Microsoft Surface Pro 2 Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 21, 2013 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- Microsoft
- Mobile
- Surface
- Surface Pro 2
Display
Like Surface 2, Surface Pro 2 ships with 150% DPI scaling enabled for classic desktop applications. Unfortunately even under Windows 8.1 there are a lot of issues with DPI scaling in 3rd party applications and touch targets. Chrome for example is mostly unusable as a touch browser in classic mode.
There’s not much difference between the new 1080p panel in Surface 2 and what’s in Surface Pro 2. Both feature a laminated cover glass and the same increase in color gamut. The end result is a big improvement over the previous generation, but not quite up to the level of color accuracy we’ve come to expect from cheaper tablets.
Surface Pro 2's display does get substantially brighter than the panel in my Surface 2 review sample. One thing I don't have a good feel for is just how much variation there is between panel suppliers into the Surface lines.
It really is a very good display, it just could be better.
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Freakie - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
I don't think they're playing it safe, or trying to get larger profit margins for that matter, I think that if they added all the features and specs that most of us would agree should have been in the Pro 2 (better cameras for example) then it would detract from the Surface 2 and Microsoft refuses to give up Windows RT. It's just them try to save an obviously sinking ship. I wish they just let it sink and put the Surface Pro 2 where it should be.But then again, that would probably upset many OEM's who don't make devices as good as the Pro 2 and so they have another incentive there to not do it.
melgross - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
It would also have raised the price, and it's already pretty expensive as it is.I remember that just before the iPad first came out, there were surveys that showed
that only a small percentage of people would buy a tablet if it cost more than $800. That was for any tablet, running any OS. This is well over that, particularly once you add the required keyboard/cover.
And now that the trend is to think that $499 for a full size tablet is on the high side, the price for those is way too high already. I doubt that most people would ever think that a tablet, any tablet, is worth more than a notebook, touchscreen or not.
Nuno Simões - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
This the review for the Surface Pro, wich is an ultrabook, not a tablet.Rezurecta - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
Yes, you can say its driving the ecosystem in the right place. The productive tablet is where we need to be. Too much consumption with traditional tablets.Babar Javied - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
Why use a "productive tablet" when you can get an ultra-book for the same price yet with better specs and more battery life?What is the difference between a productive tablet and an ultra-book anyway??
rituraj - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
The difference is the digitizer. I think if someone is not interested in the pen input, this device is not for them AT ALL. It's too heavy to be used as a consumption device where you can hold it above your head on the bed, at the same time it is uncomfortable for productivity purposes if that means a lot of typing. But, if productivity means using the pen input, then this is a killer device. Just read the review by Gabe as suggested by Anand in the intro page and it is clear that it is almost a blessing for people who ink for a living.here is a thought. Although this device has been presented as a general consumer device, I seriously doubt it. People wanting this much power in a tablet are not a lot in number. They are professional artists & designers like Gabe from Penny Arcade. Engineers, Teachers, Engineering and designing students may also crave for such a device although the price is quite high for students. So if the pen means very little for someone this is just not the thing to get.
backbydemand - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
"What is the difference between a productive tablet and an ultra-book anyway??"Are you brain dead? When was the last time you could take a keyboard off your ultrabook and use it as a tablet?
cknobman - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
If your comparing a Nexus to the Surface Pro you have no clue what your talking about.As an owner of a Surface Pro, Surface RT, and a Google Transformer tablet I can tell you in no way does an Android tablet come close to a Surface Pro much less a Surface RT.
The Surface family are brilliant products that actually do what I want out of a tablet. They offer a great platform for consuming AND creating content.
Only knock I can give either Surface is Microsoft is pricing them a little to high. Android is garbage when it comes to something productive and the marketplace is such a huge sh!tpile that I gave up wasting my time sifting through the apps because every single app (even if it starts out great) turns into a resource hog always running in the background transmitting data even if you tell it not to.
Frenetic Pony - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
The Surface Pro (1) was perfect for me, last year. Had I waited 4 months and known about it I would have gotten one instead of the current ultrabook I'm typing this on. It was priced perfectly competitively, and the only real product in it's category (very high performance tablet thing) that even existed.The 2 is still the only product in it's category, but with a drop in TDP I'm disappointed it's not thinner and lighter. Since I'm planning on replacing my ultrabook in the next two years I do agree that another update such as this one would be a disappointment. Here's to a thinner and lighter Surface Pro next year, preferably with a large improvement in GPU performance considering that's the big Broadwell performance upgrade.
CecileWamsley - Monday, October 28, 2013 - link
My Uncle Riley recently got a great Cadillac CTS-V Wagon just by working online with a macbook... check out the post right here... http://smal.ly/8wUo2