Surface Pro 4 - wishlists!
- Thread starter TheCudder
- Start date
Our large company didn't buy Surface because:
- no LAN ports
- only one USB
Please add Gigabit Ethernet LAN port (would be nice to make chargable PoE) (no adapters)
Add more USB ports (USB 3.0 as well as USB 3.1)
then you get our money
I don't think the dock is always a suitable option. It's not exactly cheap. If you're a big company, potentially buying hundreds of SP3's, the cost will already be pretty sky-high.
There are cheaper alternatives.
I almost feel sorry for your 'large company' for being so shortsighted. The SP3 is a superb device. But ultimately, I don't think you can ever really blame the consumer. MS should make their own adapter and make it an obvious add-on when ordering online. They already have USB to LAN, why not shove a couple of extra USB's on?
I suppose the reason is because then people won't buy the (more expensive) dock which has the same functionality. But ultimately, are they losing customers because of it? Which is the better of two evils?
AlexLeather
New Member
I do the same at home but work conditions may be different (I dont really want to argue), ther must be a choice between wireless and wired, ok?
In this case, i'd be questioning the capability of the it department. Just trying to buy an sp3 and microsoft make it very clear that these accessories exist, they are in the business of trying to sell them not just keep people in the dark so they can hoard them all in a warehouse. Anyone who was investigating a device to roll out for a company would not have to be told about these things, they would be intelligent enough (one would hope, hence their position and the responsiblity) of researching whether it would be a practical purchase, which would involve researching it's capabilityies (usb ports) and accessories (ehternet adaptor, dock etc).
There is a choice, the SP3 has fully functional dock, and if your large company is planning on purchasing them you should be talking with your supplier or MS Sales Rep not a kid online as they are a consumer and/or small business channel.
Also, because the SP3 is a fully enabled PC Class Tablet you can also use 3rd Party USB Docking Solutions that are cross compatible and will lower over-all TCO.
If you are part of your large company's IT department, I would also encourage you to start the process of rolling out a modern infrastructure that doesn't lock your employees to wired only connections.
I'm not sure that's not a fair comment - especially from Admin?!
You suggest they spend potentially thousands of £/$ for the sake of MS sales of SP3's?
Some "modern infrastructures" still require wires. And if said company chooses to get laptops with built in ethernet connections because it's a more feasible solution, that is only MS's problem. No?
It is a fair and reasonable, as it isn't about the SP3 its about the changing landscape of how users are expecting to interact with technology, it is about the devices that users are wanting to use.... I didn't say this was a requirement, I used "encourage" and "start the process..."
I'm an IT Pro, I've been managing roll outs of Enterprise Clients for well over 15 years, from clunky towers with CRTs to AiO's...from 8-10 lbs. laptops to Ultrabooks and 2 and 1's.
I deployed TabletPCs into Police Cars, Fire Engines and other Public Safety Vehicles in 2002-2003 requiring us to deploy 2.5G CDMA Data-links into 250 squad cars, 150 Fire Engines\trucks and 500 misc trucks, vans and cars.
I know what it takes to keep an environment up to date and adapt to changing form factors.
The future of end user computing is highly mobile and distributed with a high emphasis on wireless, it will take the average Enterprise IT 24-60 months to roll out the needed infrastructure.
I didn't ask for your credentials, and neither do I care. I don't wish to argue anything. I'm merely stating that your comment came across abrupt, assumptive and quite frankly unprofessional. No better than "the kid online". You're not helping yourself with that last post either.
Websites like this should not be run by angry fanboys or "IT Pros" who don't know how to communicate properly, or represent a product/service. As an Administrator, I would expect a more formal and friendly approach.
But hey, what do I know? I'm just a consumer...
Kif
Active Member
I could see a Surface Laptop having multiple USB ports and a Lan jack. However they're not features you're going to find on a tablet (or at least a successful one). Tablets are a device of compromise between size, battery life, features, port, and cost. Adding those extra components would increase the size and weight of the device.
And he's just someone on the internet.. Talk to him in the office and maybe he would use said formal and professional approach. Noone is paying him to dot his i's and cross his t's when on a forum. I'll personally take his unprofessionally conveyed advice than ignore it because it comes across as abrupt. I've read enough of his posts to know that however he may appear to come across, it doesn't change the fact that he knows his business, and has been most helpful to me in the past
I apologize if my post above came across as abrupt or rude, intentions were to convey that deploying any new modality to end users will require IT to adapt if they want to see any ROI in this change. Treating a tablet deployment as a standard laptop deployment will not see gains....
malberttoo
Well-Known Member
He simply makes a valid point. The entire industry is already at the point where mobile PC's have almost no ports. Look at the newest Mac, it has one single USB-C port for ALL its wired requirements. That is where most mobile devices will be in 5 years. Wireless is not even the future, it's the present.
For security and other reasons, of course there will always be some need for wired-only connections, but very few of us here truly have a need for that.
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