don't use it in "Notebook mode". I still would use my MacBook Air for such tasks.
I use both keyboard covers. But I'm not standing up the tablet. I lay it flat on my sofa cushion or even the living room table.
Apps.
I find this a bit depressing.
Yes, I've got the basic apps and can live with them (for now).
But quite frankly: I'm a collector. I enjoy, surfing through iTunes or Google Play and just checking out new apps.
The Microsoft store obviously is quite healthy for my wallet
. But I'd really like to see more than 5 new apps per day.
3G.
Personally, I don't miss it.
Actually, I bought a few tablets specifically as WiFi-only models.
Mainly 2 reasons:
a.) I'm permanently running out of SIM cards. I already have 6 of them and simply don't want to pay for another one.
b.) I'm using my tablets mainly in 3 locations: At home, on trains and in hotels.
Even on most trains I have WiFi and in hotels it's rarely a problem either.
Micro SD.
Great to have it.
But I've got the 64GB Surface RT.
Even when downloading my 15GB of Zinio magazines and all my Kindle and Kobo books, there will be plenty of storage left.
For now, I don't really need it.
Especially, as long as I can't define the destination of installation files.
Just for media content, it's a bit limited. Still: Better than nothing.
Battery consumption.
I've never done any tests.
My criteria is quite simple: Does it survive an entire day without charging?
My gut feeling says, it's close to iPad 3. Given the reports for iPads, this probably means something in the range of 10 hours.
Performance.
There was a firmware update today.
User reports state, performance has increased.
I don't feel that. But I don't have to, performance was fine from the start.
Multi-Tasking.
The best I've seen - by far.
Personally I don't have much use for multi-tasking that kicks the second app to the background.
I want to have 2 apps next to each other.
There are some apps for iOS and Android, that can show calculator, Facebook, Web and a few other Windows next to each other. But to me, that's a big bluff. It's not multi-tasking. It's a single app, having a few windows.
I want to choose freely, which apps to use.
On Surface RT, you can combine any 2 apps. And you can divide the screen between the two as you please.
Some minor wishes:
a.) You can change the lock screen and the background of the desktop. But you can't change the start screen (the background of the tiles). I find the pre-installed start screens rather boring. Please, provide way more pre-installed start screens or offer using own pictures.
b.) In the tiles view in the Microsoft store you don't see, which apps you already have. You have to tick it and go into the details view to check. No problem yet, I've only got 42 apps so far. But over time...
c.) It probably won't happen, iOS doesn't allow it either and on Android you have to use App2SD. Still: It would be great, to choose the destination path. Installing some apps on the SD card. Or at least downloading the content (2GB of Kindle or Kobo books, 15GB of Zinio magazines) to the SD card.
Over all:
Great asset. Entirely new approach. Whether you like it or not: It's definitely no iPad clone.
