Microsoft Surface Pro?

#1

So the Microsoft Surface Pro comes out today. Anyone taking the plunge yet? I really like the looks of this as a Wacom Tablet type of device. It is a Wacom digitizer that is 1080p and only $1,000. I do not know of any other Wacom screen so competitively priced?

Surface Pro site
http://www.microsoft.com/Surface/en-US/surface-with-windows-8-pro/home?WT.mc_id=MSCOM_EN_US_HP_FEATURE_133F2ENUS37332

The closest thing I see on Wacom’s site is this.
http://www.wacom.com/business-and-education/products/pen-displays/dtus/dtu-1031

But a 1080p screen is here and a lot more money, and it is a bigger screen too.
http://www.wacom.com/business-and-education/products/pen-displays/dtus/dtu-2231

but it is nearly $1900

So is anyone picking one of these up? Also according to any place I look the actual real levels of pressure of the MS Surface Pro are not reported. I remember a few months back that it was reported that the Surface Pro is a real 1024 levels, but now I can not find a confirmation on either a Microsoft site or a Wacom site. My best guess is that MS got a good digitizer for a low price and Wacom does not want everyone to know it. Anyone else know any different?

#2

its’ pricey… all i gotta say.

but I will definitely be looking at this very closely… i’ld like to get one for other things (dependent on the Tegra), but I need to see some reviews published and get my hands on one before my final decision is made.

#3

I am very curious how it will run apps like zbrush/painter.

Would love to hear some user feedback if anyone here is getting one.

edit: from the looks of it the pen doesn’t have pressure sensitivity so it is pretty useless. :frowning:

#4

It definitely does have have pressure sensitivity: http://asia.cnet.com/product/microsoft-surface-with-windows-8-pro-core-i5-3317u-processor-1-7ghz-10-6-inch-display-46554401.htm. However, I don’t think it’s Wacom based, so I’m not sure about the quality.

As for ZBrush and Painter, its specs are pretty similar to the Asus EP 121, which can run both programs pretty decently.

#5

I’m thinking about getting one. At the very least it will make a nice small laptop with pressure sensitivity for Photoshop and ZBrush.

#6

it’s got a shitty GPU. It’s not really for 3D apps, similar to the MacBook Air.

#7 
Well I think your being a little incredulous there. Times are changing, and that little i5 with the HD4000 is not a bad chip. You could really do some great work with that if you know what your doing.

I personally have no plans to buy a full tower PC any time soon. I would love a 10-12 inch tablet with a 6 core i7, 12GB of RAM, and a decent GPU. I may only have to wait a couple more years.

-AJ
#8

ah, i thought it too was going to have a Tegra in it… not too sure about the 4000. a bit disappointing.

#9

I’d be content with the i5 chip as most people I know with laptops for CG are doing fine with i5.
The HD4000 I’m not too familiar with. Does anyone know for sure if it copes with CG programs? I’d hate to fork out what will probably be the guts of €1,000 (Surface Pro price isn’t set yet for Ireland) from my part-time job wages on a maybe.

#10

I’d be very interested in seeing how this performs when running remote desktop. I think if you could offload the grunt work to a tower it would be a great tool. I’m not sure how 3D apps perform in that capacity, but I’d be quite interested. If that works well, I’d probably buy one - it means the hardware won’t date as badly. If it doesn’t, might as well wait for a Haswell powered device with double the battery life, probably running something close to Retina resolution and potentially a better graphics chip, although that may mean a price bump.

#11

the CPU isn’t the issue. Onboard Intel graphics should not be used with 3D apps. You won’t get any support for it and you’ll probably get bugs that no one will fix.

#12

They already had em out at the local Bestbuys, just have to look on the back under the kickstand to see if it’s pro or RT. Video is just Intel 4000HD CPU video- not a GPU. It’s not bad- runs a lil warm, is surprisingly heavy and kinds small- too narrow. Heard the battery life sucked-

Had to ask the reps for the pen- they hold on to it, at least at the one i go to.

No photoshop installed so couldn’t test that, no paint- at least that i or the “rep” could find

Only ap I could find that used the pen was MS Journal and as far as I could tell, Journal doesn’t have pressure sensitivity built in but was actually pretty cool.

I had high hopes for this but I would say that I still prefer the Intuos surface over the screen and the fact that I’ve gotten used to having my hand out of the way- but that’s prob just me. The surface was very slick and smooth.

Honestly- I still hate Windows 8- I still found myself going to the desktop vs the stupid new windows start page. And i could not find the “Show all apps” button in the start section.

I’ll stick with my m6600 and the intuos= not sold but it would def be cool for a teen that enjoys doodling. Probably even be cool for concept work on the plane rides or whatver but too expensive for this purpose , at least IMO.

#13

I thought the INTEL 4000HD Graphics ran off the CPU? it’s a separate chip?

#14

it’s integrated into the CPU design. A discrete GPU is something like a Radeon M or Quadro/Geforce M series. You need a laptop for that, not an ultraportable like the MB Air or Surface Pro.

#15

Well apparently there is some update to fix issues with pen pressure in photoshop. I still was underwhelmed with it.

#16

ya, now get every major software vendor to do the same when there’s a tiny, confused core of fringe users trying to run Softimage on a Surface Pro. It’s not going to happen.

#17

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