Microsoft Surface Pro review
The best Windows 8 tablet, but battery life isn't great and you have to factor in the cost of a keyboard
Specifications
10.6 in 1,920×1,080 display, 916g, 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U, 4.00GB RAM, 128GB disk, Windows 8 Pro
There’s no bundled physical keyboard, so the official Surface keyboard cover is another potential expense. The Surface Pro uses the same covers as the Surface RT, with a choice of the touch (£100) and type (£110) covers. The type cover is a proper keyboard that clips magnetically to the underside of the tablet, while the touch cover simply has lightly embossed touch-sensitive pads on a soft textured base.
The Type cover is our preference, but the Touch cover’s good and a little bit thinner
We definitely preferred using the type cover, particularly if we had to work on long documents, but the touch cover was surprisingly responsive and easy to use. Admittedly, it does feels like you’re typing on cardboard, but once we’d got used to it we were able to type at full speed within a matter of minutes. It’s much better than trying to use the onscreen keyboard, but we’d recommend spending the extra £10 on the type cover if you’re planning on using it the Surface Pro for a lot of word processing.
With a choice of keyboard, touchscreen and Pen, there are plenty of ways of controlling the Surface Pro
The Microsoft Surface Pro is the best Windows 8 tablet, but its battery life is slightly disappointing and it’s annoying that there’s no cover included for this price, which will set you back at least another £100. If you want the convenience of a tablet and the power of Windows, this is the model for you, but a fully-fledged Ultrabook is likely to be a better bet for most people.
Basic Specifications | |
---|---|
Rating | **** |
Processor | Intel Core i5-3317U |
Processor clock speed | 1.7GHz |
Memory | 4.00GB |
Memory slots | 1 |
Memory slots free | 0 |
Maximum memory | 4GB |
Size | 13x274x173mm |
Weight | 916g |
Sound | Realtek HD Audio |
Pointing device | touchscreen |
Display | |
Viewable size | 10.6 in |
Native resolution | 1,920×1,080 |
Graphics Processor | Intel HD Graphics 4000 |
Graphics/video ports | HDMI via adaptor, mini-DisplayPort |
Graphics Memory | 128MB |
Storage | |
Total storage capacity | 128GB |
Optical drive type | none |
Ports and Expansion | |
USB ports | 1 |
Bluetooth | yes |
Wired network ports | none |
Wireless networking support | 802.11n (dual-band) |
PC Card slots | N/A |
Supported memory cards | micro SDXC |
Other ports | headphone out |
Miscellaneous | |
Carrying case | No |
Operating system | Windows 8 Pro |
Operating system restore option | restore partition |
Software included | N/A |
Optional extras | £80) |
Buying Information | |
Warranty | one year RTB |
Price | £799 |
Details | www.microsoftstore.com |
Supplier | http://www.microsoftstore.com |