[MSNY]

I attend college and would like to know from Surface owners if it will help me out? I know it has Office in it, but is it easy to use on a tablet?

PS-i think windows surface may be the best tablet out in the market currently.

[inteller]

yes.

just go buy one. return it if you don't like it.

[snaqvi91]

Good question, I'm interested too. Some reviews I've read say using Office is terrific. Check this out:
Microsoft Surface RT is a great gift for college and high school students | ZDNet

[reepS]

I use it for grad school. It has completely replaced my laptop in every way except it cannot run examsoft or softtest for my finals. So for finals I had to use my laptop.

[MSNY]

well its undoubtedly better than any iPad in terms of production and entertainment. I'm heavily thinking on purchasing it, but i dont think i'll return it =)

[snaqvi91]

It might be better to go with the Surface Pro in case you want to use software like Matlab, STATA or something. Or a desktop/heavy laptop at home and Surface RT for regular use.

[rebornempowered]

I use mine for grad school. Only hang up was needing Flash on the school LMS. That was fixed with a simple white list edit.

[MSNY]

I don't need Matlab or Stata or anything similar, i'm a freshmen at college, so just basic needs, which i think the surface will provide sufficiently.

[snaqvi91]

I use mine for grad school. Only hang up was needing Flash on the school LMS. That was fixed with a simple white list edit.

What's LMS? Do you use LaTeX? Is there an app for it?

[snaqvi91]

I don't need Matlab or Stata or anything similar, i'm a freshmen at college, so just basic needs, which i think the surface will provide sufficiently.

Yeah, but you should check out the keyboard first. You could get an extra full sized wireless keyboard that you're comfortable with if you dont the like the touch or type cover keyboards. But I agree in 1st year you usually dont need anything more than a basic computer. For writing papers and stuff the Office provided would be terrific.

[MSNY]

Yeah, but you should check out the keyboard first. You could get an extra full sized wireless keyboard that you're comfortable with if you dont the like the touch or type cover keyboards. But I agree in 1st year you usually dont need anything more than a basic computer. For writing papers and stuff the Office provided would be terrific.

There's a Dell PC sitting around my house which has a normal keyboard, nobody ever uses it anymore. And the surface has USB connection, so i can use that when i have to write a lot.

[doomtuba]

I am a finance major and use my Surface almost exclusively for school. Word/Excel/One Note are awesome.

[MSNY]

oooo thats good to hear. I really hope Microsoft pushes Apple off a cliff with the continuation of the Surface.

[v10type-r]

There are too many ppl already entrenched in Apple's ecosystem to the Surface to make much of a dent. Do we wish it would, hells ya. But would it be more appealing to offer new customers buying the Surface to give them a $100 credit to use towards apps/music? I think so. It would make switching a lot easier as ppl wouldn't have the excuse of saying they've already heavily invested into apple's apps etc.

I say buy one, you won't regret it. The apps will grow and the HW will get more optimzed as time passes. I love mine.

[allos autos]

I'm a grad student and a Sessional Lecturer (Canadian equivalent of Adjunct Professor), and the Surface has completely replaced my laptop. My one piece of advice would be to go for the type cover. When typing fairly lengthy documents it makes a huge difference.

To help with any worries, I've tested the Surface with a variety of content delivery services (Desire2Learn, Courselink, WebCT) and it works fine. You might run into an issue if your campus requires using a client to connect to its wireless network (like the craptacular Cisco Clean Access Agent, as mine does). Obviously you won't be able to install this on your Surface. This shouldn't be a problem though, because most campuses have an unsecured option as well.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about how the Surface works in an academic setting. I tested it extensively when I first got it to make sure that it suited my needs.

[power5]

You will be the coolest guy on your dorm floor. I guarantee you will have more friends than the ipad guy. Especially if you have an xbox and use the smartglass features.

[rich4A1]

It really depends on what you need it for. For me, I need some softwares for data analysis, which cannot be done on Surface RT. But for more daily works, such as taking notes, working on Word documents or so, it's very good. I also use the back camera to take lecture notes. BTW it's great to use it for PowerPoint presentation, if you pay $39 for the adapter.

[MSNY]

There are too many ppl already entrenched in Apple's ecosystem to the Surface to make much of a dent. Do we wish it would, hells ya. But would it be more appealing to offer new customers buying the Surface to give them a $100 credit to use towards apps/music? I think so. It would make switching a lot easier as ppl wouldn't have the excuse of saying they've already heavily invested into apple's apps etc.

I say buy one, you won't regret it. The apps will grow and the HW will get more optimzed as time passes. I love mine.

I agree, a $100 gift card towards MS Store or something like that will definitely encourage more sales and perhaps change people's minds.

[MSNY]

You will be the coolest guy on your dorm floor. I guarantee you will have more friends than the ipad guy. Especially if you have an xbox and use the smartglass features.

haha thats for sure, iPads or so overused these days.

[MSNY]

Just came back from Best Buy and tried the Surface, i tried the UI, which i liked alot, and also the desktop mode. Typing with the touchcover on MS Word was quite easy =)
I'm definitely going to buy the Surface before my next semester starts!!

[shn'g]

Just came back from Best Buy and tried the Surface, i tried the UI, which i liked alot, and also the desktop mode. Typing with the touchcover on MS Word was quite easy =)
I'm definitely going to buy the Surface before my next semester starts!!

this is why having more retailers is the best publicity for Surface cause nothing replaces actually being able to play with the device in person. Glad to hear you liked it! you won't be disappointed at all when you get it!!

[inteller]

never understood this. I've bought plenty of electronics sight unseen over the internet. If it doesn't work I just take it back. I only bought my Surface in person cause I got a $100 Xbox music pass to justify the price of the 64Gb.

[calfee20]

There is a Canadian grad student writing a blog about his surface. The link is: Finally Surfacing

[MSNY]

But i do have a question for surface owners.
Do you guys have any difficulty seeing the screen? Is it too small?

[GoodThings2Life]

I used a Toshiba Satellite R14 in college, and I've used Windows Tablet PC's for the past 8 years.

No. I don't think the Surface RT will suit your college needs. However, I think the Surface Pro would be perfect. Why?

The pen/stylus is NOT a gimmick. It's a necessity. There is nothing better than inking in OneNote 2013 and being able to search those notes as if they're typed text. It will singlehandedly replace every paper notebook if you use it. I even did my homework in it and would print them out and hand them in instead of handwriting and turning in. The reason is, professors are notorious for collecting but not returning things before quizzes and exams... but you will ALWAYS have a copy for studying.

Also, with access to Kindle app, Nook app, and Adobe PDF's, you can probably buy most of your books electronically and use them much more effectively in OneNote.

Not to mention, having the ability to run all your apps -- old and new -- will make you far more productive. I recommend a Type Cover and a monitor along with the HDMI-out cable. This will make it great for heavy paper writing at your desk, but otherwise the ultimate mobile device.