Two questions:
- How loud is the fan in the Pro?
- Can I install any Windows 8 compatible software I want on either the Pro or RT?
Thanks!
I was looking at these and saw a report of overheating and loud fan noise. Then after that, loads of people saying that their’s was cool and quiet, even when playing games.
The Pro is a full Windows 8 tablet - subject to disk space and graphics capability, etc, it will run anything that runs on Windows 8 on a desktop PC.
The RT will only run apps from the store, and a few other things that are certified by Microsoft. There is a (very beta) emulation/compatibility layer thing available to supposedly allow it to run x86 applications, but that’s likely to suck for all but the simplest applications, as it’s a different processor, and not particularly grunty.
Your best bet is to wait until the next version. The Surface tablets were very much proof-of-concept beta tests and you’re getting ripped off if you buy the first generation.
The Surface Pro has a short battery life (5 hours or less) and has a very high display resolution on a small screen, giving you tiny icons. Hook it up to a TV and you get GIANT icons, as Microsoft doesn’t really make with the concept of scaling.
The Surface RT cannot run anything except what is in the Windows App Store. It does come with a version of Office but that’s it for backwards compatibility. The RT is reportedly a terrible performer and is not worth buying at fire sale prices. Also, the RT intentionally disables wired networking, so when you want to update to Windows 8.1 you have to download that multiple gigabyte file over wi-fi.
Paul Thurrott just wrote an article about how crap these devices are and he looks at more than just the base models. TLDR version: wait for the better chipsets.
Thanks for all the great replies, folks. Definitely clears up the current status of the devices for me.
They just cut the price of the RT yesterday, did it drop in the US too?
Looking at his other article: Surface RT at $350: Time to Buy? It looks like there’s been a global price drop.
Ok looks like MS isn’t giving up on the Surface - they’ve released 2 new models and are keeping the old RT, so now there are 3 models available.
Well, it’s like the Fark headline said: Buy the keyboard and this and that and pretty soon you’ve turned it into a rather pricey laptop.
Yes, a touchscreen laptop with a removable keyboard. Which is a lot more versatile than a regular laptop.
Anyway, you can say the exact same thing about an iPad.
Asus or Acer was advertising a tablet for $300 or so that ran Win8, anybody know what the model is and if it runs Win8 Pro? RT is completely uninteresting to me.