The Need for a Surface Pro 2
Hi, I'm a student composing this from my Surface RT, and I need a Surface Pro 2.
As the SP2 tries to be the most powerful tablet ever (and IMO has clearly succeeded), I believe Microsoft should embrace that it's the most portable, versatile, and reliable PC to date.
I sell computers in retail, and most people who come in are 35+ years old or a student. Both profiles typically need a reliable machine, and most people understand that when they buy the $279 plastic laptop with a 5 year old AMD, it's likely a lesser product to one that cost $500+, they just don't know why. As a salesperson, it's easy to say, "oh that one's slower than this one," but it's even easier to say, "with the new Surface Pro 2, you can replace your tablet, laptop, and even your desktop all with this one device. It has windows so you can still run programs like iTunes and Photoshop, and it also has apps like a tablet for reading and playing games," then people's eyebrows raise. Surfaces sales aren't as phenomenal as I think they should be because it's an uninteresting or bad product, but because (like with the Xbox One), "we suck at telling the story."
The combination of the different user experiences may come at some minor trade-offs in each one, like a hinged keyboard, or easy one-handed use, but it does offer much more versatility than having a multitude of hardware across your device portfolio.
With the Surface Pro 2, you can use it as a super-charged tablet. Enjoy games like Where's My Water? and Halo: Spartan Assault, and use apps like Kindle for reading. Sure, there aren't 900,000+ apps like on an iPad, but the number of apps in the Windows store has multiplied ten-fold in the last year, so more apps are bound to appear. Listening and discovering to music with apps like iHeartRadio and Songza (a personal favorite of mine) is easy, but what happens when you want to do something like download a new song?
This is where having a tablet and a separate PC would fall short. Typically, one would have to go to their PC and find a torrent of the song or album they'd like to download from there. Why should they have to stop using the initial device? With a Surface Pro 2, you can listen to Songza and discover new music. Then, once you've heard something you like, you can go straight to your web browser, find the torrent, and save it without having to switch devices. You can keep listening to your music while it's downloading and keep playing your game. Or you can get some work done.
With the ability to run x86 apps like Visual Studio, Photoshop, and Office, you can use your play device as your work device (or the other way around). There's almost no limit to what the SP2 can do with this capability. Real Professionals can use this device in the office or in the field without being limited by an app store (vast or not) because nothing compares to the amount of x86 apps available.
All this in a 13mm thick, 2 lb. package with a gorgeous 1080p active display. One of the most portable PCs around, especially among ones with competing power and versatility. The battery life is nearly all-day. Plus the kickstand and accessories just add to its versatility.
There are countless use cases for this amazing PC:
A photographer who does on-the-go editing-- with an SD card slot, he/she can save their fresh pics to the 200gb of free cloud storage on Skydrive thru their Surface Pro 2 without having to wait to get home to save. They can even edit their pictures with an app from the Windows Store or a x86 app of their choice.
A businessman who needs all of his work in one place, with him, all the time-- the portability of the SP2 would make it the ideal office buddy, where he/she can grab it and go, dock up, and get some work done. When they leave work, they can take it home and continue where they left off, or put work to the side and enjoy some Halo ;).
A student who needs a device to help him/her work towards their degree-- With the battery life, portability, and keyboard covers, a student can realize the Surface Pro 2 as the perfect class-mate. The 10.6" 1080p screen will fit well on a lecture hall desk, and the kickstand/keyboard cover combo makes it great for doing desk-work. The digitizer only aids in note taking, with powerful apps like OneNote. Useful Windows Store apps like Power Planner will help them keep organized, too.
All three of the preceding exemplify how a Surface Pro 2 would be a better fit better than separate devices.
No real laptop is as portable the Surface, and no tablet is as powerful or versatile.
I believe small sacrifices like Rdio are well worth the computing experience in the Surface Pro 2 (David Pierce).
And now we're back to me. Why do I need a Surface Pro 2? Because I heard a song I liked on my Surface RT and didn't wanna go fetch my laptop to download it.
