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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BSMonitor - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
Because most people who are hardware reviewers see red flags only.. $899.. And the rest of the review is based on that..Surface Pro is the MOST productive tablet available. BY FAR. Why? because it's a PC in tablet form.
BSMonitor - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
Has there been any talk/musings about a hybrid APU featuring both an Atom and the traditional Ivy Bridge/Haswell cores on a single die??I believe your last podcast mentioned the Octus or Octal or whatever in the ARM space. Seems like for a powerful, but mobile Surface Pro, this is a no brainer. If I want to switch to battery life mode and get 9-10 hours, Win 8 can be made to only schedule on the Atoms and power gate off Haswell.
Or does Intel really believe they can get Haswell and beyond into the power space of Atom/ARM??
dcianf - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
The review said that in power saver mode it runs at 800MHz. Can you force the low clock rate? If so, how would performance and battery life compare to ARM?Netscorer - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
That's actually a good point. Anand delivered performance charts based on fully powered core i5 and battery results based on clocked chip at 800MHz. Many people don't realize that you don't get both (and review does not help to highlight that difference) - either you are using it in light mode for stated hours or you run some complex program and have to be always connected because CPU would seep power like a thirsty kid on hot afternoon.marco89nish - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
I also want to see how much battery life you can get on power saving mode. Peformance would also be nice, but it's predictable I guess, So, please, battery life on power saving mode. I registered to post this comment.smartypnt4 - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
Anand, are you guys planning on reviewing the ASUS TAICHI21? The base model is $1300, which is only $170 more than the Surface Pro with a Type Cover, and it solves the lap usage problem while maintaining mostly the same battery life. I'll grant that it's a bit heavier, but I've got one and I absolutely love it. Those screens are just stunning.Beenthere - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
That was just another scam by InHell.twotwotwo - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
The Pro seems, in this and other reviews, to always get the unfavorable comparison on each dimension--it's not a thinner, lighter thin-and-light, it's either a heavy, bulky iPad or a bit slow for the most advanced games, depending on context.Microsoft seems to be betting that some folks can live with tradeoffs to get a super portable fully-functional computer. I really hope they're right; I'd like my next computer to be like this, and I'll have more options if this (or something like the Acer W700--I'd happily lose the pen and apparently unreliable covers) does well.
scsi stud - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
Hi Anand,Would yod mind posting up a screenshot of the Surface Pro's desktop in full 1080p resolution? I'm curious to see how an application like Visual Studio 2012 would look like.
My hopes for this device were to be my go-to device for sitting on my couch writing code after I put my kids to sleep...
Thanks in advance.
spencer.p - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
I am curious, Anand, if you can test to see if the Surface Pro works with the widi standard that Intel is pushing out and if it's also possible to get the Surface Pro to a 30" dual-link DVI monitor via one of those mini-displayport to dual-link DVI adapters. I am really curious if the Surface Pro will be able to meet my use case.