Which Windows tablet do you own?

[strollin]

I think the Surface 3 should sell well. It has much of the Pro 3's capability at a lower cost. Besides using a quad core Atom as opposed to the i5 cpu, a major difference is the micro USB power port. The dedicated power connector on the Pro 3 allows for charging as well as for connecting to the docking station.

 

[msdos622wasfun]

Yeah, no matter how you slice it, and as much as I like my Surface RT, I'm looking forward to a speed increase in whatever I upgrade it to. That and increased screen resolution, and maybe a couple other things. But honestly, the quality of the Surface RT screen is great, even though it's only 720p, and the battery life is very respectable. But technology marches on.

 

[orlandotek]

I still think the Surface 3 is overpriced and under-powered. It should be $299.00 if they want to REALLY eat into the iPad market.

What's up with just a 1.6Ghz quad core? Cost savings? It needs to be beefier than that. The tablet needs to dazzle and shine..not just get by. The original Surface was painfully under powered, and overpriced as well. Don't they learn from the mistakes of their past??

Oh well..just my 2 cents. That and $2.00 might get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

 

[msdos622wasfun]

I'm thinking that maybe the Surfaces are what Microsoft might think of (and what some tech pundits have called) as "aspirational devices." In other words, it's something that's built really well, pretty, free of crapware and is something that just gets people to walk in the door, ooh and awe at, and then start looking at the ecosystem. They might buy the more expensive tablet with the Microsoft name on it, but then probably more of them are going to buy the cheaper mainstream Windows tablets. And either choice is going to ultimately make Microsoft happy.

 

[theveterans]

I still think the Surface 3 is overpriced and under-powered. It should be $299.00 if they want to REALLY eat into the iPad market.

What's up with just a 1.6Ghz quad core? Cost savings? It needs to be beefier than that. The tablet needs to dazzle and shine..not just get by. The original Surface was painfully under powered, and overpriced as well. Don't they learn from the mistakes of their past??

Oh well..just my 2 cents. That and $2.00 might get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

Don't blame Microsoft, Intel just provides a mediocre performing x86 CPU. If MS used a Core M on this, it would've essentially cost as much as SP3.

 

[Berton]

It would be nice to have more power in a Tablet but there's always a trade-off concerning power requirements, more powerful equals more heat.

 

[OldGuyGeek]

I have the original Yoga 13 and a Toshiba Encore Mini 7" tablet. Love them both.

 

[msdos622wasfun]

I have the original Yoga 13 and a Toshiba Encore Mini 7" tablet. Love them both.

That's interesting (regarding the Toshiba Encore). When I first read about it, Paul Thurrott had some criticisms he felt made the tablet not a good buy.

You can see the article here: http://winsupersite.com/mobile/toshiba-encore-mini-first-impressions

Any thoughts on that?

 

[OldGuyGeek]

Well, his biggest issue is that for $120 you could get a better tablet at a slightly increased price. I got it on sale for $79 last year. It's now back up to $110 on the MS Store. I doubt that would have bought it at that price. Probably would have went with some of the other tablets I was considering.

But now that I have it, it's great, Even at my old, decrepit state, I can still read it fine for what I do. Sure the desktop stuff is small, but that's going to happen on any tablet around 7-8 inches. But for Win Apps, like news or mail or anything like them, it's great. I read my mail and calendar on my Windows 928 phone every day, but the increase size on the Encore makes quite a difference.

Not ever buying an Atom based system before, I was pleasantly surprised at the speed. Works quickly and flawlessly. HD space? I got a Samsung Ultra microSD card with 32GB for a lousy $17 bucks.

Finally, I also bought a Microsoft TV adapter. I hooked it up to the TV and sure enough the Encore attached to it as a wireless display and I can browse the web and do other stuff via the larger screen TV.

I suppose a larger, more expensive tablet would be great, but I think this fits most of my needs, if not all.

Here's a video I did back in December 2014

https://youtu.be/4F8eG33A_Ag

 

[msdos622wasfun]

That's cool. Hey if you're happy with it then that's all that matters. It really doesn't seem so bad for the money. Honestly, I'm a big Paul Thurrott fan, but I think sometimes ... sometimes ... he can be a bit stubborn with his viewpoints. It helps to hear another side of the story.

Looks like you've got a nice channel going as well on YouTube.

 

[orlandotek]

Well, the Surface 3 might not be as under-powered as I thought.

I just picked up a NEW IRULU W1002 from Ebay for $215.00 (though now it's at $279.00)...it has a similar processor..here is from the product page--

Intel® Baytrail-T CPU processor whose main frequency is 1.33GHz-1.83GHz. Based on TURBO CORE technology, supporting Turbo Boost and quad-core four-thread techniques...

The tablet is VERY impressive. Quicker then the older Asus i5 tablet I had a few months ago. Solid build with lots of ports and nice screen. Came with a magnetic keyboard similar to what you would buy for the Nokia 2520.

It could be a tad thinner and lighter but for just $215.00 I am overjoyed with the tablet.

The processor in the Surface 3 is more beefy so it should be great for most users. I still think the $499 is a bit much. Or at least include the keyboard.

Ebay is selling out of these fast at the $279.00 price and Amazon originally had them at $245.00 but then they were also at $279.00 and now are sold out, as well.

 

[robinb9]

I have 3 tablets
1 asus vivotab running windows 8.1 64 bit, 64 gigs 1 gig memory
1 Surface pro 3.0 128 gigs 4 gigs memory i won on microsoft community connections contest
1 Dell Inspiron 11 3000 series running windos 8.1 pro 4 gig memory 500 gig hs intel pentium, which I absolutely love. I got it when it first came out, now it has a icore 3. Mine runs great and i give it its all. I have recommended this all in one to 6 clients and they love it. It is light, you get the best of a tablet and laptop and it holds its own, i highly recommend it.

 

[msdos622wasfun]

Might as well keep this thread going...

I know that just recently I was singing the praises about my original Surface RT, and trying to be objective, because I admit, it was never a tablet that was going to win any major performance awards, but I thought I'd mention that I decided I reached the end of my patience level with it, and I upgraded to an Acer Aspire Switch 11 with a Core i3.

Now, I don't regret the 2+ years that I owned the RT. I mean, overall it was a good first try at what Microsoft was trying to do, and I still maintain that it might be okay for someone with very simple needs (I traded it in at Best Buy -- maybe they can refurbish it and find it a nice home). But now that I wanted to get into a mode where I started using it as a hybrid, that is, a small notebook, the performance bottlenecks started to annoy me. Plus I found it just a tad small.

The Acer Aspire Switch 11 that I upgraded to blows it away in the benchmarks that I tested. The screen is about an inch bigger, so that's nice, and it's also full HD. The keyboard is nice to type on, and it's got all the ports I need. I love the twisting, detachable screen. 4 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD.

So far everything is going really well. It's a Signature Edition that I bought through the Microsoft Store. Sure, there are some minor things I could criticize, like the subpar battery life that it gets compared to the Surface. But all in all I think it's a great package. With tax and shipping, it was even slightly less than a Surface 3 without keyboard (I don't know how long that $200 discount is going to last, however).

 

[stupops]

Just to keep it going - I upgraded from my surface rt to a surface 2. Much the same. Bit snappier and the screen is a wee bit better. Preferred the black casing tbh. Was looking at a pro but then I think why do I want the hassle of a laptop in a tablet? I have a windows 8 laptop - RT suits me fine in tablet form. Strange you never see people on andriod or ipads making the same fuss as windows users that its not a 'full fat' experience.

 

[msdos622wasfun]

Just to keep it going - I upgraded from my surface rt to a surface 2. Much the same. Bit snappier and the screen is a wee bit better. Preferred the black casing tbh. Was looking at a pro but then I think why do I want the hassle of a laptop in a tablet? I have a windows 8 laptop - RT suits me fine in tablet form. Strange you never see people on andriod or ipads making the same fuss as windows users that its not a 'full fat' experience.

Yeah I was, at one point, close to upgrading my Surface RT to the Surface 2, but I never pulled the trigger on that.

And the tide turned with my experience with the Acer Switch 11 that I bought. Turned out it had a defect -- it was turning off at random times, and this was confirmed by a technician at the Microsoft Store (bad motherboard, or bad chip on the motherboard). Long story short, got a refund, and walked out with an Asus T300 Chi! Had to spend a bit more, but I think it's a better device.

I probably would have kept the Acer had there been no problems, so it's funny how things work out sometimes.

 

[Bluesalt]

To keep it going, I just stay here quietly watching you guys have fun

 

[stupops]

Just to keep it even more going I wish I had upgraded sooner. The Surface 2 is so much quicker and snappier than the original. Good work and to be had at a decent price these days!

 

[Lindsay]

currently using Surface Pro 2, really love using it,

 

[pparks1]

Wife has iPad Air, son has iPad mini, daughter mostly uses my MacBook Pro. I might splurge on a surface pro 4 when they come out. I've git a Surface Pro 1 at work, but I don't really care much for it.

 

[dperecky]

originally purchased a 8" WinBook TW802 Tablet even though i read the reviews beforehand about quality. I just chalked it up to their bad luck. Maybe it was... dunno. All I know is that the power jack started to get loose, after a month. Yes, I could take it for a replacement, but my data is on it, and foolishly, is not encrypted. I read that they are made by a major computer manufacturer. But the company does not put their logo on them. Could be a bad sign.

Upgraded to a Surface 3 (not Pro)... mostly for the quality. It's expensive, but I feel like I'm saving money by not going Pro. I like the 10.9" screen. I find it much easier to type on. I'm not sure I want the MS keyboard that's designed for it.... as I really like how quiet it is right now. i.e. in just using the on-screen kboard.

Going from an 8" screen to a 10.9" and to 10 touch-points makes, for me, a big difference in the ease of use of the tablet experience.