10-30-2012, 06:44 AM | #1 |
Member Retired
Posts: 3,308
Karma: 13024950
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Augsburg (near Munich), Germany
Device: 26 Readers, 44 Tablets
|
Windows Surface 8 RT
I've got mine 1h ago.
I'll post more details in my thread "8+ readers"... In brief: The soft keyboard is surprisingly responsive, very nice. The Surface is stylish and businesslike. I think, its design can be best compared to Motorola Xoom 1. Working with touchscreen and keyboard in parallel needs some time to getting used to. But it certainly is a whole new experience and is unparalleled on iOS or Android. So far, I like it. But I'll probably get a stylus. After all: It's still Windows and scroll bars and icons are a bit tough to operate with your fingers. Still: Over all, so far, a pleasant surprise. |
10-30-2012, 06:58 AM | #2 |
The Dank Side of the Moon
Posts: 35,872
Karma: 118716293
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Denver, CO
Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire
|
Will look forward to your impressions.
|
10-30-2012, 07:14 AM | #3 |
Member Retired
Posts: 3,308
Karma: 13024950
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Augsburg (near Munich), Germany
Device: 26 Readers, 44 Tablets
|
It's definitely less intuitive than iOS or even Android.
As always with Windows: You can do much more, but on the other hand this means more potential mistakes as well. For example, the Store shows "UK" for me, although my account clearly is a German one. Still: Very interesting and unique experience so far. |
10-30-2012, 06:49 PM | #4 | |
occasional author
Posts: 2,315
Karma: 2064403292
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Wandering God's glorious hills, valleys and plains.
Device: A Franklin BI (before Internet) was the first. I still have it.
|
Quote:
|
|
10-30-2012, 07:10 PM | #5 |
Wizard
Posts: 4,538
Karma: 264065402
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Taiwan
Device: HP Touchpad, Sony Duo 13, Lumia 920, Kobo Aura HD
|
Apparently they will even integrate Adobe flash into IE 10 on Windows RT. Pressreader and Zinio apps are also available --- this is sounding better and better. Now my only problem is that the Surface looks so different from my Touchpad, even my wife would notice that I have a new device.....
The only thing holding me back right now is the missing stylus support for RT. Last edited by HansTWN; 10-30-2012 at 07:13 PM. |
10-30-2012, 07:18 PM | #6 |
K. C. Lee
Posts: 584
Karma: 3652522
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: New Zealand
Device: Android phone
|
I'm interested in your experience with the bundled Office software. I understand Outlook is not included. So what can be used on Surface to do email?
|
10-30-2012, 07:56 PM | #7 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 11,732
Karma: 128354696
Join Date: May 2009
Location: 26 kly from Sgr A*
Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000
|
Quote:
That usually ends with the PC coming with a "mandatory piano accessory". If you value pen support, the Pro will *really* tickle your fancy so you'd better start saving for the piano. (Hmm, I'll have to check and see if the Lenovo supports pen input.) |
|
10-30-2012, 07:58 PM | #8 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 11,732
Karma: 128354696
Join Date: May 2009
Location: 26 kly from Sgr A*
Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000
|
|
10-30-2012, 08:04 PM | #9 | |
Wizard
Posts: 4,538
Karma: 264065402
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Taiwan
Device: HP Touchpad, Sony Duo 13, Lumia 920, Kobo Aura HD
|
Quote:
|
|
10-30-2012, 08:23 PM | #10 |
Member Retired
Posts: 3,308
Karma: 13024950
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Augsburg (near Munich), Germany
Device: 26 Readers, 44 Tablets
|
|
10-30-2012, 08:25 PM | #11 |
Member Retired
Posts: 3,308
Karma: 13024950
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Augsburg (near Munich), Germany
Device: 26 Readers, 44 Tablets
|
Touch gestures and multi-tasking
Wow!
The touch gestures are great. Somewhat similar to BlackBerry PlayBook. You can swipe from app to app. You can place 2 apps next to each other and move a separation bar to define the size for each app. Cool! Neither iOS nor Android offer anything similar. |
10-30-2012, 08:27 PM | #12 |
Member Retired
Posts: 3,308
Karma: 13024950
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Augsburg (near Munich), Germany
Device: 26 Readers, 44 Tablets
|
Tile sizes
You can change the size of the tiles.
Some show a preview, for example tiles of news apps. Others are twice as big as normal tiles without apparent reason, so you can decrease their size on your own. |
10-30-2012, 08:30 PM | #13 | |
Member Retired
Posts: 3,308
Karma: 13024950
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Augsburg (near Munich), Germany
Device: 26 Readers, 44 Tablets
|
Quote:
I didn't find PressReader (no use for Germany anyway) nor Zinio (one of my favorite apps, I have more than 15GB of magazines). Strange enough: I haven't found a "search" option in the store yet. For now, it's usually about 500 apps per category, so you simply can scroll through all of them. But at some stage this won't be possible anymore. And even now, with only a few hundred apps, I'd prefer searching for my favorites instead of hoping to stumble over them. |
|
10-30-2012, 08:33 PM | #14 |
Member Retired
Posts: 3,308
Karma: 13024950
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Augsburg (near Munich), Germany
Device: 26 Readers, 44 Tablets
|
News apps
Some news apps are the best I've seen so far on any OS.
"Spiegel Magazin" for example, a German news magazine. On iOS and Android, it pretty much looks the same. You have your table of content, quite similar to a regular paper magazine. But on Surface RT, the table of content is tiles. Way more convenient, way more stylish, way more neatly arranged. Impressive! |
10-30-2012, 08:34 PM | #15 |
Guru
Posts: 612
Karma: 7511929
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: New York, NY
Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2
|
I bought a Surface RT also and believe it is super awesome. It's a tablet where you can actually get serious work done. The Windows 8 Modern UI is way better than Android and iOS.
FYI, don't carry the Surface RT in a bag, sans case or sleeve, with a metal spiral notebook. It will scratch There goes my resale value. |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Live Windows 8/ Surface Tab Thingie | tubemonkey | News | 43 | 10-29-2012 05:47 PM |
Microsoft airs its first Surface tablet ad | Top100EbooksRank | News | 173 | 10-29-2012 04:44 PM |
Surface tablet pricing still unknown: PC vendors on a lookout | tereza18gr | News | 30 | 08-14-2012 11:21 PM |
Windows 8 and Surface | Rhialto | Calibre | 6 | 07-11-2012 03:58 PM |
It like a portable Microsoft surface table | davidspitzer | News | 4 | 11-05-2009 02:46 PM |