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Surface Pro vs. iPad Pro - Input wanted

Tricia

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For my family it has become a bit of a "golden handcuffs" situation. We have three iPhones, two iPads, one iMac, one Mac Book, one iPod and Apple TV, so we are basically locked into the Apple ecosystem.

If that resembles your home then I would go with the iPad Pro. It will make using the tablet much easier to with all the other devices and allow you to make better use of it.

And I just happen to like Apple products better than most others. They are not perfect (none are) and they are often not the cheapest but they seem well designed, well built, have good customer service, offer the convenience of having Apple stores (genius bars) nearby,... and even offer some money when turning in old devices.
Reading this made me chuckle.
2 Person household here
2 MacBooks
2 iPhones
1 iPad
1 iPad mini
3 Apple TV's
1 Apple watch
 

scott43

So much better than a pro
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We spread it around...2 PC notebooks, 1 work PC ultrabook, 2 Android tablets, 3 Android phones, 1 iPhone work phone. The bulk of my work is technical work, coding, analysis etc. We have the option of iPads, Surface Pros or ultrabooks at work and I chose the ultrabook. Surface Pro was very enticing..however, for me, I still prefer the notebook layout. My work platform is really PC dependent so iPad isn't an option although many of the people who don't do technical work here use them. I didn't get into the whole Apple/PC debate..you know what you need and each is good in their own way.
 

coskigirl

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I can't comment on the iPad Pro, but I've been using a Surface Pro 4 exclusively (aside from my phone) for over a year now. My office is converting everyone to the Surface Pro as our primary device (no more laptops or desktops). I've been very happy w/the SP4. I'm a lawyer, so I do "lawyer-type stuff" on it, which is to say that I'm not working w/accounting software, spreadsheets, etc. The SP4 connects easily to my two monitors. The only issue I've experienced is using the two monitors together and trying to access .pdf documents. The resolution and size is wonky, i.e. HUGE. Our IT folks resolved my issue by uploading a different reader and tweaking, but since I don't speak IT I can't really explain what they did. It was not an issue when hooking up to only one monitor.

I really like that I can use the SP4 as a tablet or w/the keyboard. Convenient. I also like that I can just pop it into my backpack and take it back and forth from home to the office. It has many features that I haven't even tried yet, so this review is a bit thin. Overall, it is a great option and I much prefer it to my old laptop. The only thing I occasionally miss is not having a disk drive, but I just plug in an external. I also use a "spider" attachment to give me additional USB ports when I need them.

(oh, and ditto @JeffB 's comment re the difficulty of using the SP4 as a "laptop." It isn't a lounge-on-the-couch-as-you-work device unless you've got terrific balance or like a challenge. All it takes is one grand lap-leap from the cat and the device is on the floor).

(oh, again, the sound quality on the SP4 is great! It was our principal sound machine in the condo on last year's Taos trip. :) )

Hope this helps!

Oh, interesting. I'm heading toward the "lawyer-type stuff" since I'll be applying to law school in September. Guess I should add the Surface Pro to my list to consider.
 

JeffB

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Oh, interesting. I'm heading toward the "lawyer-type stuff" since I'll be applying to law school in September. Guess I should add the Surface Pro to my list to consider.

It depends on what you feel most comfortable with. When I went to law school, iPads didn't exist and laptops had 2-3 hour batteries at best and charging wires that looked and felt like bricks.

If I were going to school now, I'd carry the iPad Pro I have and that's it. I use it everyday in my practice. I take notes with the pencil, annotate and organize documents for my working files, use it for exhibits in depositions and hearings, and even do trial with it. The annotation and organization tools are pretty incredible - it would be all I would need for classwork for sure.

So, I would only have a computer at home or office for longer writing projects, same as I do with work now.

With all that said, the Surface products certainly are intended to do everything I was just praising the iPad for. And it will do those things fine. I found, however, that the ability to manipulate files and exhibits, etc on the surface stuff was not as easy or intuitive. The other thing I found is the surface/windows creates larger file sizes of annotated documents, which in turn made it more difficult to use reliably in a cloud based wifi environment. Too much lag time.

My $.02.
 

coskigirl

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It depends on what you feel most comfortable with. When I went to law school, iPads didn't exist and laptops had 2-3 hour batteries at best and charging wires that looked and felt like bricks.

If I were going to school now, I'd carry the iPad Pro I have and that's it. I use it everyday in my practice. I take notes with the pencil, annotate and organize documents for my working files, use it for exhibits in depositions and hearings, and even do trial with it. The annotation and organization tools are pretty incredible - it would be all I would need for classwork for sure.

So, I would only have a computer at home or office for longer writing projects, same as I do with work now.

With all that said, the Surface products certainly are intended to do everything I was just praising the iPad for. And it will do those things fine. I found, however, that the ability to manipulate files and exhibits, etc on the surface stuff was not as easy or intuitive. The other thing I found is the surface/windows creates larger file sizes of annotated documents, which in turn made it more difficult to use reliably in a cloud based wifi environment. Too much lag time.

My $.02.

I appreciate your input for sure. In the end I'll need to see what's approved by the school when I'm getting ready to purchase next spring/summer. I'll also be discussing whether my company will allow me to use that laptop for school work. Since they'll be paying for a portion of it they may be okay with me using the company computer. That would really be helpful to not be lugging 2 different machines around.
 

JeffB

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I appreciate your input for sure. In the end I'll need to see what's approved by the school when I'm getting ready to purchase next spring/summer. I'll also be discussing whether my company will allow me to use that laptop for school work. Since they'll be paying for a portion of it they may be okay with me using the company computer. That would really be helpful to not be lugging 2 different machines around.

There is a nice blog/review site you should check out as you're weighing options, especially if you are going to go into your own bank account for one of them. I'm sure there is a comparable one re Surface products, but I only know about and read the one below.

iPhonejd.com
 

VickiK

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My organization is moving from notebooks to Surface Pro, too. I've been using it for several months. After some initial shake-out problems, it's been fine with only a random problem with freezing up. I suspect it overheats being in the closed overhead cabinet.

I use Apple products at home. Seamless, yes. I just got a new cover with an attached keyboard for iPad, but it is too bulky and ugly. I was considering getting a new MacBook, but since mine is working fine, I'll save the $ for something else. New skis or boots, maybe.
 

Scotty I.

I only care about the graphics
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I often listen to Leo Laporte, the "Tech Guy" on the radio and on YouTube. He discusses your question frequently. I suggest that you visit his website which is techguylabs.com.
 

surfsnowgirl

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Ironically just came across a deal for a refurbed surface 3 so i grabbed it. I was looking to replace my LG tablet so done. Love me a good deal. Now to hunt down a keyboard and stylus.
 

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