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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Mumrik - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
I'm pretty sure Anandtech's core demographic wants all the details possible.pfroo40 - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
The depth and detail of reviews on Anandtech are precisely why I read them. If I want biased and superficial reviews there are plenty of tech sites I can go to.vision33r - Tuesday, February 5, 2013 - link
In the Post PC Era today, majority of folks don't really need a high spec tablet. Most work is done by an app that's touch friendly and easy to use. Folks are getting by with an ARM based tablet for general web duties.It's tough to price something for this much productivity while most folks don't really need the power.
A $200 used iPad is sufficient for most folks to do light web, Facebook, and email.
Very tough to justify such a device for media consumption.
Fleeb - Tuesday, February 5, 2013 - link
"Apple has remained curiously quiet on this front, but I suspect that too will change in good time."karasaj - Tuesday, February 5, 2013 - link
That has nothing to do with Surface Pro... imo. More really criticism designed at the pricing of Surface RT, or possibly Atom based W8 tablets. Surface Pro is essentially analogous to the MBA.c4v3man - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
An iPad is a joke, especially at $200+ for a used first gen. While it works, so does their Pentium 2 400Mhz pc running windows 98.Anything else in the 200 price range is going to far exceed the real life performance of an iPad. And they'll have a warranty. And a non-replaceable battery that is suffering at this age.
Spunjji - Friday, February 8, 2013 - link
Sadly, because Apple products hold their value well irrespective of actual worth, they hold their value well irrespective of actual worth. See how it works?Arsynic - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
This device isn't aimed at consumers but rather productivity folks. My boss would love one of these. Physicians and nurses would love this.Surface RT (when it has more apps--in time) will suffice for everyone else.
Death666Angel - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
Just a guess, but I'd say that most physicians and nurses would be fine with lighter, non-fan Atom Win8 platforms. I can't imagine their programs needing the horse power of a Core i5. :)cknobman - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
Not really.Atom cpu power is starting to approach the realm of tolerable but Intel still neuters the platform with abysmal graphics.
So no Atom Win8 platforms (centered around a touch driven graphical interface) are not going to cut it.
We attempted to try that at my workplace and the Atom platforms were quickly tossed out in favor of Core platforms.