On: Why I'm returning my Microsoft Surface RT

[jamesjguthrie]

There are other tablets out there. The Dell Latitude 10 is an Intel Atom but does run Windows 8 Pro. I want one of them.

[dangrossman → jamesjguthrie]

The Latitude 10 has an Atom processor, 2GB RAM and a 64GB HD. Given there'll only be ~10-14GB free space on that drive out of the box, that's not enough to even install Office, Photoshop, Visual Studio, etc. let alone run them.

It's almost a scam to sell such an unusable hardware configuration. Someone's going to sync their music and buy two movies and find out their new "64GB" tablet is already out of space. That size should really be relegated to Windows RT only.

[polshaw → dangrossman]

How did you get to windows 8 taking up 50-55GB of space out of the box?

[dangrossman → polshaw]

I checked how much free space there was on the display model at the store.

[EwanG → dangrossman]

As an owner of one, I would point out that they do accept full sized SD Card. So you get a fast 64 GB SD card, and you find that it is actually fairly usable.

That said, the 2GB limitation means you are still going to be doing more Office than Photoshop...

[_dp9d → dangrossman]

I've been using a Dell mini 9 netbook for 3 years that has only a 16GB SSD.

I've got a full install of OS X 10.5, developer tools Photoshop, Aperture, other random apps and I run it with ~4GB free.

You'd be amazed how far even 16GB will go when you try.

[dangrossman → _dp9d]

16GB will go very far with your minimal Linux OS. 16GB is below the minimum system requirements for simply installing Windows 8.

[jamesjguthrie → dangrossman]

Sounds like you want a touchscreen laptop.

If you want to be running Visual Studio etc then you'll need a touch screen laptop. Dell Latitude XT3 would be good here.

[dangrossman → jamesjguthrie]

I have a laptop. I want a tablet. Something I can watch a movie on in bed, but also dock to a keyboard to work. Tablets with 4GB RAM and 128GB drives have been available for years. Nobody bothered to release one for Windows 8's launch, and Surface Pro which also fits the bill isn't coming until after Christmas.