Tablets and emulators/Would you buy a 64gb Surface RT for 199

[Arkitech]

I'm in the market for a tablet and was wondering are there any tablets that do emulation well. I've noticed that the 64gb Surface RT can be had for 199.99 with free shipping and I'm really tempted to pull the trigger on it. But I'm a bit skeptical due to the lack of applications.

Whatever tablet I purchase will be primarily for entertainment with some light productivity thrown in. I prefer a 10" tablet or as close to it as possible. Would also prefer something with fairly decent resolution.

 

[Red Storm]

Do you have prior experience with any of the major mobile OSes (Android, iOS, Windows)? Did you like one in particular or buy any apps for it?

 

[Bateluer]

Consider the reasons why the Surface RT is so heavily discounted in the first place.

 

[Arkitech]

Do you have prior experience with any of the major mobile OSes (Android, iOS, Windows)? Did you like one in particular or buy any apps for it?

I'm primarily an Android fan, I like the OS and more importantly the wide variety of apps. But I also like the feel and look of RT, but of course the apps just aren't comparable to android and apple. I'm not really a fan of iOS, just really doesn't excite me.


I may just ignore the Surface and look into getting something with a snapdragon cpu

 

[Red Storm]

For 10" Android tablets I personally think the two best are the Galaxy Note 10.1 and the Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1. The Note comes with a stylus, while the Tab Pro does not but is both thinner and lighter than the iPad air. Tab Pro has 2GB of ram, the Note has 3GB. They're around ~$550 though.

 

[Arkitech]

For 10" Android tablets I personally think the two best are the Galaxy Note 10.1 and the Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1. The Note comes with a stylus, while the Tab Pro does not but is both thinner and lighter than the iPad air. Tab Pro has 2GB of ram, the Note has 3GB. They're around ~$550 though.

Little to rich for my meager budget, nice tablets though

 

[Red Storm]

Little to rich for my meager budget, nice tablets though

What's your budget?

Sony Xperia Z is $420 on Amazon.

Asus Transformer Pads are in the $300s.

Maybe a used Nexus 10?

 

[quikah]

What kind of emulator are you looking to use and what is your budget? Are you dead set on a 10"? You could get one of the baytrail 8" windows tablets for ~$200, can run any emulator that runs on windows.

 

[TripleThreatTLT]

What kind of emulator are you looking to use and what is your budget? Are you dead set on a 10"? You could get one of the baytrail 8" windows tablets for ~$200, can run any emulator that runs on windows.

This. Look at a dell venue 8 pro.

 

[Ravynmagi]

The Tegra 3 was kinda old already when the Surface was launched. And it hasn't gotten better with age. I haven't owned one, but to me it doesn't sound like a good purchase now.

 

[bearxor]

This. Look at a dell venue 8 pro.

Seconded. I'd avoid the SurfaceRT.

 

[podspi]

I plan to pick up a Surface RT eventually, imho it is going to be one of those collectible devices (like the Newton).

Buut, I probably wouldn't spend $200 for it. I imagine at some point we'll get "refurbished" (as in new, but Microsoft doesn't feel like admitting it) units for ~ $100 bucks or so. They made a LOT of those things and nobody bought them.

 

[gmaster456]

For entertainment and light productivity it would be fine. You won't have access to x86 apps however so keep that in mind. But with a keyboard and mouse it's fine for light office tasks, netflix and youtube. Tegra 3 is starting to show it's age however.

 

[desura]

I have a Surface RT. There are times that I'm frustrated with it and there are times I'm happy with it.

First off...the 64gb model is a waste. You're not going to use up the space at all.

It is cheap for the memory, but Apple while more expensive actually results in you actually using all of the memory.

So get the 32gb model...

Updating it is a pain. Like, when I first turned it on and updated it, it must have take like 6 hours to fully update. Seriously.

You're going to be using official MS apps for the most part. I haven't really run into 3rd party apps which were OMG amazing yet.

So what I like about it is that the UI is actually pretty innovative, with the side swipes bringing up search bars for the application. Swiping up is better than the long-press that Android relies on. IE has the address bar on the bottom which is a good innovation IMO, which I'm reminded of everytime I have to reach my thumb to the address bar in android.

The best reason to like it is that

1. it has full microsoft office. So it is a good writing/productivity station

2. it has a full-sized USB port, allowing you to hook up a number of peripherals like mice, keyboards, usb drives

3. it supports flash. This is actually a big deal for me since I like watching shows like the Daily Show online. Apple and Android and SOL on streaming the flash full episodes. Only the RT can do so

4. Feels very solid. Arguably more solid than ipads I've used.

5. compared to the x86 versions, the ARM version is cleaner.

6. Win RT has a desktop file manager which is better than anything from android or apple. Now if only it had programs worth manipulating with...

7. excellent battery life.

Reasons to dislike it:

1. can be slow. Though I compared it to a pro recently and it didn't do terribly.

2. kind of thick and heavy compared to other tablets. Which doesn't bother me too much because it is so much sturdier that I don't worry about throwing it in a bookbag.

I'd also recommend skipping the Type covers which everyone gushes over. The touch cover makes much more sense IMO. For serious work you're going to plug in an external keyboard anyways that's better than the type cover. The touch cover is for the rare instance when the touch screen controls are cumbersome and you need a mouse pointer. Otherwise most of the time it's flipped backwards and is acting as a simple cover.

The one thing I really wish it had was a wacom digitizer like the pro. Maybe in the 3rd version it will.

 

[IAteYourMother]

I'd rather double the budget on a refurb Surface Pro than waste money on an RT

 

[Ravynmagi]

I plan to pick up a Surface RT eventually, imho it is going to be one of those collectible devices (like the Newton).

Buut, I probably wouldn't spend $200 for it. I imagine at some point we'll get "refurbished" (as in new, but Microsoft doesn't feel like admitting it) units for ~ $100 bucks or so. They made a LOT of those things and nobody bought them.

I don't think a failed Microsoft product is going to have the same collectivity value as a failed Apple product. It's going to be in the trash heap with the Zunes and Kins.

 

[Raduque]

Surface RT 64 for $200? Where? BNIB or Refurb?

 

[IamDavid]

I ran with the RT for a couple months and actually liked it allot. I found ways around the limitation while at work and home. Remote desktop to a home or Office PC made the RT totally usable to me except when on vacation. Entertainment, web browsing and Office were all good.

 

[RossMAN]

This. Look at a dell venue 8 pro.

Seconded. I'd avoid the SurfaceRT.

Thirded.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPPY4m8iY0k

http://slickdeals.net/f/6763524-dell-venue-8-pro-32gb-180-at-staples-after-pm-and-coupon-ymmv

 

[Zaap]

I plan to pick up a Surface RT eventually, imho it is going to be one of those collectible devices (like the Newton).

Buut, I probably wouldn't spend $200 for it. I imagine at some point we'll get "refurbished" (as in new, but Microsoft doesn't feel like admitting it) units for ~ $100 bucks or so. They made a LOT of those things and nobody bought them.

Ditto this.

I'd pick one up to mess around with for maybe $100 tops. But $200 no way.

They'll end up being curiosities like the Windows CE handhelds were back in the day. (I still have several MobilePros -800, 880- floating around somewhere).

 

[sm625]

I'd buy one for $49.

 

[TheStu]

I don't think a failed Microsoft product is going to have the same collectivity value as a failed Apple product. It's going to be in the trash heap with the Zunes and Kins.

I don't think it will be collectible, but both it and the Zune (excepting the gen 1 zune) are very attractive pieces of kit. I wouldn't mind having a Surface as a 'museum' piece if you will.

 

[Graze]

I plan to pick up a Surface RT eventually, imho it is going to be one of those collectible devices (like the Newton).

LOL. You do realise that Microsoft had a warehouse full of these things? They were produced in mass numbers. These things would never be collectibles.

 

[desura]

One neat thing is that apparently it *can* be jailbroken to basically run open-source applications on sourceforge.