Surface pro 1 worth buying ?
I have the Surface Pro 2, and I think it is a fantastic device. Touch and pen works well everywhere. I don't know what DyGr00339 is talking about. I can't find any threads that say anything in that area.
The Surface Pro 2 is one freaking fast system. Unlike other manufactures, nothing was cheaped out. You have a truly fast SSD, one of the fastest around in mSATA format for the capacity at the consumer level, great screen with excellent response time, cool and quiet operation (for what it is and what it has inside as power), even if the fans kicks in (rare event). The system is junk free, and does indeed showcase the best Windows experience you can get. Build quality is there, and is impressive. The pen is excellent as well. This is the best pen integration that I have ever experience on a on screen digitize pen. It's almost as good as a Wacom (well Surface Pro 1/2 uses Wacom technology), tablet. I am saying almost because unlike the Wacom tablets, yo don't have a super large boarder around the pen area, which is in reality an extension to the sensor to track the pen properly on corners. So it's not great there, but as you don't write or really draw on corners, it is fine, and all Wacom digitizer on screen have this issue, because the entire pen is used to track where it is. So on corners, the pen is out. And no one wants to use a 4 inch bordered device. The pen is fast and responsive. If you try to do a circle, it will show as a circle.. not an decagon (octagon but with 10 sides instead of 8) or something.
The device, while 2 lbs, is well balanced, making it more comfortable to hold. You don't feel it will tip over in a direction. Anything you can do on your desktop PC, you can do on the Surface Pro 1/2. Well.. beside gaming. It is Intel integrated graphics after all. You can play most indi games fine. you can check out youtube for a bunch of video playing games on it. However if you play games, expect to use keyboard and mouse, and not the touch screen. Only games from the Windows 8 App Store, will work with touch properly. The desktop side, beside for Civ5, aren't designed for touch screens, for it won't work. You do have GestureWorks you can get, which give iPad style controls, so it might work for some games.
https://gameplay.gestureworks.com/
Worth a try/look.
The Surface Pro 1 is similarly fast. It is older, and uses Intel older generation processor, of course. So it is slower, but not by much. It is hotter, and consumes more power, hence the lower battery life. I would not recommend it, here is why:
-> The device stand has only 1 angle, and I know that if I was limited to it with my Surface Pro 2, I would not be happy. You need the second angle. It helps for more comfortable usage, and reduce reflections.
-> The device short battery life does not allow a single school day of usage. You will need to buy the Power Cover keyboard, which isn't out yet, which is a keyboard (physical keys) with a battery inside. Microsoft estimate the price at 200$... for 200$, might as well just get the Surface Pro 2.
I use my Surface Pro 2 for note taking at university and programming (work, personal project and school, when I am on the go), and I feel like I am using my desktop. Fast and smooth.
I use OneNote 2013 part of Office 2013, for class note taking. I find it is the best note taking software available.
If I had to to buy another system today, I would buy another Surface Pro 2, without a doubt.
Is it a perfect system? No. It does have minor issues. But, I can assure you, that you mention to me any other products, and I can give you a list of issues that will most likely wont' be fixed by the manufacture as they usually don't, unless it affects sales, and engineering problems that can't be fixed. While Microsoft, in the other hand, is actively working improving the device.. even the Surface Pro 1 got an update recently to improve things. This is good news.
I would also suggest to get the extended warranty from Microsoft. as it covers also accidental damages (up to 2 times, there is a 50$ fee though, but sure beats 492$ for repair, as that is the price that Microsoft charges for any part that needs to be replaced out of warranty). The way I see it. It's the standard shipping cost. When I had to send my Wii out of warranty to Nintendo, I had to pay at the FedEx 25$ to have ti shipped. so 25$ x2 to get it back.. 50$. Not bad. The extended warranty is 150$ only. It's cheaper than BestBuy and other big retail store offering, which don't cover accidental damage. You can buy the accidental damage protection later on. I THINK you have 90 days, but not sure.
If you are a student and have an e-mail from school, be sure to CALL Microsoft to get validated as a student and a 10% off the Surface Pro 2.
In note taking at university, I have about 8-9h of usage with my Pro 2, with wireless ON, web surfing, checking e-mail with Outlook every now and then, the display at minimum, or 30% varies depending on the class I am in. I also record a class. I have a teacher that i have trouble understanding, so I record the class and listen afterward slowly and complete my notes. So pretty damn good.
If you have any questions, just ask.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now