Microsoft Surface Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 23, 2012 9:01 PM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- Microsoft
- Mobile
- Surface
- Windows RT
Camera
Surface features two 720p cameras, one on the front and one on the back. Neither camera provides particularly great image quality but they are sufficient for web use.
The camera UI is quick and fairly simple. Tap and hold to lock exposure is supported, and you can tap anywhere on the screen to actually take a photo. Switching between front and rear facing cameras is quick, as is switching between photo and video modes.
The only aspect of Surface’s cameras that takes some getting used to is the 22-degree angled camera assembly on the back. The angled rear facing camera is designed to offset the inline created by the kickstand when deployed, so you can prop Surface up on its kickstand and not have the rear camera pointing at the ground. Unfortunately when handheld it means that you often have to tilt Surface a bit to get the right shot. I guess that’s better than having the rear facing camera pointing at the ground when used the kickstand deployed, but that likely depends on what you’re using Surface’s rear camera for.
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MadMan007 - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
Nice article, but something struck me as odd after getting a bit into it - why do you refer to this device as 'Surface' as if it's a person instead of 'THE Surface' like every other device? Are we going to start seeing reviews saying 'I like Macbook's new screen'?melgross - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
Apple does the same thing with the iPad, simply referring to is as iPad. I don't understand this either, but it's their choice.jjj - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
pushing the positive spin quite a bit on this one.NO ecosystem, buggy software ,can't be used with the keyboard on your lap like the Transformer or any laptop,poor keyboard , high price,the software takes a lot of the advertised storage,access to only one app store and bulky hardware.
guidryp - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
Yeah. I read several other reviews (Verge, Wired, Tech Crunch) and this one seems like a whitewash in comparison.Most point out that there is very little software and most of it is buggy. They also mention how uncomfortable it is to use as a tablet.
Half assed as a tablet.
Half assed as laptop.
Very little software...
Buggy
For MS/Windows fans, at least get yourself an x86 so you can run real Windows software to cover the deficiencies.
doobydoo - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
Did I miss the CPU / GPU benchmarks section, which generally come with every tablet review?tipoo - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
There probably aren't that many that can be run outside of a web browser for it, the app store is pretty sparse right now.michal1980 - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
Anand is showing that he cares far less about MS now then apple.kyuu - Thursday, October 25, 2012 - link
Nope. But there's not much benchmarking software that can be run on WindowsRT, outside of web-based ones. Plus, Tegra 3 is a pretty known quantity at this point.trexpesto - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
one heck of a drop test 30,000 feet!glynor - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
So... I'm seeing mixed information out there. The port looks like a regular micro-HDMI port. But Microsoft seems to call it a proprietary port in their marketing, and they sell the adapter.But PC Mag says they used an off-the-shelf micro-HDMI adapter and it worked.
But then, you got terrible (I'd call it unusable) quality out of their adapter.
What's going on here?