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Microsoft Holding Surface 2 Event on September 23rd in New York City

Spaniard

Active Member
Microsoft holding Surface 2 event on September 23rd in New York City | The Verge
Microsoft plans Surface launch event on September 23rd in NYC

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Spaniard

Spaniard

Active Member
In my humble opinion, Surface Pro 2 will be again the best "tablet" in the 10"-11" size range. The best ultrabook is a matter of priorities:

Full HD + touch + 7 hours battery life = Surface Pro 2
Full HD + touch + 9? hours battery life = Surface Pro 2 + Power cover
HD only + no touch + 9 hours battery life = 11" MacBook Air

Can't wait for Surface Pro 3 LOL
 

souldier

Active Member
I'm still waiting for them to release some sort of touch/type cover that makes use of the power connectors found on the surface pro 1.

My prediction for the upcoming surface pro 2 is simply that it will have haswell, longer battery life, possibly thinner/lighter.
 

oion

Well-Known Member
I'm still waiting for them to release some sort of touch/type cover that makes use of the power connectors found on the surface pro 1.

My prediction for the upcoming surface pro 2 is simply that it will have haswell, longer battery life, possibly thinner/lighter.

The Pro 1-2 compatible battery cover news was posted some days ago, and they're supposedly being released at the same time as Pro2. I highly doubt Pro 2 will differ much in weight/thickness, because if Haswell is purported to squeeze an additional 2 hours, the assumption is 2 hours based on existing battery capacity.


@DarthBurrito:
I can't imagine using MS Office documents on anything smaller than a 10" screen. Full mini-computing smaller than that reminds me of the OQO, and we all remember how well that did, right? You're not going to stuff much of a battery in a 7" chassis, either, unless it's ARM architecture again. (The OQO was an inch thick or something.) iPad Minis do well because they do so little, as a giant phone and smaller e-reader; what would a Surface do in comparison, when both Surfaces already did so much more than iPads? I don't think it's a good idea at this juncture because the physical properties really put a hard limit on functionality at a certain point. It'd probably end up being a pure e-reader consumption device as well, sort of a waste of development resources, IMO. Unless the functionality is greatly reduced, a full mini-computer in that form factor will probably die like the OQO--unless the OQO really was a decade ahead of its time and consumers are ready now. I don't believe they are, but MS may do the gamble anyway; I suppose they can afford losing that particular gamble, though.
 

demandarin

Active Member
Don't forget 8gb of RAM! That's a big upgrade as far as using heavy duty programs like PhotoShop etc.. even better multitasking capabilities
 

TeknoBlast

Active Member
The Pro 1-2 compatible battery cover news was posted some days ago, and they're supposedly being released at the same time as Pro2. I highly doubt Pro 2 will differ much in weight/thickness, because if Haswell is purported to squeeze an additional 2 hours, the assumption is 2 hours based on existing battery capacity.


@DarthBurrito:
I can't imagine using MS Office documents on anything smaller than a 10" screen. Full mini-computing smaller than that reminds me of the OQO, and we all remember how well that did, right? You're not going to stuff much of a battery in a 7" chassis, either, unless it's ARM architecture again. (The OQO was an inch thick or something.) iPad Minis do well because they do so little, as a giant phone and smaller e-reader; what would a Surface do in comparison, when both Surfaces already did so much more than iPads? I don't think it's a good idea at this juncture because the physical properties really put a hard limit on functionality at a certain point. It'd probably end up being a pure e-reader consumption device as well, sort of a waste of development resources, IMO. Unless the functionality is greatly reduced, a full mini-computer in that form factor will probably die like the OQO--unless the OQO really was a decade ahead of its time and consumers are ready now. I don't believe they are, but MS may do the gamble anyway; I suppose they can afford losing that particular gamble, though.

I currently have an Acer W3 8.1" Windows tablet and would love if MS released one of Surface quality. If not MS, then a Nokia branded one. I can do without the desktop mode, I hardly go to desktop on my Acer, I mainly use it for the Modern UI, which is what I want out of a sub-10" Surface RT. I don't need full Windows on a sub-10" tablet, so I'd be happy with an RT version.
 

oion

Well-Known Member
I currently have an Acer W3 8.1" Windows tablet and would love if MS released one of Surface quality. If not MS, then a Nokia branded one. I can do without the desktop mode, I hardly go to desktop on my Acer, I mainly use it for the Modern UI, which is what I want out of a sub-10" Surface RT. I don't need full Windows on a sub-10" tablet, so I'd be happy with an RT version.

But what do you do on a 7-8" Surface, I mean? AFAIK, the difference between a regular iPad and iPad Mini is primarily just the size, and people do the same things on them, which is primarily media consumption. An RT/ARM mini version does make a whole lot more sense than a full Win one, but the Surface originally is marketed as a productivity device.

Hm. There is one possibility that I could see myself using, though:

Windows RT mini Surface with pen digitizer, for hand-written notes on the fly, calendaring, and regular media consumption. It would be a nifty companion device to other WinRT/8 devices that are larger and more appropriate for significant content creation, at least IMO. But MS Office would be a bit wasteful in that form factor, especially if it's supposed to be a companion device. Hmmm.
 

TeknoBlast

Active Member
I do the same as what iPad Mini users do, media consumption and playing with the apps. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my Surface Pro very much, but I don't need all that computing power ALL the time. Like with the Acer, I usually take that to work because it's much easier to carry or place in my bag. As for office, I sit in front of my PC all day at work, so any document work I need done, I have my work computer for that.

Pretty much I would use an 8" Surface RT for media and to app play with. Not much for work.
 

oion

Well-Known Member
I do the same as what iPad Mini users do, media consumption and playing with the apps. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my Surface Pro very much, but I don't need all that computing power ALL the time. Like with the Acer, I usually take that to work because it's much easier to carry or place in my bag. As for office, I sit in front of my PC all day at work, so any document work I need done, I have my work computer for that.

Pretty much I would use an 8" Surface RT for media and to app play with. Not much for work.

Fair enough. The underlying problem with using Windows RT as the platform of a mini is that Windows RT by definition includes Office 2013 RT, which is wasted in that form factor, not to mention takes up far too much space on a non-productivity device. Unless MS did some license fiddling such that an RT mini was exempt--but honestly I think that would create more confusion, so the only other option is for users to remove the bundled Office 2013-RT software in that situation, which simply creates useless fuss.
 

Nuspieds

Active Member
This is all great news!

I was expecting a new RT device this year but a Pro device only in early 2014 (i.e., one year after for each). This is really fantastic!

To all those naysayers and doubting Thomases about MS releasing a Surface Pro 2, I'm happy to see you have to eat your own words (at least for now, anyway)! I will readily concede that the Surface line is not (yet) a runaway success; however, in its first year, it equally has not been a runaway failure, either--disappointment to some, perhaps, but definitely not a colossal failure such that it does not warrant a second line.

Historically, I have never been one to depend on battery power. That is, 99.9% of the time, I was always plugged in, so 1-hour battery life vs. 10-hour battery life didn't really matter to me. However, earlier this year I got the DirecTV GenieGO and now I am watching content while I travel across the country. Sometimes I am on aircraft that have power outlets, so I'm covered, but most of the times I am not, so now battery life is important to me.

As such, I am looking forward to a Surface Pro 2 product that will have longer battery life, be slimmer, and provide some sort of native docking capabilities so that the number of USB3-connected devices for which bandwidth is shared on my USB "hub", is kept to a minimum.
 
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