What to do with Surface Pro?

Microsoft still oriented on his first attempt as a tablet maker to the supposed wishes of the private users of iPad and Co., is the surface per the business clientele in the foreground.

After hiding behind the cloak of the small 10-inch tablet a real PC with x86 processor and full-fledged Windows operating system, which can be integrated into the company’s infrastructure, allowing advanced data protection features and in addition apps with touch controls, special desktop applications that run on Windows 7 support.

Moreover, as Microsoft indicates as a decision aid on its website, the focus of the Surface Pro is also on processing speed and compatibility. For this one must trade off some weight, thickness and battery life into account, the mention of the software giant gone astray.

What the user gets involved, is already evident in a direct comparison with the Surface RT: Viewed from the front to see the two variants with the edgy but well-made housing made of magnesium alloy and the elongated 10.6-inch display in 16: 9 format almost the same.

Only if you look closely you can see that the surface of the screen is noticeably sharper Pro – the resolution was against the first Microsoft Tablet of 1,366 x 768 pixels Full HD increased (1,920 x 1,080 pixels).

On the back, there is also the metal stand that transforms the surface in combination with the extended keyboard in a kind of notebook or netbook. Unfortunately, it is the tendency of the kickstand but not change, but the user may have to adjust his posture to avoid reflections in the display and view the unit ideal and can use.

Not enough: In this position, clearly shows that the Surface Pro with 13 mm thickness substantially chubby precipitates as the Surface RT (9 mm) and pretty much all tablets available on the market. With a weight of 910 grams, per unit is also almost a third heavier than the first Microsoft tablet is expected to be added the almost mandatory to use the keyboard, you come to a Kilogram – the Surface Pro that moves almost in Ultrabook spheres.

Surface Pro – More Ultrabook as a Tablet

Even otherwise the Surface Pro is closely related to the ultra slim notebook genus, which are the similarities to the RT rather superficial nature. Thus, a 1.7-GHz dual-core CPU from Intel (Core i5-3317U) is installed inside the device instead of the low-power ARM processor, which is supported by four GB of RAM.

This combination brings a decent computing power, to use traditional Windows applications without delays and stuttering, only for graphics-intensive games should the integrated HD 4000 graphics engine reach its limits.

At the same time, the notebook processor needs but also additional (low) and ventilation slots and generally more space than the ARM CPU. Not surprisingly, the power consumption is much higher, despite the 35 enlarged to 42 watt-hour battery life the Surface Pro in the test made after a good four hours of runtime limp – when we took the end of 2012, the Surface RT under the microscope, we made at least a brief working.

Unfortunately, a simple change of the battery pack, which ensures the mobility is significantly limited. Not surprisingly, the Surface Pro also no always-on device – the power button at the top is pressed, but the tablet wakes up just seconds from standby mode.

Surface Pro – Space is Scarce

Limitations also exist in space: When Surface Pro SSDs are 64 GB and 128 to choose from, to a model with 32 GB as the Microsoft Surface RT has aptly waived. This happened without a reason, because even in the 128-GB version for testing provided is only 88 GB for free use ready, the rest is occupied by the Windows operating system and the recovery file – this at least 8 GB you can but at need to outsource a USB stick to free up memory.

More up to 64 GB of storage is obtained by the use of hard to find, as inconspicuous MicroSDXC slots on the right side (NTFS formatted).

In the remaining hardware is largely based on the Microsoft Surface RT: Per tablet has an ambient light sensor, an accelerometer, a gyroscope and a compass and supports WiFi a / b / g / n and Bluetooth 4.0. On the front and back of a camera with 0.9 megapixel (720p) resolution is respectively attached. In addition, the thick flask has a full USB 3.0 port and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

While Microsoft for connecting external monitors sat on miniHDMI the surface RT, the Pro version got a mini display port – a good choice, because it is rather the requirements to the business requirements, in addition, Microsoft offers another adapter for HD AV and VGA to the proud price of $40 extra as to – the accessory is available in other stores but cheaper. What is more than the additional equipment to be attached via Bluetooth Wedge Touch Mouse for $69.

Festival included and Surface Pro is only a digitizer pen that can be used precisely and 8 and go (eg handwriting recognition) does a good job, especially when working within the desktop area of ​​Windows.

What to do with the Pen?

Unfortunately, there is no special pen for the surface duct for the transport, but it shares with the proprietary charging plug the magnetic connector on the side of more or less stable attachment. Too bad that Microsoft’s engineers not thinking here of all places, while on the other hand, the power supply furnished them with an extra USB port for charging an additional smartphones. Who does not want to lose the pen again, so you should look for transport to another place of accommodation.

As already found in the Surface RT dockable also in the Surface Pro version with a magnetic clip and available in several colors Keyboard Extensions Touch and Type Cover covers application. They are not included, but must be purchased separately – at a price of about $130.

Here, the type cover is far superior with its mechanical keys the touch cover in terms of usability. According to reports, but also the users of Surface Touch Cover can be used for something good acclimatization.

 

With Windows 8 Pro But without Office Suite

While the Surface RT – as the name suggests – the scaled and adapted for ARM processors, Windows RT is used Windows Pro 8 in the 64-bit version is installed on the Surface Pro. Windows 8 has already written a lot, either you love the tile surface, or you hate them. Also on the editorial board of a colleague’s suggestion was briefly considered to disarm the loaner provided by Microsoft on Windows 7, because of the prohibition to make changes to the configuration in the test, but the idea was dropped again.

Basically, you have to note the touch side of Windows 8, that the learning curve is very steep for novices partly because the gestures used are not necessarily intuitive. The reasons why some applications for the touch controls were adapted, and others do not, are not always clear.

The benefits of a full-fledged Window 8 versions on the Surface Pro, especially in the enterprise environment, but need not be explained long: On the device can thus be adjacent to the existing pool of Windows 8 apps also make use of existing desktop applications. In addition, the device because it is in the broadest sense is a Windows PC, and can be easily integrated without additional effort into the IT infrastructure of the company – Tagged Active Directory connection.

Surface Pro- Conclusion

Even after prolonged observation, it is difficult to find the right niche for the Surface Pro: For the pure tablet usage, the device is too heavy, has too low a battery life and is too expensive – for half the price you get already a high flask with Android, iOS or Windows RT, which is also still significantly lighter and longer-term offers.

It seeks to support specifically for a mobile device that can be like a PC Manage and PC applications, it is again better off with an Ultrabook – for a small fee, this class of a device a larger display, a solid keyboard and more memory, and thus enables a better work.

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