Computers & Electronics

Black Friday Microsoft Surface RT 32 GB for $199: worth getting or not?

  • Last Updated:
  • Nov 29th, 2013 9:27 pm
Tags:
None
Sr. Member
Jul 23, 2009
911 posts
434 upvotes
Ireland

Black Friday Microsoft Surface RT 32 GB for $199: worth getting or not?

I'm planning to wake up Friiday morning at 6 am before I go to school to order one for $199 from Best Buy or Future Shop. It seems like a killer deal on the surface but what turns me away is it's only 32 gb and I can't run any desktop-based programs (x86) like on my desktop or laptop. However $199 is a good price and I find tablets to be much more comfortable to work with than laptops, and the Surface has a keyboard too (oh damn wait it's sold separately, nvm) T.T

I already have a laptop I got for $499 in March (i5 3230m, 8 gb, 1TB running 8.1 home premium) and an i7 2700k desktop running Windows 8.1 pro as my main home computer.

Is the surface tablet worth the $200 (for those who have the tablet or are knowledgeable)? I don't see a lot of people going crazy over it like they would if an ipad air went for $200 for example, but I would like a cheap windows-based tablet to integrate all my crap on skydrive without having to lug around my laptop every time I go outside.
26 replies
Newbie
User avatar
Nov 9, 2013
85 posts
9 upvotes
Westmount
Windows RT is a dying OS. Worth $200? Maybe if you really need a tablet.
Member
Jul 6, 2012
285 posts
78 upvotes
BURNABY
I would personally never get windows RT.
I would wait for more windows 8 tablets to come that uses Intel's Bay Trail atom processor.
windows device is pretty much useless if it can't run desktop programs due to lack of apps
Deal Addict
User avatar
Nov 15, 2004
4311 posts
443 upvotes
Thornhill / North Yo…
If I didn't already have a tablet, I'd probably get one. On my iPad, I don't do much other than browsing, email, ebook reading, some note-taking, and the occasional Wordament rounds.

Even though you can't run x86 applications on the Surface RT, it's nice to have a familiar file manager.

If you want the touch cover as well, Staples will be selling the Surface RT 32 GB + Touch Cover for $250.
Sr. Member
Jul 13, 2009
932 posts
63 upvotes
Depends what you want to do with it.

16:9 screen at 10+ hours of battery is awesome for movies/tv when traveling.

16:9 screen and Tegra 3 is not very good for web browsing.
Member
Nov 6, 2003
368 posts
165 upvotes
Oakville, ON
Windows RT isn't dying or going anywhere as long as Intel can't compete with ARM. In fact, Microsoft will most likely merge this OS with their phone OS creating a single platform going forward.

http://windowsitpro.com/windows/new-hin ... ows-vision

If you only use the tablet for surfing, email etc then I think this is a good price for this device. If you are a power user and expect great performance from your devices you are much better waiting for the current RT tables (Microsoft Surface 2) to drop in price as they offer a noticeable improvement over the first release.

If you haven't had a chance to use this tablet yet, I'd drop into a store to check it out to see if you are happy with it's performance. If so, then this is a great price.

Also, you could always RDP into any other computer in your network if you want to do some desktop work while on this tablet.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Apr 4, 2009
7698 posts
794 upvotes
North York
I've been on the fence about getting an RT for $200. For $200 that is a lot of nice hardware and s/w. (Now I have access to a free Type Cover too.)

An extremely well built 1080p tablet with Office. So you can browse internet, outlook (?), MS work & excel.

Sounds like all a basic user would need.

The more I think about it, the more the Surface RT (@$200) looks like the HP Playbook during that mad clearance.
Member
Nov 26, 2004
448 posts
64 upvotes
Toronto
OK.. let's clarify what you need?
If you just looking for a tablet, I will not recommend this for you.
If you want a smaller/lighters size laptop w/o keyboard, this one is fine.
Newbie
Apr 1, 2010
34 posts
10 upvotes
I have an Android tablet as well as a surface RT which I bought instead of an Ipad. I am very happy I made that decision, it has fully working version of ms office -outlook. It has a fully USB port, I had a micro USB keyboard with rf Dongle , it works with the tablet, I have connected USB mouse and I am sure that it will also work with a full USB keyboard, I have directly connected portable and powered hard disks to the tablet without any problem, it natively allows you to access any pc on your network, the other day I configured TCP/IP printer to the tablet, keyboard shortcut such as ctrl -c ctrl V is for copy paste. All in all this tablet is amazing its potential is endless.
Deal Addict
Nov 21, 2008
1399 posts
301 upvotes
North Vancouver, BC
Pretty good price, but it would be great if they dumped some RT2s this weekend as the specs on it (FHD vs HD, USB3, better battery life, much faster Tegra 4 vs Tegra3) make for a much better experience.

ARM chip usage will likely be dropped. Silvercore based Atom processors (aka Bay Trail) are about as fast, or faster, than any ARM processor. It comes in a quad core with 2560x1600 resolution and USB 3.0 support. Power consumption is low - comparable to ARM. You'll get a Win8.1 tablet that can run most Windows programs any x32 Windows notebook can run.
Deal Expert
Dec 5, 2006
16787 posts
12570 upvotes
Markham
How this compare with tf600t, surface is a bit heavy. Seems even heavier than ipad 2
Banned
User avatar
Oct 15, 2005
12954 posts
1617 upvotes
North York
windows RT is not going to be killed.
MS would not invest heavily into an OS and kill it like that.
if anything they will find a way to make the 2 OS co exist or merge in the same eco system.
intel's bay trail as of now is a complete joke so don't put your money there anytime soon.
intel cannot come out with something in the arm arena so this is proof right there.
Deal Fanatic
Jul 13, 2012
8501 posts
1053 upvotes
Occupied Ottawa
infamouskid wrote: [..]
intel's bay trail as of now is a complete joke so don't put your money there anytime soon.
[..]
How do you figure it's a joke? I tried the Asus t100 that has one and it seems perfectly good and able to compete with the Tegra 4 arm chips in terms of speed, heat output, price, power utilisation, etc..
Deal Addict
Mar 10, 2006
3873 posts
1142 upvotes
GTA
Why is it a complete joke? Please elaborate.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Nov 3, 2012
1868 posts
493 upvotes
TORONTO
infamouskid wrote: windows RT is not going to be killed.
MS would not invest heavily into an OS and kill it like that.
if anything they will find a way to make the 2 OS co exist or merge in the same eco system.
intel's bay trail as of now is a complete joke so don't put your money there anytime soon.
intel cannot come out with something in the arm arena so this is proof right there.
Wait.. Why is intel's bay trail a complete joke?
Deal Expert
User avatar
Apr 16, 2001
16514 posts
3319 upvotes
infamouskid wrote: windows RT is not going to be killed.
MS would not invest heavily into an OS and kill it like that.
We'll see. Apps support is lacking, performance on Surface RT is mediocre, and I don't expect sales are too impressive considering how they priced themselves out of the market.
intel's bay trail as of now is a complete joke so don't put your money there anytime soon.
Disagree. I've used the Asus Transformer T100, and it performs quite well for the price, especially compared to the Surface RT (which sells for $50 less without a keyboard.)
intel cannot come out with something in the arm arena so this is proof right there.
a) Why would Intel want an ARM processor, and b) what does this prove?
Blacklisted companies: Roku, Lenovo, Motorola, TP-Link, D-Link, Samsung, HP, LG, Public Mobile, EVGA, Blizzard
Banned
Jul 26, 2009
4315 posts
663 upvotes
Toronto
infamouskid wrote: windows RT is not going to be killed.
MS would not invest heavily into an OS and kill it like that.
if anything they will find a way to make the 2 OS co exist or merge in the same eco system.
intel's bay trail as of now is a complete joke so don't put your money there anytime soon.
intel cannot come out with something in the arm arena so this is proof right there.
How on earth is bay trail a complete joke? Have you ever used a tablet with Bay Trail? Its good.
i5-3570K 3.4GHz | ASUS DCII 7850 2Gb
8Gb DDR3 1333MHz | 128GB HyperX SSD + 1Tb HDD
Gigabyte Z77-DS3H | Ultra 650W PSU | Dell 22" 1920x1080 LED
The proud owner of a brand new ASUS T100!!!
Member
User avatar
Oct 20, 2013
205 posts
104 upvotes
Doesn't the description say there's free upgrade to windows 8.1? or am I mistaken?

Anyway, I don't think there's a tablet that is 10 inches and less than $300. So this might be a good deal.
Sr. Member
Jun 10, 2003
806 posts
214 upvotes
Halifax
Yeah the update is in the windows store, managed to price match my surface yesterday. It does take forever to do the windows updates and to 8.1

Top