Advice for using Surface RT as media consumption device

[John Woods]

I am planning on buying a new tablet this week. Sold off the Nexus 7 screen too small for video for me.

My question is does the surface RT function well as an entertainment device?

Primary usage for a tablet for me is E-reader 50%, movies 30%, internet, email, downloading and music the balance.

Have narrowed down choices to new Samsung Tab 3 and RT. Both basically the same price. Does the Surface function ok as an e-reader in portrait mode? I looked at a few of the apps available in the windows store and tried them out on my Windows 8 pc. Not terribly impressed but free anyway.

How is the general video (TV shows/movies) playback - say medium size files? Also could not view in retail store as they had no video except short ads which I expect were optimized for playback.

No one I know here in Malaysia has an RT so I am unable to really get a close look.

Really like the build quality of the RT over the TAB however the TAB has a great e-book reading experience.

Advice appreciated especially on using as e-reader.

Regards

John

 

[bigpio07]

Surface RT as e-reader

I am planning on buying a new tablet this week. Sold off the Nexus 7 screen too small for video for me.

My question is does the surface RT function well as an entertainment device?

Primary usage for a tablet for me is E-reader 50%, movies 30%, internet, email, downloading and music the balance.

Have narrowed down choices to new Samsung Tab 3 and RT. Both basically the same price. Does the Surface function ok as an e-reader in portrait mode? I looked at a few of the apps available in the windows store and tried them out on my Windows 8 pc. Not terribly impressed but free anyway.

How is the general video (TV shows/movies) playback - say medium size files? Also could not view in retail store as they had no video except short ads which I expect were optimized for playback.

No one I know here in Malaysia has an RT so I am unable to really get a close look.

Really like the build quality of the RT over the TAB however the TAB has a great e-book reading experience.

Advice appreciated especially on using as e-reader.

Regards

John

I've been owner of a Surface RT since March. I use it as e-reader. There are e-reader apps in the store that work on portrait mode. The best one in my opinión, is FBreader. For me it works pretty well, although it's not free.
I must say that there are much better apps forAndroids tablets, but...
I must also say that I like my Surface RT more than my old Android Tablet.
Good luck.

 

[FFX]

I have owned a Surface RT since February. I would say that this device would fit you perfectly.
I have read The Fellowship of the ring series on my device, and some free sci-fi books. If you download the Free books app you can enjoy 23469 free classic sci-fi books.
As for watching movies I have no complaints its just awesome, and soon we will receive a VLC port.
I also stream a lot of movies using the Movie planet app, its a great app for free streaming of new movies, you can also use IE to stream from the web. In the store you can also find Torrent apps, which works well enough.

Hope this helps.
Best regards!

 

[beman39]

the RT will be just fine for all your "wants" as I use mine to watch movies and most of my movies are in 1080P and work perfect on the RT, also I use an app called "mobile HD" (not free) which allows me to play MKV format and I can even stream my movies off my media PC since I have my RT on my homegroup. also the RT has a full IE 10 experience so you won't run into any problems streaming from web sites (well I haven't had a problem) that use flash. and as for the build quality I find the RT to be the best as I have used ALOT of tablets and none compare to the RT, trust me you wont regret it, as long as you know that you cant install full programs on the RT just apps... so I say go for it! lol

 

[compnovo]

I've had mine since last October and I think it is an excellent media consumption device (not bad at content creation either). Netflix looks great, and I use Multimedia8 to watch movies that I rip with Handbrake (which also look great); I do the ripping on my desktop PC. I also use mine daily to surf the web with IE11, keep up with the news using USA Today's app, and spy on my kids with Facebook D). On the work side, I often use the tablet for Powerpoint presentations, which it handles with aplomb. I don't often use it for music playback although Multmedia8 does a good job with that, too. When I do play music I use an external bluetooth speaker for better, louder sound.