8+ Readers in comparison

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

...The Surface Pro has such a short battery life and small screen, my wife got my Surface RT, so I need something.

Without wanting to "defend" Surface Pro (after all, we all have different needs):
The battery life is ca. 5 hours.
That's about the same I have on MacBook Air or Google Chromebook Pixel.
For a tablet, especially compared to iPad's 10+ hours, this may seem short.
But compared to notebooks, I think it's in a quite common range.
Of course, I kind of contradict myself here:
On one hand, I constantly argue I'm using Surface Pro mainly in tablet mode.
On the other hand, now I compare to the battery life of notebooks.
Anyway...
If I rank Surface Pro amongst hybrids, without an additional battery (like some hybrids have in their keyboard), it's on par re. battery life.
If I compare to tablets, it's slightly below. But if I compare realistically, it's actually not that much behind.
Yes, when browsing the web or some other simple task, I can do twice the time on iPad.
But in all fairness: How many tasks are simply not possible on iPad?
Basically, my iPad mini lasts so long because I only use it for some special tasks, but not permanently.
The long and short of it:
5 hours of battery life sounds rather short. But it's in the range of notebooks and in those 5 hours I simply can do much more on it than on most other tablets.

From my own experience: You could consider Dell Latitude 10. Here you simply could exchange the battery. I rarely do it, but it's great to have the option.

Re. "small screen":
Only you know your demands of course.
But personally, I didn't experience any limitations here so far.
Yes, I never would work on huge Excel files on Surface Pro, for example.
But I wouldn't do that on my MacBook Air either.
I carefully thought about it and eventually bought the 11" MacBook Air instead of the 13" or even a bigger on.
For mobility, I very much prefer the 11". That's about the biggest one that still fits in my writing case or suitcase (the smaller one I take for shorter trips).
If I don't care about mobility, I can bring more or less everything and then a MacBook Air or Surface Pro would be the wrong choice anyway.
Meaning:
In my case, I have lots of mobile units. All 11" or smaller. In addition, at home I have my iMac.
Would I need a bigger unit "on the road", I'd simply buy a notebook. I don't see the benefit of a huge tablet >10". Or a hybrid, for that matter. Will you ever use a 13" unit as a tablet? I honestly can't imagine that. Try to hold the 11" Sony Duo as a tablet and you'll see what I mean.

[pilotbob]

I'm really coveting one of those new MacBook Airs with the Haswell cpus... they say 12 hours now, for the 13inch. Me want!

BOb

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I'm really coveting one of those new MacBook Airs with the Haswell cpus... they say 12 hours now, for the 13inch. Me want!

BOb

You had to mention it!
Now I have it on my mind.
And sooner or later probably will have to buy it.

Well, quite frankly I'm still perfectly fine with my August 2011 MacBook Air 11".
I like the 11" and the performance is more than adequate.
Longer battery life wouldn't hurt, but it hasn't been a real problem so far.
Usually, I'm less than 5 hours on the train. And normally I have a power connection on the train anyway.
It's not on my list for now, but maybe later this year?

[HansTWN]

I would buy the Surface Pro with a new processor -- that really seems to extend battery life. This seems like a bad time to buy something with old technology when something new comes along. The Duo 13 has a battery life of 10 hours.

12.1" didn't bother me as a tablet, the weight of 2kgs and the heat did. 10.6" on the Surface RT seems small. For a PC 13.3 is about right, 12.1 now is kind of small and I don't want to setup an external monitor in every location. The main questions for me will be the weight (1.3kgs) and the feel when holding as a tablet. I definitely much prefer Windows 8 over Android and iOS (in tablet mode!) and besides I want to limit the number of devices I need to carry. And pretty soon I will have to hand over my Surface RT to my wife, her old notebook broke down.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

...10.6" on the Surface RT seems small. For a PC 13.3 is about right, 12.1 now is kind of small...

Maybe that's because of the lower resolution?
Due to the HD resolution there fits so much more on Pro's screen.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Maybe that's because of the lower resolution?
Due to the HD resolution there fits so much more on Pro's screen.

Not when you are eyes are past a certain age... Especially when you are using the device as a laptop and thus sit away from the screen. I guess I am still chasing the elusive all-in-one. And we are so close.

[aceflor]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

You had to mention it!
Now I have it on my mind.
And sooner or later probably will have to buy it.

Well, quite frankly I'm still perfectly fine with my August 2011 MacBook Air 11".
I like the 11" and the performance is more than adequate.
Longer battery life wouldn't hurt, but it hasn't been a real problem so far.
Usually, I'm less than 5 hours on the train. And normally I have a power connection on the train anyway.
It's not on my list for now, but maybe later this year?

That's the one I am dying for. But I'll wait a bit more...

[HansTWN]

The Taichi 31 looked real good when I checked it out yesterday. Only problem is that they don't offer Haswell processors yet. But great screen inside and 100% usable as a laptop. As well as lot of interesting possibilities with the 2 screens and great sound.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

The Taichi 31 looked real good when I checked it out yesterday. Only problem is that they don't offer Haswell processors yet. But great screen inside and 100% usable as a laptop. As well as lot of interesting possibilities with the 2 screens and great sound.

I haven't seen it live yet.
But a friend -another early adopter- has bought one ca. 2 months ago.
His feedback:
- Fan on 99% of the time.
- It still gets extremely warm around the vents. To warm to put it on your lap.
- Frequent problems with a program called "CloseLid". Asus helpdesk and some user forums did recommend to uninstall this program. Then the automatic switching to tablet mode when closing the lid didn't work anymore - no surprise after understanding the usage of "CloseLid".
- Battery ca. 3 hours!
- Touchpad not working well in the outer areas.

Again: I don't have any personal experience. But my friend's feedback has been quite devastating.
I found the concept of 2 screens (albeit only 1 touch enabled) compelling myself...

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I haven't seen it live yet.
But a friend -another early adopter- has bought one ca. 2 months ago.
His feedback:
- Fan on 99% of the time.
- It still gets extremely warm around the vents. To warm to put it on your lap.
- Frequent problems with a program called "CloseLid". Asus helpdesk and some user forums did recommend to uninstall this program. Then the automatic switching to tablet mode when closing the lid didn't work anymore - no surprise after understanding the usage of "CloseLid".
- Battery ca. 3 hours!
- Touchpad not working well in the outer areas.

Again: I don't have any personal experience. But my friend's feedback has been quite devastating.
I found the concept of 2 screens (albeit only 1 touch enabled) compelling myself...

Rather strange then that several reviewers say that it is the coolest running ultrabook of all. The fan is running, but the noise level is extremely low. Looks like your friend has the 11.6" screen version.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Rather strange then that several reviewers say that it is the coolest running ultrabook of all. The fan is running, but the noise level is extremely low. Looks like your friend has the 11.6" screen version.

I'm pretty sure, he said "31", but I've sent him an email already.
There are 18 user reviews on Amazon.de.
7 x 5 stars.
4 x 4 stars.
1 x 3 stars.
6 x 1 stars.
The 1 stars basically confirm my friend's assessment.
Maybe "Monday units"?

Personally, I'm ambivalent about Asus in general.
I had bought the Asus VivoTab Smart tablet.
For only 500 Euros it did perform surprisingly well.
But eventually I sold it (one of the very few gadgets I ever sold) because of the proprietary update process.
After the first hard reset, the Asus update process did stop working, as reported in tons of reviews (specifically about the VivoTab Smart).
You either had to uninstall the update software and search for offline updates. Or you had to look up the drivers yourself.
Else, the cost-benefit ratio would have been very well.

[mgmueller]

I've been on a trip from Friday til Wednesday.
Albeit a brief trip, I took quite a few gadgets with me:
- Kindle Paperwhite 3G - I love the free 3G. Not worrying about roaming and such and still being able to download/buy books globally.
- iPad mini. By far my favorite iPad. In general, I just wanted to bring a tablet with me, to have alternatives to Kindle: Nook and Kobo apps for example. I could have taken Google Nexus 7 or Kobo Arc for example. But as a pure gadget, I still really like iPad.
- Surface Pro. Some harsh criticism about it in some reviews, but still one of my alltime favorite tablets.
- Google Chromebook Pixel. Of course I had to bring my newest gadget with me.
- MacBook Air 11". My business machine, I take it with me all the time.

To my own surprise, I've used them quite differently:
- Kindle Paperwhite 3G = every single day for ca. 15 hours in total. Reading in bed for a few hours. Relying on sheer endless battery life. Not getting stung by some insects, due to the unobtrusive light.
- Google Chromebook Pixel = twice in those 6 days for ca. 5 hours in total. I really like it. But it's simply not that mobile, you don't take it out of the bag for 2 minutes of reading or surfing the web.
- iPad mini and Surface Pro = not even once turned them on. I really like them both. But there simply was no need. For reading, Kindle Paperwhite is absolutely brilliant. For "professional stuff" I've had my MacBook Air with me.
- MacBook Air = every single day for ca. 20 hours in total. It's not "cool" at all anymore, it's become a mere tool in the almost 2 years that I have it. But I can do almost everything on it and it's about as mobile as my tablets of ca. 10".

Meaning:
Personally, I have to admit, tablets mainly are some kind of "hype" for me.
I absolutely enjoy them.
But if I'm honest to myself, I'm not making much use of the touch screen.
The touch screen is comfortable and still cool, but I don't really need it that often.
Basically, a combo of eBook reader (in my case clearly Kindle Paperwhite 3G) and compact notebook (obviously, in my case MacBook Air, but it could be a Windows notebook as well) leaves nothing to wish for:
Perfect reading conditions with sheer endless battery duration.
Efficient business environment with only minor limitations.

If I'd have to choose a single unit, it probably would be Surface Pro.
But why choose? If I can take Surface Pro, I can take MacBook Air as well. And in addition, Kindle Paperwhite really doesn't take up much space.

I guess, I have to think about notebooks/ultrabooks a bit more...

[HansTWN]

I prefer to carry just one device rather than several -- even if I have to make a few compromises along the way. And every time I use my Android tablet I feel frustrated and wish I had full Windows on it instead. The Surface Pro is very nice, but for laptop use I would like a bigger screen. My eyes are not young anymore.

[pilotbob]

What is "ca." ??? You use it quite a lot and I can't figure out what it means.

BOb

[glos]

I think it may be short for "circa" which means "about/approximately"
I didn't think it was used outside Italy but wikipedia said it's also used in English, so...