The Real Reason I’m Returning My IPAD Pro

For those following my blog, you might already know that I’m a multimedia content creator – not just for this blog here – but as a fulltime living for a real client in the real world. I do everything marketing related for them, from print advertising, video production and editing, online advertising, tradeshow events, email marketing, social media management, and so much more.

Pre-Covid I used to work in the office, and so all the equipment I needed was right at my fingertips and provided by the company. I didn’t have much say or choice in what I used. When it came to drawing tablets we had a very small Wacom tablet. The old-school kind without the screen built-in. It wasn’t bad, I graduated undergrad college in 2006, and my MBA around 2012 or so, and so I was familiar with and used to using Wacom. Even back in my childhood, my stepdad who was the one who first bought me Corel Draw and started me down this career path back in the 90s, at some point bought me a REALLY old-school Wacom tablet, an off-white color, big heavy thing with a DONGLE. They don’t make those anymore. This was a dinosaur – but that proves that Wacom’s been around for ages… and well yes, certain things have changed, they now have better pens, and a nifty ergonomic standing base and even some very pricey Wacom that are self-sufficient stand-alone units – for a cool $3,000+ dollars.

For those following my blog, you also probably saw last week’s posts/reviews about The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio and IPAD Pro – Both were the grandest, highest-end configurations possible. For the Surface this meant it was over $3,000 – not including the Pen – REALLY Microsoft? lol… The Pen was another $100…. For Apple, it was around $1,000 something for the highest end Wifi only IPAD Pro and another 300-400 for the magnetic keyboard – and another $100 for the pen… so around let’s say $1,500 out the door.

I loved my Microsoft Surface as you can see in those 2 reviews…. The IPAD – not so much, no… No sir, I don’t like it…

Where to begin, the tiny screen, how it feels like writing/drawing on glass, no eraser on the other end of the pen, and the bad ergonomics of it – with the keyboard digging into my wrists and an awkward angle for drawing, unless you want to spend even more money buying an easel stand (plenty of cheap 3rd party options sure), or have it lay flat on the desk or your lap, viable option, sure, I even squished my surface down into straight tablet mode plenty of times, but Easel felt the most natural and comfortable to me, someone that has to work 8 hours a day doing this stuff.

But no, that’s not the REAL reason I’m returning my Apple IPAD Pro… Not even the half of it. For the price, for half than what I paid for the surface, I could live with the weird glassy feel and tiny screen and uncomfortable ergonomics… that’s not the real problem here…

The REAL PROBLEM with the IPAD PRO is that it does not run the full desktop version of Adobe Creative Cloud!!!!!

There – THAT RIGHT THERE – is why it’s no good and going right on back to the store.

It has maybe 5-6 apps on there – and the apps it DOES have are mobile versions with horrible layout, horrible unintuitive controls, and missing hundreds of features of their desktop counterparts.

Now yes, there are some who will say but it has Adobe Sketch whatever the heck it’s called – Or there’s these great free art apps or this special IOS app that’s kinda similar to adobe – Cool, cool – whatever floats your boat kid… I need Adobe Suite… K? because I share files with an office team using that software. Yeah maybe I can import and export stuff to and from multiple programs – but too risky too much trouble – and just not cool, mmkay… So for me, that’s why it’s a no go.

So what did I buy instead?

Well to be brutally honest with you… I spent a long time debating this – and I asked people both in store and online for suggestions – that’s how I got stuck with this horrible IPAD Pro in the first place lol.

Ok its not THAT horrible I like watching YouTube or Netflix on it actually – and I’ll miss it for that lol…

But the kid at Bestbuy told me it was the best of the best for adobe – uh no, sorry… you’ve clearly never used adobe either on a desktop or on an IPAD because… no.

The online store people at Bestbuy – well they sent me like 20 different suggestions, half were HP laptops… that were not convertible into a tablet mode…. The angle of a laptop screen – plus the keyboards… not ergonomic….

I honestly looked at Wacom today and almost pulled the trigger for a nice $600+ one with the screen and all the nice things, the pen with the eraser (some Wacom tablets have that and some don’t)… But what turned me off is ALL THE CORDS!!! It has to be plugged into the computer AND plugged into the wall at the same time… Really Wacom??? You can’t make a damn bluetooth one? Or one with an internal battery that I can just charge up overnight? WTF wrong with you Wacom? Maybe you have one somewhere, but damn you have so many models who knows wtf you have there.

I HONESTLY didn’t want to spend $3,000 again because what if the Surface died again and what if it died this time AFTER my return period… NOT COOL…..

So you know what? I compromised…

I have my Razer Quartz Laptop I can use for video editing – it works just fine – just sent in like eight videos to my boss yesterday. I use Adobe Premiere a lot on this thing – no issues whatsoever…

So REALLY all I REALLY need is a tablet for Photoshop and Illustrator… That’s really about it for work needs… Now did I WANT a tablet I could game and watch videos on? Sure why not? It’s my money and my decision – This tablet is not being paid for by work or chosen by anyone else – but do I REALLY need that? Nope, my Razer computer works just fine still 2 years after purchasing it. – There will come a time where it will need replaced – likely with another Razer – but who knows, possibly with a Microsoft Surface because I loved it so much.

So I compromised… I didn’t need the ultimate best Surface configuration – although I wanted it, sure… needs vs wants… Instead what I ordered was the entry level-ish Microsoft Surface Studio Laptop, an I5 instead of an I7. I honestly don’t know/remember if it had Nvidia graphics or if it has Intel graphics, 16GB RAM, and down from 2 TB of space to just 512 SSD – Adobe can save everything in the cloud anyways. It originally was priced around $1,800 but due to President’s Day sales – ending today – Best Buy had this model for $1,500 – making it actually cheaper or same price as – strangely the one even more entry level beneath this with like 256 GB SSD – so yeah not a bad catch – and about the same as what I paid for the IPAD Pro…

Now is it going to break again and the pen just mysteriously die? That I do not know – and naturally if that happens – my opinion of Microsoft Surface will turn from one of love to one of hate – but let’s just hope something was wrong with my old one – and fingers crossed it was a one-off issue. Despite the people complaining about dead pens all over google search results when I was trying to troubleshoot mine – like 5 million search results… sush – shhhhsssh – don’t listen to those bad people *pets the pretty little Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio*

The Real Reason I’m Returning My IPAD Pro was originally published on Geeky Sweetie

Apple IPad Pro 12.9 Inch Review & Comparison To Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio

You might have seen my recent review about the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio over here. You may remember mine met with an ill fate. A fate likely caused by a defective Surface Pen… The pen would not do anything. I changed the batteries, I knew how to charge it correctly under the lip of the laptop… And in device settings it said it had 100% battery life.

I read an article about unpairing and repairing the device… so I unpaired it… and could not repair it… because it was effectively dead…. No lights, no nothing. I’d only had the device for 10 days… but since Best Buy’s cutoff for returns is 14 days… and at least my local Best Buy is running some weird COVID19 hours still… closing at 6 or 7 pm and I had to work past that time… We had gone up the night before only to discover they were closed, and knew we couldn’t make the next night either…. So on day 12 of 14, when they offered to ship me a new pen…. well… I was nervous… What if it WASN’T the pen?! What if it was a problem with the bluetooth inside the $3,000 computer???

No way was I going to have a dead defective $3,000 12 day old laptop… I took it back to Best Buy – my local store – with hopes of exchanging it – but they did not have the pen – at all. I am a graphic designer (among other marketing types of titles) and had some deadlines coming up this week and next week too and feeling stressed and pressured, I just returned the whole thing…

They also did not have the $3,000 2 TB Nvidia graphics card model…. I lamented my sad farewell to a device that I genuinely truly LOVED…. If that pen hadn’t died, it was a DREAM MACHINE…. One that the Ipad Pro does not even hold a candle to in my mind….

They could have shipped me a new Surface Pen and/or New Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio, but with deadlines approaching and return deadline looming, and needing a tablet… I asked them to recommend a device for me. I suggested Waccom – and told them I used to use them in college but that I missed having an all-in-one device, which is why I tried Surface – less cords, wires, accessories to carry, etc. I’d never owned one of the NICE Waccoms with the screens built-in, and even though I would still need a PC with that device, I was thinking that was the direction I would go in….

But the “kid” (sorry I’m 40, so you all look like kids to me now lol) working there recommended the Ipad Pro 12.9 Inch model…. I had/have had Ipads… LOTS of them, from the very first one, to minis, to in and out and inbetween… My most recent one being newer than my 2 year old laptop – BUT I’d never owned a Pro…. Inevitably… My Ipads collect dust. I think Oh that’s nice for travel, or that’s nice for hospital stays (I have epilepsy and have to get monitored sometimes for days or weeks on end and stuck with rails up in a hospital bed) – But aside from Travel and Hospital stays…. The last time I used my Ipad was a hospital stay less than a year ago – and I remember the damn thing falling over, falling apart, falling off of it’s expensive $100 keyboard accessory… It now lays in a drawer and my 2 older Ipad Minis lay at the bottom of a closet somewhere… Trade in value minimal and not worth the effort of trying to sell online. My Iphone with a larger hard drive runs most of the same apps and just makes digging my IPad out kinda pointless.

But the kid swore it’s the BEST tablet, top of the line, perfect for what I needed when I explained I need to do a lot of large size graphic design like trade show displays floor to ceiling huge art files. I grimaced and stared at the tiny screen… Then grimaced more when he told me it was out of stock and they had the 11 inch. I balked now and put my foot down. He checked his scanning tool one more time and somehow now magically had a 12.9 inch Ipad Pro in stock…

With Best Buy already technically closed – We barely made it in there like 20 minutes before closing with their weird COVID hours – And other stores like Staples soon closing as well – With already having returned my beloved Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio…. and most important projects due this week… I hastily decided to spend the $1,099 for the Ipad Pro 12.9 inch model, and another $300-400 for the pen and keyboard.

I just unboxed it yesterday and got it all set up. And I’m both impressed and disappointed at the same time. Having never owned any of the “Pro” Ipads before, I was impressed how amazingly sturdy the magnets were. It was not going to fall off of that keyboard which was my biggest complaint with any “non Pro” Ipad I’ve owned in the past.

I’m disappointed because not ALL of the adobe cloud applications work on Ipad Pro – Nope few and far do actually. The most important ones for the tablet, Illustrator and Photoshop work – and that’s good enough because I do have my Pink Razer Laptop from 2020. BUT inconvenient to have to start one project on one device and switch to another device – like dreamweaver or the full version of adobe premiere (instead of just premiere rush) or adobe captivate – or other I dunno, less “drawing” related applications. There’s a reason the word is “Multimedia” because multi means more than one – and in Adobe you can import and export files between all of the programs. Now I have to switch computers or even switch rooms if I’m downstairs with one device etc. It’s more of a hassle.

I’m also disappointed but knew fully well when I purchased it that it can’t run regular windows programs – office suite – but also all my steam games – not a deal breaker as I already preordered a steam deck – and my 2 year old Razer can still get the job done – but again just a huge hassle having so many different devices, when the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio was truly an all in one work of wonder.

The specific model of Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio that I purchased had a 2TB hard drive… My Ipad – the best most expensive model of IPad – at least at my local Best Buy – only has 256 GB – My Razer also only came with a 256GB Hard drive – I went out and bought a 5TB external HD for my Razer years ago… because of that hard drive though, my razer never leaves its desk now – all the cords and this hard drive is almost as big – and heavy – as the laptop itself… Hassle… Again the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio was a dream come true – convenient all in one – I was barely touching my Razer – and only for some saved files and logins on my Razer.

Another disapointing feature obviously is the tiny screen size. This is a huge drawback for an artist. It’s about as small as the tiniest Waccom tablet – Actually, I just checked and the Waccom One is an inch bigger diagonally and includes the pen – and is only $350. Compared to over $1,000 for the IPad Pro and $300-400 for the keyboard and pen.

Another advantage Waccom, and Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio both have over the Ipad Pro is their “Easel” modes. This puts the pad at like a 45 degree angle and is more comfortable for drawing. I’m sure there’s third party Easel stands/cases for the Ipad Pro on the market and I will probably buy one, but again more things to carry around when the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio was again “all in one”.

When drawing on the IPad Pro, it feels MUCH MORE like glass… I only had the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio for less than 2 weeks – but used it a lot 8+ hours a day in that time – and it felt VERY natural – I didn’t notice it feeling like drawing on glass. I used my IPad Pro for maybe 2 hours so far and it feels awful…. I dunno if it’s the pen or the screen – or the angle of the screen. I do see they make screen covers that will supposedly make it feel more like drawing on paper…. I might have to try that…. because it’s really uncomfortable and annoying and not natural at all. Completely different feeling than drawing on my Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio.

Also because of no easle mode, my wrists bump the keyboards when drawing and sometimes have unintended consequences interrupting me work, activating shortcuts or inserting text, etc. And the keyboard honestly digs into my wrists. The keyboard sits flat and isn’t very comfortable for typing either. It is much sturdier than any past Apple Keyboards I’ve owned and the keys have a satisfying feeling and sound when pressing them, but still not quite like a “real” keyboard.

The pen itself is a bit inferrior also the the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio. It lets you double tap to erase something but I can’t get it to work. It lets you scratch out text – and that works for me, but the keyboard is quicker. The Surface Pen had an eraser on one end and would automatically erase… And it felt more natural for me. It also had two programable shortcut keys, the Apple Pen has none.

But… Is it all bad?

No, it is not all bad at all…. For 1/3 of the price of the highest end Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio… It’s about what I’d expect for a more “value priced” product – if you call $1,000 + to be “value priced”. If I had my pick, I’d definitely pay the extra money and take the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio.

This IPad Pro is however MUCH better than previous IPads I have owned, never having owned the “Pro” of any generation before… The non-pros are pretty much worthless in my opinion because they won’t stay on their keyboards or even the Ipad cover with the little triangle flip stand without falling off / falling apart / falling over. The IPad Pro fixes that issue with stronger magnets. Why doesn’t Apple just use the same magnets in all their IPads? Magnets alone can’t be that expensive. I know the technology inside the IPad Pro is much better than the technology in non “Pros” – but still not as advanced as a computer – which the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio is an actual computer. The Ipad Pro is still just a tablet.

Battery life is about the same, and I’m pleased with that. Both Ipad Pro and Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio have excellent Battery Life. 8+ hours unplugged and doing intensive graphic work (or gaming in the case of the Surface).

And although I miss having my Steam Games and Windows Programs – Especially the full version of adobe suite products, Ipad does have some unique one of a kind programs, games, movies, and apps available only on the IPAD – does that make up for losing and lacking those other apps and games? In my opinion no, but it depends on what you plan to use the device for. I downloaded a lot of my streaming services to watch movies even though it’s a tiny screen, it’s good for on the go.

It’s lighter weight – by a little bit. Ipad Pro is 1.5 lbs for the IPAD itself plus another 1.3 lbs for the Magic Keyboard which is 2.8 lbs which is still one pound lighter than Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio at 3.8 lbs.

I dunno what else to say about it really – It gets the job done and is cheaper than Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio by a long shot – if you want the best of both models. You could buy 3 of the best IPAD pros for just one of the best Microsoft Surface Laptop Studios.

If budget is a concern, or you’re just a diehard Apple fan, get the IPAD Pro, otherwise for me, the clear winner here is Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio. If I wasn’t up against tight deadlines, I would have just had Bestbuy ship me another Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio… And this IPAD might go back before 14 days in favor of another Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio and try again – although I’m still scared about the pen dying. I googled it a bit and that does seem to be a common issue… I know the nibs on the Apple Pen will eventually need replaced too, but I couldn’t even buy a new Microsoft Surface Pen because it’s not as prolific as the IPAD.

That’s another win for Apple there, replacement parts, 3rd party parts, and new whole parts are readily available at every single Best Buy, Staples, Walmart, Target, you name it, they got it. My fear of a pen dying when I’m racing against deadlines, might just convince me to stick with this IPAD. My experiences with past Apple products (long time Iphone embracer) have all been positive. And even old IPADs although mostly collecting dust, still do work every time I decide to dig them out.

Apple IPad Pro 12.9 Inch Review & Comparison To Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio was originally published on Geeky Sweetie

Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio Review

I recently purchased Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio from Bestbuy. The highest end model here. It’s awesome when it works… but after just a few days my pen died. I tried changing the batteries. I know how to charge it. It sits under the laptop near the track pad. It will not light up. My device settings say the batteries are at 100%. I read about unpairing and repairing the pen, so I tried that. I was able to unpair it, but not able to repair it back to the device. For $3,000 for the laptop and $100 for the pen, I expected more…

I have started the process of a return or possible exchange because I do not want to get screwed out of $3,000. I am a graphic artist/marketing/video developer/web designer everything that this 3 in one device is designed to do – oh I’m also a gamer, and with this particular model, in theory if it works correctly, it should be the device of my dreams… and it was for about 10 days until the pen just died completely… I’m pretty sure it’s just the pen, but as time was running out to return/exchange I started the process for both pieces… I think it’s just the pen because my finger can move the screen…. but just in case bluetooth or something else is causing the problem, I needed to be extra sure.

So aside from that… my first few days with the device were great…. I was going to review it at some point with a video and lots of photos – I have some unboxing photos right now but that’s not very helpful I know.

I’ve seen a lot of people ask who would use this device, especially in easel mode – I watched a lot of videos before buying this… that was a common thing the reviewer would remark in their videos, because you see, those people they’re not artists like me (and possibly you reading this) – they aren’t the target audience. They’re just some youtuber and blogger with millions of views.

Let me tell you, I use easel mode a lot. I’m drawing and it’s more comfortable and natural that way if it’s on a desk. If it’s in my lap, I do like to squish it all the way down into a tablet.

Some reviewers remarked it’s too heavy to be a tablet. Yeah if you’re just casually browsing the internet or something… but not really much heavier than a large size waccom tablet (with the screen and well you know what I mean if you’re also a graphic designer). Those are heavy too.

Again a dumb marketing move by Microsoft sending the devices to people that aren’t even their target audience.

But I digress, aside from my pen dying in ten days – and yes, I’m very tech savvy and have tried literally everything. It is just fully dead. Aside from THAT pretty BIG caveat…. well I’m impressed. If I can get a new pen that works, I will keep this – and possibly have to keep returning and getting new pens every few days – but hopefully mine was just defective?

Why am I so impressed? Battery life. I told you, I’m editing videos, I’m working on huge large print files, like tradeshow banners that go ceiling to floor, I’m doing hours of web design and coding… This baby flies, he never slows down, and I can work 8 even 10 hours doing intensive graphic stuff UNPLUGGED. Yes it’s true. And the same goes for gaming. This thing is unstoppable.

Watching anime and Kdrama? Easel mode is great for that in my lap or on a desk.

Playing a casual game like a visual novel or otome game where you just read and click occasional prompts? Easel mode again please.

Want to play some hardcore games? Don’t worry this model’s got you covered with the latest intel processors and nvidia graphics. Open it as a laptop and use your standard keyboard and mouse controls, or keep it in Easel mode and pair it with a gaming controller.

2 TB Hard drive?! Yes please. In my review of my Razer Pink Laptop – which is only 2 or so years old now – That was my main complaint – 256gb hard drive only. I bought a 5TB external drive but because of that, I’m mostly chained to my desk, because that drive is big and has additional cords… kinda defeats the purpose of having a laptop. I’m using my Razer for this review, and I still find myself occasionally using my Razer for some tasks. But not for gaming anymore. I find myself using it because I have passwords and programs saved and files saved on here, that’s really the only reason. Every game I have tried in the 10 days with my Surface is running equally well here or there.

Rock solid Keyboard – YES PLEASE AGAIN! – I have an Ipad – It’s not a high end Ipad – it can’t use Apple’s pen, it’s an old model. Got it “free” when I had ATT years ago. (free but then $15 for a “line” ah that’s where they get you lol) – And the official Apple keyboard is whack…. In my lap just watching videos it folds over, falls off… and that damn thing wasn’t cheap either!!!! Fricken like 200 for the keypad… Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio Pro admittedly was not cheap either but at least….. MOSTLY all in one package…. Except that damn “expensive” pen that doesn’t work.

The magnetic pen and magnetic power supply… well they’re mostly pretty nice (aside from the pen literally not working right now) The magnet is strong and stays in place carrying it outdoors or room to room. – They power supply… err…. not so much? I have tripped over it and unplugged it, moved the computer just a LITTLE too far or too fast, and unplugged it, my cats have zoomed by and barely touched it and unplugged it…. But well…. it has amazing battery life for intensive graphic design and gaming work…. so there’s that…. Honestly 99% I use it unplugged and just charge it overnight. Perfect.

Screen is about probably the same size as my Razer. I will take some side by side pics later. Surface screen might be taller, but thinking the diagonal size is about the same there.

All in all, yes I recommend the Microsoft Surface Studio Laptop Pro – As long as I can fix this issue with my pen I will be keeping it.

Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio Review was originally published on Geeky Sweetie