Microsoft Surface Pro Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on February 5, 2013 9:00 PM ESTSurface Pro as a Windows 8 Notebook
If you can deal with tradeoff of having a not-totally-rigid display/keyboard hinge, Surface Pro does approximate a notebook fairly well. The trackpads integrated into the covers don’t do a good job, but getting used to the touchscreen for most mousing duties isn’t a problem at all. The biggest issue with using Surface Pro as a notebook replacement is that you just can’t use it in as many sitting configurations as you’d be able to with a traditional notebook. If you can deal with that however, it’s a pretty awesome device.
When it comes to performance and response time, Surface Pro behaves just like an Ultrabook. In our performance tests it ended up a bit behind Acer’s 13-inch S7, but I’m guessing that has more to do with Microsoft having a slightly more conservative thermal profile than the larger notebook. You'll notice that in most of these tests, Surface Pro is within striking distance of Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air running Windows.
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Scootir - Saturday, February 9, 2013 - link
As someone who administers these types of devices for major hospital organizations I can guarantee that docs and nurses (and the administrator's who select what they get to use) would hate this device. it's poor battery life alone makes it a complete failure in this space, not to mention it's price. A clinical shift is 8 to 12 hours, not 3.something. We don't need much at all in terms of processing power - hospital electronic medical records run on Citrix farms and the Citrix receiver runs acceptably on the cheapest smartphone anyone can buy. I'm sorry, but from a healthcare perspective, iOS and Android devices make the Surface Pro look like a joke.jamawass - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
Are you mentioning productivity, then using facebook and light web as examples?Anand clearly stated in the article that the Surface pro isn't for that market but can be used as a laptop replacement so one can use real Adobe products not the kids' version on an ipad for example.
JimTC - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
For consumption I'll stick with my iphone5 - i certainly am not interested in carrying around a bigger version of it.I'm looking for tools I can use. This one seems to be it (or at least getting there).
DogmaHunter - Thursday, February 7, 2013 - link
The "post-pc era" is marketing talk. It doesn't actually exist.Here's why: not a single person who has a smartphone or tablet threw out his laptop or desktop or is planning to do so.
Tablets and smartphones do NOT replace pc's. At the very least, we are in the "pc plus era". And even that is stretching it imo.
And tough to justify that price for media consumption?
Here's the thing... Surface Pro is not a media consumption device. It can consume media, but so can my 4000$ desktop. Surface Pro is just a pc like any other.
If people can justify the price they pay for a desktop, laptop or ultrabook... I see no reason they couldn't justify the price for Surface Pro.
GotThumbs - Thursday, February 7, 2013 - link
Based on your stated needs, it wouldn't make sense to purchase the Surface Pro unless you had money to burn or knew your future needs will need the power/flexibility of full program installs over Apps.But you could still save money and avoid Apple's Walled Garden by purchasing an Android powered tablet.
Your choice at the end of the day,
Best Wishes on your selection,
Daeros - Tuesday, February 5, 2013 - link
Seems a little steep for what you get... I think the Yoga 13 or MBA does better for the same amount of money, and several ultrabooks are a bit less if you don't need the "tablet" experience.DogmaHunter - Thursday, February 7, 2013 - link
I bet you can't find me a single device with the same or comparable specs for much cheaper.Alucard291 - Tuesday, February 19, 2013 - link
Which just means that all typical devices in this spec range cost roughly the same. So you start picking from other things, like battery life (which this piece of trash has none of) and screen quality (welp not this trash again too bad) and so on :)yesno - Tuesday, February 5, 2013 - link
I appreciate the focus on performance, but what about the size, aspect ratio, and weight? The smaller size of the iPad mini, and the ability to read off it one-handed, makes it a better tablet than the iPad 4 in my usage. But it is creamed in every benchmark you could imagine.Whatever its performance, the Surface won't make a good tablet if its not comfortable to use as a tablet--even though this is much more subjective.
LetsGo - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
Agreed, I'd love a true 8Inch portable Windows Pro machine.It should be under 700g if 10inch or greater this is no good.