Microsoft Surface - We Go Hands On [UPDATE: Detailed Impressions]
by Vivek Gowri on June 18, 2012 11:32 PM ESTPost-announcement, Microsoft took us to a backroom in Milk Studios to give us hands on experience with the Surface. They weren't lying, even the preproduction units feel awesome in hand. The magnesium panels are finished with partial vapour deposition, a process that deposits a thin-film coating onto the panel using vacuum deposition (molecule-by-molecule deposits at sub-atmospheric pressure.) It gives the unit a distinctly premium feel, and one that's pretty different from most of the other metal-bodied systems out there particularly with the current trends towards anodization and brushed finishes. The body is 9.3mm thick (a tenth of a millimeter thinner than the latest iPad), and total weight comes in at 676g (or about 1.49 lbs), so it's denser feeling than the iPad.. The 31.5Wh battery isn't as large as the iPad's 42.5Wh, but the 1366x768 10.6" LCD definitely draws less power.
The hinges in the kickstand are spring-loaded, giving a very positive mechanical feel and noise. The hinge mechanism is particularly robust, and as mentioned in the keynote, was acoustically tuned to sound high quality. Microsoft seemed particularly OCD about certain design details, this being one of them. It paid off though, with a hinge that looks and feels ready to take a lot of abuse. The stand props the system up at 22 degrees, which is a common theme - the beveled edges are all angled at 22 degrees, and the rear camera is also angled at 22 degrees in the opposite direction. This is a pretty interesting one, since it means you can keep the tablet angled as is usually comfortable, and still shoot video straight ahead. It's a good idea, though probably one that will take a bit of adjustment in real life use.
My personal favourite part of the Surface is the cover. There's two of them - the Touch Cover, and the Type Cover, both with integrated keyboards and touchpads. The Type Cover has a traditional keyboard, albeit one with particularly shallow feel, along with physically clicking mouse buttons. The Touch Cover is very interesting - it has a pressure sensitive membrane keyboard with felt keys and mouse buttons housed in a cover that's totally 3mm thick. (The Type Cover is ~5.5mm thick). I wasn't able to get a feel for how typing actually feels on it, so I can't comment on responsiveness or accuracy, but our friend Ben Reed at Microsoft Hardware swears he can top 50 words per minute on it any given day. I'm inclined to believe him, but I can't comment firsthand until I can actually play with a working unit.
The outside of the covers is covered in a felt material, and when closed, the unit feels like one of the velour or felt-covered journals. It gives a decidedly organic, natural feel to a very inorganic device, something that Microsoft was very pleased to note. It's a pretty awesome idea, actually, taking the best parts of Apple's Smart Cover and ASUS' laptop dock and merging them together into one of the most innovative cases we've seen. I took away three major things from this event, and the only one them that directly related to the device hardware being shown off was that integrating the keyboard into the cover was a stroke of awesome. (I'll go more in depth on the others in a larger post later today.)
For the first time, I can really see a tablet replacing a notebook as my primary computing device. Before today, I couldn't say that with any real conviction - I tried it with the iPad on multiple occasions, and it just didn't work. I'm a writer, tablets aren't ideal for writing. Surface changes that in a big way. And that's really what Microsoft is going for here - a device that fits into your life as a versatile tool to do anything you want it to. Whether they'll succeed in capturing the market is a story that will be told after Surface launches alongside Windows 8 later this year, but for now, this is a very promising start.
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Belard - Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - link
Personally, I'm seeing this as a complete FUBAR situation.MS has had 'tablets" since 2001 with WindowsXP... they never sold well because they were $1500~3000 10" devices... their batteries lasted 2-3 hours and were 3-4lbs.
Until Windows7, power management wasn't stable with a Windows platform.
Apple made it simple, and somewhat cheap... $500 and up. Think about it, in 2 years, Apple has sold more $500 "toys" than the 360 which is 6 years old ($200~500).
- I still don't LIKE 16:9 screen... great for MOVIES. That is IT. I don't even like 24" 16:9 screens, its already a downgrade from my old 24" 16:10 screen. I browse the web, read some books and watch a video every now and then (very rarely)... I even type articles here on my ipad1. I eye the ThinkPad ThinkTab design... but then I'm thinking "Android... ugh... 16:9... ugh". I'll wait for the iPad4... get the retina design but cooler and faster.
- Tablets are not ultrabooks, but I do agree - this kind of config in the same price-range will means that Microsoft could be eating sales from Dell & HP. And since MS is selling them WIN8RT for $85 a pop... there is almost NO profit for anyone, other than MS. If I was Samsung or Acer, why would I bother making an MS tablet? It would cost more than an Android model by $80 and WHO is going to spend an extra $100~500 on a MS-branded tablet? if you want or need the hinge-flexibilty, stick with a notebook.
- MS needs two different flavors... costs reasons. First, the market is already making notebook power tablets. If MS sells a $500 and a $1000 model, they will sell 1000 $500 models to every $1000 model. Also, the Full Win8 intel model means its running off a HD or SSD (more power), less battery life, more heat... slower boot times... my iPad comes on at the touch of a button, it'll be Internet ready in 3 seconds.
A sleeping Win8Full may wake up in 2~5 seconds or spend 10~20 seconds cold booting. Ouch...
- lack of 16GB version may hurt... depending on memory prices. To me, a 16GB device is still enough, and if you are using a cloud... more so. Also storage memory is not the same as OS memory.
I love the metro interface for a phone... many people love the Nokia 800~900. well built, look great... easy to use interface. Yet, MS and Nokia are getting their asses kicked in the phone market after 2 years. I run a WP7 Launcher on my android phone - love it. But for the desktop... no, it blows.
MS is trying to connect the Metro experience to all their products. If you LIKE Windows8, you'll buy a Win8 phone and or tablet. MS is banking on people will love Windows8. But if people HATE windows8... those same people will NOT buy said devices.
I can live with a Windows desktop, an iPad tablet and an Android phone or WP7/8 phone. A Windows8 desktop? LOL!
MS is offering a $15 upgrade to Win8 on new PCs. They should offer people $50 to install it.
Alas, Win8 is soon going to RTM. I've yet to meet a single person in life who actually likes/wants it. The desktop interface in the preview looks quite nice, but its rumored that MS is going to make it bland (It could be a hoax) and ugly to match Metro (which looks fine). I think Win8 is going to backfire big time... worse than Vista.
And if MS refuses to sell Win7 after Win8 hits the streets.... its going to be ugly.
Also... having a launch party that is 4~6months before shipping product... not pretty, but not much that could be done about it.
mcnabney - Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - link
They are trying to upstage Google I/O and the Nexus 7.Belard - Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - link
And Microsoft SHOULD try to upstage Google and Apple, by all means.I was planning on it... I'm sick of Android problems but not really intrested in owning an iPhone (I'm cool with the iPad)... WindowsPhones are 2 years out-dated... so I'm not impressed by anyone.
steven75 - Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - link
Wow you really nailed it. Agree 100%.gostan - Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - link
Vivek, you need to cut your nail!dgingeri - Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - link
"It's a pretty awesome idea, actually, taking the best parts of Apple's Smart Cover and ASUS' laptop dock and merging them together into one of the most innovative cases we've seen."yeah, that's what Microsoft usually does. they take other ideas, refine them, combine them when it makes sense (usually), and make it better.
Let's be honest, that's not innovation. that's evolution. That is the way MS has done business for a long time. These guys work hard. I don't doubt that. They make good stuff, too. I've been please with most MS products. (OK, WinMe and Vista were absolutely horrible, but there are always some stumbling blocks.) However, have we really seen anything actually really new come from MS?
mcnabney - Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - link
This isn't new. The keyboard, stand, and cover are all accessories currently available for iPads.dagamer34 - Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - link
None of them very good. Any keyboard for the iPad needs to be charged separately and doesn't automatically connect to the iPad itself. It's a clunky solution to a problem Apple didn't want to solve and would instead say: "type on glass, it's amazing!"Great for 5 minutes but not anything longer than that.
eddman - Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - link
Show me a cover/stand/keyboard combo for ipad which is as thin and practical as surface's keyboards, can be folded backwards and doesn't need a separate power source.sviola - Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - link
Well, Kinect is an example of innovation that came from them.