Windows 8 Tablets: iPad killer? iPad Competitor? Windows Killer?

[Hemi-Cuda]

i'm testing out an HP Elitepad at work, and so far i'm very impressed with it. being able to load Windows 8 Enterprise on it with Office 2013 (and Visio 2013), DirectAccess (always on VPN), and being able to seemlessly manage it with SCCM is awesome. one more business executives start to play with them and see how much more powerful they are in an enterprise setting than an iPad, i think you'll start to see sales pick up

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by chemgear

Gotta take this with a grain of salt. I also wonder if this is actual sales or more of the BS "shipped" numbers people always mistakenly take as sales to end customers. Either way, ouch.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/20309...ion-units.html

Microsoft's Surface RT and Surface Pro haven't made much of a dent in the tablet market, according to unofficial sales estimates.

So far, Microsoft has sold roughly 1.5 million Surface devices

I think Microsoft never intended to be a hardware seller, they just put out the device to show people what was possible with the new OS.

[nik-]

They're just too expensive. $800+ for a decent one? That's laptop territory. When you're looking at spending $800 on tech, you're getting to the price bracket where you might just buy another toy.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by nik-

They're just too expensive. $800+ for a decent one? That's laptop territory. When you're looking at spending $800 on tech, you're getting to the price bracket where you might just buy another toy.

what? the Dell Latitude 10 with full Windows 8 has a base price of $500

http://www.dell.com/us/p/latitude-10...pd.aspx?~ck=mn

[nik-]

Oops ... I thought this was the Surface thread.

[Brannigans Law]

I thought id ask this here in case it was a windows 8 setting. My gfs laptop, a sony windows 8, is an LED backlit screen. I swear when i surf or change screens fast the brightness adjusts on the fly as i scroll down or change screens. Is this just a crumby laptop, a winodws setting, an LED vs LCD thing, or am i crazy?

I've already turned off the sony vaio auto brightness adjust too, in case anyone thinks thats the problem. Thanks for any input.

[TorqueDog]

The VAIO auto-brightness is for adjusting the brightness of the panel when the ambient light conditions change. The content on the screen shouldn't change a thing where that is concerned.

I suspect there is a feature built into the display drivers similar to that of television sets with dynamic contrast ratios. You'll need to dig around in there.

[Brannigans Law]

Dynamic contrast is the effing devil. I can't turn that feature off soon enough on any TV I see.

[TorqueDog]

Likewise. I always run any new TV and/or AV component through the AVS HD 709 calibration patterns as soon as I get the chance.

[Mike F]

Anyone pick up a Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro (700 Series)?

I went and saw a Surface Pro today and liked it, but was surprised with how small it seemed. The ATIV gives you an extra inch.

[TorqueDog]

I don't have the Pro, just the Samsung ATIV Smart PC (Atom CPU vs i5) you can get from Rogers. I really quite like the device.

[Brannigans Law]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Likewise. I always run any new TV and/or AV component through the AVS HD 709 calibration patterns as soon as I get the chance.

Neat toy I'm going to try it now right meow

[sa226]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

I don't have the Pro, just the Samsung ATIV Smart PC (Atom CPU vs i5) you can get from Rogers. I really quite like the device.

Do you find it underpowered at all? I'm very intrigued by the Windows 8 tablets, but I'm somewhat hesitant to dive in until the devices mature a bit.

I also despise lag of any kind.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by sa226

Do you find it underpowered at all? I'm very intrigued by the Windows 8 tablets, but I'm somewhat hesitant to dive in until the devices mature a bit.

I also despise lag of any kind.

I'm quite happy with it actually.

I run a full copy of Office 2013 on the device, I use OneNote for taking notes when meeting with clients and PowerPoint for presenting straight from the device, and when I travel, I use it for watching TV show episodes and movies (1080p HD MKVs) on the plane. It's very snappy and responsive, and the battery life is awesome. Hell, I was running late to the office one day so I joined a Lync call on it over the LTE cellular network with audio and HD video while I had tons of other crap in the background and it wasn't phased in the slightest.

Best of all, it's x86-based (not an ARM processor) so I can run normal applications on it. I am the sort of user who will find the breaking point of a device like this. I mean, temper your expectations, don't expect to run VMs on it or play any serious games.

sclitheroe got to play with it a little bit at the office a couple weeks ago, I don't know if he got to try it enough, but he can attest to its responsiveness if he did.

I think the ATIV Smart PC is a true iPad killer in functionality, and - in my opinion - the Surface RT would be as well if the RT was x86-based and not ARM-based.

[Mike F]

Reviws I've read complain about the keyboard, and in particular with the tablet easily becoming un-docked. What's your take?

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

I'm quite happy with it actually.

I run a full copy of Office 2013 on the device, I use OneNote for taking notes when meeting with clients and PowerPoint for presenting straight from the device, and when I travel, I use it for watching TV show episodes and movies (1080p HD MKVs) on the plane. It's very snappy and responsive, and the battery life is awesome. Hell, I was running late to the office one day so I joined a Lync call on it over the LTE cellular network with audio and HD video while I had tons of other crap in the background and it wasn't phased in the slightest.

Best of all, it's x86-based (not an ARM processor) so I can run normal applications on it. I am the sort of user who will find the breaking point of a device like this. I mean, temper your expectations, don't expect to run VMs on it or play any serious games.

sclitheroe got to play with it a little bit at the office a couple weeks ago, I don't know if he got to try it enough, but he can attest to its responsiveness if he did.

I think the ATIV Smart PC is a true iPad killer in functionality, and - in my opinion - the Surface RT would be as well if the RT was x86-based and not ARM-based.

Agree with this totally.

Not so much that it would be possible to kill the iPad, but it would bring the machine automatically to the same level as far as marketability and universal appeal. However, when you add the extra cost to get that power in the Surface Pro, it becomes a lot less clear.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Agree with this totally.

Not so much that it would be possible to kill the iPad, but it would bring the machine automatically to the same level as far as marketability and universal appeal. However, when you add the extra cost to get that power in the Surface Pro, it becomes a lot less clear.

Microsoft isn't worried about killing the iPad or even selling a ton of Surfaces. all they wanted to do was to prove what Windows 8 can do on a tablet, a base design that their partners can build from. very similar to the original Nexus phone from Google

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Microsoft isn't worried about killing the iPad or even selling a ton of Surfaces. all they wanted to do was to prove what Windows 8 can do on a tablet, a base design that their partners can build from. very similar to the original Nexus phone from Google

I agree.

However, having a full Windows OS on a powerful x86 tablet (MS made or not) that was priced the same as an iPad would be a good thing for Windows, and maybe a bad thing for Apple in the long run.

[sclitheroe]

I'm still waiting for my 7-8" $329 Windows RT Metro-only tablet. I don't want a desktop on my tablet. I want pure-Metro without the legacy trappings of the Win32 Desktop GUI that is affordable.

Maybe I'm waiting for the Windows Phone OS to grow up, rather than Win 8 RT to grow down, but it seems to me that this is the crux of the problem in the RT tablet space - it's neither beast nor fowl. The logical progression in my mind is Phone -> RT mid-sized tablet -> Surface Pro, and the Surface Pro, by virtue of it's better processor and backwards compatibility with Win64/Win32 applications should be the dividing line on including the desktop interface.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Rathji

I agree.

However, having a full Windows OS on a powerful x86 tablet (MS made or not) that was priced the same as an iPad would be a good thing for Windows, and maybe a bad thing for Apple in the long run.

Memory Express has the Asus VivoTab Smart for $500

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX43623

the HP Envy x2 can be had for $650

http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.a...AID=1889450865

i think i'm leaning towards the HP Envy for myself. it's more expensive, but has the best build quality of any Windows tablet and comes with the keyboard dock (the ASUS one is sold seperately)

there are two classes in full Windows 8 tablets. the Atom processors, which have lower performance but awesome battery life, and the Intel i3-i5 ones which are laptop replacements with great performance but standard laptop battery life (and they cost more). personally after using an Atom based tablet for the past few weeks, i have no problems with the performance side of things. it plays HD .mkv videos with no problem, browsing with multiple tabs open is quick, and i can use the thing on and off for an entire weekend before it needs a charge