However, I've tested the RT and I woudn't buy it. But the RT is just a reduced version of what the pro version will be: Something that aims to be a laptop that you can work on.
After testing it I am definetly going to give the pro a shot. Not as an iPad replacement as the iPad was never something to work with. But as a laptop replacement. Because...
- it gets rid of the dead weight of a keyboard (but keeping its functionality)
- it adds the interface of a touch screen
This doesn't replace so much an iPad as it replaces the macbook air.
The author's main claim is that we need different gadgets for different tasks. After deciding each trip wether I'll take my smartphone/kindle/iPad/NetBook/Laptop with me I can assure him: I'd be more than happy to reduce that list.
Removing the keyboard is great, but removing the keyboard and then replacing it with a keyboard in a floppy foldable cover? That seems a little counter-intuitive. I mean, it's nice that you can not take the cover with you if you don't want to, but that would just require replacing it with some cover or another, so I may as well keep the keyboard.
I love the touchcover concept actually. The point of removing the keyboard and replacing it with a floppy foldable cover is that the floppy foldable cover is really light and really thin compared to the keyboard that used to be there.
The second part is that convertibles/transformer tablets historically have handled keyboards crappily. Either you attach it to a folding swivel that's both bulky, heavy, and prone to breakage, or you make the two units entirely separate, in which case transportation/using the unit without the keyboard is awkward.
With the touch cover the keyboard just disappears when you don't need it. It needs neither a complicated mechanism nor do you need to remember to put the detached keyboard in your bag. Fold it over. Bam.
Responding to previous poster though:
> "But the RT is just a reduced version of what the pro version will be: Something that aims to be a laptop that you can work on."
I'm actually of the opinion right now that the RT is the more significant device. Having played with the RT now, and seeing the specs on the Pro, I think the Pro is too awkward to be a market fit. It's substantially heavier, has in all likelihood poorer battery life, and is thick. Also, it has a spinning fan in your hands.
All are acceptable compromises if you can really use it as a laptop replacement - but the touch cover's trackpad is frankly not good enough for that use. So what you've ended up with is a thicker, heavier, louder, warmer, shorter lasting version of the RT that will run non-Metro apps in ways that are nearly unusable.
When you start it up Microsoft even refers to it as a PC. It should be obvious to people that Microsoft sees this as the future of PCs and don't want them to think of it as a "tablet".
However, I've tested the RT and I woudn't buy it. But the RT is just a reduced version of what the pro version will be: Something that aims to be a laptop that you can work on.
After testing it I am definetly going to give the pro a shot. Not as an iPad replacement as the iPad was never something to work with. But as a laptop replacement. Because...
- it gets rid of the dead weight of a keyboard (but keeping its functionality)
- it adds the interface of a touch screen
This doesn't replace so much an iPad as it replaces the macbook air.
The author's main claim is that we need different gadgets for different tasks. After deciding each trip wether I'll take my smartphone/kindle/iPad/NetBook/Laptop with me I can assure him: I'd be more than happy to reduce that list.