Things you should know if you are thinking of an RT

[iDatus]

I bought the nokia 2520, yep great device but it had to go, mainly because I didn't understand fully what RT doesn't give you.
1. MPEG2 decoder. This stops mkv (Blu-ray convert) playback. I bought several apps that said it supported mkv but didn't work (mpeg4 mkv's do).
2. Metro apps have to be compiled for arm. So windows mobile has 300k apps. windows 8 somewhat less and RT somewhat less again.
3. hearthstone and teamspeak, these don't work which is a shame.

So whats it good for.
Internet, Netflix, local office, great battery.

Just thought i'd put it out there.

 

[kundas1]

sorry but that is incorrect... I had the RT then Surface 2 (RT) and I could play MKV files no problem (UNLESS it was encoded incorrectly) with HD mobile player! also having the windows file system is great as I can remote into all my other computers to get my files and music and vids that I need on my "homegroup" so the RT was 90% full win OS... the ONLY thing I couldn't do is install full legacy apps and games... thats it. also the store has over 100,000 apps in its roster and growing very quickly so almost everything I need is there...almost

 

[jnjroach]

I used a Windows RT (Surface RT and Surface 2) Professionally for well over 2 years, it did everything I needed in a mobile device in a the companion role....

If you expected it to run Win32 games and applications you didn't do your research...sorry

 

[iDatus]

a blu-ray is encoded with mpeg2. which if you convert it using makemkv you wont be able to play.
I should have been a bit more clear, my apologies. mkv with a mpeg4 codec will play.
As to win32 my comments were that popular things such as hearthstone which are on ipad and soon android isn't on RT and no plans to do so. Its just there for people who may want to buy it.

 

[jnjroach]

One should always research a platform prior to purchasing into it....

But for many, RT is a great choice for what you listed above but also for:

Lync Conference and Collaboration
Collaboration through SharePoint
Full Office Support (including Outlook and OneNote)
EBook Reader
PDF Annotation
CRM/ERP
Cloud Services
Thin Client (supporting VMware, Citrix and Microsoft VDI solutions)

RT devices (Nokia Lumina 2520 and Surface 2 LTE) have always on always connected options....

 

[kundas1]

so then I suggest encoding your movies in mp4 format and you wont run into any trouble, there is TONS of free apps that do video conversions... also you made a good point in your first post saying you didn't understand RT OS... and I suspect you still haven't fully grasped the RT OS system as you can do almost anything like the full version because I did ALMOST everything on my Surface RT and didn't have any trouble...

 

[GreyFox7]

sorry but that is incorrect... I had the RT then Surface 2 (RT) and I could play MKV files no problem (UNLESS it was encoded incorrectly) with HD mobile player! also having the windows file system is great as I can remote into all my other computers to get my files and music and vids that I need on my "homegroup" so the RT was 90% full win OS... the ONLY thing I couldn't do is install full legacy apps and games... thats it. also the store has over 100,000 apps in its roster and growing very quickly so almost everything I need is there...almost

Correct over 100,000 apps... or 172,552 today.

 

[PhilBiker]

How many apps doesn't mean much if the apps are junk.

http://www.howtogeek.com/194993/the-windows-store-is-a-cesspool-of-scams-why-doesnt-microsoft-care/

Anyway - I don't know about high def from Blu-Ray but my Surface RT plays MKVs that I create in Handbrake from DVD with no problem.

So whats it good for.
Internet, Netflix, local office, great battery.

Good for a hell of a lot more than that here.

 

[PhilBiker]

I should add - the Surface RT didn't play "mkv" files out of the box. It required updates from Microsoft for the support to be in place. Also, there's a modern version of VLC that is free that may play mkv files. Have you tried it?

 

[kundas1]

There is NO VLC for the RT... although we been waiting for 2 years for them to release a version.... also HD media player can play MKV formats, not all but most...