Microsoft Surface Studio

Not to be sassy, but in terms of actual workflow - does this really change the game compared to a 27" Cintiq?

http://www.wacom.com/en-us/products/cintiq-27-qhd-touch

The build quality is obviously much better, and the screen resolution and specs for an all in 1, but it seems like if you were used to heavy pen input, the form factor of the big Cintiq is nearly identical, and they have that express key remote which given their longstanding ties into the workflow will probably work much better with most tools since Wacom functionality has been built in for years (vs the MS knob which probably requires all new API’s and software to work correct)

Another thing which I think is a HUGE miss that won’t be apparent till someone buys this and starts using it - they appear to have gone with a glossy screen.

If you’ve used a Cintiq you’ll know even with the matte coating, tilting it down instantly brings out all the reflections of your overhead lights. If you’re like most of us who work in any kind of office with overhead fluorescent lighting, or near windows - that can be an absolute deal breaker. The anti-matte coating doesn’t look as good for colors, but it serves to drastically cut down on those reflections as well as smudges and fingerprints. There may be some hidden anti-glare coatings, but its hard to tell from any of the photos which make it look very glossy.

Very nice mechanism !

  1. Maybe they will offer giant matte skins?

  2. I found the video amusing in that they have all this technology and half the video is showing animated coil springs (invented in the 1400s) flying around.

With the release of this and the Xiaomi phone compared with the release of the new macbooks I am not sure how much longer well designed products can keep always being directly compared with Apple’s. It feels like its becoming less their domain and that it’s starting to become unfair to the other guys who are starting to push things just that little bit further.

I played with one of these Studios today and it is super cool. I was told the resting angle in the downward position (much like the slight angle of my Surface Book at rest) is to mimic a physical artistic surface for drawing - I like it.

To those who’ve relayed your experiences with the Surface Pro 3 (not liking the pen) you should try a Surface pro 4, a Book or this Studio - the pen is just about perfect now - I came from Wacom-love like all of you (Wacom tablets (I had the very first model over 15 years ago), then Toshiba Tecras, then Samsung Note Pros) so when I saw that MS abandoned Wacom for N-Trig, I thought they’d taken the wrong road but now I see they ripped up the road and re-paved it…they made an NTrig out-Wacom a Wacom.

I see the target disciplines as architects, graphic design, ID and some of the fray-types, like sign shops, etc. The dial is really cool, but limited right now in the software that it works with - once they get it working with SW, SBP and others it’ll be an awesome value add for workflow.

I also really love the new take on 3D via their WindowsPhone capture - juvenile in this first iteration and definitely not serious 3D, it’s a great advance for 3D-for-all.

Glad to hear the Surface 4 isn’t as clunky pen wise.

All competition is good news. If MS can out Wacom at the hardware and pull the software integrations in then it’d be great. Wacom is certainly stepping up their game with new products as well, so maybe they’ll decide to make a stronger investment in their ID for future generations.

I was excited reading about this one, too - what a fresh take on sketching; it’s digital, it’s analog, it’s both all at once but right there on-screen at the same time. Unfortunately, it looks like they used low end guts to keep it simple - I think it only has an atom processor and limited ram? Looks like something perfect for comic sketching. This guy will probably give it a review; http://surfaceproartist.com/

How?

Very well done by Microsoft. As Keno noted, this is certainly a halo product. Other than if you have a use for a very high end screen with direct pen input, you’re not getting a lot for your money. With that said, it’s certainly a nice option vs the 27" wacom cintiq which is almost the same price, a much lower resolution and obviously doesn’t include a full computer.

I think Microsoft’s strategy is paying off on the Surface line and by extension Windows 8 to Windows 10. The premise was fairly simple, merge a tablet with a laptop and bring pen support to a much broader user base. The original Surface RT and Windows 8 which tried to bring touch to the desktop environment were certainly business failures. But a lot seems to have been learned and the current Windows lineup sure looks like a good proposition for a lot of people.

Some possibly relevant comments:

In my defense, I’ve touted Microsoft design for some time, all the way back to the Natural Keyboard in the '90s.

Truth. And not only that, Ray and I are the only two remaining WindowsPhone users on earth, so that’s sayin’ something. :stuck_out_tongue:

I have a friend in Seattle that says MS forced the WIndowsphone on their employees. So there’s us and a few thousand MS employees that have to hide their iPhone in their glove compartments.

That must be fun when your wife finds it. “Who’s phone is this?!” “It’s not what you think dear…I’ve been seeing another operating system”

The more I read about this new collection the more I like it. I might need to put my Apple fanboy status in check :slight_smile:

I’ve used my Surface Pro 3 for the last 2 years for freelance and school work. We have Cintiqs available to us at school, and the first time I used one I was actually disappointed with the experience. I still default to working on my Surface, and I’ll probably pick up the Dial, as I can see it filling certain gaps in my workflow. So Surface Studio = big Surface Pro, I’d be all in (if I weren’t a starving student :smiley: )

I’m a huge fan of what microsoft has built, visually I’d go as far to say it looks better than a mac. But… the pen/stylus is sooooo far behind apple’s that it completely turned me off on the rest of the computer.

I handed my Apple membership card in last year after 10 years of Mac. A lot of what drove me to the Mac in the first place seems to have been fixed in Windows. Decent file search, better window management (you can finally scroll on a window that’s not in focus), more stable and just cleaner all around. I find Mac OS still more polished but it seems the last versions have been getting quite rigid in the way the cater to simple needs. I felt like I was trying to workaround more than enjoying thoughtful design. Also, for most 3D work, most of us don’t have much of a choice but to Bootcamp into Windows anyways…

Anyone have a contact in Microsoft’s device team? :unamused:

No sass taken. Sure a Cintiq would probably work great for me, but this seemed pretty great as an all-in-one. Plus the Dial seemed really impressive.

I’ve since read a really interesting article that interviewed some designers. They all basically said the same thing, I still like my Cintiq. Plus, one thing I didn’t catch is that there’s not much upgrading these things.

What do you mean? It’s just like anything else. Illustrator tools + Hotdoor CADTools. When you’re in the sign industry, it’s pretty standard.