Surface PRO pricing revealed !

[Silent_Buddha]

true, but youre talking to eastmen, whom (if I dig up the quote but its something like) saiz resolution is totally unimportant(*)

(*)I assume this is cause company X at the time had crap resolution

There's a difference between "resolution is totally unimportant" and the fact that the vast majority of laptop/notebook/tablet users don't care what resolution their device runs at as long as it is "good enough."

If resolution mattered you'd have seen 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 dominate notebook sales. They have been on the market for well over half a decade now.

As it is, the notebook/laptop market has been dominated by 1366x768 resolutions or lower, because that's what the general consumer is happy with. They could have gotten machines with higher resolutions, but chose not to.

Which, again, doesn't mean "resolution is totally unimportant."

Regards,
SB

 

[orangpelupa]

does laptop really that problematik? in here medical record still served manually on paper file so I can't imagine why it need to be a tablet and can't? be just nice laptop sitting on room

 

[dagamer]

does laptop really that problematik? in here medical record still served manually on paper file so I can't imagine why it need to be a tablet and can't? be just nice laptop sitting on room

Laptops have to be on carts to be used at the beside, making them cumbersome in some situations. A tablet that has a keyboard dock or dock with USB ports is probably most ideal.

 

[AzBat]

I've seen many convertible laptops used by nurses here in the US where the screen rotates around to make a tablet. These are usually used in Home Health sectors where they visit patients in their homes or at nursing homes. There's no need to include paperwork for patients to sign when they can use a stylus on the tablet. So I definitely see where the Surface Pro could be attractive for these users. The biggest knock is the battery life. What would be cool is if they created some kind of inductive charging mat or dock.

Tommy McClain

 

[Arwin]

I've seen many convertible laptops used by nurses here in the US where the screen rotates around to make a tablet. These are usually used in Home Health sectors where they visit patients in their homes or at nursing homes. There's no need to include paperwork for patients to sign when they can use a stylus on the tablet. So I definitely see where the Surface Pro could be attractive for these users. The biggest knock is the battery life. What would be cool is if they created some kind of inductive charging mat or dock.

Tommy McClain

How big is the chance that they could port the software they really need to WinRT Apps, and use a WinRT style tab instead?

 

[AzBat]

Guess it depends on how good the ARM dev tools are & how old the x86 software is. I suspect the software was most likely written back in the XP tablet days. So it could take some real work to convert everything over to ARM. But I see no reason for them to do it just so they just run on Surface RT or other RT devices especially since none of them come with a digitizing pen. Much easier to just run on Surface Pro or other Windows 8 devices.

Tommy McClain

 

[Albuquerque]

How big is the chance that they could port the software they really need to WinRT Apps, and use a WinRT style tab instead?

While the software port might be likely, it's the Windows Pro ecosystem that makes it interesting. Things like BitLocker (and BitLocker to Go) via the embedded TPM chip, Windows Encrypting File System, Remote Access (Win8 / Server 2012's version of RA is even better than 2008R2 SP1's), Intel's AMT capabilities, and the ability to join a domain give you a device that any large-scale enterprise can snap straight into their existing security frameworks and manage in the same way every other device is managed. It also snaps straight into my existing Enterprise Agreement for software assurance and the like.

Keep this in mind: just because you port the app doesn't mean the ecosystem is HIPAA compliant. I can harden a PC with all the technology I already have deployed; I'd have to buy a ton of new stuff and train a bunch of new technologies to harden an iPad (or possibly an RT device, eventually when the tech is available) and I still may not be completely "done" with it. I would probably use some something like Good's sandboxing capabilities along with some custom apps and some draconian policy, but Good isn't cheap, and I don't have a full development shop -- my IT resources are mostly systems admins, network admins and some service desk folks. We have a fat stack of BI and DBA types also, along with a few SharePoint gurus (for things like PowerPivot and Tableau integration) but that's about it.

As for battery life? My roving nurses are using Thinkpad T420's (4GB ram, i5-3000 series processors, 320GB spindle drives that go wholly unused, 1680x1050 resolution screens, four pound carry weight) at the moment, so ~4-5hr of battery life is what they're already accustomed to. I don't understand why everyone thinks the Surface Pro battery life needs to compete with the RT (or the iPad) to be functional; it's competing with comparable-weight laptops that are getting approximately the same life.

 

[Blazkowicz]

Maybe a future next-gen Atom will power some Surface Pro or compatibles (real one with new core, 64bit on every model, Intel graphics), Jaguar dual core feels good too.

They went with a ULV dual core Ivy Bridge because they wanted something powerful (even graphics is quite better than the slow Atom PowerVR with shitty drivers), probably the "Core i5" name will bring quite some looks. (even though it's a low clocked i3 that must use its "Turbo" to underclock it). TPM as a hard requirement too - AMD stands to benefit from their ARM deal.

I agree that thing can become big overnight, joining it to a Windows domain is huge. No more "BYOD", bring your own device, infested with malware and with an untested browser for the intranet, then lose vital customer data in the parking lot or a restaurant.
Then, it's overpowered and over-engineered but I guess you have to give a high-endish enough thing to the suits, so they don't complain too much they can only use this and not an ipad..

The interesting thing is by Microsoft's own policy, it is unlockable by the user so you can run linux or BSD on it instead (possibly replicating a complicated IT set up with encryption, ldap, central auth etc. or with samba 4). But the IT admin may lock it with SecureBoot, I don't know how it's disabled (simple thing would be a user can't join the domain or read the encrypted local files if they didn't SecureBoot the OS that came with the device)
Also, full USB3 rather than USB2 with a proprietary connector that only connects to iTunes, that's something. In all, it's not that badly thought out in terms of the interest it can suscitate, the only thing is it's power hungry and a bit heavy but it has more battery life than some netbooks.

 

[wco81]

I agree that thing can become big overnight, joining it to a Windows domain is huge. No more "BYOD", bring your own device, infested with malware and with an untested browser for the intranet, then lose vital customer data in the parking lot or a restaurant.

Can they really stop BYOD though?

Apparently doctors are among the most enthusiastic adopters and users of mobile devices.

So they'll always have a personal smart phone and/or tablet at hand. If they are forced to carry a laptop or a hybrid as well, maybe they just use the desktop in each examining room instead? While fiddling around with their own mobile device for other things?

 

[eastmen]

We aren't the only ones, these are going to sell like hotcakes all over the medical community. We are already working with local hospitals and service provider IT shops who are planning exactly the same things we are, on even larger scales. Electronic Medical Records (EMR) is a huge deal right now, and this is the ultimate delivery mechanism for exactly such a use case.

My school district is getting a few of these to test. The plan is to replace the teacher's desktop with these so we will end up ordering 100 or so of them for the district .

 

[Albuquerque]

Can they really stop BYOD though?

You can when it comes to HIPAA compliance; it is unequivocally disallowed to have a non-managed device to store EMR / EHR data like that. Even if you can only view it, the system must have proper safeguards (or mitigating controls) in place to prevent data leakage.

Now, that is not to say that proper mitigation steps aren't in place for folks who are using iPads and the like. You can install something like Good's encrypted sandboxing system that comes with it's own highly secure email system and browser that allows for policies that strictly govern how (or if) files can be viewed, edited, and exported to the device's storage system (data that lies outside the sandbox). It also allows for directed wipes of the device or sandbox, data retention policies (stuff can't live on your device for more than <x> days), and the like.

All in all, there are ways to secure that sort of technology. But you have to pay for it, and it's usually not cheap. For my organization, it makes NO sense to try to secure a BYOD device; it's far simpler for us to build a corporate policy that says "If you use our data, you will do so only on company provided equipment."

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Maybe a future next-gen Atom will power some Surface Pro or compatibles (real one with new core, 64bit on every model, Intel graphics), Jaguar dual core feels good too.

If by compatibles, you mean devices not branded as Surface, then those already exist, or soon will. HP, Lenovo, Dell, Asus, Acer, Samsung, etc. are all releasing or have released Win8 tablets based on Clovertrail.

The Asus device is particularly interesting to me as it appears to get just slightly less battery life than the almost equivalent Arm based device they are selling. Granted it is 11.6" compared to 10.1" for the RT.

As I said, before I think the biggest mistake that MS has done with the first series of Surface devices is not have a low power/long battery life option based on Clovertrail or some equivalent AMD setup. That appears to be potentially addressed in the next series of Surface devices if the rumor is true that the middle Surface tablet will use an AMD core.

Regards,
SB

 

[AzBat]

FYI...

http://www.zdnet.com/two-videos-on-...e-how-you-think-about-the-tile-ui-7000008459/

Looks like an interesting demo for the medical field.

Tommy McClain

 

[Blazkowicz]

LOL, I don't really know what "discharge" means in this context but I thought it said :

"With Windows 8's Rounds applications, you can see in real time the patient's current and projected expenses level, and kick them out on the tap of a finger based on the patient's healthcare credential. An automated message is sent, consisting in "Please accept, Mr/Mrs $PATIENT that you are to be kicked out under 12 hours, and be assured in our support for you to die in the comfort of your own house, with the company of your dear relatives"."

 

[BRiT]

Discharge means to release the patient from the hospital so they're able to return to their place of residence. It's simply going through all the required paperwork for release.

 

[eastmen]

http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/21/did-the-microsoft-surface-with-windows-8-pro-just-hit-the-fcc/

well as the link says , it just hit the fcc. So its coming.

 

[Malo]

So I assume that other companies aren't allowed to release their own versions of 8 Pro tablets until Microsoft does?

 

[Ike Turner]

So I assume that other companies aren't allowed to release their own versions of 8 Pro tablets until Microsoft does?

Why ? Samsung's Slate 7 tablet, the Acer W700, Sony Vaio DUO and a few others are already out AFAIK.

 

[eastmen]

there are a few i3 /i5 machines out like Ike said . A lot of the atom stuff has been delayed and according to the rumors its a problem with drivers for the chips.

The atoms are doing pretty darn well i'd say . Performance is good and battery life on some of the machines are over 8 hours

 

[Blazkowicz]

The Atom has PowerVR graphics, even and especially the latest one.
I am less than enthusiast about it! On Windows, you will get barely working driver and on another OS, nothing ; just unaccelerated 2D VESA and consider yourself lucky if you can get display at native res, not be stuck in 1024x768.