To keep my Surface Pro 2 or not?

Geoff

Geoff

VIP Member
Last weekend I bought a Surface Pro 2 from Best Buy with a type cover. It's a cool little device, I like being able to use it as either a tablet or laptop using just the touchscreen or the type cover. Even though I can run full blown Windows apps, part of me still thinks it's not a true mobile computer like a traditional laptop (I actually can't even watch Netflix in a browser, as it says it's only for desktops).

I was debating between the Surface Pro 2 and a new 13" MBP Retina. I got the Surface mainly because it was a new type of device, I thought it would be really cool to be able to use it in new places where laptops aren't practical, but at the same time I feel like I'm limiting what I can do with it. The trackpad built into the type cover works but is horrible to use, forget trying to do any sort of gaming with it.

Spec wise, it's not too bad considering it's size, but the battery only lasts 6.5 hours compared to 11 hours of the new 13" MBP. If I wanted to do photo editing on the go, the retina display MBP would obviously be far more enjoyable.

Cost wise they are pretty similar, it was $1,129 for the Surface Pro 2 with type cover and I believe around $1,300 for the new 13" MBP Retina. So my question is (especially to those who have/had a Surface Pro), do you find you use it in places where a normal laptop would have difficulty? Was it worth it? I'm debating returning it, but want some feedback!
 
I had the same choice. Original surface or a macbook. Went with the Mac. I bought it of a friend who ended up going with a surface. I think I came out ahead.

The size is nice but for the price I would just go with a laptop. I would not want to be hindered in any way after spending over $1000. As much as I like to hate on apple the laptop has been great so far. Mainly used for school. I surf the internet and use office. Just need to upgrade the ram as it is a 2011 model.
 
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FuryRosewood said:
If you are looking for a content consumption device I'd grab the note 10.1 instead. The s-pen is amazing.
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I already have a Nexus 7 but never use it, if I want to use Android for something I stick with my 5.2" LG G2.

zeppelin04 said:
I had the same choice. Original surface or a macbook. Went with the Mac. I bought it of a friend who ended up going with a surface. I think I came out ahead.

The size is nice but for the price I would just go with a laptop. I would not want to be hindered in any way after spending over $1000. As much as I like to hate on apple the laptop has been great so far. Mainly used for school. I surf the internet and use office. Just need to upgrade the ram as it is a 2011 model.
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Thanks, that helped a lot. My original intention with the Surface over a 13" laptop was that I could bring it more places, like when I go hiking I could put it in my backpack and tether it to my phone and use it as a tablet, searching stuff as I'm out and about. I occasionally use a laptop in my car to program/update my radios, and my current 15" MBP is a pain as it's too big to fit on my lap.

Thinking about these over again, the Surface Pro does fit that bill quite well, but the biggest problem is trying to type on it. In order to type anything over 10 characters you really can't use the onscreen keyboard as it's a huge PITA. But trying to use the type cover is difficult if not on a hard, flat surface, plus with the cover it's basically like a small laptop and takes up similar space.


voyagerfan99 said:
Sell the Surface 2 and buy a new Mac Geoffrey.
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lol, sarcastic Travis is sarcastic :P

On the flip side though, I have a 15" MacBook Pro (non-Retina) that's a year old through work. Once and a while I will bring this home and use it when I go away for a weekend, but since it's a work laptop it doesn't feel like "my laptop", even though I can bring it home and do whatever I want to it.

Part of me wants to get a Razer Blade haha :http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade/
 
The retina display on a 13 inch screen won't look much better then the 1080P on 10 inch Surface Pro. So the Retina display is not really a pro in the MBP side. Its up to you, but if you already have a recent MBP I don't see why you would want to get a new one and get rid of the Surface, especially when the 2560x1600 on the new Retina MBP and the 1920x1080 on the 10 inch surface pro 2 will look similar.
 
I did the nexus 7 for a bit too. Seems we have bought through the same stuff in the same order.

My other issue was the surface reminded me of a netbook too much. It may have better specs but once I was going to add a keyboard to make it a laptop screen size became a factor in deciding against it.
 
zeppelin04 said:
I did the nexus 7 for a bit too. Seems we have bought through the same stuff in the same order.

My other issue was the surface reminded me of a netbook too much. It may have better specs but once I was going to add a keyboard to make it a laptop screen size became a factor in deciding against it.
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I definitely see where you are coming from, although it's 1920x1080 versus 1024x700 of most netbooks, it does remind me a lot of a netbook once you add the keyboard.

As I mentioned earlier, when I played with it in the store I tried imaging what I could use such a small and light computer for. I thought of bringing it when I go hiking, using it on my lap in my car, bringing it to work and using it alongside my 15" laptop, putting it on my bed stand watching Netflix, using it in bed, etc. I still have a netbook that I used for these reasons occasionally, but it's incredibly slow. The big difference though is that the Netbook originally cost a couple hundred bucks, but $1,129 for a what, 10-11" tablet with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD is pretty expensive if it's difficult to use as an actual computer.

In order to really use it as I would a laptop, I'd need to buy a bigger keyboard and mouse, and at that point it's already more expensive and now a lot bulkier to carry around.

I think I made a mistake getting the Surface, I hope Best Buy let's me return it - I bought it over the weekend.
 
Was going to quote that but its a little big. Sounds like you made your choice. Hopefully the let you take it back. A lot of big box stores are fairly flexible. I would take a restocking fee if I were to arrive at a tool I would get a genuine benefit from.

If the pros were the price of an rt I would be all over it. Even a couple hundred less and included a cover I would seriously consider one. At the present pricing it seems like a niche item. Hopefully the come down in price with future generations.
 
zeppelin04 said:
Was going to quote that but its a little big. Sounds like you made your choice. Hopefully the let you take it back. A lot of big box stores are fairly flexible. I would take a restocking fee if I were to arrive at a tool I would get a genuine benefit from.

If the pros were the price of an rt I would be all over it. Even a couple hundred less and included a cover I would seriously consider one. At the present pricing it seems like a niche item. Hopefully the come down in price with future generations.
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The price of the RT's are much more appealing, when Microsoft lowered the price of the Surface Pro's by $100 it was a good start, but really the Surface Pro 2 needs to be $100 cheaper and include the type cover - using it without one really makes it useless.

I checked Best Buy's site and I didn't see anything about a restocking fee, I'm just worried they'd decline the return simply because I don't like it.
 
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