And the verdict is ...
So the Surface Pro is certainly good enough to act as a system that can be plugged into a home or office setup and used as a primary computer. But is it a fully functioning laptop? Well, sort of.
As has been mentioned, you'll need a keyboard to use the Surface Pro to use it as a laptop, and the keyboard's magnetic mounting and flexible hinge is designed to keep the unit very light indeed. But that comes as at a serious design cost for the truly mobile worker.
Usable, but only just
As a journalist I do a lot of writing on the move, usually by having a laptop on my knees in press conference chairs or on the train to and from meetings. While you can use the Surface in this way with the kickstand keeping the screen upright and the keyboard maintaining balance, it's an unwieldy solution, particularly if you're swiping across the screen a lot. So consider how the Surface design fits in with your working style.
While we're on the topic of design, Microsoft has made some very odd choices in port layout for the Surface Pro. The stylus, for example, clicks into the same magnetic lock as the power cord, meaning you can't have the pen mounted and keep the Surface powering up. That's not a major issue if you're sipping power as needed, but with the pen clipped in place you can't use the DisplayPort socket either.
Remember where you left this (click to enlarge)
Simply shifting the power port, and thus the stylus, a centimeter higher on the side would have eliminated this issue, but – presumably for internal space reasons – this wasn't done. In day-to-day use we found it was easier to remove the pen completely and stick it in a pocket, or just lob it onto the hinge of the machine. Getting a new one will cost you $29.99, and we expect Surface Pro owners will have to buy a fair few.
That magnetic mounting for the stylus is also not suitable for carrying the tablet around in a bag. The stylus invariably fell off when we put the unit into a rucksack, and the keyboard covers also became detached if the unit was thrust into a bag – although keeping it in a laptop pouch solved that problem.
The future of the Surface Pro
We've been having a lot of discussions with sources at Microsoft about the future of the Surface. Is the hardware just Microsoft trying to seed a market with Windows 8 machines, or is Microsoft making a serious play as a hardware vendor?
On the face of it, the Surface Pro has limited prospects. Despite ploughing billions into the Xbox and selling some very nice peripherals, Microsoft is still, in its heart, a software company. It probably always will be – some firms are just wired that way. But nevertheless, one gets the impression that Microsoft really is serious in making the Surface the go-to brand for Windows 8.
Redmond folks tell us that the company is gearing up for a whole new generation of Surface Pro devices, and Microsoft's move to buy into Dell could prove very handy if it's as serious about the Pro as it seems. That said, the Surface Pro isn't intended to become the number one Ultrabook and sell by the multi-millions – at least from what we can make out – but instead to be a showcase and a premium system that gets people used to paying more for premium PCs.
Soon the Surface might carry a Dell logo (click to enlarge)
Given the price point and specifications, Microsoft has a toughish sell. Not including a keyboard in the Surface Pro bundle feels cheap and ensures that almost everyone who buys a unit will spend at least $1,000 on a functioning mobile system.
For that kind of money we're not going to see too many field engineers using them – not with with IT budgets beng as tight as they are. The Surface Pro looks more like an executive system based on the current price points and use cases. Even then, the small screen size is a concern – the Surface really needs an external display.
A reviewer has to ask themself, "Would I buy this if it were my money?" For the Surface Pro the answer is, for this hack, a firm "No." The tablet is lovely, a beautifully engineered bit of kit with an excellent touchscreen, but it's not stable enough for safe knee-top use with the kickstand. That said, if I were working in a Windows office and just wanted something I could occasionally use in transit, I'd be tempted.
While Intel can sound off about how Ultrabooks should be priced at around $699, the fact remains that they are not. To get a touchscreen model with a decent amount of power under the hood, you're going to pay around the same price as the Surface's base-unit prices without the accessories, but you'll get a bigger display.
Apple fans will tell you that the 128GB iPad is only $799, and thus gives better value for money, but that's not comparing like with like, and even comparisons with the MacBook Air are not totally fair. The Surface Pro is a fully functional PC that you can load up with whatever software or operating system you like, and you can dual-boot Linux on there as well, once you've disabled Secure Boot. Try that with an iPad and see how far you get.
But if you're stacking the Surface Pro up against other Ultrabooks, then the system's cost is within the bounds of sanity. If Windows is your thing and you're not often working on the go, it's worth taking a look at the Surface Pro. ®
All non-cat photography by Rik Myslewski
Review: Living with Microsoft's new Surface Pro
COMMENTS
Poor cognitive skills..
"Not bad at translating scrawl, but failed on the last word."
Perhaps it doesn't have hardwitny in its dictionary
But if you're stacking the Surface Pro up against other Ultrabooks, then the system's cost is within the bounds of sanity.
You're using the absurd cost of Ultrabooks compared to other laptop/tablet solutions as a yardstick of spending >$1000 being sane?
How about "The cost of the Surface Pro is just as insane as that of any other Ultrabook around" as a better tranlation? Nice kit, but at that price it's executive toy territory, or those with more cash than sense.
Comparisons with the iPad are wholly fair even if not an Apples for Apples comparison, because this device is at the very root of it's conception a response to the iPad. To avoid making the comparison is to let Microsoft off the hook and avoid the most obvious measure of success, will this device show the way to reverse the trend in fortune of the Windows PC platform.
The answer is a rapidly emerging and increasingly resolute "no." Not because it isn't an interesting device or well made. Not because it doesn't have strong points. It just isn't a thoroughbred addressing a clear market / use case. IT history is littered with quality devices that, if quality were the only measure, deserved better. The batton of "more than worthy also ran" has passed the hands of Archmedies, Psion series 3 and Revo, Palm and now to Microsoft Surface.
It's worth for a moment considering the circumstances of the genesis of the two devices: iPad and Surface. The iPad emerged after much experimentation and under no real market pressure to release. It was the product of a process if trying and rejecting many different approaches and choosing the one that felt right. For those that know their IT history, though the iPhone came out first, the project it came out from was actually the iPad project with the iPad held back until large touchscreen display prices made it feasible.
The Surface on the other hand, though also built with a laudable degree if commitment to quality and engineering design, is the product, if not in actuality, in spirit, of a bullet point list from a presentation titled something along the lines of "how we respond to the tablet threat." In other words the parameters for it's design for both time to market and political reasons, were cast in stone, long before the many claimed prototypes were produced. This notional presentation would have had to be one that could obtain Steve Ballmer's approval. 'Nuff said.
MS kills netbook market
Then wants to charge you four times the price for something that does exactly the same job and that has a worse keyboard. It's just too expensive.
Blah blah full blown office, god I'm sick of that argument from MS apologists. Only a masochist would torture themselves using Office on a 9.2 inch screen.
Why on earth did MS just not scale up WP8 to a tablet ?
Camera
...not sure about the cat picture on page 1...either the camera is crap in low light, or that cat is wearing the latest in stealth ninja fur technology. It just looks like a blob of fur.
