Whos buying a a W8 Tablet?

Which W8 Tablet?

  • Windows RT

    Votes: 37 14.5%
  • Windows 8

    Votes: 28 10.9%
  • Windows 8 Pro

    Votes: 114 44.5%
  • None

    Votes: 105 41.0%

  • Total voters
    256
That's one of the three key features I mentioned... Or I wasn't aware that the iPad had an app switching menu w/app content previews that could be invoked by a simpler one finger gesture, or that it could display multiple apps side by side. Was that added recently?

Three finder swiping required a free hand. Switching an app with thumbs doesn't
 
Three finder swiping required a free hand. Switching an app with thumbs doesn't

Yeah that's what I'm getting at, I was being facetious... The thumb/side gesture is easily the quickest (compared to Android's on screen button at the bottom or iOS's Home double tap or three finger swipe), and it's also complemented by the thumbnails menu if you double thumb swipe (which iOS lacks) plus the fact that you can run apps split screen.
 
Since the 32gig Nexus10 is almost the same price as the same sized surface tablet, I'm leaning towards the surface. I really need to see it in the flesh to see if I can live with the screen.
 
10/10 on hardware and 7.5-8/10 on software. There are a few small things to iron out such as the mail program underperforming if you have more than one email syncing and Office tends to use quite a bit of CPU but I read this will be addressed when the full Office is out, if not sooner.

The hardware is fantastic. I've owned ipads, kindles, ultrabooks at work and so forth and this device is the best, hardware build wise, that I have ever had. The kickstand is great and I get why they were so proud of it. The touch keyboard is really impressive for how thin it is and the attachment mechanism is a good balance between gripping strength and ease of removal.
Thanks. Going to the Microsoft Store today to check one out :)
 
Can the Surface be easily used on one's lap with that kickstand and the keyboard cover? It didn't seem possible (or at least efficient) to me but I've read several comments now that seem to indicate otherwise, and even Microsoft's TV commercial has people placing it on their laps (granted it's for like a second or two in the middle of a dance number).

If that isn't really feasible, I'd give the nod to dockable alternatives like the Vivo and Samsung's 500T... As nice as the kickstand is, I'd rather have a small stand in my bag and a keyboard/dock I can easily balance on my lap, specially since most of those add ports or extra battery life (tho they're also bulkier, everything has it's tradeoff).
 
Can the Surface be easily used on one's lap with that kickstand and the keyboard cover? It didn't seem possible (or at least efficient) to me but I've read several comments now that seem to indicate otherwise, and even Microsoft's TV commercial has people placing it on their laps (granted it's for like a second or two in the middle of a dance number).

If that isn't really feasible, I'd give the nod to dockable alternatives like the Vivo and Samsung's 500T... As nice as the kickstand is, I'd rather have a small stand in my bag and a keyboard/dock I can easily balance on my lap, specially since most of those add ports or extra battery life (tho they're also bulkier, everything has it's tradeoff).

Technically the kickstand plus keyboard create more stability than just the base of a laptop, I've put it on my lap and I don't think I'll have trouble while out and about. Almost all the weight is up top of course which is different than a traditional laptop, but if you don't fidget too much I think you'd be fine. You are still of course dealing with only one angle with the kickstand, so that might bug you.
 
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I really like the Surface. I don't know what I'm going to use it for. If the guts were closer to an iPad 4 I wouldn't be able to resist.
 
Probably because it wasn't available when the design was finalized 6-10 months ago... Second gen Windows 8 devices are gonna benefit from a ton of recent and upcoming developments, whether it's lower end ARM/Atom stuff or high end Intel i series. You know what they always say about first gen devices...
 
Today I went by the new MS store that opened here... Pretty satisfied with the Surface's build quality and whatnot, side by side apps is even more impressive in person (they're both totally responsive to touch and everything), they need to highlight the hell out of that as it's one of Windows 8's most badass features.

The slimmer touch cover seemed like a piece of crap to me... Can't believe Anandtech was so positive about it when they're usually so critical of any type of keyboard. The type cover is only $10 more and maybe a millimeter thicker but sooo much better to type on. Build quality on it didn't inspire much confidence tho. The store opened literally two days ago and I saw a Type cover that was already ripping apart (where the plastic mount point meets the fabric), that's not gonna last long if you yank it off daily! Power connector required too much fidgeting too.

I was kinda disappointed they didn't have more variety of devices, they had some Acer, ASUS and Sony ultrabooks but none of them were each manufacturer's best respective models. I think the only other tablet they had on display was a an ASUS Vivo but the keyboard dock/battery must be in very short supply because they only had them on stands and connected to Bluetooth mice/keyboards, wtf.
 
Probably because it wasn't available when the design was finalized 6-10 months ago... Second gen Windows 8 devices are gonna benefit from a ton of recent and upcoming developments, whether it's lower end ARM/Atom stuff or high end Intel i series. You know what they always say about first gen devices...

The next year is going to see some very interesting products in Haswell and the next gen Atom Bay Trail which uses the same GPU as Haswell. Add to that new devices with better screens and many more Metro apps and better ARM chips and I think slowly but surely Windows 8/RT becomes much more interesting especially as prices begin to come down as production ramps up.

And then there are the changes to Windows 8 itself. it is a safe bet that Windows 8 is going to get some updates to smooth out the rough spots, Windows 8 won't be frozen for the next three years, I think that's certain.
 
Yeah, they definitely have a good base to build upon, regardless of how these first gen devices sell... And they're committed to it. WP sales have been dodgy and they're still throwing money at it and convincing manufacturers to build better and slicker devices.

A Haswell convertible with a Thunderbolt port and some first party accessories could be glorious... And if they actually start matching lower cost next gen Atom convertibles to better screens, look out ARM. I think down the road Atom could potentially take over the $500+ space and push ARM devices below that (in general, not just a couple of outliers like Nexus and one or two ASUS models).
 
Today I went by the new MS store that opened here... Pretty satisfied with the Surface's build quality and whatnot, side by side apps is even more impressive in person (they're both totally responsive to touch and everything), they need to highlight the hell out of that as it's one of Windows 8's most badass features.

The slimmer touch cover seemed like a piece of crap to me... Can't believe Anandtech was so positive about it when they're usually so critical of any type of keyboard. The type cover is only $10 more and maybe a millimeter thicker but sooo much better to type on. Build quality on it didn't inspire much confidence tho. The store opened literally two days ago and I saw a Type cover that was already ripping apart (where the plastic mount point meets the fabric), that's not gonna last long if you yank it off daily! Power connector required too much fidgeting too.

I was kinda disappointed they didn't have more variety of devices, they had some Acer, ASUS and Sony ultrabooks but none of them were each manufacturer's best respective models. I think the only other tablet they had on display was a an ASUS Vivo but the keyboard dock/battery must be in very short supply because they only had them on stands and connected to Bluetooth mice/keyboards, wtf.

This was exactly my experience at the store today. :eek:

Anyway tablet looks great and I'm liking the looks of it over my TF300, not enough to make a jump though.

The next year is going to see some very interesting products in Haswell and the next gen Atom Bay Trail which uses the same GPU as Haswell. Add to that new devices with better screens and many more Metro apps and better ARM chips and I think slowly but surely Windows 8/RT becomes much more interesting especially as prices begin to come down as production ramps up.

And then there are the changes to Windows 8 itself. it is a safe bet that Windows 8 is going to get some updates to smooth out the rough spots, Windows 8 won't be frozen for the next three years, I think that's certain.

You mean the same exact GPU or just the same type with fewer units? NVM looked it up.

Bay trail looks pretty damn good IMO. Should provide a good experience on Win 8 considering how the current atom is, 4 cores with turbo to 2.4 GHz that will be pretty good.
 
You mean the same exact GPU or just the same type with fewer units?

Sorry, I got is a little mixed up, according to this the Bay Trail GPU will be similar to the HD 4000, though a little less powerful

The new chips are code-named Bay Trail, and they’re based around a Valleyview processor core with a Silvermont CPU and Intel GPU that’s similar to the graphics processor found in today’s Ivy Bridge chips (although a little less powerful).

http://liliputing.com/2012/08/intel...in-2013-bringing-major-performance-boost.html

Still, that's some pretty good GPU power for an Atom tablet, coupled with out of order execution on the CPU side, these Atoms should represent a very large boost in performance across the board.
 
This was exactly my experience at the store today. :eek:

Anyway tablet looks great and I'm liking the looks of it over my TF300, not enough to make a jump though.

You aren't in Puerto Rico too, are ya?

I'm sold on Windows 8 convertibles, but I'll probably wait until next year before selling my original Transformer. Resale value will probably plummet by then but whatever, I only paid $300 for it two summers ago and I'll probably give the keyboard dock to my mother (who has the same tablet, birthday gift ;) ) so the thing has easily proven it's worth.

I'm just not sure whether I'll go for a next gen Atom device or whether I'll splurge on something like the Samsung 700T or Surface Pro (which I'd probably complement with something like a cheap Nexus 7 for reading). I'm really hoping they continue to price the Atom stuff aggressively (and improve on the displays). With A15 around the corner Intel really can't keep sand bagging Atom.
 
Wouldn't be able to look at one otherwise.

I'm liking that idea too in regards to convertibles. The Surface is nice, but I still like the idea of an actual dock. Maybe M$ will come out with one come Surface 2?

If the new Atom proves to be good all around I may just hop on that. I don't plan on doing anything too intense, so if I can save several hundred dollars I might as well. Really looking forward to the quad A15s. I wonder if MS will do a refresh of the surface around the time of Tegra 4 to get in on the back to school craze at least verse doing a yearly one.
 
Yeah a dock seems more versatile despite the slight bulk... Even though these things usually have great viewing angles, been able to adjust screen angle and even have 50% more battery seems like a win to me.
 
I am glad I did not wait. The date came and gone and it went right to out of stock on the 700t.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834131398&Tpk=samsung 700t

I'm pretty sure Newegg just never received any stock to go out of, same as Amazon, and switched it to "out of stock" because they have no idea when/if they'll actually receive any. I preordered it very soon after Newegg listed it, and the representatives I chatted with had no idea when they'd go on sale.

I sold my 2740p a little while ago expecting these to go on sale two weeks ago, and with the delays and lack of info I've been really close to giving up on the whole thing and buying another used convertible. The longer they persist at this without even indicating what's up, the more likely it is I'll get a T901 or something and be done with it for a couple years.
 
think any of the new win8 tablets will get price cuts for black friday? or are they just too new to get discounts?

acer w510 was suppose to come out today, 32gb for $499, but no one has it. looked around on the acer website and they say it costs $549. guess I'll wait a few more weeks.
 
I picked up a Vivo tab almost a week ago for $499 from Best Buy, and they bundled the keyboard dock with it. They had it listed as $599 but I got them to price match microcenter. I just looked and Microcenter is still listing them for $499 (add to your shopping cart to see it). Seems every best buy around me today has them in stock as well (twin cities area in Minnesota).

Build quality of the tablet itself is great, however it sits a little weird in the keyboard dock wanting to move around a bit. If you've played around with windows 8 and really like it, you're probably gonna love this tablet (or the surface for that matter). I will say though I've had a few Blue Screen's as well, but I'm assuming driver updates will take care of those at some point.

I will say though for windows RT, there is still very little substance in the windows store (you can find ~30 tile apps that have a clock, but only 2-3 seem to actually work for example). Unless I missed it, the new Angry Birds Star Wars has free versions on iOS and Droid, but not for Windows (it's $4.99). It'll probably be a few months or longer to really start getting any decent apps.
 
I picked up a Vivo tab almost a week ago for $499 from Best Buy, and they bundled the keyboard dock with it. They had it listed as $599 but I got them to price match microcenter. I just looked and Microcenter is still listing them for $499 (add to your shopping cart to see it). Seems every best buy around me today has them in stock as well (twin cities area in Minnesota).

Build quality of the tablet itself is great, however it sits a little weird in the keyboard dock wanting to move around a bit. If you've played around with windows 8 and really like it, you're probably gonna love this tablet (or the surface for that matter). I will say though I've had a few Blue Screen's as well, but I'm assuming driver updates will take care of those at some point.

I will say though for windows RT, there is still very little substance in the windows store (you can find ~30 tile apps that have a clock, but only 2-3 seem to actually work for example). Unless I missed it, the new Angry Birds Star Wars has free versions on iOS and Droid, but not for Windows (it's $4.99). It'll probably be a few months or longer to really start getting any decent apps.

your talking about the vivo tab rt, correct? thats a sweet deal for $500 with keyboard dock. I want full win8 though.
 
your talking about the vivo tab rt, correct? thats a sweet deal for $500 with keyboard dock. I want full win8 though.

Yep, and yea it was a great deal. That's what made me decide to buy it and try it out. I think I played with it for a good 40 minutes in the store. I'm still on the fence with windows 8/RT.:(
 
I will say though for windows RT, there is still very little substance in the windows store (you can find ~30 tile apps that have a clock, but only 2-3 seem to actually work for example). Unless I missed it, the new Angry Birds Star Wars has free versions on iOS and Droid, but not for Windows (it's $4.99). It'll probably be a few months or longer to really start getting any decent apps.

It'll take a little time but by mid 2013 the Windows Store should start to get pretty solid, as new titles get first rate developer attention, it's simply a matter of arithmetic, there's just going to be too many Windows 8 machines to ignore.

As for Angry Birds Star Wars, yeah kind of expensive on the PC, there's both a desktop and Metro version, I got the Metro version, but it's the same price on the Mac. And the PC is the only platform that has official support for both touch and mice and of course you get the big screen, it's really more fun to play with a mouse and a bigger screen.
 
It'll take a little time but by mid 2013 the Windows Store should start to get pretty solid, as new titles get first rate developer attention, it's simply a matter of arithmetic, there's just going to be too many Windows 8 machines to ignore.

As for Angry Birds Star Wars, yeah kind of expensive on the PC, there's both a desktop and Metro version, I got the Metro version, but it's the same price on the Mac. And the PC is the only platform that has official support for both touch and mice and of course you get the big screen, it's really more fun to play with a mouse and a bigger screen.

I bet by mid 2013 win 8 store will have more apps than the android store's optimized tablet apps.
 
Man, Amazon is out of stock on ALL Windows 8 Tablets. (Except the RT, but who wants those)

It's been quite a bit since I sold my rMBP so I'm quite desperate for a laptop now. The first one that come in stock on Amazon I'll probably buy it.

Some sellers does have some up but they're price gouging $150~$300 and some is even on "special order".

Just picked up a Acer Iconia W700-6691 for $873.72. I hope I don't regret it.
 
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Just picked up a Acer Iconia W700-6691 for $873.72. I hope I don't regret it.

Congrats, as long of the device is well built which is looks like it is I think you'll be happy. I really don't know what's going on with Windows 8 tablets, there's so few out there right now, hopefully this will begin to change as the holidays approach, I would think that most OEMs would like to get some Christmas sales.
 
Congrats, as long of the device is well built which is looks like it is I think you'll be happy. I really don't know what's going on with Windows 8 tablets, there's so few out there right now, hopefully this will begin to change as the holidays approach, I would think that most OEMs would like to get some Christmas sales.

My ultimate goal was just to get the 700T and be done with it...but it's out of stock everywhere.

The 500T just popped in stock right now, but the only thing appealing about it is the active digitizer...which doesn't really hold its own versus a 1080p display and a more powerful processor. Hopefully the 700T comes back in stock before Amazon ships my W700, if not then I can deal with a few missing features for $300 less.

And yeah, I don't know if they're just really hot items or the stock is just very low. But it's one of the only few devices that got me excited within these past few years.
 
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I think manufacturers are probably scoping out demand, to an extent, production on a new class of product for some of those manufacturers probably takes a while to ramp up too. Though Acer, Samsung, and ASUS have all manufactured Android tablets before... OTOH I remember ASUS tablet launches always being a mess as far as initial availability. Samsung surprises me tho, they're clearly not pushing these devices very hard just yet.
 
So I went to Best buy and Futureshop to checkout the New Windows Tablet, Very few in the store, all the people were also crowded around the Apple and android section. I asked a employee about demand for the Windows tablet and I got a little smirk, he said that there was little to no demand especially after it was explained that RT wouldn't run any of the windows programs. I also asked about desktop and laptop running 8, it had a mixed reaction but people still preferred 7,
 
Amazon has the 500T in stock for anyone interested: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-ATIV-Smart-PC-500T/dp/B0098O9TB0

Get one now if you want it, it was OOS for almost 2 weeks the last time.

Just snatched up one after PCNation canceled my W700 due to the lack of stock...yet their Amazon page still shows that they have 17 left.
 
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