“Early last month, I decided to see if any 2-in-1 style products could take the place of all, or mostly all, of my computing activities,” Kevin Tofel reports for ZDNet. “I tried, Microsoft; I really tried.”
“I bought both a base model Surface Pro 4 and current Type Cover, using it exclusively for the better part of three weeks,” Tofel reports. “But at the end of the workday when it came for a more casual experience, I found it greatly lacking for what I like to do.”
“So I put the Surface Pro 4 away when the iPad Pro I bought arrived. I’ve been using it ever since then; roughly the last two weeks,” Tofel reports. “I can still get nearly all of my work done with it – which admittedly does include a few workarounds such as keyboard shortcuts since there’s no mouse or trackpad – and it’s far better for me during non-work activities.”
“As a result, I’ve found the 2-in-1 or hybrid device that’s suiting my needs more of the time: It’s an iPad Pro,” Tofel reports. “My Surface Pro 4 is still within the return period so it’s sitting in a box on its way back to Microsoft.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Duh.
> it’s far better for me during non-work activities
That is no doubt the deciding factor here. Microsoft Surface, the “tablet that can replace your laptop,” is really a compromised Windows PC pretending to be a compromised tablet.
The ridiculous thing about Microsoft’s surface product line is that they had already failed for about ten years to get any traction with their “windows shoehorned into a tablet” approach.
Apple came along with the iPad five years ago, and showed them “no, do it like this, STUPID”, and they still don’t get it.
-jcr
To be fair if such a product could use the Apple Arm SOC but still run all the desktop software it would be a lot closer to a proper usable combination laptop/tablet product combining the best of a thin lightweight tablet with great battery life with laptop performance already close to i7 performance and cheaper. For MS there is little sign that Intel can produce the goods in such a product any time soon if ever and certainly not cheap enough to make it a sensible or a practical choice for most, if anyone really. Apple has the disadvantage perhaps of having everything going right other than the capability of running those desktop heavyweight programs and desktop style vile system some need or feel they need to use. I think the Pro is an attempt to encourage a new level of software that if written for the OS would actually have the potential to be better than the present unsatisfactory compromised desktop ports PC tablets or combos have access to. Both sides need work doing before being crowned a True all rounder.
Microsoft is presently refusing to issue refunds on any surface tablet. If you take it back to a retail store, staff have been known to chase after customers and throw the tablet at complainers in an effort to prevent them leaving the store without it.
References?
The Surface Pro 4 does seem better than a netbook, those things were godawful! No wonder Steve Jobs refused to make them.
Then again, that’s like saying the Surface Pro is better than a brick.
lol – If you’re building a house, bricks can be handy. I just can’t see why you’d ever want a Surface Pro …
Most of what the author likes (most, not all) are in general ipad benifits he enjoys.. Not what ipad pro brings to the picture.
Last sentence in the full article says it all.
For ipad pro to be trully pro.. It needs much better, full fledged and comprehensive software and ios needs a coherent, user managable file system …
Yeah. It’s time PadOS. Earlier iPads could get away with being a bigger iPhone, but the iPad Pro introduces size and hardware that is crying for a more robust OS.
it’s far better for me during non-work activities…..
Right !!! For that you need a REAL computer. Did he try the i7 surface pro? No, huh. Windows has 90% of the market. So how many programs can you buy for Windows? How many can you buy with iOS?
I like the iPad Pro. Just don’t take the pro too seriously. For that you need to run Windows, and have a i7. A macPad double screen would be what I would buy NOW. The screens are thin enough where you can make a sandwich. Then you would NOT need an “on screen” keyboard anymore. That get’s in the way of your work. That alone, is a great reason to like double screen MacPad. Of course, the other reason is you could make the bottom screen something other than a keyboard.
He said : “I can still get nearly all of my work done with it … and it’s far better for me during non-work activities.”
So the MS Surface ticked #1 for him, but not #2.
The iPad Pro ticked both #1 and #2 for him.
You seem a little confused by his thinking. The i7 Surface of course is rather compromised as a real tablet for it is really a second rate and costly laptop replacement at an uncompetitive price, which is the problem with the be all to everything approach, at least until design and practicality catches up with reality. But at present its more the worst than the best of both worlds.
“Just don’t take the pro too seriously. For that you need to run Windows, and have a i7”
Lol – thanks for the laughs this morning. No, you don’t need Windows for anything – ever. What a joke.
I’m still waiting for the Apple Pencil but, as a traveling executive, the iPad Pro will become my main mobile machine because it will allow me to do things with it that I can’t with my MBP. I love the MBP but I prefer it as a desktop machine connected to a 27″ display and other peripherals. For me, the MBP/display is mainly useful to do big spreadsheet work. I’ll still take it with me on long 2~3 week business trips to Asia but for daily outings and short overnight or 2~3 day trips I’m already confident that the iPad Pro will more than suffice.
I got to try the Pencil the other day. It is an awesome tool. Hope you get yours soon.
Heh, and this ZDNet guy says the iPad Pro’s “a big fat enterprise failure” : http://tinyurl.com/z2qnyg3
Sorry about that first link: http://tinyurl.com/zsjkcrt
I watch the Surface Pro 4 ads bombarding the TV… and just laugh.
The school I work at bought surface 3 pros. Some of the staff actually use them with mice. They have the keyboard (which includes a trackpad) cases and styli, but they use a mouse. Insane.
The feel of the keyboards is terrible.
One day recently one of the IT staff that manages the surfaces and pc laptops tried plugging a portable dvd drive into the surface to install some software…….. he sat there scratching his head…… I told him the drive would not run off of the usb port on the surface because the voltage is too low. He seemed dumbfounded and ignored me. After several painful minutes I offered him my drive and external power source…… SHEESH!
” … recently one of the IT staff that manages the surfaces and pc laptops tried plugging a portable dvd drive into the surface to install some software…….. he sat there scratching his head…”
And that kind of stupidity is why MS has any kind of foothold at all.
I am an Apple fanboy and love my iPad air – I’m on it all the time. But after a few days of using iPad Pro I actually took mine back – it was just awkward to use. The new software keyboard is designed to be used with both hands and sitting at a desk – but if you’re used to holding the iPad in one hand and typing with the other – it’s bizarre. I also didn’t like the one forced angle I had to use if it was sitting in the case. Obviously the bigger size is nice for watching videos and reading – but the icons are more spread out. Most people in landscape mode have the home button on the left, so it’s easy to adjust the volume with your right thumb, and press the home button with your left thumb when needed. Unfortunately, because of the placement of the volume buttons Apple had to put the new smart connector on the left which means the home button is now on the right – which for me and I’m guessing a lot of people is a very frustrating adjustment. But the main problem for me it was just the weight – it’s just too heavy to hold in one hand for long periods of time. I have been super excited about the iPad Pro ever since the announcement, but for me it unfortunately can’t be and on the road laptop replacement – I have to get a MacBook air and take my iPad Air with me when I travel.
Ok, if are telling you do 100% of work on an iPad pro ever using a laptop then it’s a good decision, but not representative for the majority of people.
If you do have to use a PC every once in a while, then your analysis is flawed since you don’t need to do that with the Surface.
Yeah but the surface runs windows which totally sucks
All of this is just bias.
I think it comes down to personal preference. I currently use a Macbook Air and an iPhone 6+ (my iPad Mini is a backup since the 6+ replaced it). I can’t imagine buying an iPad Pro to replace my Air one day because I prefer OS X to iOS by far. iOS is great as a mobile OS, but why would I use iOS at home or when I can have my laptop with me? If I had use for the Pencil as an artist, then maybe, but I don’t.
I still see the iPad as a giant iPhone without phone capabilities and the portability of an iPhone. If anything could convince me to abandon a traditional laptop it’d be a hybrid device that Cook claims Apple has no interest in making. I for one have no interest in having iOS in its current form as my go-to system.
For all the comparisons between the iPad pro and the surface 4, the most important thing is that the surface runs windows. I don’t care if their hardware is “better” which I doubt, it still is windows 😡
Ipad pro rules, I love transferring files, movies and music with wonderful itunes instead of those lame surface tabs which simply hook up directly to external hard drive