Microsoft Surface Pro Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on February 5, 2013 9:00 PM ESTFinal Words
Surface Pro is about as well executed as Microsoft could have made it given the currently available hardware. Its performance is outstanding for a tablet - it’s truly in a class of its own. If I sit down and use Surface Pro as I would an iPad or Android tablet, it delivers an appreciably quicker user experience. Apple does get fairly close in some cases on far slower hardware, which should concern Microsoft quite a bit should Apple ever choose to go ahead and build a tablet/notebook convergence device of its own. But overall, there’s just not a faster tablet on the market. It’s really the combination of a very fast CPU and very fast storage that enable such great performance out of Surface Pro.
The beauty of Surface was in its flexibility. The ability to quickly switch between tablet and notebook usage modes, between content consumption and production. Surface Pro really takes that to the next level. It can quickly switch between operating modes just like its predecessor, but it can also double as a full blown notebook or desktop PC. There’s tremendous potential in what Microsoft is trying to do here with Surface Pro.
The inclusion of a Wacom powered digital pen is interesting for the creative professionals out there. My only complaint there is the lack of mouse tracking for the pen, it can only be used in pen mode, but if that’s something you’re ok with then I can see the pen being a good solution to consolidating tablet, notebook and Wacom tablet into a single device for use on the road.
The downsides are obvious. Compared to an iPad or Nexus 10, Surface Pro’s battery life is abysmal. Compared to other Ultrabooks it’s not too bad, but for Surface to succeed it really needs to do well in both spaces. Haswell is part of the solution to this problem, but we’re still talking about waiting until the end of the year before Microsoft can realistically integrate that.
Surface Pro is also considerably thicker and heavier than any popular ARM tablet on the market. Even Surface RT feels like a pleasure to hold after working with Surface Pro for a while. If you’re coming from an ARM based tablet, you’re not going to be happy with Surface Pro’s weight. If however you’re coming from the perspective of a notebook user, it’s not bad at all. Once again, with lower power hardware I see Microsoft being able to minimize this - but that’s a topic for Surface 2 Pro.
My only complaint on the pricing front has to do with the fact that Microsoft won’t throw in one of its keyboard covers with the $899/$999 MSRP. I feel strongly that the Type Cover should be bundled with Surface Pro, or perhaps at least offered at a considerable discount.
At the end of the day I found it difficult to recommend Surface RT because I knew faster hardware was less than a year away. Surface Pro is an easier recommendation simply because you don’t have to wait for the Windows ecosystem to mature, you can already run all of your existing PC apps on the platform and it’s competitive with other Ultrabooks in terms of performance. If you’re shopping for an Ultrabook today and want that tablet experience as well, Surface Pro really is the best and only choice on the market. If however you do a lot of typing in your lap and in weird positions, a conventional notebook is better suited for you. The same goes for if you’re considering a tablet for reasons like all-day battery life or having something that’s super thin and light. Surface Pro is probably the best foot forward towards converging those two usage models, but it’s not perfect for everyone yet.
I still believe Microsoft has the right idea here. It just needs some more iterations.
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Imaginer - Saturday, March 30, 2013 - link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvR_3OTxs8A# at 3 minutes in.That is the reason I detest bricks that have the prongs in them versus a cord.
rwei - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
One item that I think would be helpful in the Win8 convertible reviews is an overview of what is out there and what is coming - and your views on them.Particularly with all the different solutions being implemented to "how do I make a convertible tablet/laptop?", it would be useful to let users know what their options are and will be.
For example, I saw a picture of the Thinkpad Helix a few days ago and was overcome with happiness since that speaks to my particular use cases. Off the top of my head I can also think of:
- XPS 2 (rotating screen)
- Thinkpad Yoga (360 degree keyboard)
- Vaio 12 (slider)
- Aspire S7 (180 degree keyboard)
- Another one (Fujitsu?) that was just really confusing...
But then I read a disturbingly large amount of tech news. I'm pretty sure many others would find an overview like this interesting.
Tams80 - Friday, February 8, 2013 - link
There are three Fujitsu types:Slate: Q572
Dock: Q702
Convertible (swivel): T902, T732
Montevale - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
So how about the PEN???
How about letting us know if the pen is accurate?
Is it as responsive on the edges of the screen as it is in the middle of the screen?
What if the screen is rotated?
What if it is used by a leftie?
Does the cursor shift if the pen is tilted?
Does calibration of the pen make any difference?
Pen support is natively built into the OS in Windows and unlike the S-Pen on the android there is no need for the special app support.
Handwritten notes in MS OneNote are actually searchable by default.
You can annotate Word and Excel native files add drawings in Outlook to the typed emails as your own annotations and mix text and drawings together.
For the first time a windows device is truly portable with a Pen!!!
JimTC - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
Ditto! Those are the issues that are the tipping point for me.JimTC - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
I've been waiting with baited breath for what feels like ages for something like this - thank you, well done!Now - I only wish I could find as comprehensive a review on how this handles One Note so that I can really know if I can finally go truly paperless (including design notes, diagrams, calc's, meeting minutes, etc, etc.). If this machine (and software) can do it, I'll be one very happy camper!
Thanks again! - fresh air!
darwinosx - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
I disagree with Anand which is rare. I think this device is a very poor tablet and laptop and will not sell.althaz - Thursday, February 7, 2013 - link
It's not a good laptop (it's better than a laptop for what I want though), but it's a brilliant portable computer and a very fast, very nice to use tablet (wouldn't say it's a good tablet for most folks, as the battery life is poor and the weight will be an issue for most).For me it's the best device on the market. It's a portable desktop, it's a drawing tablet, it's a powerful tablet and it's going to be fantastic for playing football manager on the train.
I for SURE would prefer a version with half the weight, double the battery life and triple the graphics performance for under $500, but seeing as there's nothing on the market that can match the Surface Pro at anything like the same price point, I'm getting one. The closest I've tried is Samsung's Ativ, which is $300 more and has no support for a pen as well as not being as high quality.
When this becomes literally the perfect device (at version 3 or 4 most likely), then I'll upgrade and give this bad-boy away. But until then, this is the best there is for those that DON'T WANT A LAPTOP. I've got a laptop. It's useless to me. It's too bulky to use comfortably on the train or couch and the attached keyboard is annoying when I'm using it as a moveable desktop.
Lonyo - Thursday, February 7, 2013 - link
The Samsung Ativ Pro has pen support. It comes with one which docks to the body. Which is pressure sensitive (not sure how many levels).ananduser - Thursday, February 7, 2013 - link
Can I ask you an honest question ? Would you have ever been interested in the Surface otherwise(for instance with better battery life) ?I'm asking since I've read AppleInsider and read your posts there(and melgross'). Would you have purchased anything else other than Apple hardware and abandoned OSX ?