New Mobile Member

[dellaster]

Hi, I guess it's time for an introduction now that the Surface Pro 2 is going to be officially announced on the 23rd.

I'm into my third year traveling America full-time in a motorhome while working part-time freelance over the internet. Last year at this time all my gadgets were Apple: 2010 13" MBP, 2012 "17" MBP, iPad (1st gen), and iPod Touch (5th gen).

My workflow required Windows to run in a Parallels virtual machine for a couple of crucial desktop programs so I naturally gave Windows 8 a try when the Consumer Preview came out. I loved it. It made so much sense to me. With a little work I was able to modify my workflow so that everything was done in Win8, no MacOS necessary. Then I sold all my iStuff.

Bought a Lenovo Yoga 13 for MacBook replacement, Nokia 920 for iPod Touch replacement + phone (had a no-contract Go Phone before) and, in due time, a ThinkPad Tablet 2 for an iPad replacement that could do real work in a pinch. Funny thing happened: the Yoga soon went unused and I did everything on the TPT2. It simply fits my way of doing things. I'm far more productive with it, which means more work done in less time, leaving even more free time for hiking, kayaking, and other such important stuff.

I do projects nearly twice as fast as when I used a MacBook and it feels easier. It's wonderful.

But the TPT2 is frustratingly slow at times (2 GB RAM, Clover Trail Atom CPU). Time for the same form factor, give or take, with more power. Enter the Surface Pro 2... I think. I've been reading about the first gen since it came out, tried it out this morning at Best Buy for an hour, liked it a whole lot, and am now 95% sure it's a go. But there's an outside chance someone else will do the SP2 one better, like the Sony Tap 11 might (I shall study the reviews when they come out), thus the 5% uncertainty.

We'll see. I promise not to hang around here badmouthing the Surface if I do decide against it. That would be juvenile and rude and I'll have better things to do with my time.

Ted

 

[oion]

There are lots of choices these days in the Win8 hybrid space, so good luck finding one that really fits you. At the very least, actual Surface users here can give detailed information. There are other mobile tech forums that serve the same purpose, too.

I used to be a senior member of an ultramobile tech forum that's gone defunct; it started as a guy's hobby but he had to shut it down since it went global and put too much pressure on all his resources, and then new tech made the niche obsolete. All the users were subnotebook owners, the niche preceding ultrabooks, and the most common brands being Fujitsu, Panasonic, Sony. Trolling was honestly unheard of: When someone entered the forum to ask for advice on what to buy, all the owners would list pros and cons and even mention brands they didn't own in order to help the person decide if the Fujitsu Lifebook series or Sony VAIO etc. was actually what they needed. I think because subnotebook owners were already rare, we simply banded together to represent that part of the industry. I'm afraid those days are long gone, overall, much like the early days of WWW when you could list your real name and email address without fear of crazies and spam bots are long gone.

You sound like a pretty smart consumer, though, with a lot of hands-on experience and an open mind between platforms, so you'll be fine.

 

[dellaster]

There are indeed a lot of options. Unfortunately it's not like previous times when one could glance at the description of a next gen laptop, see that it had (for example) an IPS screen instead of a TN screen, and thereby know it was going to be a good upgrade. Win8 devices are a whole new breed and prior experience with old-style computers doesn't help that much. You have to actually use the new touchscreen tablets and hybrids with Win8 for a good while before you can determine what's better for your individual needs and preferences.

I think I've done enough homework and hands-on in the past year to have a decent idea as to what will do my work efficiently and satisfy me. It's probably the Surface Pro 3... but because I want it this year, the Surface Pro 2 will likely be good enough. Time will tell.

Ted

 

[smalltowngirl13]

Welcome aboard Ted and good luck!

 

[cali]

Welcome to the site.