Surface Pro - Review
I am writing a review on the new Microsoft Surface Pro – 128GB that I picked up from reservation on launch day. Before I start I want to tell you all a little bit about myself. I graduated college with a BS in Computer Science. I went to graduate school in a vastly different field, and have been working in that field since 2006. I currently use a windows desktop, windows laptop, macbook, and an iPhone. I have owned several now retired Android devices.
The MS Surface is designed as a reference design for Windows 8 hybrid / tablets. In that regard it succeeds, with a few caveats. I will spare you information on the dimensions, storage capacity, connectivity etc. This review will simply focus on my personal experiences with this device over the first week. Including benchmarks, on the new 3DMark (2013). I will start with the negatives, and there are only a few. Firstly, its not exactly a light Tablet. It does have a bit of weight, and is somewhat awkward to hold, however I am fairly strong, and have big hands so this does not bother me one bit. The more that I use it, the more I get used to it. I could imagine it being an issue for someone with a smaller build. Many people have complained about using the device on your lap, I find this to be very easy to do, and do not understand the complaints. Is it as easy as a full clamshell laptop, no but it is certainly not “difficult.”
The screen resolution as reported on nearly every tech site is 1920 x 1080. This is perfectly suited for watching movies as well as general productivity applications. I actually enjoying reading work PDF’s and books on this display. Despite what some review sites have stated about portrait mode, I find this to be quite functional in that orientation. We played the same scene from the same movie side by side with the iPad 3 and the displays were very similar. The iPad may have been “slightly” better but this was so subjective that none of us could really define a clear winner. More of an “I think, that one may be better…” With that said, the video was occupying more visual space on the Surface display because of the native 1080 resolution. This size difference could easily account for that minor perception.
I have not installed any modern video games on the device, but I did run a few tests with some older software. I was able to get above 60fps in the CS Source video frame rate test. And the 3DMark 11 scores were as follows. I included various other PC benchmarks as reference points. However, these really are comparing apples and oranges.
Surface Pro: i5-3317u w. Intel 4000
Ice Storm : 28527
Cloud Gate: 3342
Fire Strike: 459
My old Laptop: HP HDX-16T
Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 @ 2.53 w. NVIDIA 9600M GT 4gb RAM
Ice Storm: 23079
Cloud Gate: 1862
Fire Strike: Not supported.
Desktop i5-3570k w. Intel 4000 16GB 1866:
Ice Storm : 52208
Cloud Gate: 5460
Fire Strike: 651
Desktop AMD FX-6100 w. HD 6570 4GB?
Ice Storm : 51597
Cloud Gate: 5423
Fire Strike: 864
Gaming Desktop i5-3570k w. AMD 7950 16GB 1866
Ice Storm: 161199
Cloud Gate: 17070
Fire Strike: 5762
Windows Experience Index Scores
Processor: 6.9
Memory (RAM): 5.9
Graphics: 5.6
Gaming graphics: 6.4
Primary Hard Disk: 8.1
As you can see this is not an enthusiast grade pc but it is not designed to be. It is however plenty powerful for light gaming, particularly if you have some older gaming software, the source engine comes to mind here.
It is also a very capable touch gaming device. In fact, I would argue the most capable touch gaming device on the market to date. Launch times on all of the windows 8 store items are incredibly fast. The games run smoothly, and well, which should be the case with a tablet benchmark of 28500. Once other tablet ice storm scores are available we will be able to tell just how much faster this tablet is. It will be sizable.
One of the features that I really appreciate, that I honestly thought that I would not, is the pen functionality. I would almost argue that this is the greatest feature of this tablet, and nearly required if you intend to not use the keyboard attachment while using legacy windows apps. It makes browsing the internet, working in excel, word, etc, simple and precise. Precision has always been a problem with capacitive touch devices. They work well enough, but the tech is far to limited for most applications. I have limited experience with Wacom tablets, so I will not compare this to a dedicated Wacom, but what I can say is that it is precise enough to draw with, as well as use it to select individual cells on a tiny spreadsheet. I would LOVE to play drawsomething with this. Perhaps one day that app will be released.
I purchased one with a Type Cover, however I also had a Touch cover briefly on my Surface RT, which I returned (The device was faulty.) With that said, I can review both keyboards.
Type - If you intend to do any actually legitimate work this keyboard is a requirement. You can type very quickly, easily, and honestly, just as fast as a full desktop keyboard. It only took a few minutes to adapt to using this keyboard. It is a mechanical keyboard that gives a short, yet affirming click when pressed. There are only 2 downside, first the mouse portion of it is somewhat, touchy. It is by no means bad, but it is not as precise as some of the touchpads that I have used in the past. Secondly, it makes me nervous having the keyboard rest against the glass. This may just be paranoia, but I am concerned that over time it will scratch the screen. Fortunately, MS has screen protectors available that are fantastic. I hate them in general, but this one applied easily, and looks very sturdy. You can not even tell it is there. One of my friends was on my tablet and did not even realize it was present. When this keyboard is folded fully behind the tablet the keys are uncomfortable on your hands. I do not like holding the tablet like this. However, if you disconnect the keyboard and reinstall it backwards, it has a nice soft felt side that will rest against your hand. This is the best way to use the type keyboard if you intend to just use the device as a tablet.
Touch – This cover is a rather remarkable piece of technology. I really liked it as a tablet cover, but it was just inadequate for serious use as a laptop replacement device keyboard. Will I eventually get one for use on the pro, yes absolutely. But not just yet. This keyboard is a perfect screen cover, and is very usable as a keyboard. You will have more frequent missed keys, and slightly slower response than with a traditional keyboard though. I imagine that with continued use it will become easier. I am a big fan of holding the tablet with this particular keyboard folded directly behind the tablet. It grants a nice smooth surface to hold onto.
You can connect this tablet to an external monitor if you wanted to. As well as a Bluetooth mouse / keyboard. This would allow you to easily use it as a PC workstation. However, I would much rather have a standard desktop.
The battery life is not NEARLY as abysmal as reported by the Tech sites. I like a dimmer display anyways so I lowered the brightness to a quarter. Windows was estimating around 7 hours with casual web browsing while using flash on my company website. I disabled Bluetooth, but that was the only optimization that I did. There is plenty battery for me to only have to charge this device once a day.
Conclusion,
Traveling as often as I do, this device is a technological godsend for me. It is compact, the power brick is reasonably small with a usb charging port integrated for your other devices, it will travel exceedingly well. It grants us with plenty of processing capabilities, and all of the functionality of a traditional ultrabook in a tiny form factor. Plus, you don’t have to carry a tablet. If you want to read an Ebook, or watch a movie, it handles those tasks fantastically. I highly recommend this tablet to anyone that is interested in a fast, ultra-portable laptop / tablet replacement device.
Pros: Very small, Functional, Super Portable.
Cons: Pen doesn’t store inside of the device. Somewhat heavy to hold in one hand for a long period of time.
I am writing a review on the new Microsoft Surface Pro – 128GB that I picked up from reservation on launch day. Before I start I want to tell you all a little bit about myself. I graduated college with a BS in Computer Science. I went to graduate school in a vastly different field, and have been working in that field since 2006. I currently use a windows desktop, windows laptop, macbook, and an iPhone. I have owned several now retired Android devices.
The MS Surface is designed as a reference design for Windows 8 hybrid / tablets. In that regard it succeeds, with a few caveats. I will spare you information on the dimensions, storage capacity, connectivity etc. This review will simply focus on my personal experiences with this device over the first week. Including benchmarks, on the new 3DMark (2013). I will start with the negatives, and there are only a few. Firstly, its not exactly a light Tablet. It does have a bit of weight, and is somewhat awkward to hold, however I am fairly strong, and have big hands so this does not bother me one bit. The more that I use it, the more I get used to it. I could imagine it being an issue for someone with a smaller build. Many people have complained about using the device on your lap, I find this to be very easy to do, and do not understand the complaints. Is it as easy as a full clamshell laptop, no but it is certainly not “difficult.”
The screen resolution as reported on nearly every tech site is 1920 x 1080. This is perfectly suited for watching movies as well as general productivity applications. I actually enjoying reading work PDF’s and books on this display. Despite what some review sites have stated about portrait mode, I find this to be quite functional in that orientation. We played the same scene from the same movie side by side with the iPad 3 and the displays were very similar. The iPad may have been “slightly” better but this was so subjective that none of us could really define a clear winner. More of an “I think, that one may be better…” With that said, the video was occupying more visual space on the Surface display because of the native 1080 resolution. This size difference could easily account for that minor perception.
I have not installed any modern video games on the device, but I did run a few tests with some older software. I was able to get above 60fps in the CS Source video frame rate test. And the 3DMark 11 scores were as follows. I included various other PC benchmarks as reference points. However, these really are comparing apples and oranges.
Surface Pro: i5-3317u w. Intel 4000
Ice Storm : 28527
Cloud Gate: 3342
Fire Strike: 459
My old Laptop: HP HDX-16T
Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 @ 2.53 w. NVIDIA 9600M GT 4gb RAM
Ice Storm: 23079
Cloud Gate: 1862
Fire Strike: Not supported.
Desktop i5-3570k w. Intel 4000 16GB 1866:
Ice Storm : 52208
Cloud Gate: 5460
Fire Strike: 651
Desktop AMD FX-6100 w. HD 6570 4GB?
Ice Storm : 51597
Cloud Gate: 5423
Fire Strike: 864
Gaming Desktop i5-3570k w. AMD 7950 16GB 1866
Ice Storm: 161199
Cloud Gate: 17070
Fire Strike: 5762
Windows Experience Index Scores
Processor: 6.9
Memory (RAM): 5.9
Graphics: 5.6
Gaming graphics: 6.4
Primary Hard Disk: 8.1
As you can see this is not an enthusiast grade pc but it is not designed to be. It is however plenty powerful for light gaming, particularly if you have some older gaming software, the source engine comes to mind here.
It is also a very capable touch gaming device. In fact, I would argue the most capable touch gaming device on the market to date. Launch times on all of the windows 8 store items are incredibly fast. The games run smoothly, and well, which should be the case with a tablet benchmark of 28500. Once other tablet ice storm scores are available we will be able to tell just how much faster this tablet is. It will be sizable.
One of the features that I really appreciate, that I honestly thought that I would not, is the pen functionality. I would almost argue that this is the greatest feature of this tablet, and nearly required if you intend to not use the keyboard attachment while using legacy windows apps. It makes browsing the internet, working in excel, word, etc, simple and precise. Precision has always been a problem with capacitive touch devices. They work well enough, but the tech is far to limited for most applications. I have limited experience with Wacom tablets, so I will not compare this to a dedicated Wacom, but what I can say is that it is precise enough to draw with, as well as use it to select individual cells on a tiny spreadsheet. I would LOVE to play drawsomething with this. Perhaps one day that app will be released.
I purchased one with a Type Cover, however I also had a Touch cover briefly on my Surface RT, which I returned (The device was faulty.) With that said, I can review both keyboards.
Type - If you intend to do any actually legitimate work this keyboard is a requirement. You can type very quickly, easily, and honestly, just as fast as a full desktop keyboard. It only took a few minutes to adapt to using this keyboard. It is a mechanical keyboard that gives a short, yet affirming click when pressed. There are only 2 downside, first the mouse portion of it is somewhat, touchy. It is by no means bad, but it is not as precise as some of the touchpads that I have used in the past. Secondly, it makes me nervous having the keyboard rest against the glass. This may just be paranoia, but I am concerned that over time it will scratch the screen. Fortunately, MS has screen protectors available that are fantastic. I hate them in general, but this one applied easily, and looks very sturdy. You can not even tell it is there. One of my friends was on my tablet and did not even realize it was present. When this keyboard is folded fully behind the tablet the keys are uncomfortable on your hands. I do not like holding the tablet like this. However, if you disconnect the keyboard and reinstall it backwards, it has a nice soft felt side that will rest against your hand. This is the best way to use the type keyboard if you intend to just use the device as a tablet.
Touch – This cover is a rather remarkable piece of technology. I really liked it as a tablet cover, but it was just inadequate for serious use as a laptop replacement device keyboard. Will I eventually get one for use on the pro, yes absolutely. But not just yet. This keyboard is a perfect screen cover, and is very usable as a keyboard. You will have more frequent missed keys, and slightly slower response than with a traditional keyboard though. I imagine that with continued use it will become easier. I am a big fan of holding the tablet with this particular keyboard folded directly behind the tablet. It grants a nice smooth surface to hold onto.
You can connect this tablet to an external monitor if you wanted to. As well as a Bluetooth mouse / keyboard. This would allow you to easily use it as a PC workstation. However, I would much rather have a standard desktop.
The battery life is not NEARLY as abysmal as reported by the Tech sites. I like a dimmer display anyways so I lowered the brightness to a quarter. Windows was estimating around 7 hours with casual web browsing while using flash on my company website. I disabled Bluetooth, but that was the only optimization that I did. There is plenty battery for me to only have to charge this device once a day.
Conclusion,
Traveling as often as I do, this device is a technological godsend for me. It is compact, the power brick is reasonably small with a usb charging port integrated for your other devices, it will travel exceedingly well. It grants us with plenty of processing capabilities, and all of the functionality of a traditional ultrabook in a tiny form factor. Plus, you don’t have to carry a tablet. If you want to read an Ebook, or watch a movie, it handles those tasks fantastically. I highly recommend this tablet to anyone that is interested in a fast, ultra-portable laptop / tablet replacement device.
Pros: Very small, Functional, Super Portable.
Cons: Pen doesn’t store inside of the device. Somewhat heavy to hold in one hand for a long period of time.
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