Surface RT questions

[thorn]

Hi,
I'm very interested in the Surface RT but still have some things I'd like to know before I go trough with the purchase. I'm hoping someone who already owns one would be able to help. I'm new here and if I'm repeating something that has already been said here before I apologise.
I very much like the picture I made of the surface from countless reviews I've read and watched by now. Unfortunately I'm from Australia and right now we don't have a shop I could go to and check the surface in real life. I understand the differences between the rt and pro version. I believe I would be happy and ok with the shortcomings of the rt version as my primary use of the tablet would be internet browsing, emailing, watching/listening to media content and writing/reading word documents. Only other thing I would very much like to do is download torrent files from the internet but from what I understand there isn't a way to do so on the surface rt as vuze or other torrent programs won't work on it. Has there been a new app that makes this possible? Or is it still impossible to download torrent files on the surface?
Another thing I was wondering about is how well would I be able to synchronise my Windows Phone 7.5 to the surface. I read that it is not possible right now but with the windows phone 7.8 upgrade this feature will be enabled?
I've been keeping my options open and looking at some other upcoming windows tablets, and found the Lenovo Thinkpad as well as an Asus VivaTab Smart and so on. I found it strange that they all support full windows 8 instead of the rt version like the surface, yet weigh even less then the surface rt while keeping the same or even better battery life. I wonder where is the catch?
I must say that visually I find the Surface most compelling out of all other tablets but want to make sure I will be completely satisfied with my purchase as I usually like to use my gadgets for many years before I'd upgrade.
I would greatly appreciate any answers as much as experiences from other users of this tablet.
Thank You

 

[Sin]

First off, welcome. Torrent will be dependent on an application being available, which I don't know of one yet. As for syncing Windows Phone 7/7.5, what are you looking to sync? Transferring media is the biggest issue, since it requires the Zune application and Microsoft is not supporting that. Not the best way to support your early adopters, but that's the way it is. Windows Phone 7.8 is not going to change the need for the Zune application as far as I know. As for comparison to other devices out there, just do your research and don't trust all the manufacturer's claim on battery life, etc. Tech is always a compromise as there is no one perfect device for everyone.

 

[compnovo]

From the description of your needs (which are very similar to mine) I think the Surface RT will be a fit. Also, I have the Lumia 900 with WP7.5, and I am able to sync files and photos through the Skydrive app, which I highly recommend. Just to double-check I snapped an image on my phone then opened up my Surface, and the image was there (I have "Automatically upload to Skydrive" enabled in the phone settings so I don't have to do anything else). I can't sync apps like games, though, I think you can only do that with WP8.

 

[R0bR]

You can only sync Windows RT with Windows Phone 8 and 7.8, when released, using the Windows Phone App that is available. However both those also support being connected as external storage so you could actually just drag music, it seems most people do that due to the mess with Windows 8 and music in general.

 

[Mbergin]

Right now there is not a torrent client for winRT. It sounds like the surface will fit most of your needs. I have to say, if there is another windows 8 tablet that is similar in cost and hardware and runs windows 8 full version, I would suggest getting that. I have the surface RT and I would rather have a similar hardware device with full win 8.

 

[ArnoldC]

I was looking at the Acer W500 before I decided on the Surface RT.

 

[thorn]

Thank You all for the quick replies. I am aware of skydrive as I use it with my desktop, but sometimes I'd like to use my phone as just a "usb device" and drag and drop files from and to it through the computer. I know my old android device did that but I didn't realise that windows phone support it too as until now I've had to use Zune to connect it to my computer. Is that a feature that comes with windows 8 and 7.8? Also I've noticed when looking at my pictures on skydrive that they all seem to be of a lower quality then the originals. I wonder if they get resized while uploaded to it?
All the other tablets that have full windows 8 but retain similar weigh, battery and slimness seem to run on Intel Atom dual cpu and only have 2gb or ram. I wonder if these are sufficient to run the full windows smoothly. Also none of them seem to have such a good build quality and materials used as the Surface.
I think if I'll be able to use my phone drag n' drop style with the surface and there will be an app enabling downloading torrents in the near future I should be more then satisfied with the Surface RT. The only other thing I plan on using the tablet for is to remote control my desktop's recording software while sitting further away from it and from what I read the Surface is very capable in this regard also.
One more thing I wanted to ask was if there is a music app out yet supporting FLAC playback? From what I understood Surface does not support this format but all my library is in FLAC and I prefer it over mp3.
Again thank You all for Your time and knowledge and wish You a lovely day.

 

[ArnoldC]

I use the Surface RT Remote Desktop to connect to our SQL Server and MS-CRM without any issues. My FLAC and OGG files are currently constrained on my Acer S3 running Windows 8 and has the CODEC for those formats. I look forward to the day that I can move them to the RT.

 

[Sin]

The Skydrive application for Windows Phone 7, reduces the file size of the photos that are uploaded. There are applications that will upload the full image size. I believe this is something that Microsoft has addressed in Windows Phone 8, but no luck for Windows Phone 7. I'm using photo2cloud and it works well. Not automatic, but simple to run once configured.