clay Posted October 18, 2014 Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 Is anyone using a Microsoft Surface Pro computer to prepare taxes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack from Ohio Posted October 18, 2014 Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 I would not even attempt it. Surface is a tablet (toy) pretending to be a computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted October 18, 2014 Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 You'll have to spend about $2000 to get the highest end model, probably. The form factor might be a tablet, but it's normal PC / Laptop hardware. In terms of power, it's no different from a laptop with a Core i7 and a 512GB SSD. The problem for me would be the keyboard and maybe the screen size. Even with the more expensive ($130 extra) Type Cover, the key travel is shallow. Text size on tax forms might be on the small side viewed on a 12" screen also. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted October 18, 2014 Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 I don't do any work in the field. I use my laptop at home, desktop at office. If I need to start doing mobile work, I'll use my laptop for now. It's an ultrabook type so not too heavy and bulky. We'll see how future models of the surface come into play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack from Ohio Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 You'll have to spend about $2000 to get the highest end model, probably. The form factor might be a tablet, but it's normal PC / Laptop hardware. In terms of power, it's no different from a laptop with a Core i7 and a 512GB SSD. The problem for me would be the keyboard and maybe the screen size. Even with the more expensive ($130 extra) Type Cover, the key travel is shallow. Text size on tax forms might be on the small side viewed on a 12" screen also. Normal except there is no optical drive. Not a "...normal PC / Laptop..." by any definition. Overpriced, bragging rights toy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcjenkins Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 Useful for some salesmen who just need to show the customer some prepared slides, etc. My insurance guy used one for that, for example. Handy in that he could type in my info, then take off the screen and hand that to me for me to 'sign' the resulting form, a copy of which I got back in the mail. But no way I could imagine using it for tax work. Keyboard alone would nix that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 Normal except there is no optical drive. Not a "...normal PC / Laptop..." by any definition. I hope that ATX stops sending CD's all together. The program on the CD becomes useless within 2 weeks of mailing. Charge me less shipping and stop sending CD's. Could it be that different people might value different things in a laptop? Perhaps someone else would feel that a laptop without a number pad is a toy. Or a laptop without two internal hard drive bays. Or a laptop with a screen smaller than 17". Or a laptop that can't last 10+ hours on a charge. Or a laptop without a dedicated video card. I looked for quite a while for a good convertible laptop/tablet hybrid with an active digitizer, but never did find one that really fit all of my needs (that I can afford). For me, a Surface Pro or a Thinkpad Yoga would be excellent for note taking, drawing quick flow charts, sketching website layouts, etc. In my opinion, the CD is the new floppy, and I'm thankful that my laptops don't have the bulk and weight of an optical drive that I personally have no use for. The Wacom digitizer and pen would be a thousand times more useful to me. If someone is looking for those pen features, but a comfortable tablet form factor is less important, I'd suggest looking into the Thinkpad Yoga. It's a bit bulky/heavy for use as a tablet, but it'd work well on a table top like that. EDIT: I think you can only get the Thinkpad Yoga with the digitizer/pen directly from Lenovo's website, not from retail/online stores. Last time I looked, the model that you could get from Amazon was without the pen. There's also the Fujitsu T904, which had everything I wanted, but it's out of my price range. Extremely nice though. EDIT 2: If you don't care about the pen, and just want a hybrid... well, idunno what to tell you. It seems like you have to choose between a decent tablet that turns into a crappy laptop, or a decent laptop that turns into a crappy tablet. I don't know that you can have the best of both worlds. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILLMAS Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 Does the surface pro fall under any of these: http://www.atxinc.com/PDF/ATX_2014_System_Requirements.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaret CPA in OH Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 ILLMAS, I have a Surface Pro 2. It has Intel i5-4300u @ 1.90 Gh, 2.5 Gh (whatever that means, not sure why it shows 2 speeds); 4G RAM; 64 bit; 112 G hard drive with 35 G still free; IE 11. Surface Pro 3 may have better numbers. I have the attached keyboard which I love. I couldn't stand to use the onscreen keyboard. I bought it for miscellaneous business (dive and CPR instruction) but mostly as a replacement for a heavy, dead laptop and nonfunctional little laptop replacements (can't even recall what they are called). Frankly, I use my Kindle Fire more but now have an attachment that I can use to connect to my television when I want to watch missed network programs that aren't on my Prime subscription. I don't think I could use it for tax prep, at least not routinely, but my eyes are getting bad. The screen resolution is sharp and my computer guy tweaked it a tad bit. It has Bluetooth and wifi so prints to any printer I have. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 Does the surface pro fall under any of these: http://www.atxinc.com/PDF/ATX_2014_System_Requirements.pdf It meets all of the requirements, except for "quad core" because it uses a low TDP cpu, so they're dual core only. That's pretty standard for laptops, though, and shouldn't be an issue. Before buying one for business use, I'd definitely go try it out first, especially if you're a decent touch typist. As someone who types better than 85wpm, I personally found it frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcb39 Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 ILLMAS, I have a Surface Pro 2. It has Intel i5-4300u @ 1.90 Gh, 2.5 Gh (whatever that means, not sure why it shows 2 speeds); 4G RAM; 64 bit; 112 G hard drive with 35 G still free; IE 11. Surface Pro 3 may have better numbers. I have the attached keyboard which I love. I couldn't stand to use the onscreen keyboard. I bought it for miscellaneous business (dive and CPR instruction) but mostly as a replacement for a heavy, dead laptop and nonfunctional little laptop replacements (can't even recall what they are called). Frankly, I use my Kindle Fire more but now have an attachment that I can use to connect to my television when I want to watch missed network programs that aren't on my Prime subscription. I don't think I could use it for tax prep, at least not routinely, but my eyes are getting bad. The screen resolution is sharp and my computer guy tweaked it a tad bit. It has Bluetooth and wifi so prints to any printer I have. Sometimes we HAVE to have our toys. For me it is a form of self-gratification and thanks for all the work I do. On the other hand, I now have three laptops and and two desktops. My XP desktop is only for programs that don't convert to Win 7. My oldest Win 7 laptop is for leaving at the other house. No number pad, but the external works just fine. Have two identical workhorse 17" laptops; one for in house and one for back and forth. Of course, we all value different things in our equipment. My laptops do have dedicated video cards and have i5 with turbo boost. Win 7 Pro. My main working machine is an i5 desktop; which will be entering it's third tax season. Thankfully it was brand new for 2012 and handled most of the issues with little pain. And then there are the real toys: Tablets. I use that when I am (rarely) sitting on the couch and want to check e-mail or FB. Or, my husband says something like, "Is that guy still alive?" I have an almost immediate answer. My tablets also work through my phone line if I am traveling and wi-fi is not available. Wonderful for Gas Buddy and/or just browsing. We all lead different lifestyles and have different needs. Hopefully, we have lives outside of tax preparation. In my mind, it isn't so much what you have, but how you take care of it and whether it meets your processing needs. Does it have the features YOU want and does it make YOU happy? Last, but really first, backup, backup and backup!!!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnH Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 One person's toy is another person's productivity tool. I use my desktop (PC), iPhone, iPad, and my MacBook pro at various times and in various contexts. Each of them adds to my business and personal productivity in its unique way, and I would miss any one of them if it were taken away from me. Maybe that's because I've discovered it is indeed possible to walk and chew gum at the same time. Or maybe that's why I learned to use a hammer to drive nails into wood, a drill to make holes in the same material, and a power screwdriver to install screws in those same holes. Every tool has a unique purpose, and every piece of electronics is simply a tool to get something done. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack from Ohio Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 With discussions that $200-$300 difference in the price of software is a major concern, how do $800-$2,000 electronic gadgets not get caught in the same concerns? An adequate laptop can be acquired for $600. Tablets are quite more expensive. I am missing things here.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnH Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 Speaking only for myself here, productivity is about much more than the price of a given tool or set of tools. I've seen billing rates quoted on this forum and other tax & accounting forums at anywhere from $90/hr to $200/hr (maybe more - plug in your own numbers). So if a given $1,000 tool saves you 1/2 hour per week, it has a payback period of less than 6 months. At $200/hr, the payback period drops to less than 90 days. I think the critical issue is not how cheaply something can be done, but how efficiently it can be done. Time is money. (that statement still holds true even in you charge by the form) Incidentally, I'm typing this note on the iPad which sits on my desk while I'm doing something totally different on my PC. Most of my emails & forums are read and responded to on this device. Reading & navigating email & forums is MUCH easier with a touch screen than with a mouse. Then a bluetooth keypad speeds up the "reply" task. Plus, this particular iPad almost never leaves my desk, because I carry a separate iPad mini in my backpack. But if I want to do some reading in the "library", I just pick it up and carry it with me. Hard to do that with my PC & monitor. But having said all that, I do understand that others' mileage may vary. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaret CPA in OH Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 Jack from Ohio, there are business expenses and personal expenses. You may be referring to my whine about missing a bit more of the price reduction on ATX MAX while spending quite a bit more on the Surface Pro 2. The software is a business expense and an annual one on a declining client base. The second is an upper grade 'toy' expected to last at least as long as my now dead 6-7 year old laptop and it is far more versatile than the business software or that old laptop. My husband also uses it as it is personal with minimal outside (no deduction) business use. My dive trips to quite exotic places are comparatively very costly but I buy most of my clothes from KMart and such places. I value experiences more than most stuff but the Surface Pro gives me wonderful experiences not possible with the tax software. And the lower my business expenses, the more money I have for fun stuff and experiences! Said earlier, your mileage may vary. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.