After our review of the RT Surface Microsoft was clear that he had been some things in the pipeline, including offering the “complete” experience Windows at all levels and refine Surface as a product to reach both the casual user who only want a tablet for mobility for those who want a hybrid with Windows 8.
Before starting with the analysis of background Surface Pro should give an overview of the technical features of the product. Not only because it will further define but why also serve to make us one of what we can ask and what not to Surface as a product.
The dimensions are 275 mm wide by 173 mm high by 13 mm thick. It has a 10.9 inch screen in 16:9 format display technology is LCD with IPS, exponentially important detail because it improves viewing angles and the coating device is Gorilla Glass 2, all with a great resolution of 1920 x 1080 resulting in a density of 208 pixels per inch.
Monta 4 GB of RAM and an Intel Core i5 Ivy Bridge. On the hard drive you have two options either 64 GB (Windows 8 makes 29 GB usable) or 128 GB (89 GB usable); both can auemntarse through microSD card slots. The graphics is integrated Intel HD 4000.
It has one USB 3.0 port, TV output and Bluetooth 4.0. The front camera is 1 Megapixel with 1280×720 resolution and video recording at 720p
To say it is a laptop would be overestimating, but to say that only a tablet is an understatement and in that ambiguous terrain and new at the same time is where it moves Surface Pro and, therefore, all our review.
What the Surface Pro Is, What Is Not and What It Aspires To Be
The problem with a product as new as Surface Pro is the main concern for many, and rightly so, does not know exactly what product category comes. In the case of the Surface RT had a product that was, technically, as a tablet with ARM processor that you could attach a keyboard and where the usability was so far from being the full experience of Windows 8.
But this does not happen in the case of the Surface Pro where we potentially all an ultraportable laptop with all technical facilities necessary to run in it what is provided, from games to office suites.
Should therefore consider what such Surface Pro behaves as a conventional notebook, as a tablet and especially as both it is, at last, after all, what really is.
As Portable
Surface Pro has two types of keyboard: Touch Cover and Type Cover, which can unite to make it a mainstream notebook. In fact, since the thickness is significantly greater than any competitive product, I found myself using it many more times as portable as a tablet to work it. However, the main drama of Surface happens precisely because it loses the keyboard is never in a fixed position unless it is resting on a surface. It’s nothing new, is the behavior of portable keyboards for two decades.
This makes for example are used while lying in bed virtually impossible and in any situation that requires a minimum of mobility. There’s not always the option to remove the keyboard and use the touch screen that comes in productivity but neither it nor is the ideal choice if you have a team behind with this much power.
That said, when the Surface rests peacefully on a table, is the best Windows 8 I’ve ever tasted. And as much it’s fast, stable, works very smooth and screen, as discussed later, adds more integers to the user experience. In subsequent paragraphs also talked battery thoroughly but we must anticipate that Pro Surface been disappointed so far in this direction as well as the absence of more than one USB port, making it difficult in some sense peripheral connections (Bluetooth separately) .
In the section on usability performance and discuss other aspects that greatly benefit the ultimate experience as the SSD, RAM and Medium / Heavy Duty in general with regard to the product.
As Tablet
Forget though that without keyboard tablet Surface Pro is a head to toe and all accompanying Windows 8 approach in this regard is to ignore the other major part of the meaning of a product. The main drawbacks passing by weight, which is significantly higher than Surface RT (and in general any other tablet on the market) and basically forced to hold at all times with both hands.
The device is accompanied by a stylus which is not included in Surface RT. This stylus, especially considering that having Windows 8 can run any application you desire design and drawing itself an advantage over any other (RT included). It works especially well and differs from the competition in Android that also has good stylus but not accompanied by software that can squeeze the most, especially in professional field.
As Both
It is however in the combo between that dimension and portable tablet where things start to get particularly interesting. Surface Pro is not anywhere near the first hybrid with Windows 8 we have seen and almost all major manufacturers already have similar solutions, but in this case, probably because Microsoft has been responsible for both the hardware section of the union software resulting is almost perfect.
Put another way, if you’re looking for is a hybrid with Windows 8 there right now in the market a solution that works better and more reliably than Surface Pro has details annoying as the fact that using the keyboard in another rather than a desktop is a headache, the tilt of the screen is in my opinion the best and cover type is the only option worth as a keyboard but generally rounded product value is very high.
Design, Weight and Quality of Materials
Best of RT Surface design that is unlike anything I’ve basically done Microsoft before. In fact, not even a product like Microsoft could have done. But the fact is that between casual and professional aesthetic benefit you greatly. Surface Pro resting on a desk is a product that cries out to be used, what an aura surrounds sexy I do not know really know where it comes from but it works divinely design level.
The finishes are very good, the screen, the edges of the device, the back cover that folds to support, the ports, the headphone jack and volume controls are all well designed and never get the feeling of being flimsy or cheap. Mind you, much as Microsoft insists on the magnesium alloy used to make the Pro Surface finish is not too different from what we could get with plastic, a good one, perhaps, but the plastic after all.
Weight is as mentioned at the beginning of 900 grams, nearly a kilo in weight and 227 more than the RT version. It is not at all uncomfortable to transport from one place to another but when we want to use a regular tablet. Most of the times we will need to hold it with both hands. Take it in a backpack or transport you anywhere are not uncomfortable and in that sense meets like any other average market ultrabook.
There are some design issues again especially when we detachable keyboards involved. For example, if we use it as a tablet without removing it we have to turn it over and place it on the back. This will make the hold with both hands involuntarily tighten our keys a design flaw to circumvent it too obvious and too annoying especially on a day to day.
Performance, Honoring the Name
Microsoft did not decide to put “Pro” after Surface randomly and we must recognize that within the product specifications excels. In other words, it falls short for professional applications like Photoshop, Chrome with multiple tabs open (up to 25 in my tests) and core i5 4GB of RAM go far.
In fact and unless what we need is a PC with lots of power professional Surface Pro goes for the 90% of things. Some details we have already mentioned as the stylus or the Type Cover makes this aspect is accentuated.
In general and specific, performance falls short of any laptop or midrange ultrabook that may be in the market right now.
An interesting issue is games. Obviously with integrated graphics Intel HD 4000 is not going to be able to enjoy all the benefits of a graphics level gaming PC or a dedicated laptop but for most situations amply meets. Guild Wars 2, Bioshock Infinite and Borderlands 2 are some of the titles we’ve tested and work without any problem, may not with all graphic options to stop but helped by one of the best aspects of Surface Pro: its screen, which pass comment.
Screen
With a density of 208 pixels per inch, Surface Pro has one of the best screens we can find a h
ybrid with Windows 8.
It also helps that panel LCD with IPS technology and therefore overall system interface and especially games and movies look infarction.
As is clear tablet cannot compete against the screen of some competing products like the iPad with Retina display or Nexus 10, but the overall result and the balance of it makes the experience and usability climb up several points. One of the best aspects, in general all Surface Pro.
Battery
But if the screen has gotten nothing but praise with touches battery pull rod, measuring and hitting. For if we have been talking and praising all the benefits of Surface Pro as focused on mobility device this will crash when you consider the battery life.
With average use, it is around 4 hours in our tests, a little over 2-intensive and arriving at 6 hours only with the tablet at rest as a second monitor and some other occasional use.
Keep in mind that the problem is mitigated if we consider that as mentioned Surface Pro tablet is more portable and is best used in a relatively static on the go so I’ve found using it connected to the most current times.
It can be said that this limitation is one that defines the duality laptop / tablet and the balance leans more towards the side of the first, but worth it as tablet Surface both RT and the rest of tablets with ARM processor market find best options.
Windows 8
Even with that screen, hardware performance and all the details that we’ve seen so far the truth and the truth is that under that entire layer which is running is Windows 8. Surface Pro reaches Spain in a time when we ironically know the functions that will bring Windows 8.1, of which most will come to marvel at the device and solve many of the problems we have been experiencing in the tests with the device.
If Windows 8 is a worthwhile system is the subject of another post and another debate but several months after the release (in October 2012) one is left with the impression that the system has not matured as expected. The division between the Modern UI interfaces is too diffuse, especially when we use it as a tablet. The app store has been improving; it is undeniable, for all this time but it still feels very loose compared to what you expect. Most software I needed for work or leisure with Surface Pro has emerged from more traditional method of downloading and using browser in desktop mode, not through the Windows 8 Store.
The boot is very rapid (seconds) and also fluency but with Surface RT I spent most of the time using and testing the Modern UI applications (I had no other) with the Pro version of reality is that 80% percent time is spent on the desk ignoring the other dimension. Email Clients, SkyDrive, or Ever note maps still seem much (but a lot) more usable desktop with Modern UI. And that’s a problem.
Nor just be entirely comfortable with the interface and with the solutions to system design level. Both parties, Modern and desks, are too separate, too disconnected from each other so that the workflow is evenly distributed among them, which in my opinion should be the ideal situation and get. Many of these problems shall be solved, apparently, and as I said, with Windows 8.1 but meanwhile is what we have.
This does not mean, clarification needed, Windows 8 me look bad or a bad product, quite the opposite. The general feeling of “hasty” and in a sense of “misunderstood”, 7 months ahead of the launch I expect a madrasa in the system that is, by far, far from being achieved.
Surface Pro vs. Surface RT
With Pro Microsoft Surface finishes closing the ecosystem, has a solution for tablets with Surface RT and ARM processor and has a solution “complete” with Surface Pro sacrificing nothing Windows experience and has all the details that we have seen up now.
The differentiation, clear and concise RT vs. Windows 8 Windows 8 Pro is one of the worst things that the company knew solve for the launch and one of the most confusion has arisen so far. It is therefore interesting to what extent we should, if we are thinking of buying a Surface, stay with the RT version or go for the Pro version
Surface RT:
Win a lot more mobility, is lighter, more flexible in some situations and is focused almost entirely to the Modern UI
experience. Besides, includes Office 2013. As against, we cannot run desktop applications and software installation is reduced to the App Store Windows 8, which is not as complete as we would like.
Surface Pro:
We won on issues such as performance, we can use the traditional Windows desktop life (and therefore the software we used to use) apart from some interesting additions like the stylus. His main points against undergo weight, we want to use the keyboard when on the move and that many parts of Windows 8 are best handled by lifting your finger and touching the screen using the mouse, which can end up getting tired.
Touch Cover and Cover Type
They have not changed much in this regard my impressions from the review of Surface RT so far. I’ve tried, I forced myself, I tried to understand and see the light behind Touch Cover but I cannot. It remains the same shit that I disliked unusable until end in RT and repeated impressions on this occasion.
Keyboard is a cheap, poorly constructed, little ergonomic, which loads the joints loose and of course a purchase strongly discouraged. Conversely Type Cover is more like a traditional keyboard is comfortable, the quality is high and productivity levels (to which all should aspire keyboard) fall short of what is required.
Apart is, of course, the possibility of using a Bluetooth keyboard as wedge range of Microsoft or otherwise, if it is aimed to be used with tablets better. Mice and peripherals also fall into this category. With a single USB port the ability to have all the time connecting a USB dongle, like the one used by most Logitech mice, for example, do not just be a good idea.
Surface Pro in Mobility
Finally finish the review should evaluate the benefits overall Surface Pro offered as focused on mobility device.
We have said that the combination can be obtained using the keyboard is not ideal in part because it allows to use ego lying on a bed and partly because the turn around to use as a tablet Surface Pro involuntarily makes you press the keys.
But on the other hand we have a product that does not reach the pound, which has a stunning display, an ergonomic keyboard and reliable details aside, an operating system like Windows 8, TV output, 128 GB capacity, SSD, 4GB RAM and above all performance that until recently was limited to laptops.
The balance sheet, although far from perfect, is that Surface Pro may be the choice for many who are looking for a hybrid that allows them to use Windows 8 while traveling or while on the move. The limitations are many, especially the battery, but in general is seen as a product suitable for those who are looking for just that kind of functionality.
Conclusion
Surface Pro is a product that Microsoft should have released much earlier. Not only because it serves as a focal point for the other manufacturers, but by bringing together, in one place all the intentions that the company has for the future of the system and for the company. It is also the best product I have in years, and one of the nicest. Many people who are thinking of renovating your laptop or switch to Windows 8 Surface Pro should consider as one of the top choices, if not the first.
The main drawbacks through the system of removable keyboards, mediocre battery, by the maturity of the application store for Windows 8 and the tilt angle of the screen, which should have been lower in my opinion. Its main advantages go through all the processing power, the amazing quality of the screen, which provides mobility and offering solutions for people who enjoy Windows while always moving.
That said, I feel that Surface is the beginning, something like a test or a beta, Microsoft and hardware maker. There are many details and many brushstrokes that can still be taken for the Surface and independently of everything else, much room for improvement. Surface Pro, especially when compared with RT Surface, is the best example.
Choosing between RT version and the Pro version has already been sufficiently explained above but should be reduced to a question of whether we need mandatory applications desktop use or not (and it is not a question which, obvious as it may seem, should be taken lightly).
It costs € 879 for the 64GB version and € 979 for the 128GB version. Now available in Spain (in Mexico and Latin America soon) and can be purchased at any supermarket.
