[marcociccone]

Hello everyone. I'm looking to buy a Surface RT or Samsung Ativ Tab. I would like to use it as laptop replacement, I need a general purpose device (I have an external monitor, bluetooth keyboard+mouse if I need to work).
Sometimes I work at home, I work with web platform (like Adwords) and office files. I have a question for users that actually owns the Surface RT: how does it handle large excel files? I don't use macros but my spreadsheets are big (6-7 sheets of datas plus 2-3 sheets with graphs). I also work with large powerpoint presentations (3-4 megabyte files full of text and images). Is the Surface with Tegra3 smooth in handling these files?

Thank you for your replies.

[stephen_az]

There are no problems with Office files - I open much larger stuff than what you mention for those applications, plus 200+ Mb word documents laden with images. The largest files take a couple seconds longer to load than my I5 laptop, but there is no noticeable lag in operation. The office clones I used with the BB Playbook and Transformer Prime wouldn't even finish loading these files and always misformatted smaller files. As long as you recognize the limitations of RT (no other direct x86 application support), it is a very functional little tablet when it comes to Office and Remote Desktop support - far more so than any other on the market.

[marcociccone]

Great! I don't use a lot of x86 apps, anyway I hope in RT version of the few I use. Remote Desktop is a great feature but I don't need it now, I'm trying to use the surface as a total laptop replacement. Thanks!

[stephen_az]

Great! I don't use a lot of x86 apps, anyway I hope in RT version of the few I use. Remote Desktop is a great feature but I don't need it now, I'm trying to use the surface as a total laptop replacement. Thanks!

FWIW, I can't quite call it a true laptop replacement for me since some of the time I do need X86 apps such as Adobe CS6 and ArcGIS and even a few painful legacy apps from another era. I can say that the Surface tablet has become about a 75% laptop replacement and the only thing I carry if I am running to a meeting or to one of the local internet cafes. For practical purposes, the I5 laptop has become a desktop replacement though since a desktop machine is completely redundant in the equation. The joke is the laptop is a three pound Toshiba Portege running Windows 8 and, except when it is essential, it just doesn't seem convenient to carry since I have had the Surface RT.

[Gken]

FWIW, I can't quite call it a true laptop replacement for me since some of the time I do need X86 apps such as Adobe CS6 and ArcGIS and even a few painful legacy apps from another era. I can say that the Surface tablet has become about a 75% laptop replacement and the only thing I carry if I am running to a meeting or to one of the local internet cafes. For practical purposes, the I5 laptop has become a desktop replacement though since a desktop machine is completely redundant in the equation. The joke is the laptop is a three pound Toshiba Portege running Windows 8 and, except when it is essential, it just doesn't seem convenient to carry since I have had the Surface RT.

This man speaks the truth, kicked out my smaller laptop, the only thing I miss are things I shouldn't really be doing on the go anyways haha.

[paulm187]

Just bear in mind that you can't run legacy macros, VBA scripts, ActiveX or current 3rd party add-ins - only the new Apps for Office from the Office Apps Store Store - Office.com

[inteller]

eh....I'm not sure you can even run those, have you tried to actually add any of those?

[marcociccone]

Just bear in mind that you can't run legacy macros, VBA scripts, ActiveX or current 3rd party add-ins - only the new Apps for Office from the Office Apps Store Store - Office.com

Thanks, I just use a lot pivot tables, tons of data imported from other CSV files, graphs and standard functions.

To be honest I think that arm tablet will be real laptop/desktop replacement only when arm CPUs will be enough powerful to match i3 cpu's. Maybe until 3-4 years with pumped quad core A15 CPUs. Of course we need RT version of applications even if I cannot imagine how Photoshop could look like. Anyway the Surface RT fits my needs, I cannot wait to see it in Italy. Sorry for my bad English.

[mutant 9]

I have presented 20MB ppts and opened and edited 12MB excel files with no issues. in ppt it may be a bit slower when moving to the next slide (heavy animation and HD images) but still a great experiece and never any formating issues like you get with quickoffice on ipad.

dont hesitate to get one

[randywintle]

I was disappointed to find out I can't use pivot tables. Just a warning.

[wpb211]

I was disappointed to find out I can't use pivot tables. Just a warning.

Do you mean you cannot use Pivot Tables created somewhere else? or you cannot create new ones on the Surface? I went through the motions of creating one and it seems fine.

[johninsj]

I was disappointed to find out I can't use pivot tables. Just a warning.

You can use pivot tables just fine. You cannot use VBA macros. You can pivot to your hearts content though. I just made a bunch, worked great.