I assume it would fold flat across the back of the tablet. That's how the iPad Bluetooth keyboards work. Which BTW, look identical to the keyboard on the Surface.

Another gripe about the Android OS (current ver.) is the interface for creating and storing personal files. Still want to right click and "create new folder" but can't. Want to have options for opening folders and executing tasks but can't.
Windows had it pretty right in that regard.

Not sure I like the Win8 big-colorful-button-smartphone-interface for a regular multitasking work pc though, unless there is something more substantial behind those screens. For smartphones and small portable tablets it seems like an improvement.

720p is the minimum standard for win8. While the "Retina" display looks spectacular, the over-lay capacitive touch input resolution (of the ipad) is HORRIBLE.

The ipad input relies on peoples fat fingers. Go ahead, without zooming your ipad, click on one of the page numbers of one of these threads. (good effn luck w/ that) Even with a capacitive pen you will be pecking, and pecking and pecking, trying to hit that small hyperlink. --HOrrible touch input resolution.

Windows, OTOH, gives the user precision input. ....it's as if Microsoft sees their customer as someone who, on balance, creates, rather than solely consumes. ...Back to the spectacular "Retina" display --great for viewng photo's. ...WHAT? ...no SD slot to review a photo shoot? ...oh, but there is this barnacle that you can buy to read the tiny SD card (Apple is so elegant)

Back to the user precision input of Windows tablets... not only does the user get field precision, but also pressure precision. That is, where an ipad reads on or off (touch/no-touch only), the Windows machine will sense 256 levels of pen pressure, giving a true pen-like experience. AND, it even senses the pen just above the screen --which allows a cursor to hover over a field without selecting it. (which often provide the user with more info on that hyperlink)

But the ipad has ridiculously high display resolution. So, Pop the corn, and watch a movie on your tiny screen. (and feel superior, of course)

If the Surface will run MS Office with relative ease, I may be switching from my MacBook Pro. I have been waiting for a decent tablet that will allow me to run Office programs that I can dock on my desk, then take with me to Starbucks and review documents and surf the web or to a client appointment. My work is very portable, so I need something very light, good picture quality and fast enough not to get bogged down. I mostly only use Word, Excel, Web, Mail and photos. I am getting into Powerpoint as well.

If this fits the bill, I will still need a better portable printer.

Island - are you using a slate? Or do you have access to a Surface?

other than game consoles - Window's forays into hardware have been miserable at best. And I still don't understand why they are choosing the tablet to make a statement - I realize that perhaps they have finally seen the light from that glowing apple in the distance (software/hardware really integrated from one source)... but, past results certainly makes one wonder why? Plus - no release date - no 'ballpark' pricing... I know apple teases... but, the Surface seems to be just that at this point - surface fluff.

Would anyone 'create' on a tablet - mostly not, it isn't 'created' for that purpose. Can I really expect an iPad to replace my 27" iMac - hardly - I want to consume content on any tablet, along with an option to do minimal creation. No tablet is going to handle multiple gig video or photoshop files - nor do I expect that. With a tablet most expect a platform that delivers content extremely well - not one that creates it. Once again apple 'gets' it, by delivering a platform that excels in screen and sound, great access to web and social media, without bothering to be something it isn't, a machine that can do complicated spreadsheets and word docs.

Create on the real machine - cloud it - then use the portability of the tablet for on-location review, etc. These days, I would never, ever store 'real' files on a tablet - things get lost...

showing my age some but I have heard these arguments before.

paraphrasing to the max. In the sixties/seventies two rival groups agreed that to get desktop hardware to sell, because who would need to replace the IBM computers and their perfectly good method of input from punch cards and paper printouts output, you needed a killer app.

I think the killer app for the tablet computers will be/is the cloud. The cloud is doing all the heavy lifting and the tablet will be just the display and keyboard. (Is the Tablet just the Wyse 50's for the next generation?) IE,Firefox,Chrome are the interface. Bandwidth will be king. The Tablets, smart phones, Ipods, PC's will just be some of the ways we get there.

Now for my next speech in the Stating the Obvious series will be "Gravity, just a bump on Isaac Newton's head"

If you fly there are some nice charts and checklists on the iPad.

Wow, took you longer than usual! :D Don't get miffed, in the past 6 months I have gotten to be even more of a digital reactionary than you are.

To wit: in my opinion tablets are either toys or a platform for vertical applications. If you need to do more than one type of task, you need a good keyboard. If you need to do any meaningful input, you need a good keyboard.

"Meaningful" includes such heavy tasks as sending emails and posting on PPOT. :D Until voice recognition has advanced to the point where I can speak normally and the VR software transcribes at 100% accuracy, I will need a hardware keyboard. Nothing is more frustrating that trying to type with an on-screen keyboard that fights you every step of the way by trying to "help"--except maybe handwriting "recognition."

When my MacBook died two months ago (for the last time--I'm not shelling out the bucks to replace the screen) I went out and bought an 11" NetBook and put Xubuntu on it. $340 later I have a real computer that weighs little and lasts as long as my Acer Iconia A500 does on battery power. The only difference is that it's actually useful.

You know what has been great about reading PPOT almost exclusively on my iPhone and iPad...it cuts down on the amount of replies I make and silly arguments I get in, simply because typing long-winded, banal posts on the touch screens is not the most efficient process. But it's a good thing. There are a number of posters here who would benefit from some roadblocks to posting. Ymmv

I agree that a tablet is less productive without a physical keyboard. While you cannot physically connect a keyboard to an iPad, you can connect one via bluetooth. This is what I got for my iPad:
http://zagg-images.s3.amazonaws.com/...h-1_island.jpg
It is a Logitech / Zagg keyboard/case. Has a decent 'chicklet' keyboard -- not a slow soft-touch type keyboard.
Clicky here for more info.

BTW: I suspect that the Surface keyboard is also a bt keyboard, and not one with a usb-interface.

I type upwards of 75 words a minute, and a virtual keyboard just can't keep up with me, nor can a soft-touch keyboard! That is exactly why I have a bluetooth keyboard/cover for my iPad. An iPad coupled with a keyboard now becomes a very useful tool and can replaced a laptop in many applications. For example:
- For taking notes in a meeting, I open up Evernote and take notes there. I can then email it, or pick it up on my lappy or cell phone via "the cloud."
- Schoolwork: I am in an online MBA program, and much of my work has been done on my iPad, including answering discussion questions.
- For creating documents, I have Apple's Pages App for my iPad, and I can email such documents in pages, PDF, or MS-Word format to anyone.

Voice input is available on the new iPad: it is integrated into the keyboard: there's a microphone button: I press it, speak, and hit return. In seconds, my spoken word is typed infront of me. It is extremenly accurate, but requires a wifi (or cell) connection. I suspect it there's a bigger server/processor in the "cloud" dedicated to voice recognition.

Yeah, but Windows RT is not very popular at all. For one, they partnered with Nokia, which is a half-step behind RIM/Blackberry in terms of becoming obsolete.

Well stated. Office needs to bring an easy interface into the cloud, so users can access their files from their lappy, tablet, phone, whatever. Something like a sharepoint feature would be slick and appropriate, espeically for businesses tied to MS Office.

The iPad can be made into a useful tool, with the right accessories, like a keyboard, and as mentioned above, when it is able to use the processing power of "the cloud." But most tablets these days have the same benefits/limitations.

-Z-man.

The problem with "the cloud" is that we're not always on-line and the cellular data systems are way too limited.

My Slate is great. It is a fully blown machine. It comes, out of the box, with voice control. All Windows 7 machines do. It can and does run Office, unlike "google docs" which needs to be online, or Open Office which is missing an integrated mail application.

I am not getting into an argument about what is best. It all depends on your application. I have an Android Tablet and think it's great for its application: E-mail, reading, minor surfing.

But this looks much more like a mini-laptop than an iPad.

James:
Lots of apps use the cloud but do not rely exclusively on the cloud. Case in point: the Evernote app. I can use it on a device no problem, but it won't sync up the docs with my other devices until it has access to the cloud. The need to have that flexibility built in since it is true - there are still times when you simply can't be connected to the interwebs!

-Z-man.

I was thinking more like ChromeOs, which needs an internet connection to work.

Did not know that. Wow - is that a show-stopper!

-Z

Yeah, I saw your earlier post, but cool-paws needed some refined points.

I've been a tablet user since back in 2005 -so quite a few years before Apple invented them. :rolleyes:

Anyway, I'm a device junky of sorts. I like useful tech. As Blue will tell you, I have opinions about these tablets. (surprise)

I recently sold my HP Slate 500, but that's okay, because I still have a couple other travel tablets. ..plus my wife's. And, All have displays which are readable outside. --I chuckle at the poolside peeps in Hawaii trying to see their glossy (not bright enough for sunshine) displays on their ipads. I expect that the Kindle people are laughing at them too.

"Would anyone 'create' on a tablet?"

You're kidding, right? Digital arts are SOOO much better with pen-based input. Not only is there the precise control, but, unlike an iPad, pen-based gives palm rejection. that is, an ipad can't tell if you bushed the screen with a finger ...er, Fat finger;) OR brushed it with a fat palm.

I "create" as in making Office documents on a tablet.

I will say that for tablet input I no longer use the TIP. ...I use "Rite Pen" which allows writing input anywhere on the screen. ... works like the transcriber function in an old Window-Mobile Phone.

And yeah, I 'create' in a mixed-mode depending on need. Redlining a drawing or screen captures, for example, is great when you have a pen-based input device.

That, plus it's a serious security issue.

Basically you're streaming your usage verbatim to the net: medical records/legal records/business records/personal files/porn/music and media history/more porn/gaming/personal photos/and everything else others should never have access to.

That is pure "hacking", even when "data collecting" for "licensing" or "statistics" is written in the EULA.

There are going to be 2 versions of this. The ARM version is what they showed yesterday. From what I have read, it will be Win 8 Lite: very low power requirements, smaller form factor, but no network client. The challenge for MS will be the Intel version. Normally this means a bigger form factor and more heat from the processor. Ivy Bridge chipset could be what they need to overcome heat and package a full blown enterprise OS in a tablet form.

Again from what I have read, look for intro shortly after Win 8 releases.

Nah, it's Google. What could go wrong? :p