That said, I'm now working (as a programmer, yes) from a Sony Vaio Multi-Flip 13". It has everything I ever wanted: Good resultion, sleek, quite remarkable performance for that tiny little thing, convertible, etc etc. It also "look good", as the apple devices do, and, in addition, you can flip it over to a tablet. Well... in theory the best thing that I ever had. In theory. The closing mechanism sometimes doesn't recognize a "is closed" properly and the notebook shuts down and comes up again in camera mode. I recently had to replace the keyboard, because the return key was broken, which is not easy with an ultrabook when warranty is over, since its soldered or brazed (or how you call that) with plastic pins. When I got it, I think I got a refurbished device, one key was stuck, and circumstances required that I open it myself and fix it and found the inside overwhelmingly full of fingerprints and screws in wrong places. I could continue like that and I am not alone. All these things, these little quality and qc glitches between an Apple device and "all the others" are (for me) the main reason why everyone runs to apple. They are producing just the best quality and for me as a consumer, its still affordable, and it even looks better and feels better. I am no friend of iOS, I grew up with windows and linux, which is no excuse not to buy an Apple, but I would still first look everywhere else for alternatives. So, that samsung is also shutting down is very sad, since they produces very nice models. A friend of mine has the older samsung series and has also quality glitches. Beside apple, it seems the market has realized it has to produce good quality, good looking and good functioning devices, but most of them are all show and no substance. For my understanding.
I was hoping they would slowly slowly introduce newer models, better processing, better overall quality. Instead they are shutting down. I'm sad.
Maybe there's an opportunity to put together a site that aggregates the top-shelf models from various manufactures with efficient filtering on features geared toward raw performance and build quality (shell materials, keyboard, etc.).
This looks awesome, tell us more!
Monitor TL;DR: 2x 2540x1440 Monitors, one via Mini-DP, one via USB3.
There is only one USB3 Bus on the Dockingstation for the SP2 and sadly Microsoft has cheaped out on the Ethernet Port for the Dockingstation as its only 100mbit. (The Dock is only Connected via one USB3 Port, one Mini-DP Port and its Power Connector, so guess they wanted to save the usb bandwidth since most people don't need >100mbit anyway) As i've got a 1 Gbit Line (we work next to a server farm) at my office i didn't want to compromise on that too much, so i've attached an USB3 Hub with included Gigabit Ethernet Port which is hidden with all cabling under the Desk. With the USB Monitor switched off i get about 800mbit over the card, with the USB Monitor it varies between 300mbit and 650mbit, depending on what is going on at the Monitor at the time.
Network TL;DR: External USB3 Gigabit Adapter, between 300-650mbit throughput.
We're a JS and PHP Webdevshop mostly, so I run PHPStorm on it, often alongside Photoshop CC 2014 to review Designs. The hardware takes that beautifully, but i can push it towards its limits when opening 2-3 animation-heavy sites in Chrome with the debugger open. Thats the only performance painpoint that i'd like to see wiped out when i'll buy my next Surface, i guess when they roll out the 4th or 5th gen. I've also ran Eclipse on it for Android Development and again, no problem there aswell, so i would guess Visual Studio would run on it nicely aswell. Unity3D runs nicely to do quick prototypes, but its obviously limited to the graphics capabilities of the Intel i5-4200u it runs on, so its okay for a Game Jam, but I (obviously to me) couldn't recommend it as a professional GameDev device. I've got the top model with 512GB SSD since it's supposed to last me 2-4 years atleast, i'd just hope for 16GB of Ram so I wouldn't have any regrets when opening multiple browser VMs (IE6-7-8-9 in parallel running vms with 6-8 each getting 1gb of ram and 9 2gb makes it run sluggish aswell), but I didn't find that in any notebook under 1.5kg so I compromized on that with the Surface and am not disappointed.
Software TL;DR: PHPStorm & Adobe Suite run alongside beautifully, more graphics power would be nice, but i don't really need it. If you NEED to run >5GB RAM of VMs, this device isn't for you.
With PHPStorm in PowerSaving Mode it lasts me about 5 hours before I need to find a plug, which is okay but I hope it to improve in the next iteration I get.
Battery TL;DR: 5 hours.
I have an IKEA BEKANT electric standing desk[1] and the cables are all tugged tightly under it and out of the way. On the Desk I have the Google Nexus Wireless Charger [2] for my Nexus 5 and an Dyson Fan which i've got as an gift, wouldn't recommend it for being so expensive while just being a regular fan. I carry my Surface around in a small vertical messenger bag [3] which contains beside the Surface Power cable an Jabra Speak 510 portable bluetooth conference speaker[4], an Logitech R800 Presenter[5] and an EasyAcc Battery Pack[6] which I can charge with the integrated USB Charger in the Surface Poweradapter.
My whole setup is geared towards me being always ready to do intensive dev work while staying mobile enough to jump up and do sales or community management and the Surface fits that purpose perfectly.
[1] http://www.ikea.com/de/de/catalog/products/S29022539/ [2] https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_wirel... [3] http://www.amazon.com/CaseCrown-Resistant-Vertical-Messenger... [4] http://www.amazon.com/Jabra-SPEAK-510-Bluetooth-Softphone/dp... [5] http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Professional-Presenter-Green-... [6] http://www.amazon.com/EasyAcc-10000mAh-Brilliant-Portable-PB...
I'm also looking at the Surface Pro, but sadly I have no need of a laptop or an extra tablet right now.
My garden doesn't really compare.
So, expect the corporate computer market to take a nose-dive in the next years too, I guess.
On a larger scale, the rise of smartphones and tablets has clearly shrunk the traditional PC market, a market that already struggled with the end of Microsoft-led forced upgrades (that "good enough" level others mentioned; Microsoft used to periodically redefine what "good enough" was, but their products have substantially fossilized in the last decade). This doesn't mean PCs and laptops will go away for good; it's just that large margins are now elsewhere, so the industry is adapting.