Trade my Surface Pro 2 for a X230T?

I have a Surface Pro 2 128GB 4GB RAM, do you think its a bad or good idea to trade for a brand new X230T with third generation i5, 500GB HDD which I guess I can upgrade to SSD and 4GB Ram?.

EDIT: Thinking of a Lifebook T902 i7-3520M 8 128 3G w7, is this better option.

 

I wouldn't do it....as a user of an x61T, x200T, x201T and x220T, the Surface Pro 2 is much better experience, now I would trade my SP2 towards a SP3 (Wait I just did that...)

 

Thanks, yeah I like the Surface Pro 2 a lot, but was interested in hearing if there was any benefits over the Pro 2 which seems nil besides from the keyboard.

 

Well the SP 2 is a 4th Generation Core i5 CPU, with HD4400 Graphics, Full HD Display and weighs 2.2 lbs....

The X230T is a 3rd Generation Core i5 or i7 with HD4000 Graphics, 720p Display and weighs just shy of 4lbs....

I don't see any upside, if you want a more traditional form factor I would go with the ThinkPad Yoga, it specs the same as the SP2

 

Thank you, thinking of the T902 now.

 

Woah woah woah.

Hold up Mr. Roach. You know the differences and potential benefits of the older, bulkier convertible, and it seems you are intentionally holding back information here....?? One of the sites most respected members should be offering at least a bit more of a balanced response to this ? I LOVE the microsoft quality too, but they still don't offer the kind of machine some of us need, while Lenovo and Fujitsu certainly do.


There are HUGE upsides for a working professional in need of more power, modularity and function with a pen and touchscreen. The X230t or T902 is certainly not as elegant as the sexy new SP3, or even 2, but the pros are there for many of us.

For starters the X230t features a FULL VOLTAGE CPU. Much like the T902 that the OP is wisely considering, this heavy convertible is heavy because it contains 2 regular laptop RAM slots (user upgradeable) and a full voltage (35watt TDP) CPU that still kicks the ULV Haswell to the curb in performance, especially sustained performance (like say using taxing large brushes in Photoshop or Artrage for hours at a time). It's ability to use larger batteries (slice or T902's modular battery) house multiple (3 in the T902!!) hard drives, m-SATA and SSD's, and being built like freakin' TANKS, makes the out of fashion convertible VERY attractive to those of us who need more function than thin. There is no way the Surface Pro 3 or 2 can replace what my T902 does yet, but I look forward to a day when thin and light gets these jobs done as handily as my T902. Graphics may be comparable, but the X230t will hold onto the prize over time as it will take far longer to trip thermals and throttle the iGPU in the X230t than on the SP2 or 3.

I just finished rendering a HUGE set of broadcast FULL HD files in after effects this week on my T902 (thanks mostly to the 16 gigs of 1600 RAM and fast i7), painted "plein air" on a park bench (2800 x 1800 px) at a nearby forest today, and typed this post out in a very easy and stable manner on my lap in a reclined position on my couch... --low blow to the SP3, lol-- I animate large broadcast files in Flash, play AAA games (on low settings), design characters and environments in various programs for our studio, and currently have 50 gigs to spare on my 512GB SSD, despite all the work files stored on it.

Like to see a Surface Pro 2, 3 or 4 keep up with that.

there. old school convertible rant over! -



EDIT**

here is a screen cap I took last week while rendering in AE. This is the kind of hell my T902 gladly wades through on a daily basis.

 

I'm sorry you don't agree, he asked for an opinion and I shared mine, others are and free to jump in at any time I've used both and I stand by my assessment.

 

Well certainly I wasn't faulting your opinion that a x230t isn't more ideal for your use case. Saying you see no upside to a convertible like the X230t over a slate like the Surface Pro 2, implied you feel there are no benefits for anyone to consider a convertible over a slate. But that may have been my mistake reading it that way.

Regardless of opinion and preferences however, we have benchmarks and statistics that prove the convertibles will be able to do more heavy lifting for longer, which, useless to you as that extra juice may be, is a perfect example of a potential "upside" for a more demanding user.

Wasn't trying to attack your preferences, just wanted to balance the scales a bit for others reading who may not understand differences between the devices at a glance beyond cosmetics.

 

I returned my T902 and bought SP2. The T902 makes annoying low level cyclic fan noise. In a quiet room this will give you a headache!! SP2 is is much better than T902 unless and until you want to do some computational intensive work!