Surface vs laptop??

[nated0gg618]

I have been thinking about selling my laptop for a surface? Should I or should I not?? Why or why not???

 

[hotphil]

Depends what you do with your laptop.
My Surface has replaced my laptop for browsing, Office that kind of thing. But I still have to use the laptop for certain tasks.

 

[oion]

Need a use case to give any sort of useful advice.

What do you want to do on a daily/nightly basis with a device--as you do with a laptop or tablet separately.

Example:

My use case involves writing/editing papers in Word, managing data in Excel, web surfing (all these in "laptop mode") and then watching streamed movies/TV and playing some app games (all these in "tablet mode"). I'm fine with IE and don't require any x86 software because I have a Win7 Desktop, so Surface 2 with Windows RT is fine for me.

 

[nated0gg618]

I never really use my laptop I only used it to take notes in class and to browse the web while waiting on class, most of everything I do, I do from my phone

If there's something I just need to know and google real quick I just used my phone (since I have unlimited data) but there are times when I run into a web page that does require a lot of scrolling and zooming in order to read it

 

[nated0gg618]

I was also needing to know what the differences is between to surface and surface 2

 

[jnjroach]

The new units are the Surface 2 and the Surface Pro 2, the Surface Pro 2 is a 4th Gen Intel Core i5 CPU comparable to most of the latest high-end Ultrabooks on the market. It weighs more and is more expensive, it is available in multiple configurations differing in RAM and SSD Size. These are a good choice if you need to run legacy Windows Applications or JAVA based Websites. The Surface 2 is more akin to an iPad or Android Tablet, as it only runs apps available through the Windows Store, but on the plus side it includes Office 2013 RT Home and Student (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook). It is lighter and thinner and gets better battery life. It is available in 32GB or 64GB versions.

Both use the same Keyboard covers.

 

[oion]

I never really use my laptop I only used it to take notes in class and to browse the web while waiting on class, most of everything I do, I do from my phone

If there's something I just need to know and google real quick I just used my phone (since I have unlimited data) but there are times when I run into a web page that does require a lot of scrolling and zooming in order to read it

If that's all you do, and since you didn't mention anything about a need to install other software (like Firefox or Photoshop), then a Surface (Windows RT) would be fine.

I was also needing to know what the differences is between to surface and surface 2

Just the hardware, assuming you would upgrade a Surface RT to 8.1. The original Surface RT has an older generation processor, only 1 kickstand angle (but you can buy cheap cases with multiple angles), lower-resolution screen (only people desperate for Retina have complained about it, I think), USB 2.0 instead of 3.0, and slightly lower battery life (still great). Surface RT also has a black body instead of the silver. To be honest, in terms of performance level, your use case would probably work just fine with the Surface RT--which is compatible with the newer keyboards as well. There are a couple specific reasons why someone might want a Surface RT and stay with Windows 8.0, but that doesn't sound like your situation.

For future-proofing, generally I would recommend a Surface 2 unless you can find a Surface RT for super cheap or want the special 8.0 exceptions. A Surface Pro 1/2 is too expensive for a simple use case like web browsing and note-taking, IMO, unless you want to take a lot of hand-written/sketched notes, in which case a Pro is required (or any other tablet with active stylus).

I wrote a lengthy article about the Surface, link in my sig; there are the sections "Is the MS Surface 2 right for you?" which includes notes on Surface RT, and also a "Tips" page. Might help with more details. There are resources floating around this forum as well.

 

[pallentx]

The only reason I would hesitate to recommend a Surface as a laptop replace is screen size. If you want something smaller, more portable and can live with the Surface screen size, its a great laptop replacement. If you spend a lot of time working on the go, in airports, coffee shops, etc, you might prefer a bigger screen.

 

[oion]

The only reason I would hesitate to recommend a Surface as a laptop replace is screen size. If you want something smaller, more portable and can live with the Surface screen size, its a great laptop replacement. If you spend a lot of time working on the go, in airports, coffee shops, etc, you might prefer a bigger screen.

True, screen size is subjective. The best thing OP can do is understand the hardware/software differences and capabilities and then go to a store for a hands-on.

 

[nated0gg618]

Thanks everybody, this was all hopefully to me, I think I'm going to look into the first one, and check it out, it sounds like that it would be just fine for uses, what is the screen on the first surface to be exact?

 

[oion]

Thanks everybody, this was all hopefully to me, I think I'm going to look into the first one, and check it out, it sounds like that it would be just fine for uses, what is the screen on the first surface to be exact?

Both first and second generation Surfaces have 10.6" screens, with Surface RT having 1366×768 resolution instead of 1920x1080 on the others. But the clarity is really fine, IMO. Definitely try to find demo units.

 

[nated0gg618]

Will indeed try check out demo