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Surface Pro: Get it now or wait for Haswell? (Mild gaming)


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So the Microsoft Surface Pro looks really good; it's the size of a tablet PC, but it's got the full Windows 8 OS inside it, not to mention a good sized SSD. It's perfect for what I was looking for.

My only problem with it is; Haswell is just around the corner, and it's definitely coming to Ultrabooks/Notebooks/Laptops by next year. I don't know what will happen to the Surface Pro if I get one now.

My main concern is HD graphics. I want to buy Surface Pro 2 as my "light gaming" substitute for when I travel somewhere far, but not long enough for me to bring my massive gaming laptop. I'd probably play games on it such as Diablo III, CS:GO, DotA 2, some emulators, etc. At the moment HD4000 can play all of them well enough (of course with settings on low) but Haswell is bringing BIG upgrades to IGPU's.

If I knew that the next Surface Pro (under the assumption that it will have a better IGPU than the HD4000) will come out within the next 6 months I'd wait, but I've heard rumors that it's going to go in another direction, where they won't adapt Haswell (and with it a better IGPU) until the 3rd Generation of the device, and instead are going to focus on competing with existing tablets such as iPad mini, as well as making XBox Surface.

Essentially I like the Surface Pro as it is; the portability of a tablet, but the power of an ultrabook. Should I get it now, or wait for the next one? I only want to wait if:

1.The next one will have at least a 30% increase in IGPU performance.

2. The next one will come out by the end of 2013/January 2014.

Thoughts? (I know Surface Pro isn't for gaming, but it's my "go-to" for gaming when I don't have my laptop for maybe a day or two.)

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Hmm, if you can wait, I would. Seeing you are stuck with what you have graphics wise. Might as well wait for something better. I'unno. The 30% increase might not be worth it since it is 6+ months away.

Be aware of the available space depending on the version you have. The OS + other stuffs use over 30GB of space. So might be worth getting the 128GB version. And replacing the SSD... is really really hard.

Microsoft Surface Pro Teardown - iFixit

Tons of glue and over 90 screws... no thanks.

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Hmm, if you can wait, I would. Seeing you are stuck with what you have graphics wise. Might as well wait for something better. I'unno. The 30% increase might not be worth it since it is 6+ months away.

Be aware of the available space depending on the version you have. The OS + other stuffs use over 30GB of space. So might be worth getting the 128GB version. And replacing the SSD... is really really hard.

Microsoft Surface Pro Teardown - iFixit

Tons of glue and over 90 screws... no thanks.

I'm definitely going to get the 128GB version, and I'll tweak it to get the most of the available space, so I have no issues with the SSD. I'm more concerned when or if (a big IF) the next Surface Pro will come soon enough and whether or not they will focus on improving the IGPU.

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I'd wait on Haswell, the IGPU improvements alone are well worth it over HD4000. Have you considered purchasing a light notebook with a discrete GPU instead? I have a Sony VAIO S 15 that only weighs 4.4 lbs and has a GT 640M in it. I honestly don't see the appeal in these psuedo-PC tablets but to each their own.

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Wait for Haswell. It's literally around the corner. Plus, the prices for the current generation will go down just by you waiting. So it's a win-win if you don't have to buy at this moment.

Next month we should have solid numbers on benchmarks and power consumption.

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Wait for Haswell. It's literally around the corner. Plus, the prices for the current generation will go down just by you waiting. So it's a win-win if you don't have to buy at this moment.

Next month we should have solid numbers on benchmarks and power consumption.

I don't have a problem with waiting a month, so I guess I'll do that. It's just that it would be nice to know IF they are going to use Haswell on the Surface Pro anytime soon. I read that they are using it for the Surface Book in the future, which is a 14.6 inch version, but I don't want something that big; I'm perfectly happy with the current style of the Surface Pro. It's perfect, except that I'd prefer it to have Haswell HD grahics.

If I knew they were going to release it with Haswell within the next 6 months I'd wait; but I heard rumors that they are focusing on form factor instead of improved specs. I don't really want to wait until Febuary 2014 to get one, but I guess there will be more information on it in the next month.

I hope they have info on it in the computex 2013 event in Taiwan.

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It'll be Haswell. Anything else won't make sense for MS; it'd be a downgrade. AMD Temash/Kabini? No, power consumption way too high and performance too low. Remember, with the Surface Pro MS is setting a precedent they OEMs to follow, that's the reason they released the Surface series.

If anything, they are trying to downsize tablets with OEMs releasing 8" Atom Win8 tablets. I don't think a 14.6" tablet is practical. My 11.6" is borderline huge IMO.

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I want a small tablet, about 11.6" is fine. I definitely think that Haswell is the next logical step; however from the info I've gathered it just seems like MS might abandon the idea of "souping up" the specs of Surface Pro, and going for a more "casual consumer" friendly market. The type of consumers that buy iPads for it's sleek, light, power saving design.

I would love the same Surface Pro just upgrade to Haswell.

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It occurs to me that even if MS did finally get around to giving the Surface Pro an upgrade, it's hard to predict when - you can't shoot from the hip with the predictions, even if you'd like to assume they're taking a page from Apple on strategy.

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It occurs to me that even if MS did finally get around to giving the Surface Pro an upgrade, it's hard to predict when - you can't shoot from the hip with the predictions, even if you'd like to assume they're taking a page from Apple on strategy.

I would have to agree with this, but mind you that the haswell upgrade would make a significant difference for a device like the surface.

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Sooner than later, I hope, but given that the Surface Pro went out around the end of October I'd doubt they'd be rushing to release an update so soon after the end of the Haswell embargo (although even here I assume that they're going to give the current generation a "good go"; it is a hard thing to assume.)

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