Will you buy a Microsoft Surface Pro for playing Traktor?

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
1

Will you buy a Microsoft Surface Pro for playing Traktor?

Surface Pro with Windows 8 Pro
3rd Gen Intel Core i5 Processor with Intel HD Graphics 4000
Internal Storage of 64GB, 128GB; 4GB of RAM
Display: 10.6-inch ClearType HD Display with 1,920x1,080 pixels
Length: 10.81-inches, width of 6.81-inches, depth: 0.53-inches, Weight: 2-lbs
Front-and-rear-facing 720p HD cameras
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and Bluetooth version 4.0
Battery: 42 W-h, including an additional 5 W-h USB for accessory charging)

The base spec is supposed to retail for around $800.

Let’s give all parties the benefit of the doubt and assume (for the purpose of this thread) that Traktor will work on this unit.

Would you consider replacing your laptop with this for playing out with Traktor?

And please, let’s not make this a Mac/PC thing.

2

Well it looks like it’s running faster specs than my Macbook air, so performance shouldn’t be an issue.

My only concern would be how much Bus power is available on the device. At the moment, I can run all of my devices without the need of a Powered Hub, but I doubt the surface would have enough power for that. It’s just a minor nitpick, I’d be super interested in running on it, or even running it as a secondary device for running Maschine or something like that (Or even a touch based sampler), taking workload off your main computer.

I’d be really interested to see how it runs

3

I have just pinged the Surface PR team to see if they will send us a review unit.

4

I’m not really comfortable with displays smaller than 13" tbh (even at higher resolutions). I want to be able to use it comfortably without having to look like a “traktor dj” whenever i need to look at the screen. Other than that, specs look decent enough.

5

no but i may buy one for reason.

6

nope.

7

as long as traktor gui is not optimized for touch screen i don’t see any benefit in using a tablet like this.

8

Just switched to a laptop with a 1920x1080 display. It’s a great resolution for a crowded Traktor GUI. I use the laptop’s keyboard for all sorts of things so I can’t see myself switching to a tablet.

9

If you could freely switch things around in Traktor GUI then I would love to use it.
Just two track decks for the most of time and browser mode for looking music.
Also, you could place it flat on the desk so you wouldn’t look like a another dude looking at his emails.

10

Why not just get a regular laptop?

Ive been using my g6 for almost a year now and its awesome :slight_smile:

Click Hereeeeeeee

11

I have been playing around with VNC loaded on my iPad and my PC and controlling the PC running Traktor through the iPad. It’s a cool experience. You still need a PC or laptop running Traktor but it’s cool to run the software this way.

12

How not to get a review unit from microsoft.

From: SmiTTTen
Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2012
To: RAPID RESPONSE DL
Subject: Request for MS Surface Pro Review Unit for DjTechTools.com

Hello Microsoft Surface Press People,

My name is Darren and I am a contributor for Djtechtools.com…blah blah blah… we are all keen to test Surface Pro…blah, blah, blah

My contact information is:
[REDACTED]

Please let me know what we need to do to make this happen!

Cheers,

Darren

From: Diana [REDACTED]
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2012 8:05 AM
To: SmiTTTen
Cc: RAPID RESPONSE DL
Subject: RE: Request for MS Surface Pro Review Unit for DjTechTools.com

Thank you for your email and interest in Surface. At this time, we do not have review units available, but will add you to our list for future consideration.

Best,
Diana

DIANA [REDACTED] | Account Coordinator | [REDACTED] Worldwide
[REDACTED] - Holmes Report Best Large Agency to Work For
Microsoft News Center

From: SmiTTTen
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2012 8:53 PM
To: RAPID RESPONSE DL
Subject: Request for MS Surface Pro Review Unit for DjTechTools.com

Hi Diana.

Thanks so much for such a quick response. Can you tell me if there are no review units available in general or if we do not, for some reason, fit the criteria?

Thanks!

From: Diana [REDACTED]
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2012 9:05 AM
To: SmiTTTen
Cc: RAPID RESPONSE DL
Subject: RE: Request for MS Surface Pro Review Unit for DjTechTools.com

Hi Darren,

Thank you for following up. At this time we do not have review units available. I have added you to our list and we will reach out directly should anything change.

Best,
Diana

DIANA [REDACTED] | Account Coordinator | [REDACTED] Worldwide
[REDACTED] - Holmes Report Best Large Agency to Work For
Microsoft News Center

From: SmiTTTen
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2012 9:15 AM
To: Diana [REDACTED]
Subject: Re: Request for MS Surface Pro Review Unit for DjTechTools.com

Hi Diana,

Am I talking to an automated response?

From: Diana [REDACTED]
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2012 9:20 AM
To: SmiTTTen
Cc: RAPID RESPONSE DL
Subject: RE: Request for MS Surface Pro Review Unit for DjTechTools.com

No, it’s safe to say you are not speaking with an automated response. But, as I stated below we don’t have Surface review units available. I do apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Best,
Diana

DIANA [REDACTED] | Account Coordinator | [REDACTED] Worldwide
[REDACTED] - Holmes Report Best Large Agency to Work For
Microsoft News Center

From: SmiTTTen
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2012 9:55 AM
To: RAPID RESPONSE DL
Subject: Request for MS Surface Pro Review Unit for DjTechTools.com

This is certainly one of the better systems I have seen.

13

I would like a hybrid Windows 8 Pro laptop/tablet, but not specifically for Traktor as I can’t see NI optimising the UI for touch screen use. I’m interested to see what the Clover Trail devices are like though.

14

u could controll traktor with a dj controller too, i think if you play at a club, i think it would be nice, because the surface is more portable than a laptop.

15

Lol, that exchange with Diana was hilarious. I think it’s safe to say we won’t be seeing the Surface reviewed here anytime soon…

16

I would stay away from anything running windows 8 in any format,only speaking from personal experience but my laptop brought 2 months ago has been nothing but trouble with running windows 8.I have always had windows as an operating system on all my pc’s and laptops and it’s been fine never had any problems ever but this version is full of glitches and bad updates Its a sony laptop with a good spec I run traktor and maschine on it fine but it seems to be a fragile system, with my latest problem being windows did update and then wouldn’t recognise itself and kept saying that it had detected a virus which turned out to be one of its own apps. After pulling my hair out for days trying to get it to even load up to get to the desk top I have finally sorted it.I know it’s not me as I work in a large factory and know of about 20 people I have over heard or talked to have had this and other big issues that really shouldn’t be coming up.

I am not an apple/ mac lover but will look towards one next time I purchase any computer based tech as have noticed the price in the uk of a new windows touch screen desktop pc compared to a 27 inch mac is so close now the competition is down to quality not the fact that one is vastly more expensive. Just my two pence but hopefully windows will iron these out and come to the table with something as smooth as windows 7 was.

17

If Traktor runs on it and I could afford it, I would buy one in a heartbeat. It would take up way less space.

18

Windows 8 Suprusingly in my experience so far is very hardware specific for running smoothly. It appears the higher end stuff running it runs amazing. But the sub 600 stuff is sketchy. Have a few zen books running 8 no issues except some company specific applications. My older i7 desktop run 8 pretty
Good but video card driver resets itself sometimes and have to either reboot worst case but most the time just tell itto reset my dual display setup. I wonder if this might have more to do with my multi touch secondary display 22 inch multi touch view sonic. Maybe it goes into power save mode on its own and cases the issue don’t know.

That’s my take on windows 8 using SSD and high end CPUs it’s awesome sub par specs likely
Garbage.

19

I can’t afford a Surface Pro, but I’ll most likely be getting one of the i3 Windows 8 tablets in the near future… just waiting for a 13" to hit the market and I’ll be all over it.

20

LoLz at automated response remarks.