A month with my Surface RT
Surface RT, Windows 8 By Dave Ward. Posted November 26, 2012If you follow me on Twitter, you probably know that I’ve been playing with a shiny new Microsoft Surface RT that I’ve had for about a month now. I’ve had a bunch of requests for a post about my experience with it thus far, so here we go…
Since I had a few weeks to write it, this post grew a little bit out of control. Sorry in advance for the wall of text. To hopefully compensate a bit, here’s an index of the major sections:
- Windows 8 RT
- Hardware
- Touch and Type Covers
- ClearType Display
- Apps
- Performance
- Battery Life
- WiFi
- Conclusion
In an unsurprising twist ending, I wrote the first few drafts of this entire post on my Surface RT. I used the Touch Cover for most of it, and then picked up a Type Cover toward the end and used that for the rest.
I tried to write a post like this soon after receiving my original iPad, but was not successful due to a combination of the pain that comes along with long-form writing on a screen-board and the tedious multi-app workflow in iOS — it’s definitely possible, but it’s a task that requires more determination than I could muster at the time.
By contrast, Windows 8 and the physical keyboard made writing this on the Surface RT nearly indistinguishable from writing on my 13″ laptop. If you want a tl;dr for the next 6,500 words, I think that sums it up pretty well.
Windows 8 RT
At its heart, I think the Surface RT is at least as much about showcasing Windows 8 on quasi-reference hardware as it is about that hardware itself.
Having used iOS and Android tablets almost daily for a couple years, Windows 8 is the best tablet operating system I’ve used yet. There’s really no comparison. Once you learn the new gestures well enough to use them effortlessly, Windows 8 makes those older operating systems feel as dated as they look.
Even the simplest things — like accessing application settings and sharing features in a consistent location in the right-hand charms bar — are welcome improvements over the chaos that has been encroaching further and further into iOS’ UX for the past few years.
Multitasking is a pleasure. Swiping to cycle through open apps is neat, but I prefer the swipe left-right-left gesture that displays a temporary sidebar of open apps (and the “missing” Start Menu) on the left. From there, you can jump directly to the app you want instead of cycling through the ones in between. After an hour or two, using that gesture and sidebar became completely unconscious, even though I almost never use that approach on my Windows 8 desktop machine. By comparison, the iOS and Android approaches to multitasking now feels downright archaic.
It’s difficult to put such a visceral UX difference into words. It’s hard to take my iPad seriously anymore, after using the Surface RT. Even though the iPad does have more apps, they all seem to be constrained inside an overall interface that often makes them feel like a child’s toy. By comparison, using Windows 8 on the Surface feels like I’m using a high quality tool — which is what I want. I have enough toys already.
Touch
If you told me a year ago that I’d be using a laptop with a capacitive screen and actually touching the screen on a regular basis, I wouldn’t have believed you. The idea of touching the screen on a regular PC has never made much sense to me no matter how many times I’ve seen staged demos.
After just a few hours of using the Surface, I realized that I was reaching up from the keyboard to tap and scroll without thinking about it on a regular basis. Having a responsive touch screen a few inches from where my fingers naturally rest on the Touch Cover completely changes what feels natural.
So often on web pages, there’s a button or link that you can’t readily activate via keyboard, but tapping it is quick and easy when you’re already looking right at it.
Beyond simple button tapping, the system-wide gestures in Windows 8 are often effort multipliers compared to traditional keyboard and mouse inputs. A quick right-left swipe from the left edge shows thumbnails of open programs and then tapping the one you want to focus is usually faster than flipping through them all with Alt + Tab or hunting and clicking with the mouse.
Similarly, swiping down in Internet Explorer 10 to see thumbnails of open tabs and tapping on one is faster and more useful than cycling through them with Ctrl + Tab. On the Surface’s relatively narrow 16:9 display, it’s great that you don’t have to waste screen real estate on things like the address bar and open tabs while you’re using a particular tab.
A litany of relatively small things — as simple as being able to slide the volume slider up and down via touch after pressing the hardware button — all add up to a level of UI polish that you would normally expect from a more mature product.
Metro
The new “Modern UI” (aka Metro) interface in Windows 8 is at its best on a tablet. It’s easy to navigate, live tiles optionally provide useful ambient information, and it truly does feel modern. The grid of icons on my iPad reminds me of Windows 3.11 after using the Surface for a couple weeks. Not to mention how frustrating the arbitrary page breaks become after you’re accustomed to seamlessly scrolling across Windows 8′s landscape of tiles.
Being able to pin apps to the side was a lifesaver as I wrote this post. Often, I pinned Evernote to the left 1/4 while using the right 3/4 for WordPress’ full screen editor. Using Evernote as a scratch area to temporarily hold sections of the post or serve as reference for rewriting a paragraph was something I noticed sorely lacking from iOS’ simplistic take on multitasking when I attempted the same task with my iPad.
Within a week of using the Surface on a daily basis, I even began unconsciously trying to use its top-to-bottom swipe gesture to close apps on my iPhone. The entire interface is surprisingly natural once you get acclimated to it. Not necessarily discoverable for novices, but powerful, efficient, and intuitive if you put some effort into learning how to use it effectively.
Not perfect
Though the new interface is fantastic overall, I did have a couple minor issues using it even after learning all of its new tricks.
The most persistent annoyance is that, to my knowledge, you can’t see the percentage of battery charge remaining unless you flip over to the desktop and tap the battery icon in the system tray. That’s not terribly hard, but it buries the information a few steps away. I much prefer an ambient indicator of exactly what charge is remaining. The simple icon without a numeric percentage is not granular enough to instill confidence (imagine if the fuel gauge on your car dropped directly from 1/4 tank to empty without warning!).
Another thing I found myself missing is iOS’ scroll-to-top feature. In iOS, on both the phone and tablet, you can tap the status bar at the top of the screen to scroll to the top of wherever you happen to be. On web pages and long lists (e.g. my email inbox every morning), that shortcut back to the top is a very useful time saver.
Those are my only serious complaints about the Windows 8 interface after a month of daily use though. That’s impressive for a first generation device and first iteration of something as fundamentally new as Windows 8.
Hardware
Until very recently, one of the PC industry’s greatest failings has been a lack of solidly-constructed, aesthetically pleasing hardware. This year’s latest wave of UltraBooks has finally begun turning that around, but the MacBook Pro and Air still have advantages in some aspects. Similarly, there really hasn’t been a PC (or Android) tablet that compares with the iPad’s industrial design.
The Surface RT has finally made an impressive dent in that status quo. I’ve found it to be every bit as nice in reality as it looks in Microsoft’s advertisements.
The VaporMg case
The Surface’s construction and VaporMg case truly do seem to live up to the marketing hype thus far: It’s as solid as any electronic device you’re likely to ever hold. During one of the launch events, Panos Panay dropped a Surface on the floor from shoulder-height, picked it up, and continued his demo. Steven Sinofsky rode a make-shift Surface RT skateboard. It continued working after CNET froze it for over two hours and cooked an egg on it for another hour after that. I’ve even seen a few stories about Surfaces that have been run over by automobiles and survived with only superficial damage to the case but not the display or innards.
I have not been treating my Surface gently during the past month and haven’t had the slightest worry that it would break. I feel no trepidation tossing it around on semi-soft surfaces without a case, and generally treating it like a tool instead of something pretty and fragile.
Notably, I haven’t seen a single story yet about an accidental drop shattering the front glass like is so common with iDevices.
The kickstand
It’s interesting how much attention Microsoft’s marketing has given to the kickstand. It seems almost odd until you use it regularly, but the kickstand ends up being as integral to the overall experience as its Touch and Type Cover counterparts.
The kickstand’s hinge offers just enough resistance that it never flops open accidentally when you’re moving it around on soft surfaces, but easily opens into place with satisfying tactile feedback when you intentionally give a tug via the recessed groove on the side. Similarly, flipping it closed requires just enough force that you’ll never slip it shut while touching the screen when it’s upright, but shutting it with a squeeze of one hand requires only a comfortable effort.
It would be nice if the kickstand’s angle were more adjustable. Its 22-degree angle is usually pretty good for content creation and I’ve actually made use of its symbiosis with the rear-facing camera’s opposing 22-degree angle a couple times. On the other hand, it props the Surface up a bit steeper than I’d prefer when I’m sitting at a table and reading. However, if I had to choose between how secure and steady the kickstand is currently or a couple more angles, I’d happily take it as is.
Other
The front- and rear-facing cameras are about what you would expect from a tablet. They’re just passable for video conferencing and recording low-end HD video, but forget about using them for still photos of any kind. Neither camera in the Surface RT begins to compare to the camera in any smartphone you’re likely to own in 2012.
I’ve never really cared about the iPad’s lack of a standard I/O port, but the combination of a USB port and Windows’ broad hardware support is more useful than I had expected. Ironically, I even used it to transfer photos from my iPhone without any configuration hassle.
The built-in speakers are underwhelming. I can live with tinny sound from such tiny speakers, and that’s the case with every tablet I’ve used, but the maximum volume is far too quiet. In a noisy environment like a coffee shop or a Microsoft Store, you can barely hear the sound at all. One consolation is that the internal sound hardware does drive headphones with fine volume and quality. I plugged my Bose headphones into it and the sound was loud, clear, and rich. The built-in speakers desperately need an upgrade in the next revision though.
Touch and Type Covers: Surprisingly good
I opted for the bundle that included a 32gb Surface RT and a Touch Cover. I was tempted to also get a Type Cover in case the Touch Cover didn’t work as well as advertised, but decided to make myself to give the lighter, thinner keyboard a fighting chance first. As it turns out, almost no acclimation was necessary. Typing on the Touch Cover is nothing like typing on a real keyboard, but it feels surprisingly natural to me (and I’m picky about my keyboards).
You may have read that laying your fingers on the touch cover’s home row results in unwanted “asdfjkl;” gibberish, but that hasn’t been my experience at all. I can replicate that by forcefully slamming my fingers down onto the home row and wiggling them around a bit, but you’d have to be incredibly ham-fisted to have that problem during normal usage. If anything, I think the “pinky finger” keys take slightly more pressure to activate than I’d prefer for my typing technique, but it’s definitely better to err the side of extra pressure than accidental gibberish.
Probably for the same reason that I felt like significant pressure was necessary, I haven’t had much luck typing on soft surfaces. Using the Touch Cover in my lap or on an ottoman, I couldn’t find a good rhythm.
An unsung benefit of the Surface’s Touch and Type Covers, as compared to Bluetooth keyboards that work with other tablets, is that the Surface’s keyboards draw their power from the Surface itself through the magnetic connector. The tablet-friendly keyboards that companies like Logitech and Zapp sell are nice enough in theory, Bluetooth pairing and 2.4ghz interference aside, but no one talks very much about the extra hassle that comes with keeping the keyboard’s battery charged in addition to the tablet itself. You never have to think about that with the Surface.
Can you hear the words that I’m… typing?
I think that one of the keys to learning to use the Touch Cover is making sure the Surface’s sound isn’t muted. Similar to Windows Phone, the Windows 8 RT on-screen keyboard gives helpful audible feedback as you type — not just monotone clicks that are the same for every key, but varying beeps and bloops for different keys. It’s a surprisingly satisfying feedback mechanism. Over time, you can almost recognize the sound of distinct sequences of letters being entered.
The biggest drawback of a keyboard like the Touch Cover’s is that you don’t get much tactile feedback as key presses are registered. However, if you have the Surface’s sound unmuted, typing on the Touch Cover produces exactly the same audible feedback that the on-screen keyboard does. I was surprised how quickly that audible feedback trained my fingers to calibrate for pressure and rhythm while I typed.
So, do be sure that the device’s sound is audible if you’re trying one in a Microsoft Store or using your own Touch Cover for the first time.
A cover that actually works as a cover
Compared to my iPad’s Smart Cover, which I rarely use as a cover, folding either the Touch or Type Cover over the Surface and carrying it is a great experience. Where the iPad’s cover feels awkward as a stand and flimsy as a cover, the Touch and Type Covers’ single panel makes a great cover and the built-in kickstand is perfect for propping the Surface up at good reading and typing angle on flat surfaces.
A tiny trackpad is better than no trackpad
One nice thing about both the Touch and Type Cover is that they include a tiny, but serviceable, trackpad. You might be skeptical about the usefulness of a trackpad barely bigger than the spacebar when you have an 10.6″ capacitive touch display just a few inches away, but I disagree for one reason: hover.
Years into this supposed post-PC era, a depressing number of websites still depend on the mouseover event for crucial aspects of their functionality. Sometimes you can double-tap those elements, but if hovering reveals an element that isn’t in exactly the same location (e.g. many popup menus), you’re probably out of luck if all you have is touch input.
With the Touch Cover’s trackpad, temporarily fiddling with the mouse pointer allows you to circumnavigate those situations that would otherwise be dead-ends on other tablets.
Type Cover: Perfect
A couple weeks into this experiment, after I thought I’d forced myself to test the Touch Cover thoroughly enough, I also purchased a Type Cover. I’m not going to say very much about the Type Cover other than it’s perfect. I probably wouldn’t change one thing about it.
I use a Logitech diNovo Edge on my desktop PC, which is probably my favorite keyboard of all time. Even coming from that high level of expectation, I found a rhythm on the Type Cover almost immediately and can type at full speed.
If you don’t mind the slight extra thickness and feeling keys move under your fingers when you flip the cover behind the Surface, the Type Cover is good enough to directly replace almost any laptop keyboard and even some desktop keyboards.
Display: ClearType saves the day?
Most of the criticism I’ve seen targeted at the Surface RT has been directed at Microsoft’s decision to use a relatively low resolution display. Compared to the current iPad’s 2,048 x 1,536 resolution, the Surface RT’s 1,366 x 768 sounds pretty disappointing.
Microsoft has responded by saying that several aspects of the Surface RT’s display, ranging from lower reflectivity to ClearType subpixel rendering, negate the resolution difference:
First prong, Microsoft has the best pixel rendering technology in the industry (cleartype 1.0 and 2.0) .. these are exclusive and unique to Windows, it smooths text regardless of pixel count.
Second, we designed a custom 10.6” high-contrast wide-angle screen LCD screen.
Lastly we optically bonded the screen with the thinnest optical stack anywhere on the market.. something which is more commonly done on phones we are doing on Surface. While this is not official, our current Cleartype measurements on the amount of light reflected off the screen is around 5.5%-6.2%, the new IPad has a measurement of 9.9% mirror reflections. Doing a side by side with the new iPad in a consistently lit room, we have had many people see more detail on Surface RT than on the Ipad with more resolution.
It’s easy to interpret that response as misdirection away from the core issue of display resolution, but it doesn’t seem to be wrong in my limited experience. Most of the time, the display looks fantastic. It’s clear, sharp, and images look like they’re closer to the surface of the device’s glass than other tablets that I’ve used.
When viewing photos, video, the start screen, and most native Windows 8 apps, the display looks perfect. Beyond my own experience, no one that I’ve shown my Surface to has had anything but positive comments about the display.
They weren’t joking about the viewing angle
The range of usable viewing angles on the Surface RT is unbelievable. I exclusively use LCD displays with IPS panels, and the Surface RT still has the best off-center viewing quality I’ve ever seen.
I didn’t notice just how well the display looks nearly on-edge until I accidentally left laying face up on a tall kitchen counter one day and walked across the room to do something. Walking back toward the Surface, I realized that even at my ~10-15 degree viewing angle, there was almost no color distortion at all. In fact, it looked almost as bright and legible as if I were holding it at arm’s length directly in front of me.
That may not sound incredibly important, but keep in mind that you’ll be using a tablet in a wide range of positions. Being able to hold it at any comfortable angle and still see the screen clearly is an important feature.
Ambient light sensor
The biggest display-related complaint that I have after a month is that the ambient light sensor is too sensitive.
As with most devices, when you adjust the Surface RT’s display brightness, the device attempts to maintain that relative brightness as ambient lighting conditions change. So, if the lighting where you’re using the Surface at gets brighter, the display also gets brighter to compensate, and vice versa when the ambient lighting dims.
An ambient light sensor is a nice feature for a device that you’re likely to use in a variety of settings, but the Surface’s light sensor has a hair trigger. When I’m using it in a dark room, even the light from bright app or page reflecting back from my face is enough that display reacts as if lighting in the room changed.
At first, the effect is very disconcerting. Seeing the adjustment happen right as you’ve tapped to open an app makes it seem almost like there’s an intermittent problem with the backlight. Over time, I realized what was actually happening and it’s less alarming, but still annoying.
Hopefully, this is something Microsoft can address in a software update.
Apps
Angry Birds Space running on my Surface RT (perfect shot!).
Running Windows 8 on an ARM device means that you can’t install existing x86 software (e.g. Visual Studio, QuickBooks, Comet Cursor…), so Windows 8′s new “apps” are going to be a crucial ingredient in the Surface RT’s success or failure.
Built-in apps: Not bad
When you see the start screen for the first time, you’ll already have a handful of Windows RT apps installed. Those built-in apps include a wide range of Metro-style apps for email, calendaring, photos, news, weather, finance, music, video, and the camera. There are also a few quasi-desktop apps, the desktop version of Internet Explorer 10 and the pre-installed Office 2013 preview.
Most of these built-in apps are passable.
- The People app is sluggish at times and difficult to navigate when you’re viewing dozens of status updates, but it does a pretty good job of what it’s intended to. I’d prefer a dedicated Facebook app to this aggregation though.
- The Calendar app works well enough for my simple needs and its integration with the lock screen is nice. It has kept in sync with my Google Apps account and setup was hassle-free.
- Messaging works well enough for Facebook and MSN (and/or Skype now?) instant messaging. I was disappointed that it doesn’t support Google Chat though — especially since the Mail app does support Google’s services. There doesn’t seem to be a good reason to leave such a popular service unsupported.
- The ancillary apps like Travel, Finance, and Sports work well enough and have led me to discover some interesting content that I probably wouldn’t have found otherwise.
- Contrary to some reviews I’ve read, the Store app has worked well for me. It did give me trouble a couple times, but closing it with a downward swipe and reopening it fixed that (something I’ve experienced quite often in iOS 6′s app store as well, to be fair).
- The SkyDrive app is nice to have right out of the box. Since I used my existing Microsoft account when I set the Surface up initially, I had immediate access to my SkyDrive files.
With most of the built-in apps out of the way, let’s talk about the Mail app. The phrase “unmitigated disaster” comes to mind.
It’s slow. Often, it blanks out the entire message list and reading pane for several seconds after I delete or move a few emails and then redraws the whole thing. The editor’s performance when composing some messages — particularly when replying to a message with a large body of preexisting content — is unbelievably slow. It has trouble with inline images in messages on one of my accounts, prompting me to individually download each inline image and then failing every time. Dealing with multiple emails, whether moving or deleting, is cumbersome. I could go on, but you probably get the idea…
The Mail app is the worst email client I can remember using since Lotus Notes. This app needs to be overhauled and an update pushed out via the Store with absolutely the utmost urgency.
Considering that email is one of the most important tasks I used to use my iPad for, the current state of the Mail app is absolutely unacceptable to me. If anything about the Surface RT drives me back to the iPad, it will most likely be this.
Store: Reminds me of the original iPad
As I mentioned earlier, one of the biggest drawbacks of running Windows 8 on an ARM device is that you can’t install existing x86 apps. With the Windows Store is still in the process of ramping up its inventory of Windows RT apps, that’s an important limitation to understand. Some notable apps like Netflix and Hulu+ are already available, but others like Dropbox and Facebook are conspicuously absent (though the built-in People and Messaging apps attempt to replace the latter).
It’s often suggested that Windows Phone 7.x has struggled to gain traction due in no small part to its lack of corresponding native apps that iOS and Android users enjoy. Following from that, some pundits claim that Windows 8 on ARM will suffer a similar chicken-or-egg problem while bootstrapping its new app store and hardware ecosystem.
I think the app store situation is interesting because it reminds me almost exactly of the iOS app store when the iPad was first released. It’s hard to remember now, but apps targeting the iPad’s screen size were scarce during the months after the iPad’s initial launch. As we all know now, iPads sold like hotcakes and developers responded by filling the iOS app store with compelling apps that took advantage of the iPad’s form factor, but that took time.
I expect that Microsoft’s massive distribution will result in such a proliferation of Windows 8 desktops and laptops that its app store will also become an irresistible development target. As a side effect, even if Windows 8 tablets don’t sell at the same pace that the iPad has immediately, they will still benefit from much of the development that targets Windows 8 as a whole.
Only time will tell, but I think the Windows 8 store is a promising platform.
Internet Explorer 10
While the Store is still ramping up its inventory, Internet Explorer 10 is probably the most important app that ships with the Surface RT.
For example, while there’s no native Facebook app for Windows 8 yet, Facebook’s full desktop website works perfectly well even in the “Metro” version of IE10. The web interfaces to my email accounts have even blunted the agony of using the built-in Mail app somewhat.
Internet Explorer 10 is a surprisingly good browser. It lacks some features that I wish it didn’t, like WebGL, but it’s far and away better than its reputation from years past might suggest. It even supports WebSockets, which you probably wouldn’t expect if you haven’t kept up with IE10′s development.
Testing Internet Explorer 10 on HTML5Test.com.
Even with the recent improvements, IE10 scores an underwhelming 320 at HTML5Test.com. For comparison, Mobile Safari on iOS 6 scores a 386 and Chrome 24 on my Windows desktop comes in at 453. So, IE10 will keep up with almost every mainstream website, but don’t expect it to handle the latest tech demos or sites using advanced HTML5 features.
One thing I’ve noticed is that IE10 seems to prioritize ongoing page rendering more than it does re-rendering the current viewport when you change zoom levels. On many pages I visit, one of the first things I do is zoom and pan to just the text I’m interested in reading. IE10 often leaves that newly-zoomed text heavily pixelated for several seconds before refining it to match the new zoom level. Not a good experience at all. By contrast, Mobile Safari on my iPad always stops everything to immediately re-render fonts when I zoom in on a page.
Hopefully, that’s an IE10 issue that can be solved with a software fix though, and not a long-term problem. I do think it’s a common enough scenario and jarring enough issue that it does need to be addressed long before IE11 though.
Performance
An nVidia Tegra 3 ARM CPU and 2GB of RAM are at the heart of the Surface RT. My experience with native apps, streaming HD video, viewing web pages, and playing games has been mostly smooth and impressive.
Particularly, scrolling across the constantly updating live tiles on the start screen always feels satisfyingly “fast and fluid”. Where I’ve noticed that Android tablets struggle to smoothly juggle animating its widgets and moving them around at the same time, the Windows 8 on the Surface RT never feels slow or sluggish.
Even typing this 6,000+ word post in WordPress’ “visual” editor, all of the text and several images crammed into an HTML textarea, has never appeared to be a challenge for my Surface RT.
Office 2013
There have been some high-visibility complaints about performance in the preview version of Office 2013 that comes pre-installed on this first wave of Surface RT devices. Mine suffered the same problems initially, to the point that even rendering newly typed characters in Word 2013 would often lag seconds behind my keystrokes.
However, installing the RTM version of Office 2013 via Windows Update completely solved the Office performance problems on my device. I even tried creating documents based on some of the more complex templates and typing gibberish as fast as possible at the top of the document (so the rendering engine also had to move the entire document down as a result, which previously exacerbated the performance issue previously), with no visible lag at all.
So, it may be true that the Surface RT’s Tegra 3 processor doesn’t have quite enough horsepower to make up for unoptimized preview code targeted at powerful desktop machines. That’s not something I’m going to hold against it though. Running a fully functional instance of the latest version of Office on an ARM-based processor is quite a feat in any case, and updating to the optimized release version eliminates all of the performance issues that I could reproduce.
Games
One of the first things I tried on day one was installing Cut the Rope and Jetpack Joyride, both of which I’ve played on other platforms. I was disappointed to find intermittently choppy graphics performance in both games — no where near as smooth as the same games on my second generation iPad.
A few days later, I decided to give gaming on the Surface RT a second chance and purchased Angry Birds Space. Since purchases on the Surface transfer over to my other Windows 8 PCs anyway, that $5 investment would at least be worthwhile on my desktop.
I was pleased to find that graphics performance in Angry Birds Space on the Surface RT was nearly flawless — almost indistinguishable from playing the same game on my iPad 2 or Core i7 desktop. Compared to the other two games I had tried, the difference was night and day. The disparity was so great that it even prompted me to spend a few minutes killing processes and trying the other two games again to make sure that I hadn’t inadvertently played them during some background task I was unaware of previously (nope; performance was the same).
A few weeks later, I had the same kind of positive experience with Angry Birds Star Wars (which is surprisingly fun, not a cheesy sellout).
I suspect that Microsoft has been lax about enforcing performance criteria when approving apps that are already popular on other platforms, putting a premium on filling the Store out with apps that iOS and Android have as quickly as possible. Over time, I doubt this will be a serious issue as developers have more time to tune their submissions, and in the shorter term the bad apples are avoidable by using the Store’s trial feature before you buy.
To the cloud!
Speaking of how my Angry Birds Space purchase applied to all of my Windows 8 PCs, so did my progress in the game itself. I happened to install the app on my desktop to see how well it worked with mouse (pretty well) and was surprised to see that I was already credited with the stars and achievements for the levels that I had played earlier on my Surface.
It’s a small thing, but I was impressed. There have been several times that I installed the same iOS game on both my iPad and iPhone, only to be faced with replaying already-defeated levels and losing interest in that proposition almost immediately.
Seamlessly syncing an arbitrary application’s settings and data across multiple devices is going to be a huge differentiating factor for Windows 8 tablets, PCs, Laptops, Windows Phone 8, and the Xbox when compared to the competition’s fragmentation. Microsoft has struggled to find a coherent synchronization story for years, but seems to have finally brought its entire ecosystem into firm alignment this year.
Battery Life
54% remaining after nearly a full day’s use.
The ARM architecture’s key selling point is that it offers adequate performance at low power consumption (and produces less heat as a byproduct). So, one big question about the Surface RT is whether or not the extended battery life is worth the performance loss and significant compromise of not being able to run “legacy” x86 software.
Compared to any other PC running Windows that you’ve used in the past, you will be impressed with Surface RT’s battery life. I haven’t yet managed to deplete a full charge in a single day of moderate use, ranging from light tablet reading, heavy-duty content creation with the keyboard, to playing a few levels of Angry Birds Star Wars, to using Xbox SmartGlass in the living room. You’re basically looking at the same charging cycle as a good smartphone, where you can expect more than a full day of moderate usage, but probably wouldn’t want to try for two full days.
My initial opinion about the Surface RT’s battery life, compared to my iPad 2, wasn’t very favorable. On further reflection, I realized that the Surface’s battery was actually great. The difference is that the Surface is far more useful than the iPad and I’ve been using it more intensively than I have ever used my iPad. I think that says a lot about both the Surface RT and Windows 8.
Heat
Talking about battery life and the ARM architecture’s benefits wouldn’t be complete without talking about heat. The short answer is that there isn’t any.
I was able to make the back panel warm up ever so slightly at one point after I’d played Angry Birds for about fifteen minutes, but it was negligible. I wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t specifically been trying to stress test.
On the flip side of that same coin, I have no idea if the Surface RT even has a fan. I’ve never heard one spin up and heat has never been an issue anyway.
Mag-not-Safe
Speaking of charging the battery, the charging connection needs some work.
When I read that the Surface had a magnetic charging connector, I had visions of Apple’s excellent MagSafe connector. Unfortunately, the Surface RT’s connector, while magnetic, is awkward to connect to the side of the device.
Worse, I always feel like I’m probably scratching the area around the connector when I maneuver it into place (though I haven’t seen any visible wear in the area yet). This really should be improved in the next device — hopefully as soon as the Surface Pro.
WiFi
I’ve always considered WiFi to be a fungible feature. Either it works or not, based primarily on whether or not my device supports the same frequency and standard that the available hotspots do, right?
Not so much, apparently. The dual-antenna WiFi hardware in the Surface RT changed my mind about the varying quality of WiFi hardware after two specific experiences.
No more holding it wrong
As a long-time iPad user, one thing that can be incredibly annoying, at least with my iPad 2, is that holding it “wrong” significantly hampers its WiFi performance. Unfortunately for me, the way I preferred to hold my iPad happens to be exactly the “wrong” way. I try to avoid holding it that way, but my hand usually slips back into that position every few minutes and websites stop loading. If I move my left hand, everything starts working great again.
At first, I didn’t believe that could possibly be the case. I always assume coincidence with these things until I can prove otherwise. However, running SpeedTest and varying my hand position confirmed my suspicions.
On the contrary, I can’t find a way to hold the Surface RT that impacts WiFi performance in the least. It’s a small thing, but a nicety that compounds over time.
Can you hear me now?
Since the Surface RT doesn’t support a cellular data connection, being able to reliably connect to WiFi is important. Almost immediately, I ran into a perfect example of how exceptional the Surface’s WiFi support is.
There’s a local restaurant a few miles from me that has a great patio where I can take the dog for a late lunch, relax, and catch up on email for a bit. The only problem is that the WiFi there is terrible. With my MacBook Air, I can only connect to it about half the time (and only if I sit in a particular seat) and it’s painfully slow even then. My iPhone and iPad won’t connect to it at all. Usually, they don’t even detect that the network is available.
With the Surface, I can sit anywhere on the patio and connect right up with 2-3 bars of signal strength. I had hoped for at least a reliably minimal connection with the Surface’s dual-antenna setup, but that result surpassed my expectations to be sure.
Sure, the root problem here is that the restaurant has their WiFi hotspot buried in the back of the building somewhere, but that’s hardly the exception. Not many businesses prioritize WiFi coverage, so the Surface’s ability to lock onto a weak signal and make the best of a bad scenario is welcome.
Conclusion
It’s been a few years since Ballmer first unveiled Microsoft’s “three screens and the cloud” strategy, but I’ve never really been very convinced by that vision very fully until these past few weeks. In a household with a litany of iDevices and a MacBook Air, like mine, an unproven device like the Surface RT is not an easy sell. Though I develop primarily on the Microsoft web platform, I’ve never been one to buy Microsoft products in other segments just for the sake of brand loyalty.
Yet, I recently realized that not only have I completely stopped using my iPad, I haven’t even turned on my MacBook Air since the Surface arrived. For my needs, the Surface RT really is that good. In fact, the integration between my Windows 8 desktop PC, Surface RT, and Xbox has actually made me want to try going “all in” and replacing my iPhone 5 with a Windows Phone 8.
Windows 8 on quality tablet hardware, like the Surface, is simply delightful to use. Even though I miss a few iOS apps, I don’t think I could go back to using iOS itself now. Everything else feels clumsy and tedious once you’ve used and mastered Windows 8 on the Surface.
As you might infer from all of the direct iPad comparisons in the preceding sections, I almost made the mistake of judging the Surface RT directly against the iPad. Most of the mainstream reviews I’ve seen have done exactly that, and I think that’s natural, but also a mistake. The Surface RT does fall short in some very specific niches where the iPad excels, but that’s because they aren’t really the same kind of device. I believe the combination of Windows 8 and the Surface is a subtly different type of thing than the current crop of consumer tablets, focused on a more optimal balance between content consumption and creation without sacrificing sleek, beautiful construction.
Nothing else I’ve seen or used has struck that chord so perfectly.
Should you buy a Surface RT?
Maybe. I personally like my Surface RT so much that it’s hard not to recommend it to everyone, but I don’t think it’s necessarily appropriate for every user (yet).
If you’re thinking about buying one for a non-technical friend or family member, wait. The Store needs to fill out a bit more with popular apps and a few rough edges, like the built-in Mail app, need to be smoothed out before it’s an ideal device for a non-technical user. There’s a good chance this will be an ideal device for consumer users after a few software updates and a couple months worth of Store submissions, but it’s not quite there today.
If you’re considering a purchase for yourself or someone else technically savvy, understand the limitations of Windows 8 RT on an ARM device, and still want to give it a try then you absolutely should. The Surface RT has met or exceeded almost all of my expectations, and completely superseded my iPad from day one.
Don’t forget the Surface Pro
The inability to develop software on the Surface RT might be a non-starter for some of you. There is a remote desktop client that you could use to develop on a remote machine, but that’s not a great experience (I’ve tried). Over time, I expect tools like Cloud9 to support IE10 and good Windows 8 code editors to start showing up in the store. However, I doubt it will ever be possible to develop for ASP.NET or Windows 8 itself on the Surface RT.
If screen resolution, app selection, performance, and/or development are too important for to you to compromise on, you can always wait a few months for the Surface Pro. It’s rumored to pack a 1920 x 1080 resolution into the same 10.6″ package, have a full-power Intel processor, a stylus/digitizer, and other PC-class hardware. As well as my lowly Surface RT has replaced my MacBook Air, I think the Surface Pro will be a game changer for users with more demanding needs.
Disclaimer
To be clear, there is no disclaimer. I purchased my Surface RT, Touch Cover, and Type Cover online at the Microsoft Store with my own funds and received no promotional consideration for writing this post.
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What do you think?
I appreciate all of your comments, but please try to stay on topic. If you have a question unrelated to this post, I recommend posting on the ASP.NET forums or Stack Overflow instead.
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Like You, I was skeptical at the beginning too.But I love my Surface RT. It is amazing. And it is true, I miss the ability to develop on it. BUT our own product works on the cloud, and I was happy to see it working completely in IE10.
This is amazing in so many fronts, because our product has a Web IDE, and we have spent so much time trying to make it work on iPad’s Safari, and it never worked correctly. We currently don’t support IE9, but surprisingly, our product worked perfectly in IE10. So double whammy for us, because I can code on my Surface, and don’t have to do anything else to support it, it already works.
When I opened my Surface the first thing I did was try to load iKnode (our product)… and it worked perfectly!!! Here is a picture of my excitement: https://twitter.com/i/#!/alespinoza/media/slideshow?url=pic.twitter.com%2FaXko3HBn
Anyways, I also had an iPad and Assus Netbook to do casual browsing and some content creation. The RT replaced both of those devices for me.
I believe the Surface is going to be successful, it will take some time, but it will get there.
Alex
I was getting a bit worry with negative reviews while waiting a package, but device is really good and surprised how much time I spend on it, given app store is not there yet. Wish better code editor for light html/js/css coding, few I tried not impressive. But browsing web is surprisingly good, with 7 inch Android tablet I often saved links to check it later on desktop. No need with surface. Far less time at the desk now, thinking about buying new couch though.
Just to be clear: it looks like you are comparing the typing experience on a Surface WITH keyboard (Touch or Type cover) to on-screen typing on an iPad WITHOUT a keyboard? That’s pretty unfair, isn’t it?
Also, you say you prefer Windows 8 multitasking and then mention the ability to do the left-right-left swipe and go directly to the app you want (which is actually called Task Switching instead of multitasking). iOS offers a comparable feature by double clicking the Home button. It’s arguably even better, since it offers a complete history list of all apps you’ve run, even apps that are no longer running.
I’m not certainly not an Apple fanboy. In fact I like Windows 8, but I did want to clarify these points. Especially since you state they are your main gripes with the iPad.
I myself decided not to buy the Surface RT. I found it lacking as a tablet, mainly because of missing apps (yes, they will come and when that time arrives I may reconsider). I do like the fact it has Office. But I would only use Office with the keyboard. And in that setup I no longer consider it a tablet. If you want to use it that way, you might just as well buy an Ultrabook or Surface Pro. Which is probably what I’ll end up buying.
Even with a Bluetooth keyboard, getting much done on the iPad was tedious the last time I tried using a keyboard with it. Most of the apps don’t respond well to keyboard shortcuts in iOS (and Apple’s idea of keyboard shortcuts seems to be limited to text expansion) and you’re still stuck with its limited multitasking. Would you rather reach up and double-tap the home button or hit Alt/Win + Tab while you’re working?
If you swipe in from the left tor right just enough to see the next window, then swipe back to the left, you get a visual app switching bar that shows not only the apps you have running but thumbnails of their last state if they support that. As a long-time iOS user, I’d like to think I used it about as well as it could be (including the four finger app switching gestures on my iPad), but Windows 8 on the Surface still blows it away in that department.
The Touch and Type covers are nearly perfect in terms of letting you transition between mini-UltraBook and tablet. I haven’t noticed any friction at all using it as a tablet when I want to consume and then quickly either attaching or deploying the keyboard when I need to create.
Be carefull what you wish for. An ultrabook has a keyboard you always have to carry with you. Its not a tablet. A Surface is a tablet that can be used like an ultrabook. If you sit on the couch and want to browse a website then a tablet is more handy then a ultrabook. I want both :-)
You’re not quite right. Its true that you can switch app by double-clicking the home button on the iPad, but it won’t multitask. – The apps in background will be stalled. In Windows RT (Arm) for Surface, they continue to run. That’s multitasking. About the history. The Surface (Windows RT) has that too, just 100x more detailed, with average CPU usgae, Memory consumption, times used, cpu time, active time, idle time, last used (date), and so on. (its in the new task manager, and is called App History).
Thanks for the in-depth review. I don’t have a Surface yet myself (holding out for Surface with Windows 8 Pro) but the more I read the more excited I get about it.
My wife continually ditches my iPad and heads for the laptop to do her online shopping, calendaring, etc. I’m thinking that a Surface with Windows RT might be a good solution for her instead, particularly once the marketplace fills out.
Thanks for the great review.
All of the other reviews I have read didn’t seem to use the surface in a way that I would consider standard computer use. Your review actually seems like you have become used to the device and know how to use it.
Just swipe from the right edge. It gives you status on the network, battery and time.
That only shows the battery icon, which is not very granular. I want to have easy access to a numeric percentage, like this:
Great post! I have had a Surface for a few weeks and have been quite pleased. I used it at a Microsoft SharePoint conference 2 weeks ago and was impressed with the battery life and authoring capability (I was taking notes in OneNote).
I agree with just about everything you have said except that I noticed no slowness with the “Cut the Rope” app. My main disappointment (after they fixed my ability to accept appointments from email) is that my 64G mini SD card cannot be used to browse music or videos. You can open an invididual song or video from the card, but the Music and Video apps will not index the content. I’m hoping to find alternative apps that do.
Kirk: If you Google around, there’s a post somewhere on adding SD card contents to the Music and Video libraries using symlink, which makes content available to the Music and Video apps.
You can use an old WinNT trick called MKLINK (available from the command prompt which is still supported in the Desktop). This allows you to link a location on the C drive to your SD card. That C drive link then can be added to the Libraries in Windows Explorer for Documents, Video, Photos, Music. Anything you add to the linked directories in the SD card will show up in the standard Video/Music/Photo apps in the “My…” view of the music or whatever – you won’t need to go searching to open a specific file. You can also set those locations as the default for saving files you create. You can do the same thing using the Disk Manager in the Control Panel. If you Google the topic (like “MKLINK Surface RT SD card”) you should find directions. I have all of my mp3 library on a 64GB microSD card in the Surface (and a ton of space left over). I use the machine’s “disk” for Apps and my SD card for all content.
Thanks Jim and Mark. I’ll give this a shot!!!
Great to see lot of reviews on the MIcrosoft Surface…
I am still waiting to have Microsoft Surface Pro release in India .
Thanks, first useful review I’ve came across, and I’ve read a lot. Main thing is that you actually give an idea of how the device are used during a normal day, and that you can actualy do work with it, and not just play around.
Regards.
Great review – for me the Surface is a game-changer. My laptop has been gathering dust since the Surface arrived – it does nearly everything I need, the form factor is small enough to use almost anywhere and the instant-on is fantastic. I also have a very fast Core-i7 desktop which is getting much less usage. Of course, the desktop gets called on for web-design and video editing but nearly everything else I can do on the Surface and do not suffer any significant performance issues.
Once you go Win Phone 8 you will feel the same clunkiness about the iPhone. I was an iPhone user since the first one came out and picked up the WinPhone7 when it released. I now own the Nokia 920 and could never go back. The iPhone just feels like an old and outdated device in my hands, and very unintuitive by comparison.
Thanks for the review! It’s the feeling the Surface gives me as well!
Dave,
I’m totally with you on the email app… They need to fix that right away. I’ve been using the Surface for about a month and love the gestures and how you get around – I’ve had every iPhone/iPad that Apple has put out and now I use the Nokia 920 and my Surface exclusively. The only thing I’m missing is the MyMovies and Tivo apps that I use for controlling my media center – Oh, and the kids have their games on the iPad. Again, Microsoft has a good business system and Apple has the creative “cool” stuff. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
“Over time, you can almost recognize the sound of distinct sequences of letters being entered”… well, that’s a big contribution to security on the ‘net then. Just sit in the internet cafe within earshot of someone entering their online passwords, you don’t even need to be in sight of their screen anymore… :-(
It’s not quite that distinct. Someone with more Windows Phone 7+ experience might be able to chime in with specifics on how the tones work.
I suppose it’s always best/polite to keep the sound off or on headphones in public places anyway.
Its actually about 8 – 10 different tones and they are random, the point being is that because they differ they never grate on you as much as the constant and monotone click of other on screen keyboards. Its a little thing that I love about WP7/8 but as far as I am aware they don’t have any distinct tones to any particular key press it just makes a click which is ever so slightly different to the last. Hope that clarifies it and puts your minds at rest :)
Hi Chris Ratley, nice to meet me….great name ….where do u live?
One thing I don’t think you mentioned was the HDMI output. I noticed that when hooking up the Surface tablet to my 42″ Panasonic plasma TV that there was very noticable quality degredation. The upscaling to 1080P sucks and the frame rate suffers as well. I’m not the only one to notice this; Anand also mentioned it on page 9 of his full Surface review:
“I reached out to Microsoft for an explanation but have yet to hear anything.”
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6385/microsoft-surface-review/6
Sorry, it was page 6: “A Plethora of Ports and Storage Options”
You’re right, that’s something I never got around to using — I don’t think I even have the appropriate adapter cable here anywhere. I wonder if that’s an artifact of the relatively weak ARM chip or something else?
I used a regular micro hdmi to hdmi adapter off monoprice. Anand used the MS approved one I think with the same result. It’s curious that I’ve read other posts with different TVs and the problem there. Someone on another forum said it might be a sync issue (whatever that means). I don’t know what the issue is but I have never had a problem with my regular (windows 8) laptop.
The surface with windows Rt does not have am actual micro hdmi port. the video out is actually a modified micro hdmi, which is why they call it micro HD. It is a slightly different shape and a bit deeper than a standard micro hdmi port. That may have been the cause to your issue.there are also multiple firmware updates that have been put out that may help with 1080p playback.
I too have been using a Surface RT for the past month. Got it 10:30AM on the release date and have used it almost daily ever since. I had replaced my laptop for travelling and now only carry the RT when I leave the office. I also had discontinued using my Nexus 7 (successor to my Galaxy Tab) for in-office meeting use (emails, Evernote).
My Surface RT is a 64GB model, both keyboards, HDMI & VGA cables and a 64GB microSD card. I have all of the Apps I need to be productive (the only major ones I’m missing is a CISCO VPN client and a travel app my company uses – both of which I believe will come in time).
During the past month I had one time where it refused to power on. It took 24 hours before it would turn back on – I finally had to hold the power button for over a minute to power on. That was the day before the RT firmware update that Microsoft pushed out and I haven’t had a problem since.
Until yesterday. The machine became virtually unresponsive. I hadn’t used it since Wed for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend but it was not out of battery (cool!), it just simply wouldn’t respond to my touches or keyboard mousing at any usable speed. Delays of a minute or more to open an app which would then be a blue screen the first time and only after hitting the home button and the app a second time would I see the app. I couldn’t scroll to see more than one screen of my apps (I have about 50 of them grouped into logical sets like Main, Productivity, News, Travel, Entertainment, Utilities, Games, etc.). I tried checking for Windows Updates (very hard to do when the Desktop only sometimes came up – the Charms bar was totally unresponsive) but except for some Defender updates over the weekend nothing significant had updated since I used it last and nothing was scheduled or awaiting update. Task Manager showed minor CPU use (<10%) and memory (<24%). No process looked like it was consuming significant resources. On and off I spent several hours trying to figure out what was going on.
So, last night I tried to refresh the machine. The Charms bar refresh function wasn't available to me (can't get past the Charms display – it does not respond to my presses or clicks). I found online that holding the Left Shift key while pressing the Power icon on the login screen rebooted the Surface to a troubleshooting screen that allowed for the selection of a Refresh. I did the refresh at 9pm last night. As of 1pm this afternoon although it has "refreshed" the machine, the main screen shows my App tiles with "installing" in the tile. None of the live content is updating. Touch is still almost totally unresponsive. My next step is to completely reset the machine.
My previous recommendation for friends & co-workers to grab a Surface instead of an iPad or Android (Nexus 7) is no longer the recommendation I'm making. Now I'm telling folks to hold off until Microsoft gets things straightened out. I hadn't had any of the slow response issues or other usability issues but now I understand some of the frustration I've read other people express. As an early adopter I have some level of patience for new product teething problems. But, this is a new arena for Microsoft – tablets are now a basic consumer commodity and this level of problem isn't acceptable. Since I was able to find support for recovering from my issues (on multiple websites), it's likely that more than a few of us have had similar problems.
So, I'll reset my Surface, set it back up for my use and attempt to continue to make it viable as my non-desktop machine of choice. I'll also begin to recommend that folks take a "wait and see" approach before buying a Surface RT (and likely the same for the Surface Pro to avoid what I think is a more likely scenario for teething pains on that device & OS). Loss of confidence in the device will likely impact just how integral it becomes to my daily life though which disappoints me profoundly.
Hey, great article. One thing, though. You can see the battery meter in the box on the left hand side once you pull out the Charms bar. You’ll also see wi-fi indicator, time and date. :-)
Chris
What I’m looking for is an actual numeric percentage, not just the battery icon. It’s not granular enough for my tastes.
Jim, I feel your pain. Two weeks ago I got a Surface RT, and I was going to bring it back to the store this week because the display brightness kept oscillating (which hurt my eyes). But Sunday, it just would not turn on. It seems that there was an issue with the power supply that caused its infant mortality.
So I exchanged it for a new Surface at the Microsoft Store, and it has worked out just fine. They transferred my account to the new machine, and the only thing that was lost were a couple of apps I had downloaded. My web history and browser favorites were still there, and, of course, the files I had loaded to the Skydrive.
I do use the keyboard for things other than Office products, I have used to write comments on blogs. So it has its uses. I found it useful to use a small (formerly used for a netbook) bag to place it on my lap when I am sitting in a waiting room, and on a large book when I place it on a pillow at home.
I see no reason to load it with programs like Quicken (I’m not doing finances away from home), so I don’t really need a full PC for elsewhere. I also do not play video games, it is just me (my college age kids wondered why I did not have game apps, and I asked them when the last time they saw me play any). I have a larger PC to run Mathematica, video editing, machine embroidery design, etc., which are things that need more screen real estate than any tablet.
Though, the Surface RT screen does make watching online video much nicer. While I have to adjust the screen of my large PC, I don’t with this tablet. I also do not need an app to watch recent television shows available for free on Hulu. So in the evenings when kids and spouse are watching something I don’t care about, I enter my sanctum, prop myself up with pillows, wrap up in a blanket, and watch a program on the Surface RT that is on a large pillow with a large book under it for stability (using some nice headphones).
Rather than be a total whiner (& since I’m waiting for my Surface to download all of the updates it’s missing now that I’ve reset it to its original state), here are a couple of things that I thought based on your review you might have missed:
You said this about the Type Cover: “If you don’t mind the slight extra thickness and feeling keys move under your fingers when you flip the cover behind the Surface…”
One thing I do is flip the cover around when I’m going to use it for any real time in tablet mode – connected normally with the fuzzy side down & the keys up when you flip it back the keys are now exposed on the backside of the Surface. That’s where you’ll get the funny key moving under your fingers thing going on. Instead I pull the keyboard off, flip it around and reattach it to the Surface with the fuzzy side up & the key side down. The magnetic connector is not uni-directional so the keyboard fits both ways (although it doesn’t work as a keyboard when it’s “upside down”). Then when I fold the keyboard under the Surface the fuzzy side is out and the keys are up against the back of the Surface. Holding it as a tablet you are touching the fuzzy side not the keys. World of difference.
You said about the mail app: “Dealing with multiple emails, whether moving or deleting, is cumbersome.”
You can perform multiple operations on email messages by swiping your finger across the message. Highlight several this way and then hit the Delete icon to do a multiple message deletion (I do this a lot due to being over CCed by people or for Spam).
Finally, you said this: “There is a remote desktop client that you could use to develop on a remote machine, but that’s not a great experience (I’ve tried).”
There are two ways (at least that I know of) to RDP into another machine. The obvious way is to use the RDP client in the Desktop mode of Windows RT. But, there is a Metro (or Modern UI) version of Remote Desktop by Microsoft in the App store. I use that all the time in the office where I’m on the same network as my desktop machine. Regardless of where I am in the building I can be on my machine in my office and I use that a lot (Outlook for instance is sitting on my desktop and not my Surface and I have a ton of stuff in PST files that aren’t available through the Mail App). I also use it for Visio and other tasks although not Visual Studio (I don’t develop code anymore). It’s as seamless as being at my desk with just a smaller screen. My problem with RDP is that I can’t do it from home or on the road because there is no CISCO Any Connect VPN client. The standard VPN client support on the RT is woefully insecure and not likely to pass muster for any real corporate connection. Since Any Connect requires either Java or ActiveX controls in the absence of a purpose-built app (like those available for iOS or Android) it can’t be used via the IE browsers (Desktop or App) as IE won’t allow either.
Hope those tips help someone a bit.
Jim I know this is months later but the issue you are experiencing sounds like the accessibility options may be on check I’m the control panel as they follow your Microsoft account to better assist people who need them.
Basically I completely agree with everything you said. I’m glad you mentioned that Remote Desktop is a way to bypass RT limitations, though I’m surprised by your negative experiences with it. Did you use the metro remote desktop app? The gestures in the metro one help a lot when remoting into a Windows 8 computer (charms, start screen, etc.).
Further, it just feels super smooth. I used it today pretty much all day to work on a long homework assignment in python and it worked wonderfully. I particularly like that (from my impression) it simulates typing on the client end so that even if there IS network lag, your keystrokes won’t lag.
One more thing: I think that it would be worth noting in your small section about the trackpad that another great reason to have it, other than hovering, is simply the desktop environment. A lot of people criticize RT for even including a desktop because “it sucks with touch”. I’d argue it doesn’t suck with touch, but having a trackpad makes the experience *so* much better. So much so that I think it is worth calling out.
Love this device.
I also own a Surface althoug it’s not being shipped to my country yet (and there are no plans to do it according to M$), but I really agree with your experience.
I must also say that working with several languages is also easy, just adding the languages in the Keyboard configuration and just choosing it from your screen keyboard. In iDevices you have to iterate to get to your language and it’s not very useful when you need more than one language.
Dave,
Great review!
I’ve had a Surface for about a month now . . .
I don’t know if you are aware of this or not, but if you are still annoyed with the adaptive brightness, you can turn it off in the settings. Under the ‘General’ tab in the modern control panel, there’s a switch for “Adjust my screen brightness automatically”
Thanks,
Joshua
Congratulations, great review.
It says almost exactly what happened to my laptop since the surface arrived. Also, the overall feeling is about the same as well. I found the device to be very engaging and a real pleasure to use.
Overall, I have no serious complaints other than the loudspeaker loudness.
I have also ditched my iPad. Gave it to my wife after being a long time user. Got the first model on the first day.
I’ve been using the Samsung Series 7 which is essentially the Pro Model. I’m a coder, So I use visual studio and need the desktop mode. I’ve found I’m only used desktop mode for visual studio. The app support in the stone is awesome.
I recently picked up a RT for my daughter. This will make an excellent school PC.
Have you tried the hand writing recognition yet? It’s amazingly accurate.
Hi Dave. Thanks for the in-depth post on your experiences with the Surface.
I’m currently looking for a device that I can use mainly in the living room. I’m mainly looking for a laptop/tablet for general web browsing/email/IM. The surface RT seemed like a good pick for this because of the long battery life and touch/type covers. I have a concern about the kickstand though.
Did you find that the surface’s kickstand hindered the ability to use it on your lap like a laptop?
I wouldn’t say the kickstand is great in my lap, but it does suffice in some positions. If using it in your lap with the keyboard attached is your primary concern, a nice UltraBook is probably a better choice. If you’re thinking occasional Touch/Type Cover and mostly tablet use, the Surface might be a good choice.
Consider the Asus Vivo RT with dockable keyboard for laptop use.
Hi David,
I have used the RT on my lap and found typing to be quite easy. Usually I position the kickstand close to the top of my knees and make sure my legs support each side of the touch cover.
This was a great review, although it did not cover RT’s support for multiple user accounts. This is great for families and schools. Also not mentioned was how well RT connects with HDMI monitors to extend its desktop (not just duplicate) and how it can print to a whole host of printers connected to USB without even needing to add drivers.
I must say I agree with everything you said. I’ve been using mine since Build and now I find myself reaching for the screen on my non-touch laptop (when I even turn the laptop on). I stayed 15 days in the US with only my Lumia and Surface and I didn’t miss my laptop at all.
Great review!
The review claims that IE10 on the Surface, but what was tested? Sure, using JavaScript you can create a websocket, but does it work? Nope.
Not a single websocket test from the HTML5 labs battery will run on my Surface RT.
If you would like to test yours, here the link:
http://html5labs.interoperabilitybridges.com/html5labs/prototypes/websockets/websockets/info/
If you figure out a way to get the darned thing to use websockets, please be sure to post back here how you did it.
The tests here complete successfully for me in IE10 on the Surface: http://websocketstest.com/
I bought the Surface RT and I love it. The only thing is the store and the apps… there is nothing much you can do besides web browsing. The app store needs to get bigger or this tablet will die.
What are you looking for in the store that you can’t find anything to do but use the Surface for web browsing?
I’ve been using mine for 2 months now (since launch) and have the following apps installed (in addition to the Windows apps & Office):
My “Home” Group: Windows Desktop, Office apps (Excel, Word, Powerpoint, One Note), IE, email, calendar, clock tile, Evernote, Metro Commander (file manager), Skydrive, Skype, Lync, Remote Desktop (RDP for my PC at work), TeamViewer (remote control of my PC at home), PushBI (a Business Intelligence App), Weather, XKCD Reader (“comic” strip), and a couple of pinned websites for my travel & finance apps for work.
My “Utilities” Group: the Store, Google Search, Rowi (a Twitter App), Calculator2 (multi-function calculator – scientific, currency, etc.), MetroTwit (another Twitter app), PDFTouch, PDFY (PDF readers/annotaters), Answers (app to provide answers to random questions), 8Zip (file archiver), Amazon, Craigslist, Newegg, ebay (all shopping apps), an Alarm Clock, LastPass (password manager), LiveStrong’s MyPlate calorie counter, BMI Calculator.
My “News” Group: USA Today, Bing News, Fox News, NBC News, News Bento (RSS Reader), PopSci & CNet news apps.
My “Finance” Group: my bank’s app, SigFig Portfolio (investment portfolio viewer), MS Finance & Finance Manager (budget/expense/financial management tool).
My “Entertainment” Group: Nook, Kindle (e-book readers), Overdrive (e-book lending library), PodCasts, AudioBooks 8, Netflix, The Daily Show, Hulu Plus, Music, Messaging, Tunein Radio, Slacker, Pradio, Shazam radio/music apps, Photo App, Video, People, FHotoroom (photo editing app), YouTube Downloader, and a pinned Pixlr.com for online photo editing.
My “Education” Group: Kahn Academy (video education on an enormous variety of topics), Windows 8 Cheat Keys & Tips, Windows 8 Toolbox, Windows 8 Shortcuts, Windows 8 Tips & Tricks (all Windows 8 learning resources), Tom’s Hardware (tech news and info), Learn Windows 8, ChaCha (research tool), Wikipedia, How Stuff Works, Stanford University Online Learning, NASA’s Be A Martian.
My “Games” Group: Games (Windows pre-load), Xbox Smartglass (Xbox remote controller), Adera, Pinball FX2, JetPack Joyride, Microsoft Solitaire Collection, Microsoft Mahjongg (all Xbox games as well so I can play on the Surface & pick up where I left off when I get home to the Xbox), My Country (simulation), Nightmares from the Deep, Dark Arcana Carnival, Enigmatis Ghost of Maple Creek, Armed, Guns 4 Hire, Soulcraft, Geared, Mahjongg Deluxe, Backgammon Pro, Starfighter Omega, Brain Cubed Reloaded, Epic Draw a Stickman.
My “Travel” Group: Maps, GMaps, Expedia
Yep, like you, nothing much I can do but web browsing :-D I can feel this tablet dying of lack of apps right now. If only there were 10 or 20,000 Fart apps, then it’d be worth having.
Jim
Read complete article – didnt read comments – sorry if some one has already pointed it out
Problem:
you can’t see the percentage of battery charge remaining unless you flip over to the desktop and tap the battery icon in the system tray.
Solution: Swipe from right border like opening charms bar and you will see battery usage in bottom left quadrant.
Your experiance on Surface matches mine…. i do not understand Mail app problem though… I have mail app set for my corporate exchange account + Gmail + Two of my windows live accounts and one IMAP account. let me know what particular problem you are talking about – you can email me to my email address provided with comment
The icon alone isn’t granular enough to get much value out of. At a glance, it’s really hard to see much more than roughly what quarter of the battery life you’re on. Even just a numeric percentage would be a big improvement, IMO.
The Mail app does technically send and receive email on all of my accounts okay. The interface is just incredibly cumbersome to use compared to the alternatives I’ve used on iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and (especially) Outlook on the desktop.
After few more use i have two disappointment:
1. Can not do Cisco Anyconnect VPN – My Work needs it
2. Can not do WebEX :( nother big work requirement.
Depending on how hard and fast the WebEx requirement is, you might consider looking into GotoMeeting or Lync for online meetings. They all have about the same features, but GotoMeeting and Lync already have “modern” Windows 8 apps compatible with Windows RT available.
Definitely be sure to give that feedback to Cisco too, because it’s ultimately their responsibility to Windows 8 RT compatible clients for their services.
I have used the surface for about a month now. This is my first tablet so I cannot comment on how it compares to other tablets. I do agree with your observations about being able to use the touch features in desktop mode, much easier to scroll down pages and zoom into areas without having to use a mouse etc.
I use mine just like a desktop while using office programs, using a separate wireless mouse makes the experience that much better instead of the mousepad on the type cover.
Another configuration that works well while performing tablet functions with it in your lap is to open the kickstand and fold the cover around under it. The cover works like a portable table for the kickstand.
My only complaints have been that sometimes I have had to re-connect the cover on a couple occasions when the keys become unresponsive, my thumbs tend to rest on the mousepad and cause the cursor to move while I type, and some touch functions don’t register right away.
This was one of the reviews that convinced me to go with a Surface RT. I found it to be fairly frustrating at first, but over the course of month I also began to appreciate the power and capability it has. Other tablets seem like toys now.
It’s not perfect by any means, but I’m glad I found this article and gave it a chance. It has replaced my laptop (but not my home PC) and the game selection is good enough to keep the kids busy.
I’m glad to hear that you had a similar experience to mine. There’s definitely a learning curve (especially if it’s your first Windows 8 device), but it’s well worth the effort.
I agree with most points made in this review.
In my opinion, screen resolution is still a bit of disappointment, but only if you compare it to these current gen retina displays. 1366×768 for 10″ is not bad at all for the Desktop though.
Also, I think, Microsoft shouldn’t have locked down the Desktop from 3rd party apps. I have Jailbroken my Surface so I could install a recompiled for ARM version of 7-zip. I would not expect having to jump from Desktop to modern UI and back just to do some rar extraction. Both covers have touchpads – precision input devices designed for productivity, non-touch optimised environments, so a full version of Office does a lot of sense here. But I can’t help but get a feeling that Microsoft is looking to kill the Desktop at some point. In my opinion, that would be a big mistake. They should embrace this dual-personality side of Windows, make the two environments work ever better together and let RT users be productive not only with office files!
I would not even consider changing it to Pro if there were some A-class games on the market for RT and if there were some more recompiled for ARM Desktop apps. I think that Pro should be left for Pros who use such Desktop apps as AutoCAD and Premiere. PS express and other light apps should be made available for the RT!
Overall, I think that Surface RT is a highly underrated device. And don’t forget, it looks like it’s from Mars!