Stop comparing The Surface Pro to the iPad

 

Surface Pro

 

The Surface pro (the new Microsoft Tablet hybrid) will be available for purchase in just a few days and it seems like the internet trolls have already found something else to hate about it.

It is well known that the windows 8 OS takes up quite a bit of space, that information have been available since the Surface RT came out and it wasn’t very well received back then either. That “problem” still present on the Surface Pro and is bigger than ever. But, lets start from the beginning. What is the Microsoft Surface Pro? The pro is, in very simple terms, a extremely portable touch screen laptop shaped like a tablet.

Contrary of its RT counterpart the Surface pro uses a nothing left behind, full version of Windows 8. There is virtually no substantial difference between a retail version of Win8 and the one that will come installed on the device. Sadly, people don’t seem to get it or they choose to ignore that fact and keep comparing the Pro to the Ipad or an similar android tablet.

When the Surface RT was launched the comparisons between the it and iPad were inevitably and to be perfectly honest somewhat appropriate. The RT, which I love, is a tablet, It uses a mobile processor, it has very limited flash support and it is restricted to running Microsoft approved apps from the Microsoft store, just like the iPad and the app store. If you don’t take in consideration some major hardware differences (the hdmi and USB ports, and the memory card slot) the they are very close cousins.

The surface pro however, is more like a ultrabook than a tablet, so it stands to reason that when comparing it to anything it should compared to other ultra portables with at least similar specs, and when you do you will see that this storage loss is not limited to the Surface pro but all win8 devices.

The Surface pro is not for everyone, so before buying (or even comparing it to anything else) ask what you want out of your device, do you need a complex file system and expandable memory? Do you need to run native windows software? Do you want a touch screen and a portable frame? If you answer yes to any of those questions you know that the neither the iPad or the Surface RT would be enough.

The bottom line is that the Surface Pro is much more than a Tablet as we know it, it is a re-imagination of the old tablet PCS and comparing it to the Galaxy tab or the iPad would be like comparing a fishing boat to a jet sky, sure, both go in the water, both are fun and I guess you could  go fishing out of a jet sky, but if you really want to catch a fish you need a fishing boat!

Microsoft Surface Touch cover review.

When the Microsoft surface was finally announced one of its most unique features was the Touch and type covers. The idea of having a keyboard working as a cover is not new, the IPAD has been doing it for quite some time, the unique part of it comes with it’s physical interface. These covers are magnetically connected to the tablet and they don’t use Bluetooth or any type or wireless connection.

The Touch Cover is about 3mm thin, is available in 5 colors and it costs $119. At 3mm the Touch cover wont change the tablets portability in any meaningful way but having a usable keyboard will really make you more productive.

The Touch Cover uses a type of touch sensitivity technology that, to be perfect honest, is kind of amazing. The keys are responsive, soft and not overly sensitive (you can rest of fingers on top of the keys without having to worry about firing it up).  The touch pad on it is a little slow and unresponsive, but taking into consideration how thin, light and portable this thing is that can easily be overlooked. Being that touch cover was designed for the surface and therefore for windows 8, you can find a shortcut for all your charms on the top of it as well as multimedia keys. The touch cover can be bent to almost a 360 degrees, from flat in front of the screen to flat in the back of the tablet, and you don’t have to worry about typing on the keys while holding it up as the keys are automatically disabled when the device is held as a tablet.

The magnetic connection to the Surface is pretty strong, strong enough that you can hold your tablet upside down by the cover and it wont disconnect, not that you should ever do that.

All and all the Touch cover is extremely useful and pretty amazing for what it is, but is not perfect, sometimes the keys don’t register your touch causing some mistyping, and I wish Microsoft would just make them a little cheaper as $119 dollars seems very steep (specially after buying the surface for $499) however it is a far better option than a Bluetooth keyboard.

The touch cover is a usable keyboard, you wont be typing very fast on it but still way faster than using an on-screen one. The $119 price tag is a bit much, being that the surface is being marketed as a productivity device it should have been included with the surface at $499.

Microsoft Surface RT, The Hardware

I pre order my Microsoft surface, when it was first announced in the middle of October. It was my first tablet, but that was mostly because I never saw a point to the whole trend, I had a smartphone and a very good and portable laptop and that seemed
enough.

My first impression of the Tablet were very positive. The packaging was simple, compact, economical and opening the package was easy and straight forward. The Surface is a beautiful piece of Hardware, it looks sexy and professional, almost grownup when compared to other Tablets.

If you are just looking for the hardware specifications here they are.

The casing:

The vaporMgg casing feels amazingly solid, and clean. It feels like this thing can really take atumble and still survive. I, however, did not try that.

The Microsoft surface has a built in kickstand, The kickstand is a excellent addition to the tablet, one I believe is missing on all others, but I think Microsoft didn’t do this just to give us something unique. The Surface feels a bit heavy, may be a little too heavy for constant one hand use, however, I never used any other tablets so I might not be correct about this, and even though it felt the a bit heavy to me it  also felt very well balanced.

Power supply:

The surface uses a proprietary  magnetic charger (think macbooks), it connects to the right side of the tablet. On the connector side the power supply has a small, dim LED that lights up when charging. At first I was a bit disappointed that the Surface couldn’t be charge it thru USB, but when I saw how fast the tablet charges I changed my mind. The power supply is light, compact and can easy fit in a small pocket.

The screen:

The  10.6in Screen is Great, not retina display great as Microsoft is trying to pass it, but I find the display resolution good
enough for a portable device. I personally don’t see need for a higher resolution then 720p, in a tablet or smartphone. The colors are strong, the
blacks are deep and even at 40% brightness the screen is bright enough for
comfortable use.  I don’t do a whole lotof reading on my Surface, I much prefer my Kindle 2 for that, but when I do the
letters look very, very sharp. The screen seems to be somewhat of thumb printresistant, however, I achieved that conclusion by very unscientific methods.(basically I cleaned the screen and then used the device for a few hours..)

The Microsoft Surface also has a built in Micro HDMI output. Microsoft sells a display adaptor for the surface but that is hardly needed, any micro HDMI to HDMI cable will do just fine. You can find some for as little as $10 on amazon.

Storage:

The Microsoftsurface has 32GB of flash storage, however, only 16GB of those are available. There is a lot to be said about that so I will address this another time.

The surface also has
a built in micro SDXC card slot and its storage can be upgraded to up to 64GB. The is located under the kickstand on the right side of the device. Even though the OS identifies the memory card immediately, the system won’t automatically index the files located there, but here is a fix for that. The
surface also has a full size USB port that can be use with external hard drives.

Battery:

Battery wised the Surface stands strong. It has a built in non user removable battery. I was able to get about 10h with it,average use of course, 5 to 7h of movie playback depending on the quality.

Sound:

Volume control is located on the top left side of the device and I found the sound quality good but low, you won’t be rocking any parties with this unless you use external speakers, and those can be powered by the full size USB port located on the right side.

 

The cameras:

The surface has 2 built in cameras (front and rear). They are 720p and slightly angled. The reason Microsoft angled the cameras was to make using the tablet for video conference easier when using the kickstand. I found the camera quality to be subpar, but good enough for video chatting.

The  real innovation the Surface brings to the tablet market comes with the full USB 2.0 port and the keyboard covers, this 2, pair up with the Windows 8 RT and the Microsoft office (included with the tablet) makes the Surface a productivity master. With the full USB port you can
connect almost any printer, camera or USB device to it (there is a video of the surface printing on to a dot matrix printer). With the type cover you have an almost perfect portable keyboard that is only 5.8mm thick, or if you prefer an even thinner option touchcover, only 3mm. (I’ll be reviewing those separately)

Hardware wise I think the surface is nearly perfect, it has a strong and durable frame, a bright and crisp screen  and even though the lack of resolution may be a drawback for some, I think Microsoft made a fine job providing the user with a extremely powerful tablet with an almost infinite amount of compatible peripherals (almost all USB devices compatible with a PC will work on the surface).

The bottom line is that the Microsoft surface is, at least in the hardware front, an amazing tablet. If you are looking for something that look professional, durable, unique and with a good battery life you won’t be disappointed by the Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 RT.

  

The New Windows Experience

Hello  everyone, as must of us know Microsoft have been doing some great work in the software and, believe it or not, the Hardware department. However, there are still plenty of misinformation about the New Windows Experience. Most people don’t know that the new windows phones don’t run windows Mobile or that there is a big difference between the Nokia 900 and 920. Ill be trying to clear the air about some of those issues as well as reviewing apps and hardware.

Thank you for stopping by….