Replacement for iPad - used Surface Pro?

[rx7boi]

Hey all,

So I've been an iPad user for a while. Used to jailbreak them for free apps but nowadays I literally just use it for Netflix and Youtube before going to bed. I bring it for travel with movies loaded but I've gotten to the point where I can't take iTunes anymore.

I was scoping out Android tablets around $400-500 like Samsung but remembered that MS came out with the Surface Pros. Looking on Kijiji and FB Marketplace, you can snag a used Surface Pro 4 with an i5, 8gb RAM, and 256gb SSD for about the same price.

My only non-negotiable priority is that I have to be able to load downloaded movies onto it without going through proprietary software like iTunes #pirateslife.

Has anyone used the Surface Pro before? How did you like it? Pros and cons?

[firebane]

Surface Pro is exactly the same as any other pc that you have used.

You will have zero issues

[taemo]

I had a Surface Pro 4 before and backpacked Asia with it couple of years ago and didn't like it.
Battery life is terrible (3-4 hours), not a big fan of the Surface Pro stands and flimsy keyboard.
You'll also need to bring a dedicated charger for the Surface now as well.

For videos, news and media consumption device, IOS and Android for me.

[rx7boi]

Thanks for the replies. I hadn't thought about the battery life since I just assumed that the Surface Pro would have the same being a tablet sized device. Something else for me to think about.

[jwslam]

What size are you looking for? There's a significant difference between a 7" iPad mini and a 12" surface.

Also what are you considering for weight and how do you stand it up? You could get into the chromebook world as well if it doesn't need to be touchscreen / tablet format.

[rx7boi]

I have an 11" iPad Air 2 which is my main viewing device. I use it before bedtime so I prop it up against the headboard. If I bring it on the plane, I have a tablet cover that helps stand it up on the food tray.

I have an HP Elitebook laptop so I want to stick with the touchscreen/tablet format. My main issue is that I've become super disgruntled with iTunes. I'd much prefer an Android tablet where I can access it via USB removable device and load photos/movies/subtitle files with ease.

My understanding is that with the Surface Pro Windows 10, I can access Netflix and Youtube as apps which are the only other things I'd primarily use it for but if it means losing battery longevity, I would be just as happy with something like a Samsung Galaxy tablet.

I suppose the Surface Pro is nearly twice as heavy as an iPad. I was just wondering if people tend to use Surface Pros as a tablet alternative.

[gqmw]

I have the surface pro - I pretty much use it as a laptop at home and the touchscreen is great. But as mentioned in previous posts, it is heavier than a tablet and battery life isn't as good as what you would get on a tablet.

If it's mostly for travel and for watching movies, I would probably go for a tablet. For me, because most of my travel is business related and I typically need to have my work laptop with me, I have never actually taken my surface pro travelling, but I would probably consider bringing a tablet (if I had one).

[jwslam]

^ that. In general I don't think there are many people who buy the Surface for media consumption. It's more of a touch screen laptop for people who need the computer functionalities that a tablet OS doesn't provide.

[killramos]

I would have hated my surface a lot less if it wasn’t my main computer. It’s a decent tablet. Pretty shitty laptop imo.

Thick. Heavy. Expensive. Buggy (seriously...).

Surface’s are a massive missed opportunity, they could have been so good but they just aren’t.

My vote is buy a new iPad. IOS 13 you can use USB sticks with a dongle if you want.

[A790]

I love my surface pro. Have had it for 2 years now. Has totally replaced my laptop for when I travel.

[taemo]

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I have the surface pro - I pretty much use it as a laptop at home and the touchscreen is great. But as mentioned in previous posts, it is heavier than a tablet and battery life isn't as good as what you would get on a tablet.

If it's mostly for travel and for watching movies, I would probably go for a tablet. For me, because most of my travel is business related and I typically need to have my work laptop with me, I have never actually taken my surface pro travelling, but I would probably consider bringing a tablet (if I had one).

This, if you don't need a laptop for work when travelling then a tablet is more than sufficient for consuming contents.
We are going on a 3 week vacation over the Christmas holidays and as much as I want to just bring the ipad I'm afraid that I'll have to bring my HP Elitebook X360 for work.
I thought about using the ipad or amazon fire hd2 for Citrix or RDP but nothing beats a laptop for convenience.

[rage2]

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I would have hated my surface a lot less if it wasn’t my main computer. It’s a decent tablet. Pretty shitty laptop imo.

Thick. Heavy. Expensive. Buggy (seriously...).

Surface’s are a massive missed opportunity, they could have been so good but they just aren’t.

This. I've been a loyal SP supporter since the first version, all the way to Surface Pro "5" or whatever they called that no name one. It's ridiculous that they never got it right. I switched to a MBP 3 months ago and it just works. MS could've done a lot better.

[killramos]

The only good thing about my surface was it was trendy enough to command a solid premium when I sold it after 2 years haha.

Most computers are pretty much scrap value after 2 years

I’m almost certainly back to a Mac if some kind after my dell runs it’s course.

[flipstah]

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I would have hated my surface a lot less if it wasn’t my main computer. It’s a decent tablet. Pretty shitty laptop imo.

Thick. Heavy. Expensive. Buggy (seriously...).

Surface’s are a massive missed opportunity, they could have been so good but they just aren’t.

My vote is buy a new iPad. IOS 13 you can use USB sticks with a dongle if you want.

Word. It's pretty buggy and the RAM is critical when you're running Teams so don't cheap out on that.

iPad>

[rage2]

To bring it back, I would never use a laptop as a media consumer. Everyone has already said why. Size, weight, battery life. I wouldn't use my MBP for it either. Tablet all the way for media consumption, browsing, and light work.

For the record, Surface Pro is a touchscreen laptop.

[rx7boi]

Ah gotcha. I don't intend to replace my HP Elitebook and I don't take laptops when I travel for leisure. I clearly didn't do enough reading and just assumed that the Surface could be effective for media consumption given its relatively compact size.

It sounds like an android tablet may be in my future then. I simply don't want to go back to using iTunes as a middleman.

That said, I may still be interested in picking up a Surface Pro separately just for shits and giggles haha.

[rage2]

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Ah gotcha. I don't intend to replace my HP Elitebook and I don't take laptops when I travel for leisure. I clearly didn't do enough reading and just assumed that the Surface could be effective for media consumption given its relatively compact size.

It sounds like an android tablet may be in my future then. I simply don't want to go back to using iTunes as a middleman.

That said, I may still be interested in picking up a Surface Pro separately just for shits and giggles haha.

If you pirate, iPad, AirVideo HD, done. It'll even auto transcode anything that's not iOS friendly so that it's iOS friendly. It's key to ensure everything in the native iOS supported format so that you have the longest battery life possible. iTunes doesn't transcode, but it only allows native iOS supported formats to be synched.

My iPad Pro first gen does an entire flight on a single charge in low brightness (I fly overnight so the plane is dark). That's a 9.5 hour flight.

[rx7boi]

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If you pirate, iPad, AirVideo HD, done. It'll even auto transcode anything that's not iOS friendly so that it's iOS friendly. It's key to ensure everything in the native iOS supported format so that you have the longest battery life possible. iTunes doesn't transcode, but it only allows native iOS supported formats to be synched.

My iPad Pro first gen does an entire flight on a single charge in low brightness (I fly overnight so the plane is dark). That's a 9.5 hour flight.

I'm pretty ghetto. I pirate alot of movies and I need subtitles so I had the PlayerExtreme Media Player app which let me drag and drop .avi and .srt files through iTunes. Now I'm running into issues where my device won't sync on iTunes and I didn't want to deal with the headaches anymore.

I figured if I had an Android tablet I could just connect it to the PC, drag and drop items just like a removable USB device.

I will look into AirVideo HD.

[rage2]

AirVideo HD is kinda like installing Plex on your PC. The app is just a viewer, with an option to download whatever you want, or stream it over wifi/LTE. It auto transcodes everything that needs transcoding. It has full subtitle support.

I still use it here and there for all my old Tivo rips of old movies, as well as blu-ray rips so I don't have to use media.

[killramos]

Again. Is it maybe worth it to go buy the 19 dollar USB dongle from Apple and see if just using a USB stick to transfer to the new file system app works for you?

I don’t see how switching to an androids tablet would change that at all, and 19 dollars is a cheap test. Especially as Apple has a 14 day no questions asked return policy.