Microsoft's 128GB Surface Pro sells out within hours

Just hours after Microsoft Surface Windows 8 Pro went on sale Saturday, the 128GB version of the tablet sold out online.

Shoppers for $1000 tablet at the online outlets of Best Buy and Staples, as well as Microsoft's own web store, began seeing "not available" or "out of stock" notices just hours after midnight Eastern Time when the Windows 8 slate went on sale

Source

A Guy

 

[BillWindows]

To be fair, Windows 7 kinda sucked in a tablet interface..hence the reason that Windows 8 was changed so much.

Amen to that, and long live Windows 8, even if its not 100% perfect now, the vision is there.

 

[BillWindows]

The latest tech? Windows tablets, running Windows 7, have been out for at least two years, yet you've chosen iPads? You just had no genuine love for Windows.

I'm a tech nut, not a nut.

 

[pparks1]

I like trying the latest tech too, but unfortunately I gave too many other bills and expenses.

And as I get older, and the fact that I work with computers everyday for a living, I've actually gotten to the point where I hardly touch them at home except for forum posts, email, and Facebook.

That's why I like tablets so much, you don't always need a full blown PC when you're getting older, but there are occasions when you do, which is where the Surface Pro will come in handy, you wont need a desktop anymore. To be perfectly honest I cant wait till the day I don't need a desktop anymore at all.

But even though I'm getting older I still love tech and new advancements, which is why I'm wrapped in Windows 8 especially for my HTPC's.

I find trying to work on a tablet sucks ass. I'm in no hurry to get rid of a desktop. Give me a full size keyboard, and large multi monitor support, and ability to swap out hard drives and other components.

Tablets to me are only incrementally better than working on my smartphone.

And while I love tech, I don't have any love for Windows 8. It's just such a poor disjointed experience as far as I am concerned. Down the road, I think it will get better, but right now I cannot use it for anything real.

 

[BillWindows]

I like trying the latest tech too, but unfortunately I gave too many other bills and expenses.

And as I get older, and the fact that I work with computers everyday for a living, I've actually gotten to the point where I hardly touch them at home except for forum posts, email, and Facebook.

That's why I like tablets so much, you don't always need a full blown PC when you're getting older, but there are occasions when you do, which is where the Surface Pro will come in handy, you wont need a desktop anymore. To be perfectly honest I cant wait till the day I don't need a desktop anymore at all.

But even though I'm getting older I still love tech and new advancements, which is why I'm wrapped in Windows 8 especially for my HTPC's.

I find trying to work on a tablet sucks ass. I'm in no hurry to get rid of a desktop. Give me a full size keyboard, and large multi monitor support, and ability to swap out hard drives and other components.

Tablets to me are only incrementally better than working on my smartphone.

And while I love tech, I don't have any love for Windows 8. It's just such a poor disjointed experience as far as I am concerned. Down the road, I think it will get better, but right now I cannot use it for anything real.

That's why I want to get rid of the desktop I've got that many drives I cant remember what they're all for, dual boots, triple boots etc. I now want a simple life.

I haven't had a side on a PC for about 10 years because I swap drives so much, plus it helps keep it all cooler.

 

[Ray8]

To be fair, Windows 7 kinda sucked in a tablet interface..hence the reason that Windows 8 was changed so much.

I'm running Windows 7 on a tablet right now, what aspects suck? When you buy a tablet, you need to have genuine reasons for doing so, as there are compromises that you have to accept. Once you understand those compromises and recognise that they do not negatively affect your usage requirements, then it's a perfectly reasonable device to own.

I've lived with notebooks and laptops large and small, and the Windows 7 tablet ticked all the boxes that the notebooks/laptops did not. I only had to accept some minor compromises, but overall the tablet trumped the notebook/laptops by a country mile.

 

[BillWindows]

"When you buy a tablet, you need to have genuine reasons for doing so, as there are compromises that you have to accept. Once you understand those compromises and recognise that they do not negatively affect your usage requirements, then it's a perfectly reasonable device to own''

And yet you wont accept the compromises of Surface Pro and Windows 8, not that there are many.

I only had to accept some minor compromises, but overall the tablet trumped the notebook/laptops by a country mile.

So by saying that you should really love Surface Pro.

 

[pparks1]

To be fair, Windows 7 kinda sucked in a tablet interface..hence the reason that Windows 8 was changed so much.

I'm running Windows 7 on a tablet right now, what aspects suck? When you buy a tablet, you need to have genuine reasons for doing so, as there are compromises that you have to accept. Once you understand those compromises and recognise that they do not negatively affect your usage requirements, then it's a perfectly reasonable device to own.

I've lived with notebooks and laptops large and small, and the Windows 7 tablet ticked all the boxes that the notebooks/laptops did not. I only had to accept some minor compromises, but overall the tablet trumped the notebook/laptops by a country mile.

Typing in general. Hitting the little x in the corner. Clicking with precision in a spreadsheet. Lack of things like pinch to zoom. I just never found interface too receptive to touch and too small on a tablet. At the end of the day, I hate typing on tablets..at least everyone that I have tried.

 

[Ray8]

Typing in general. Hitting the little x in the corner. Clicking with precision in a spreadsheet. Lack of things like pinch to zoom. I just never found interface too receptive to touch and too small on a tablet. At the end of the day, I hate typing on tablets..at least everyone that I have tried.

That's why I have a typecover case and a wireless mouse, for when I'm using the tablet as a PC. I wouldn't dream of doing regular desktop work using touch, I wouldn't do it with Windows 8. My tablet allows pinch to zoom using Windows 7, but it's usually the program that dictates whether pinch to zoom works, not the OS.

As a desktop, Windows 8 offers no benefits over Windows 7, but foists on people the horrible MPI that few desktop users want or need. Windows 8 compromised everything that was good in Windows 7.

 

[BillWindows]

Typing in general. Hitting the little x in the corner. Clicking with precision in a spreadsheet. Lack of things like pinch to zoom. I just never found interface too receptive to touch and too small on a tablet. At the end of the day, I hate typing on tablets..at least everyone that I have tried.

That's why I have a typecover case and a wireless mouse, for when I'm using the tablet as a PC. I wouldn't dream of doing regular desktop work using touch, I wouldn't do it with Windows 8. My tablet allows pinch to zoom using Windows 7, but it's usually the program that dictates whether pinch to zoom works, not the OS.

As a desktop, Windows 8 offers no benefits over Windows 7, but foists on people the horrible MPI that few desktop users want or need. Windows 8 compromised everything that was good in Windows 7.

Why on earth are you using Windows 8 it seems to me that it's your worst nightmare, just go back to Windows 7, sell your TWO licences on EBay, I might even know someone that will buy them at the right price.

 

[Max Peck]

Tepid, maybe you cannot get 3 quality PCs for $1500, but I got 2 superb systems for less:

1. Toshiba laptop with i5, 6GB of RAM, SSD, backlit keyboard, USB3 ports, etc. for $590

2. This superb Dell XPS8300 for $850

1 XPS 8300
1 XPS 8300 Intel Core i7-2600 processor(8MB Cache, 3.4GHz)
1 8GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 4x2GB
1 Dell Consumer Multimedia Keyboard
1 AMD Radeon HD 6670 1GB DDR5
1 500GB Serial ATA 2 Hard Drive 7200 RPM
1 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit, English, No Media
1 Dell USB 6-Button Laser Mouse
1 Add 2 USB 3.0 ports
1 16x DVDRW Drive
1 Dell 1501 WLAN PCIe card
1 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty, Extended Year
1 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty, Initial Year
Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus In-Home Service After Remote

Subtotal: $801.63
Shipping and Handling: $0.00
Tax Total: $51.45
Total Amount: $853.08

That beats the M$'s ridiculous tablet any time.

I have the XPS-8300 and, yes, it's an excellent box. I use it mainly for video processing and flight simulation. My Inspiron 17R I use for everything else. Between the two of them there's quite a bit of computing punch in my lab.

-Max

 

[Max Peck]

There's no iPad or Android tablet in the same league as a Surface Pro'.

True but the Surface Pro isn't in the same league as an iPad.

The iPad isn't always used for the same thing as the Surface Pro is intended for. The Surface is intended as a hybrid tablet/PC. On the tablet side it's going to be a long time before the Surface Pro can match the iPad in terms of infrastructure and app availability. Trying to compare a Surface Pro to an iPad (or Android tablet for that matter) really isn't a fair comparison. I think the demographic is different for the two devices.

I don't see anything (or, didn't ... I'm not on Win8 anymore) in the Windows App store that can touch certain iPad programs I have like "ForeFlight" (a pilots charting & navigation program). With my iPad, paper charts and approach plates have been rendered obsolete. Most of the Win8 "store" apps are far more basic than that. It's going to be awhile before companies producing top-flight programs like that come up to speed on Metro versions of those types of applications, if it happens at all. Personally I wouldn't want a Surface Pro in the cockpit with me; it doesn't have the battery life or the ease-of-use that my iPad3 has and, as much as I love Windows, I would not want a BSD taking place when I'm trying to navigate with a chart. The iPad is extremely stable.

I don't use my laptop and iPad/iPhone for the same things most of the time. Sure there's some overlap between the two but not as much as you would think.

It will be interesting to see how the Surface fits in. I don't think the cockpit is going to be one of the places it will fit. Maybe in the passenger cabin, but not up front.

-Max

 

[Max Peck]

I think I get your point, I've got a few tablets and none of them are anything compared to Windows. Your needs and the needs of others are a completely different thing.

A 128GB iPad by the time its completely decked out will set you back more than a Surface and cant do half as much. There are millions of people ready to hand over more than a thousand dollars for a Surface Pro.

There's no iPad or Android tablet in the same league as a Surface Pro'.

I think you are ready for a job in the M$ advertising department. LOL

I'm just stating a fact, there's simply nothing out there that can compete with Surface. I just wish my tablets would run Windows 8, I'd convert them right now.

Not me. As I said in a previous post, I love Windows. I've developed for it for many moons - but if I'm going to use a tablet I want it to be completely a tablet O/S, not some hybrid of a desktop and the "Metro" interface. The model just doesn't work for me. I'm not an Apple "fanboy" but dadgum did they ever get the iPad (and iPhone) right, IMHO. Mac? Naah. Not unless I want to completely retool my development tools & methodology - but that's for another discussion.

-Max

 

[Max Peck]

I like trying the latest tech too, but unfortunately I gave too many other bills and expenses.

And as I get older, and the fact that I work with computers everyday for a living, I've actually gotten to the point where I hardly touch them at home except for forum posts, email, and Facebook.

Heh ... some days I feel like I'm ready for the Old Programmer's Home myself!

-Max

 

[Max Peck]

The latest tech? Windows tablets, running Windows 7, have been out for at least two years, yet you've chosen iPads? You just had no genuine love for Windows.

Sure he does, Ray. I love Windows too but when it came to tablets I chose iPad.

I don't think I'd ever get involved in heavy iOS development, I've spent most of my career developing to the Microsoft stack. However, I'm departing the upgrade path at Win7, I think. Nothing I'm doing requires 8. At least desktop and web stuff will still run on 8 but I don't have to go there. Kinda like having your cake and eating it too, in a way.

-Max

 

[Ray8]

I agree with your comments Max, especially with apps. Apple, especially, has consolidated its hold in a lot of professional and non-professional environments, aviation and medicine to name just two. Microsoft has always struggled to get developers on side to produce anything worthwhile. One of the things that I use my tablet for is off-road navigation and none of the major software providers cater for off-road, or on-road navigation on Windows; however, they all support Apple and Android.

Microsoft can click-clack and play Funky Town all they like, but they really need to separate the funk from the functional.

 

[Coke Robot]

To be fair, Windows 7 kinda sucked in a tablet interface..hence the reason that Windows 8 was changed so much.

The start menu was what was primarily changed on the Desktop of Windows 8, along with the Ribbon in File Explorer.... It went from a sucky menu to a decent Start Screen, with new apps and different interaction methods as well as more look and tap type UI changes like the Ribbon in File Explorer.

 

[BillWindows]

There's no iPad or Android tablet in the same league as a Surface Pro'.

True but the Surface Pro isn't in the same league as an iPad.

The iPad isn't always used for the same thing as the Surface Pro is intended for. The Surface is intended as a hybrid tablet/PC. On the tablet side it's going to be a long time before the Surface Pro can match the iPad in terms of infrastructure and app availability. Trying to compare a Surface Pro to an iPad (or Android tablet for that matter) really isn't a fair comparison. I think the demographic is different for the two devices.

I don't see anything (or, didn't ... I'm not on Win8 anymore) in the Windows App store that can touch certain iPad programs I have like "ForeFlight" (a pilots charting & navigation program). With my iPad, paper charts and approach plates have been rendered obsolete. Most of the Win8 "store" apps are far more basic than that. It's going to be awhile before companies producing top-flight programs like that come up to speed on Metro versions of those types of applications, if it happens at all. Personally I wouldn't want a Surface Pro in the cockpit with me; it doesn't have the battery life or the ease-of-use that my iPad3 has and, as much as I love Windows, I would not want a BSD taking place when I'm trying to navigate with a chart. The iPad is extremely stable.

I don't use my laptop and iPad/iPhone for the same things most of the time. Sure there's some overlap between the two but not as much as you would think.

It will be interesting to see how the Surface fits in. I don't think the cockpit is going to be one of the places it will fit. Maybe in the passenger cabin, but not up front.

-Max

I've got 3 iPads, I don't see anything really fantastic about them, they crash more than my Android tablet, Apps crash, Safari used to crash numerous times per day, WiFi dropouts, slowdowns for no reason at all etc. Its not because there's anything wrong with a specific iPad it happens to all 3.

I believe the main problem with iPads is Apple, they've got the worst software engineers on the planet. Every time they bring out an update something else goes wrong. As far as Apps go, Windows will end up with a lot more than Apple. There are a lot of good apps on the iPad but there's also a lot of rubbish. If Surface and Windows 8 start to take off developers will be jumping over the top of each other trying to get Apps ready.

I don't mind the iPad, but I don't think I'll be buying anymore Apple stuff in the future, it's not that good.

 

[Coke Robot]

Typing in general. Hitting the little x in the corner. Clicking with precision in a spreadsheet. Lack of things like pinch to zoom. I just never found interface too receptive to touch and too small on a tablet. At the end of the day, I hate typing on tablets..at least everyone that I have tried.

That's why I have a typecover case and a wireless mouse, for when I'm using the tablet as a PC. I wouldn't dream of doing regular desktop work using touch, I wouldn't do it with Windows 8. My tablet allows pinch to zoom using Windows 7, but it's usually the program that dictates whether pinch to zoom works, not the OS.

As a desktop, Windows 8 offers no benefits over Windows 7, but foists on people the horrible MPI that few desktop users want or need. Windows 8 compromised everything that was good in Windows 7.

I actually would prefer to interact with the Desktop with touch. From my toying around with DPI settings on Windows 8 and a touchscreen, that makes a WORLD of a difference with touch input. Targets are just sized up a notch, which is all that you really need quite honestly is that DPI change, maybe changing icon size as well but that's dependent on the person.

Typing with touch on Windows 8 is also what makes it better suited for tablets than 7, that keyboard layout in Windows 8 is honestly the very best touch keyboard on a tablet I've come across to date.

But, if you have a tablet PC running 7 and end up using it more with a mouse and keyboard than touch.....it sounds like some purpose is defeated, no? Also, Windows 8 is just SO much more better on the Desktop than 7. There is Storage Spaces to take advantage of (if you're running Pro on a tablet, you have data redundancy features, on a TABLET!), Hybrid Boot, a revamped Task Manager, Windows Defender, and just overall improvements that makes using Windows 7 almost like using a rotary dial telephone over a keypad phone.

 

[Coke Robot]

I like trying the latest tech too, but unfortunately I gave too many other bills and expenses.

And as I get older, and the fact that I work with computers everyday for a living, I've actually gotten to the point where I hardly touch them at home except for forum posts, email, and Facebook.

That's why I like tablets so much, you don't always need a full blown PC when you're getting older, but there are occasions when you do, which is where the Surface Pro will come in handy, you wont need a desktop anymore. To be perfectly honest I cant wait till the day I don't need a desktop anymore at all.

But even though I'm getting older I still love tech and new advancements, which is why I'm wrapped in Windows 8 especially for my HTPC's.

I find trying to work on a tablet sucks ass. I'm in no hurry to get rid of a desktop. Give me a full size keyboard, and large multi monitor support, and ability to swap out hard drives and other components.

Tablets to me are only incrementally better than working on my smartphone.

And while I love tech, I don't have any love for Windows 8. It's just such a poor disjointed experience as far as I am concerned. Down the road, I think it will get better, but right now I cannot use it for anything real.

That's because YOUR thinking of a tablet is the one that apple wants to you think of: low powered, long battery life, and forces you to use different and multiple devices.

 

[BillWindows]

I agree with your comments Max, especially with apps. Apple, especially, has consolidated its hold in a lot of professional and non-professional environments, aviation and medicine to name just two. Microsoft has always struggled to get developers on side to produce anything worthwhile. One of the things that I use my tablet for is off-road navigation and none of the major software providers cater for off-road, or on-road navigation on Windows; however, they all support Apple and Android.

Microsoft can click-clack and play Funky Town all they like, but they really need to separate the funk from the functional.

Gee, I wonder how Microsoft managed to get 92% of the market with nothing worthwhile. Do you realise that Apple once had 16% of the market because of Professionals, they all left because Apple wasn't doing anything for them.