Why do you say that? I know the keyboard types, but haven't read about problems with the true keyboard (Touch?). I use a trackpad now on my notebook.
The
trackpad on both of the keyboard covers is way too small, and has other issues:
Touch Cover is more than just a keyboard, it also features an integrated track pad. If there was a single biggest compromise in the design of the Touch Cover it would be the track pad. There’s simply not much room to include even a normal sized track pad, instead we get something that’s about the size of a track pad from a tiny netbook. The usefulness of the track pad really depends on your expectation levels. For occasional point and click work it is fine, but if you want it to be a full featured mouse replacement you’re going to be sorely disappointed. There are obviously no physical buttons so you’re forced to either tap on the already limited track pad surface area or use the little bit of space between the track pad and the edge of the cover as a virtual button. Again, for casual mouse work this isn’t a problem but try and drag something around with the track pad and the experience quickly falls apart.
The Touch Cover’s track pad supports two finger scrolling and one/two finger tap for left/right click but no other gestures. There’s simply not enough surface area to enable things like edge swipe without potentially interfering with normal keyboard use. The most maddening part about using Touch Cover’s track pad is the slight lag when trying to switch between two finger scroll and normal tracking. There’s a pause after you finish scrolling before the trackpad will respond to normal, single finger tracking inputs. Microsoft did this to avoid accidental inputs but in my opinion it’s too long of a delay.
The Type Cover's track pad is marginally better (mainly because it has the physical click, ala the Macbook trackpads), but it suffers from all of the other problems.
There's also this, which would drive me bat-guano crazy:
Scrolling via the Touch Cover’s track pad is inverted by default with no option to reverse its direction. Similar to OS X Lion/Mountain Lion’s “natural scrolling” you can easily get used to the inverted track pad scrolling, it only becomes a problem if you frequently switch between devices that have normal scrolling. If you fall into that category, like yours truly, good luck.
But, even beyond that... I just wonder about using it. Sometimes when I use my laptop, I'm sitting at a table or desk. But, honestly, for a device like this, if you're in that kind of situation, wouldn't a full-sized laptop or desktop PC be a better choice (assuming this isn't your only machine)?
And, I use my laptop plenty while in situations where neither of the covers would be ideal. For example, over the holidays, I spent hours in the car coding with my laptop in my lap. You can't do this with the Surface (or, if you do, you're a crazy person with cat-like balancing skills). As an iPad-competitor, sure, but this is priced as an ultrabook, and it has ultrabook-like battery life and power.
And... This is a minor gripe, but they don't "close". Unlike the iPad cover, they don't magnetize down when you close them up. They just lay there. The IT people who have the Surface RT have told me it is essentially useless when you toss it in a backpack or shoulder bag. You open the bag and it is off or completely misaligned, which could lead to screen scratches if you aren't careful. That rarely happens with my iPad's cover, and (of course) isn't an issue on a traditional notebook. It just seems like they should have addressed this, and I don't know why they didn't.
If you get one, splurge for the Type Cover. It is WAY better than the touch cover, but still not a real laptop keyboard for a variety of reasons (the biggest one is just the weight is all screen).
I think touchscreens will soon be regarded as essential.
We'll see. That's certainly Microsoft's vision. Early sales numbers from the holiday quarter are less promising. Touch-enabled notebooks and ultrabooks were everywhere. They didn't sell that well.
I think, in the end, it'll end up being more like 3D on HDTVs. Eventually, most "personal-sized" screens will have it, but it won't be something that you'd pay extra for, and it won't displace the traditional mouse/keyboard combo for many form-factors. That's why I worry about the keyboard/mouse compromises on the Surface Pro.
It is a notebook-class machine, with a desktop operating system, that can run things like Excel and Photoshop.
But you have a touchscreen-favoring physical interface.
Having had many touchscreen PCs (and iPads) over the years, I can absolutely say this... Touch is great for many things, but it does NOT work well when you are sitting down and typing. The main problem with using the iPad this way is honestly this... Positioning cursors and whatnot when typing. It is fine for typing an Interact post or an email in bed, but for other stuff, I'm not so convinced.
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Topic: Microsoft's New Tablets. They're called Surface. (Read 16986 times)