Microsoft Surface Pro a good choice for this usage scenario?

[Megatomic]

Esteemed and elite mobile and gadget gurus, I have a question. I am employed by a company that manufactures gas turbines and work in a department that analyzes operational data pulled from the gas turbine controllers and collected in PI. At work I have a Win7 Pro Xeon (W3503) workstation that is mine exclusively (not a shared resource). I am allowed to VPN in to my own system from home if I'd like to work from home or if a situation requires that I help diagnose a hot issue while I am off. Sometimes I'm required to make settings changes that are calculated in very complex Excel spreadsheets (visual basic macros). These macros can choke my Xeon box.

At home, in order to stave off the overwhelming desire to return to a life of computer nerd-dom, I have been using an Atom based netbook. Connecting by VPN is possible but everything about working on my netbook is horribly painful. I'm sure you all understand how this can be. I am interested in upgrading my home system to something more modern and with a bit more power, but not to something that I can game on or geek around with too much. I am giving some thought to a Microsoft Surface Pro setup. It has much more computer power than my netbook (Core i5 vs. Atom N270) and a much nicer screen.

Can I get some critical feedback on this route? Thank you very much for your help.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Sounds like you need an Ultrabook, not a Surface Pro.

You get a Surface Pro if you must have touch (think a doctors office and eCharts). Otherwise a Haswell Ultrabook kills a Surface Pro on any practical measure.

 

[Red Storm]

Sounds like you need an Ultrabook, not a Surface Pro.

You get a Surface Pro if you must have touch (think a doctors office and eCharts). Otherwise a Haswell Ultrabook kills a Surface Pro on any practical measure.

Agreed.

 

[Crono]

The Surface Pro works best for scenarios where typically you would be using a tablet.
For instance if you do a lot of field work or deal with a lot of customers and need signatures.

Otherwise I agree with the above two posters. The Surface Pro has a decent amount of power, but the tablet/ultrabook hybrid has some drawbacks, most notably battery power is only 4 to 5 hours (at least until a new Haswell line is released). You are better of getting a proper ultrabook or save some money and get a touch-enabled Windows 8 laptop for about $700. I'm not typically an Apple fan, but the new MacBook Air would get you 10 hours of battery and for around the same price as a Surface Pro with a Touch or TypeCover.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Yeah a cheap laptop would work, but if OP wants something as easy to manage as a netbook, and hard to hack on to reduce temptation, that screams Ultrabook.

 

[Megatomic]

Thanks for the recommendations. I've not used an ultrabook yet, I wonder if they can be seen/tried at B&M locations? I'll do some research there.

 

[Crono]

Thanks for the recommendations. I've not used an ultrabook yet, I wonder if they can be seen/tried at B&M locations? I'll do some research there.

Yup, all the big electronics/computer stores will have them. Hit up Microcenter or Fry's - both have decent selections - or a Best Buy if you aren't near the other two. Best Buy is getting Microsoft "stores" (sections) in 600 of its locations eventually, but even now I think a lot of them carry Surface RT and Surface Pro, so you can compare it to conventional ultrabooks.

You can also stop by the nearest Apple Store if you are looking at the MacBook Air. I'm trying to dissuade myself from getting one, but 12 hours of battery life... anyway, the Lenovo Y510p looks promising, as well, for around $900. There are a bunch of Haswell ("4th generation Core") ultrabooks and laptops coming out over the next few weeks. Whatever you get, make sure it has one if battery life matters to you.

 

[s44]

Thanks for the recommendations. I've not used an ultrabook yet, I wonder if they can be seen/tried at B&M locations? I'll do some research there.

Yes, but there's no point in buying any Ultrabook that's not Haswell powered. And I'm pretty sure those aren't in stores yet.