Surface going back... for now.

I'm returning the Microsoft Surface.  Not cause I don't like it, but for the following reasons:

-  I know that if I actually invest in the platform, I'll need the 64gb one.  After the OS and everything is installed, only having 10GB is a little odd.  I don't want to pay the extra $100 right now.  I've installed a few apps and games, and when I checked, I have 6.5GB of space left.  That's with no music, and 2 tv shows.

-  It is a really good 1st gen product.  Really good, and the hardware is good as the best.

-  The unsettling feeling that I've probably bought $300+ worth of apps on the iPad, and giving it all up just for some new hardware.  I've already given up my iPhone, so there is a money thing there that gnaws at me.

-  It's not the KEYBOARD that makes Surface good, it's the perfect integration with the whole operating system, and the cursor that comes with it.  This is something the iPad will never match.  Using an external keyboard on the iPad (like the excellent Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover) has always felt like a second class citizen.  On the Surface, it's a 1st class citizen and experience.

-  Some of the key first party apps were just weird and slow.  The People app, great in concept, clunky in reality.  It seems to want to Live-Tile update everything that "begins" joelo, instead of mentions and RTs that actually relate to me.  The messaging app doesn't deliver/notify when it should.  This will get better over time.

-  In many ways, the BEST experience  for Surface is actually within Internet Explorer 10, and the Desktop version of it.  If that's the case, the tablet side has somewhat failed.  The thing is, it's still a compelling laptop, if not for that reason alone.  The Surface has the best browser on any tablet I've used.

-  For now, it's an iPad world.  The same sites are optimized for iPad, work better for iPad, show less ads, etc...

-  I check for new apps every day, and they are coming out at a trickle.  The store interface is clunky in that you can't search for "new apps", only "new within each category". The apps that DO come out, though, are high quality.

-  The software support is weak.  I wanted to buy a few apps (like the excellent NextGen Reader) but could not because the store wouldn't let me switch my billing address country

-  For my current use case, I don't need to be ultimately productive on the road.  Actually, I don't need to be productive at all.  For now, I just need to play.

And a side, non technical reason:  I feel sheepish that I bought one even though I'm going to Hawaii for vacation next Sunday.  I don't want to constrain our family's vacation mood financially just because I bought the latest gadget!  

Surface, I'll be back, I promise.

Microsoft Surface tablet part 2

So after 3 days of heavy use, I have a few more points to make about Surface.

-  The battery life really is as advertised;  It's not the iPad mini's 12 hour battery life (far from it), but it will do 8 hours solid, running at full blast.  That is more than good enough for me.
-  I look forward to using it.  When I get a chance to hold it, I smile.  The beveled edges are very satisfying
-  I keep checking for software updates to make the device better.  I still believe that the software is holding the hardware back.
-  I've decided to keep it (and won't be returning it, provided nothing bad happens over the next few days...)
-  It is a totally different class of device than an iPad.  Totally different, that it doesn't make sense to compare them, even though many people will.
-  The keyboard is as good as needed for me. That being said I also did not have any problems with the iPad touch screen keyboard.  I can type way faster on this thing though.  I don't have to look down, and rarely make mistakes that I wouldn't normally make. 
-  Apps are still anemic, but good thing IE10 is actually pretty good.
-  Buying into the Microsoft ecosystem makes me think about Windows Phone 8.
-  Buying into the Microsoft ecosystem reminds me of how annoyed I am at the cash grab of Xbox live gold
-  I like the idea that the Surface feels very personal to me
-  I keep checking the windows store for new apps, but they are coming out at a trickle.  Things I'm looking for are: Zite, Flipboard, a photo editing app (Photo taking app is useless as the cameras suck) like Snapseed (will never happen because Google bought Nik), Facebook, Twitter.  Everything else, I can do on my phone
-  OH, and HALO WARS.  Come on, Microsoft, release an awesome first party Halo game for WinRT.

Microsoft Surface RT First Impressions

Surface Impressions/Live Review (written on Word rt 2013)

Random thoughts.

Device was purchased at the Burnaby Metrotown pop up store on opening weekend.

- Out of box impression is not good. The device feels very sturdy, and the hardware is great, but man, the software lets the whole thing down.
- Out of the box, everything needs an update. All the first party apps had an update, which are different from system updates, which are different from Office updates
- Why does Windows Defender RT need definition updates every single day? I thought malware couldn’t even run on RT. Unless somebody is telling me something wrong;
- The software lets the system down. The system works great, but the individual apps are slow to launch, and pretty low functionality. I.e. the web versions of the metro apps are always better on the web
- Games are choppy. For example, “Fruit Ninja” is slower on a brand new surface, tegra 3, quad core, blah blah blah, than it is on my first generation iPad.
- Screen is more than good enough. Especially in laptop mode, where you are much further than 10” from the screen
- Speakers are soft
- Kickstand is awesome
- The beveled edges make holding it very nice. I like holding it.
- Its like 60% a laptop, 25% a tablet, and 15% missing
- The Fresh Paint app (first party drawing app) is outstanding, and beats any iPad drawing app
- The Music and Video apps are embarrassing
- The touch cover is great! I type over 100 wpm on a regular keyboard, and can type what seems like 80+ wpm without looking at the keyboard. The keyboard is very good. Very, very good. It just needs a gentle auto correct functionality and it’s perfect. And if the space bar could be slightly more responsive. I guess we don’t hit the space bar as hard as the other characters.
- I want to like it as a laptop, and as a tablet for the odd time when I need it - The “missing apps” problem is significant, but not really that significant.
- On my Desktop for example, I have 3 apps – Lightroom, Photoshop, and Chrome. What’s on here is already better than expected. I know that the number of apps will only increase. Not sure about the quality of the apps though.
- I kind of find it fun that I can do a “regedit” and mess around with the OS.
- The trackpad is slightly annoying in that after you scroll, the mouse cursor is not responsive for about 2 seconds, then starts again. This is surely a firmware problem that we should be able to fix.
- Netflix doesn’t seem to want to stream in HD
- Xbox Music Pass sucks. You don’t know what you get for your $10 a month! If I didn’t get it free for a year, I would be complaining and demanding a refund by now
- The windows 8 gestures work great for Surface.
- As I thought with windows phone 7.5, there is too much wasted space in the Metro UI. Having to do a gesture to bring up the context menu to press Refresh is annoying (should be pull to refresh, or at least a BUTTON)
- I typed all of this in about 5 minutes on the touch cover
- The cameras are only good for video conferencing. Not worth talking about otherwise
- The device works great on the couch on your lap
- In portrait mode, it feels kind of tall. Trick is to not look down.
- IE 10 seems to work great. I would book my plane tickets on here, but wouldn’t on my iPad
- No VPN, Citrix VPN access (sorry, work!)
- The office apps, as promised, are here – but are slow, crash, and are weird. The skydrive integration is nice, but needs to load for every single little thing. Annoying. I didn’t buy this thing for iPad I guess.
- The bottom line is this – I bought this thing wanting to like it. Wanting to love it even – but I don’t. Not yet anyway.   I’m looking for ways to like it, to justify keeping it. I think as a laptop it succeeds in many ways. And as a tablet, not really. But I guess between my oversized HTC one X, and a small Surface, maybe there isn’t really a need for an iPad.
- The vaporMG, the kickstand, all good stuff.  Kickstand is hard to open, but you get used to it.
-  Opening the surface is sort of strange.  On an iPad, you're used to flipping the smart cover over the top of the iPad, like a landscape calendar.  On the surface, it's designed to be flipped down (so the keyboard lays in front of you).  But if you want to use it as a tablet (sans keyboard), then it's odd.  You have to lift the whole thing, then tuck the touch cover under.
- Battery life, as promised, and probably better than promised. You do not need to worry about the battery. When you do need to charge it, it charges super fast (2 hours to full)
- The video out is just a micro HDMI. Don't buy into Microsoft's stupid video adapter. More thoughts as they come.

Feel free to ask questions in the comments.