Yeah, really great tablet which is non user-upgradeable and has several drawbacks compared to other tablets like the Ativ Pro. And cool upgrade which broke the tablet. Was worth it! /sarcasm
Excuse me sir, but just about every other tablet on the market is non user-upgradeable... I laughed at this because others have always docked Apple's products for the same. But the difference? They use selant on this and that makes it any less repairable than the ipad? pfft. As far as your comments, I mysefl got a Surface Pro over the weekend, and it's quite refreshing. I too was thinking about upgrading the ssd inside, but with 1TB Passport's around, what's the point?
Did you hear Microshaft stumbled upon new technology? It's called a universal serial bus port, it lets you plug these odd hardware devices in. I just wonder though when Apple will discover this. /sarcasm
In fact just every other tablet with i5 processors (slate, ativ, ep121, etc) are easily user-upgradable (At least for SSD and modem) . Users put 480GB ssd, 3G or 4G modem etc.
Ep121 - Not the easiest upgrade and the tabs break easily (Yep, I've upgraded one) Samsung 7 slate - Forget it! W700 - You have to be VERY careful with this one Samsung Smart pro - Probably the easiest of the bunch.
I've owned two of the tabs above and none of them are 'easy' to upgrade and you invalidate the warranty on ALL OF THEM.
I am sure there are reasons for this. Such maybe Microsoft thought that more than 1k would be too much.. and money had to go to the digitize pen over larger capacity SSD. On my laptop I have 120GB SSD and it's plenty. I have Office, VisualStudio, and many other very large programs, and a few games, and still plenty of space for files and music.
Perhaps on the Surface Pro 2, there can be a panel of sorts under the stand (so that's not visible, where you can change the SSD), I think would be a better idea.
I totally agree. I'd buy a 256Gb version for an extra $100-$150 in a heartbeat. (Although I guess seeing as I'll buy a 128Gb one as soon as I am able to get my hands on one, MS may not give a damn).
A bigger drive consumes more power, and with the anemic battery life of about 4.5 hours now, whatever it would result in would be unacceptable. And, as has been said, the price, which is already too high, would be significantly higher.
The extra power consumption would be negligible compared to the rest of the system. It's likely that a higher price version would have created an image that the surface pro is expensive and that's bad PR for a system's first try. They don't want to get a reputation for costing too much. They will likely quietly introduce the 256GB version in a couple months so nobody who writes for a living really notices except enthusiasts who could bear the price increase.
But the short battery time and bad upgradability were deal killer for me (Compared to Ativ Pro)
Surface looks way better in terms of build, design and accessories - but Ativ pro has physically larger screen, 2hrs longer battery life (laptopmag reports 6:30ish battery time) and easy SSD upgradability. I saw lots of people put 240GB or even 480GB ssd there.
The rumor is a battery in a keyboard that plugs into the bottom connectors I think is what I heard...
I think I'll probably just get an external battery to plug into since it charges quite fast and I don't like the keyboards... I'm all about handwriting on it for everything, lovin it.
They do have some additional connectors not used yet, so some new accessories are coming. Maybe a proper keyboard dock with additional battery, full sized SD slot and additional USB3.0 ports?
A bigger deal breaker is the poor battery life. Would you rather carry around an additional battery, or have the tablet a bit thicker and a couple or of ounces or three heavier. At 2 pounds, another two or three ounces wouldn't be that noticeable, but an extra half to one hour more battery life would.
nope, donate it to a local nonprofit refurbiser. In my area there is once called Cincinnati Computer Cooperative, and I know other states and localities have their own. These kinds of groups will refurbish anything they can to make available to students, low income families, seniors, nonprofits, or schools. Anything they cannot fix will at least make it into the hands of a recycler instead of a landfill. /end shameless plug :D
No doubt, I think consumers have basically voiced this to Apple for all the versions of the ipad. But ultimately, I think this is a good start for Microshaft. I mean really, they put in that new tech, it's called a "usb port"... seems like they listen better than Crapple
I don't know how the ribbon cable gets attached properly, but both the contacs on the cable and the ones on the display seem solderable. If the contacts on the display are on glass he might be able to solder the cable to the display with solder paste, a hot air soldering station or a temperature controlled normal soldering station and some soldering experience. Else, his idea with the conductive pen seemed the best. He might just make sure that the cable sticks to the display properly, which requires glue between the contacts, which won't be that easy to accomplish.
All in all a tablet with serious poor design decisions.
I am no expert on tablets, but I have had several laptops, game consoles, and GPUs over the years that fail due to heat stress where connections get bad. The problem with repairing these connections is that they are often BGA so that you cannot simply solder it, or they are in sensitive areas where a soldering iron (or at least mine which only has a high or higher setting) is not a delicate enough tool to get in those areas. I have had great success with these types of items with baking them, or using a heat gun which applies a minimum amount of heat necessary to restore the connection, but not so much heat that it is going to damage anything.
The nice thing about a laptop though is that you can remove the screen without trouble in order to bake the rest of it. On the Surface I am not sure if you can repair the damaged part without removing the screen, and I am not sure how the screen would deal with being baked or heated with a heat gun.
Another concern with this is that with most things I have done this with it tends to be a temp fix as the thermal issues that caused the problem do not simply 'go away', so the problem tends to reoccur over a period of time. Perhaps as this was a physical damage issue, and not a thermal damage issue it may not be such a problem, but it is a concern.
SURFACE PRO ROCKS!!! I don't know what the naysayers are talking about. I think that most of them are typing their comments/reviews on an IPad and are bitter. lol!
I now have purchased two of the Surface Pro's..one for me and one for my girlfriend....and it is AWESOME.
I sold IPad (nicest one out currently) and my EVO and went all in with Windows 8 with my phone and a new Surface. They both link perfectly with my home PC and my Xbox account which is really cool actually.
It is 1000x more responsive than my IPad was and the phone crushes my EVO droid phone too. I know people say there aren't a lot of apps yet, but jeez most of the apps on the IOS store are crap anyway.
Plus, now you can use Bluestacks app to run an emulator on the Surface Pro and you can run 750,000 droid apps on your Surface Pro anyway (I tested it and it worked perfectly instantly) so you have more apps than you will ever use.
I got office365 and now my girl and me have all of our docs on every device wherever we are and we both have skydrive and share some folders on it for pics and other stuff which is great too.
The main thing I think Microsoft is missing is advertising this new Tablet/Laptop to the gaming market too. they are missing the boat!!!
I loaded in Diablo III over the weekend on both of our Surface Pro's at home and my girlfriend and I both leveled up past level 15 and the touch interface actually works perfectly with the way Diablo III has you move. I know I could have run it at the highest settings on my home PC, but the Surface Pro ran Diablo at the HIGH settings and I just turned off the high end shadowing and it doesn't lag at all.
It can also run Guild Wars 2, Portal 2, World of Warcraft and countless other games that you NEVER could run on any other tablet other than the newest ones and frankly people using an IPad can stick with Angry Birds. lol!
Just saying that most of the people griping about the Surface Pro are haters and haven't even really used one yet. The integration at my work is seamless too and this year you will see huge migration to it in the corporate world. Flexibility, portability and integration into the enterprise world that microsoft already owns.
Below I have two list one containing the things I love about the Surface Pro followed by a list of the bugs I would like MS to fix with the Surface Pro. Things I love about the Surface Pro: Touch! Perfect size (minimal/small) and single thing to carry for everything including keyboard/cover. Superfast! Fast Boot time (a few seconds) Fast SSD (200 MB/sec writes, 500 MB/sec reads, ran atto246 benchmark) Basically a desktop in tablet form. Awesome IPS screen that is optically bonded and high resolution Killer case Vapor Mg coated (can be dropped with minimal to no damage from waist high) Type Cover is awesome Fast USB 3.0 Has micro SXDC slot for up to 64 GB I can sync my Windows 8 Phone to it (Any phone manufacturer that supports windows platform) Has external video connections that works HD for very high resolution output to TV or monitor Metro Interface Rocks Start Screen is way better than start button Windows 8 Pro (Runs my full development software suite like IIS, MSMQ, SQL Server, Visual Studio 2012 etc., connects, integrates, and is secure through domain) Runs Office Pro (you have to buy) Online Stores to download apps and content from Xbox Music (unlimited cloud based music storage I have 30 GB+ up there, pretty much unlimited free music, requires annual subscription) Xbox Games (Starting to deliver more and more) Xbox Glass control and interact with Xbox as a second device cool with things like Netflix especially. Skydrive (Great place for your data for personal and sharing, 7 GB free)
The Surface Pro Bugs I wish MS would fix ASAP in order of annoyance: Mouse hangs under various and many conditions (have to right click or switch to start screen to get it back) Touch Scrolling snags then scrolls fast (happens after a very brief period of inactivity of scrolling) Screen goes to sleep when plugged in even when Power Options set to performance and never sleep or dim screen Wifi switching from phone tethering to home Wifi or coming back from sleep acts like its connected but it is not and needs disconnected and re-connected sometimes/randomly Private Firewall disabled re-enables on its own after reboot (may have been an update that caused this, seems to stay disable now) Gets sluggish after long periods of use with MS Solitaire which I believe is heat related slowing down the CPU/Graphics due to temperature Gets sluggish to SDD in explorer when playing music at the same time with Xbox Music under My Music with locally stored music not streaming Magnetic Power connector is too difficult to connect always No documentation or indication on Surface Pro of which direction to insert micro SXDC chip When using graphics intensive software/gaming temperatures get too hot Sometimes Type Cover disconnects or is not recognized Apps from online store are limited selection and buggy but are getting more and more and quality is getting better
I dont have most of the problems listed. But the wifi problem is there, hope they fix it in the next update like RT. Also when type cover is not detected, you can just tilt it towards the screen a bit more and it'll re-enable it. And I have to agree, magnetic power is hard to connect when it is facing DOWN. No problem when facing UP. Also the app store apps low quality are due to lazy developers. There are some well designed apps and they are really awesome to use.
I just wanted to let you know that most of the bugs you described have been fixed via Firmware updates via Windows Update. I've noticed that Microsoft is committed to this surface and is continuing to fix its known bugs....
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sensiballfeel - Sunday, February 17, 2013 - link
Seems like a good tablet and a cool upgrade.UpSpin - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
Yeah, really great tablet which is non user-upgradeable and has several drawbacks compared to other tablets like the Ativ Pro.And cool upgrade which broke the tablet. Was worth it!
/sarcasm
Kungpaoshizi - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
Excuse me sir, but just about every other tablet on the market is non user-upgradeable... I laughed at this because others have always docked Apple's products for the same. But the difference? They use selant on this and that makes it any less repairable than the ipad? pfft.As far as your comments, I mysefl got a Surface Pro over the weekend, and it's quite refreshing. I too was thinking about upgrading the ssd inside, but with 1TB Passport's around, what's the point?
Did you hear Microshaft stumbled upon new technology? It's called a universal serial bus port, it lets you plug these odd hardware devices in. I just wonder though when Apple will discover this.
/sarcasm
nerd1 - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
In fact just every other tablet with i5 processors (slate, ativ, ep121, etc) are easily user-upgradable (At least for SSD and modem) . Users put 480GB ssd, 3G or 4G modem etc.damianrobertjones - Tuesday, February 19, 2013 - link
Ep121 - Not the easiest upgrade and the tabs break easily (Yep, I've upgraded one)Samsung 7 slate - Forget it!
W700 - You have to be VERY careful with this one
Samsung Smart pro - Probably the easiest of the bunch.
I've owned two of the tabs above and none of them are 'easy' to upgrade and you invalidate the warranty on ALL OF THEM.
nerd1 - Tuesday, February 19, 2013 - link
Owned ep121 and slate myself- they only require careful prying to crack open, not a heatgun like surface pro.damianrobertjones - Tuesday, February 19, 2013 - link
You might find that changing the msata on the Ativ pro will invalidate your warranty.forextor - Sunday, February 17, 2013 - link
Why didn't microsoft offer 240Gb Intel SSD in the first place? I am sure there is demand for it even though the price might be a little bit expensive.GoodBytes - Sunday, February 17, 2013 - link
I am sure there are reasons for this. Such maybe Microsoft thought that more than 1k would be too much.. and money had to go to the digitize pen over larger capacity SSD.On my laptop I have 120GB SSD and it's plenty. I have Office, VisualStudio, and many other very large programs, and a few games, and still plenty of space for files and music.
Perhaps on the Surface Pro 2, there can be a panel of sorts under the stand (so that's not visible, where you can change the SSD), I think would be a better idea.
scorpian007 - Sunday, February 17, 2013 - link
You're absolutely right, if there's demand for the 128GB iPad, people will definitely buy a 256GB Surface Pro.althaz - Sunday, February 17, 2013 - link
I totally agree. I'd buy a 256Gb version for an extra $100-$150 in a heartbeat. (Although I guess seeing as I'll buy a 128Gb one as soon as I am able to get my hands on one, MS may not give a damn).melgross - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
A bigger drive consumes more power, and with the anemic battery life of about 4.5 hours now, whatever it would result in would be unacceptable. And, as has been said, the price, which is already too high, would be significantly higher.Hubb1e - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
The extra power consumption would be negligible compared to the rest of the system. It's likely that a higher price version would have created an image that the surface pro is expensive and that's bad PR for a system's first try. They don't want to get a reputation for costing too much. They will likely quietly introduce the 256GB version in a couple months so nobody who writes for a living really notices except enthusiasts who could bear the price increase.nerd1 - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
But the short battery time and bad upgradability were deal killer for me (Compared to Ativ Pro)Surface looks way better in terms of build, design and accessories - but Ativ pro has physically larger screen, 2hrs longer battery life (laptopmag reports 6:30ish battery time) and easy SSD upgradability. I saw lots of people put 240GB or even 480GB ssd there.
damianrobertjones - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
I'm hoping that MS releases a battery cover sooner rather than later!Kungpaoshizi - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
The rumor is a battery in a keyboard that plugs into the bottom connectors I think is what I heard...I think I'll probably just get an external battery to plug into since it charges quite fast and I don't like the keyboards... I'm all about handwriting on it for everything, lovin it.
nerd1 - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
They do have some additional connectors not used yet, so some new accessories are coming. Maybe a proper keyboard dock with additional battery, full sized SD slot and additional USB3.0 ports?jabber - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
So what do you do when it fails one week past warranty and it's $500 to repair a dead SSD or screen because it has to go back to the manufacturer?I guess you just toss it in landfill? How eco-unfriendly is that?
We need to make sure gear like this has user replaceable batteries and storage.
So what if it makes the device 2mm thicker. I'll take being able to use such a device for more than 18 months over pure aesthetics.
Disposable and unserviceable tech like this isn't good for anyone except the likes of MS and Apple.
lukarak - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
So what, well, the device is 2mm thicker. A dealbreaker for some.And the device won't go into a landfill, it can be recycled.
melgross - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
A bigger deal breaker is the poor battery life. Would you rather carry around an additional battery, or have the tablet a bit thicker and a couple or of ounces or three heavier. At 2 pounds, another two or three ounces wouldn't be that noticeable, but an extra half to one hour more battery life would.JeffFlanagan - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
>And the device won't go into a landfill, it can be recycled.You haven't met very many people, have you?
Anything small enough to hide in garbage will wind up in a landfill.
jabber - Tuesday, February 19, 2013 - link
Exactly! Too much effort to take it down to the local recycling centre.Much easier to smash it and throw it in the trash with all the rest.
Not good. Plus why would I want to recycle my $900 tablet after just say 14 months?
Wouldn't it be better if I could swap the battery myself?
CaedenV - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
nope, donate it to a local nonprofit refurbiser. In my area there is once called Cincinnati Computer Cooperative, and I know other states and localities have their own. These kinds of groups will refurbish anything they can to make available to students, low income families, seniors, nonprofits, or schools. Anything they cannot fix will at least make it into the hands of a recycler instead of a landfill./end shameless plug :D
Kungpaoshizi - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
No doubt, I think consumers have basically voiced this to Apple for all the versions of the ipad. But ultimately, I think this is a good start for Microshaft.I mean really, they put in that new tech, it's called a "usb port"... seems like they listen better than Crapple
nerd1 - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
Surface is not any thinner than other core i5 tablets.damianrobertjones - Tuesday, February 19, 2013 - link
Then please feel free to add your thoughts to EVERY single iPad articleUpSpin - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
I don't know how the ribbon cable gets attached properly, but both the contacs on the cable and the ones on the display seem solderable. If the contacts on the display are on glass he might be able to solder the cable to the display with solder paste, a hot air soldering station or a temperature controlled normal soldering station and some soldering experience.Else, his idea with the conductive pen seemed the best. He might just make sure that the cable sticks to the display properly, which requires glue between the contacts, which won't be that easy to accomplish.
All in all a tablet with serious poor design decisions.
CaedenV - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
I am no expert on tablets, but I have had several laptops, game consoles, and GPUs over the years that fail due to heat stress where connections get bad. The problem with repairing these connections is that they are often BGA so that you cannot simply solder it, or they are in sensitive areas where a soldering iron (or at least mine which only has a high or higher setting) is not a delicate enough tool to get in those areas. I have had great success with these types of items with baking them, or using a heat gun which applies a minimum amount of heat necessary to restore the connection, but not so much heat that it is going to damage anything.The nice thing about a laptop though is that you can remove the screen without trouble in order to bake the rest of it. On the Surface I am not sure if you can repair the damaged part without removing the screen, and I am not sure how the screen would deal with being baked or heated with a heat gun.
Another concern with this is that with most things I have done this with it tends to be a temp fix as the thermal issues that caused the problem do not simply 'go away', so the problem tends to reoccur over a period of time. Perhaps as this was a physical damage issue, and not a thermal damage issue it may not be such a problem, but it is a concern.
rifky - Tuesday, February 19, 2013 - link
How to use the internet withot wi-fi in the blackberry 64Gb play book?pls help me in this problem quickly.
rifky - Tuesday, February 19, 2013 - link
can we use the internet through using dongles in Blackberry 64Gb play book?when we have'nt wi-fi connection...
techgeekster - Tuesday, February 19, 2013 - link
SURFACE PRO ROCKS!!! I don't know what the naysayers are talking about. I think that most of them are typing their comments/reviews on an IPad and are bitter. lol!I now have purchased two of the Surface Pro's..one for me and one for my girlfriend....and it is AWESOME.
I sold IPad (nicest one out currently) and my EVO and went all in with Windows 8 with my phone and a new Surface. They both link perfectly with my home PC and my Xbox account which is really cool actually.
It is 1000x more responsive than my IPad was and the phone crushes my EVO droid phone too. I know people say there aren't a lot of apps yet, but jeez most of the apps on the IOS store are crap anyway.
Plus, now you can use Bluestacks app to run an emulator on the Surface Pro and you can run 750,000 droid apps on your Surface Pro anyway (I tested it and it worked perfectly instantly) so you have more apps than you will ever use.
I got office365 and now my girl and me have all of our docs on every device wherever we are and we both have skydrive and share some folders on it for pics and other stuff which is great too.
The main thing I think Microsoft is missing is advertising this new Tablet/Laptop to the gaming market too. they are missing the boat!!!
I loaded in Diablo III over the weekend on both of our Surface Pro's at home and my girlfriend and I both leveled up past level 15 and the touch interface actually works perfectly with the way Diablo III has you move. I know I could have run it at the highest settings on my home PC, but the Surface Pro ran Diablo at the HIGH settings and I just turned off the high end shadowing and it doesn't lag at all.
It can also run Guild Wars 2, Portal 2, World of Warcraft and countless other games that you NEVER could run on any other tablet other than the newest ones and frankly people using an IPad can stick with Angry Birds. lol!
Just saying that most of the people griping about the Surface Pro are haters and haven't even really used one yet. The integration at my work is seamless too and this year you will see huge migration to it in the corporate world. Flexibility, portability and integration into the enterprise world that microsoft already owns.
Great job, Microsoft!!!
Falcon_CMH - Wednesday, February 20, 2013 - link
Below I have two list one containing the things I love about the Surface Pro followed by a list of the bugs I would like MS to fix with the Surface Pro.Things I love about the Surface Pro:
Touch!
Perfect size (minimal/small) and single thing to carry for everything including keyboard/cover.
Superfast!
Fast Boot time (a few seconds)
Fast SSD (200 MB/sec writes, 500 MB/sec reads, ran atto246 benchmark)
Basically a desktop in tablet form.
Awesome IPS screen that is optically bonded and high resolution
Killer case Vapor Mg coated (can be dropped with minimal to no damage from waist high)
Type Cover is awesome
Fast USB 3.0
Has micro SXDC slot for up to 64 GB
I can sync my Windows 8 Phone to it (Any phone manufacturer that supports windows platform)
Has external video connections that works HD for very high resolution output to TV or monitor
Metro Interface Rocks
Start Screen is way better than start button
Windows 8 Pro (Runs my full development software suite like IIS, MSMQ, SQL Server, Visual Studio 2012 etc., connects, integrates, and is secure through domain)
Runs Office Pro (you have to buy)
Online Stores to download apps and content from
Xbox Music (unlimited cloud based music storage I have 30 GB+ up there, pretty much unlimited free music, requires annual subscription)
Xbox Games (Starting to deliver more and more)
Xbox Glass control and interact with Xbox as a second device cool with things like Netflix especially.
Skydrive (Great place for your data for personal and sharing, 7 GB free)
The Surface Pro Bugs I wish MS would fix ASAP in order of annoyance:
Mouse hangs under various and many conditions (have to right click or switch to start screen to get it back)
Touch Scrolling snags then scrolls fast (happens after a very brief period of inactivity of scrolling)
Screen goes to sleep when plugged in even when Power Options set to performance and never sleep or dim screen
Wifi switching from phone tethering to home Wifi or coming back from sleep acts like its connected but it is not and needs disconnected and re-connected sometimes/randomly
Private Firewall disabled re-enables on its own after reboot (may have been an update that caused this, seems to stay disable now)
Gets sluggish after long periods of use with MS Solitaire which I believe is heat related slowing down the CPU/Graphics due to temperature
Gets sluggish to SDD in explorer when playing music at the same time with Xbox Music under My Music with locally stored music not streaming
Magnetic Power connector is too difficult to connect always
No documentation or indication on Surface Pro of which direction to insert micro SXDC chip
When using graphics intensive software/gaming temperatures get too hot
Sometimes Type Cover disconnects or is not recognized
Apps from online store are limited selection and buggy but are getting more and more and quality is getting better
bountygiver - Saturday, March 9, 2013 - link
I dont have most of the problems listed. But the wifi problem is there, hope they fix it in the next update like RT.Also when type cover is not detected, you can just tilt it towards the screen a bit more and it'll re-enable it.
And I have to agree, magnetic power is hard to connect when it is facing DOWN. No problem when facing UP.
Also the app store apps low quality are due to lazy developers. There are some well designed apps and they are really awesome to use.
Freibergs2002 - Saturday, April 13, 2013 - link
Hey ---I just wanted to let you know that most of the bugs you described have been fixed via Firmware updates via Windows Update. I've noticed that Microsoft is committed to this surface and is continuing to fix its known bugs....
Source:
http://www.microsoft.com/Surface/en-US/support/per...
yos123 - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
Surface pro is a great tablet by all means.. I haven't herd any complaints so far. www.windows8web.com/surface-pro