Is the Surface Pro 2 a good/bad option for my dad?

[SpecialKO]

So my dad is a professor and professional consultant. Technically, he's retired, but all that really meant was that he could be pickier about where he lectures or whom he does consulting work for.

He's been toying with the idea of new laptop and recently asked me to make a few recommendations. The key things for him is that it travel well, browse the internet nicely, play nice with email, and support Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. Budget is "flexible".

And (in his words) "that tablet-y thing might be fun, but it's not critical".

So, I have been considering either the Surface Pro 2 or the Yoga Pro 2, and was wondering what experiences folks here might have had with either (or failing that, things they've heard). They're Windows, which he is used to using, very light for laptops, are both reasonably powerful, and reputedly run Office just fine (I think the new Surface actually comes with it).

Others Windows Ultrabooks are also in consideration, but the lightness of the two hybrids and the claims that they are decently performing even compared to "full" Ultrabooks make them very interesting (He's 66, lighter is better when he travels, which is once or twice a month).

I briefly considered a Chromebook Pixel, but the re-learning of interfaces and the fact that I would be a bit less technically able to help him in the off-chance something needs to be tweaked kiboshed that idea.

 

[strawman]

The surface pro 2 is a windows 8 laptop with a detachable keyboard. It will simply work for all the windows software he is used to and if he takes some time getting used to the windows 8 interface he may even use it as a straight up tablet.

For me, I'd go that direction and not look back. The only reason to get a windows laptop of any kind is if you need terabytes of storage rather than gigabytes, and if you regularly run very high performance programs, or want to run high end games at a decent framerate.

I'm due for a new tablet next year, and the latest iPad just isn't worth upgrading from the 3rd generation iPad I currently have. I love iPads and the iOS ecosystem, but unless apple steps up its game I think the windows table is going to be more functional for most people in the long run. The latest batch of upgrades were uninteresting from apple, and the surface already has several great features the iPad doesn't. One of the more interesting is that it includes both capacitive touch and Wacom stylus integration, so you can have a stylus with pinpoint accuracy along with pressure information, and an 'eraser'. I know two students using windows 8 with Evernote and are ecstatic about being able to use the keyboard, screen, and camera for note taking and research.

The iPad is not keeping up.

 

[SpecialKO]

Hmm, I'll talk to him about his current HD usage. That may effect whether he goes 128 or 256.

Obviously, the keyboard accessory is necessary. Do you know if the docking station is necessary, or will it work with any particular USB docking station? I'm not sure if he needs more USB ports (I'll have to ask), but in case of...

 

[Eriol]

I'd also remember to install http://classicshell.net as the first thing you install on that machine, possibly even before a different browser (yes it's that important). Yes use the start screen all you want, but being able to HAVE the start menu as an option is just a "good thing" for any 8.x or 2012 machine.

 

[SpecialKO]

I'd also remember to install http://classicshell.net as the first thing you install on that machine, possibly even before a different browser (yes it's that important). Yes use the start screen all you want, but being able to HAVE the start menu as an option is just a "good thing" for any 8.x or 2012 machine.

Is that an 8.1 thing? I've not used Windows 8 much, but the few times I did, there was a start menu.

 

[Eriol]

Is that an 8.1 thing? I've not used Windows 8 much, but the few times I did, there was a start menu.

Somebody installed one then, because by default, there's nothing in the bottom-left of the desktop. And on 8.1, the symbol is there, but it all takes you back to the start-screen. Which is fine when "tableting" it, and even good for "couch-mode" for my home theatre PC, but not for actual work.

 

[Covar]

The start menu has never been good for actual work, and in windows 7 it was only good for quickly searching for an app, which windows 8 could do just as well, and 8.1 vastly improves upon.

 

[Covar]

So, I have been considering either the Surface Pro 2 or the Yoga Pro 2

These are arguably the two smart choices going the windows route. What it comes down to between the two is primary use case. The Surface is a Tablet first, and a pretty good notebook second, while the Yoga twists that around (HA!) and is a notebook first and a pretty good tablet second. A Surface 2 device (note the Surface 2 runs on arm with windows 8.1 RT, comes with Office, the Surface 2 Pro has an Intel Haswell chipset, runs Windows 8.1 doesn't include Office), sounds like it might be the better bet if working with Office and other production uses will be secondary.

 

[SpecialKO]

In that case it sounds like the Yoga Pro 2 might be the best option. He definitely needs a laptop more than a tablet, and working with Office is a priority.

(Also, the Surface Pro 2 doesn't come with Office but the Surface 2 does? That seems...backward)

 

[Eriol]

In that case it sounds like the Yoga Pro 2 might be the best option. He definitely needs a laptop more than a tablet, and working with Office is a priority.

(Also, the Surface Pro 2 doesn't come with Office but the Surface 2 does? That seems...backward)

Office RT (or whatever it's called) because it's not "real" windows. The Pro is an actual full x86 windows machine, so you can use regular office with it.

 

[SpecialKO]

Office RT (or whatever it's called) because it's not "real" windows. The Pro is an actual full x86 windows machine, so you can use regular office with it.

Ah, ok. I have yet to hear a single good thing about RT.

 

[ncts_dodge_man]

If I remember correctly - the Surface RT came with home use Office - aka no Outlook and you could only install apps from the App Store. The Surface Pro allowed you to install apps, including Office.

So I'm assuming they're doing the same thing for the Surface 2.

 

[Eriol]

Ah, ok. I have yet to hear a single good thing about RT.

Meh. It's just like a tablet. Think of it like an iPad and there you go. The "Pro" versions are actual Windows computers.


As for RT, from a programmer's perspective, it's great. Very clean, nice to work with, etc. .NET-like, but for all languages. A lot better than clunky old Win32. But definitely a restricted interface. A lot less you can do, but Win32 is 20-30 years old, so that's not a big surprise.

But it's not Windows per-se.