A heavy boy
It is 680g, to the iPad 3’s 650g. While
that seems a minimal difference, as mentioned earlier the weight distribution
is decentralized due to the device’s shape. When holding it in portrait, your
arms will tire quickly.
Fortunate then that it comes with a
kickstand, which means it can be used on a desk in landscape mode - similar to
any laptop. The kickstand is useless on the couch or in bed, but is a welcome
addition for getting work done. Again, Microsoft wants you to know that this is
a ‘proper’ computer, not a tablet.
Again,
Microsoft wants you to know that this is a ‘proper’ computer, not a tablet.
As such it has included a selection of
keyboard covers (see Keyboard Case Confusion). As mentioned, the touch covers
should be avoided, while the type cover is brilliant for typing, if overpriced.
The keyboard integration was also a bit buggy, there were several situations
(especially when waking the device) when the onscreen keyboard would stay live
blocking use of the attached keyboard. The only solution was to detach and
reattach the keyboard very annoying. This seemed to happen mostly to the type
keyboard, but was regular enough to be bothersome.
As a plus, the Surface does have a USB
slot, a small addition that will please most, and a MicroSD slot, which expands
your storage options up to 64GB, this should be standard on every tablet -
Apple take note.
Stuck in landscape mode
Games such as Cut the Rope (a portrait mode
game on every other smartphone and tablet) here only runs in landscape with a
wastage of around a third to a half of the screen real estate (see screenshot
above). This is not modifiable.
As
a plus, the Surface does have a USB slot, a small addition that will please
most, and a MicroSD slot, which expands your storage options up to 64GB
The screen itself is something of a
disappointment, for the same price as an iPad you are getting a screen with
half the resolution, just 1368x768 a very poor 148 pixels per inch (PPI).
That’s less than most modem smartphones. Most of the tablet competition has
moved on to Retina-esque resolutions of 2048x1536, which makes photo viewing
and especially the reading of text far, far easier. You can quite easily see
the Pixelation on the Surface. This is very apparent when playing games with
Polygons, it is extremely blocky and looks like a last gen device.
An average at best screen
Compare this device side by side with the
iPad 3 and the Google Nexus 10 and there really is no competition. Websites,
email and PDFs look far superior on rival devices. Microsoft doesn’t have much
of a magazine/book store set up yet, but even comparing Kindle books across
devices, the Surface doesn’t hold up very well.
Color reproduction is also somewhat dull.
While the main metro screen looks good, colors are bland on photos and in
games, the mesh of the low resolution screen quite visible. It definitely
doesn’t have the beautiful ‘pop’ of the Nokia Lumia 920 running Windows Phone
8.
Compare
this device side by side with the iPad 3 and the Google Nexus 10 and there
really is no competition.
Another limitation of this low 720P screen
resolution is that the Surface can’t watch 108 OP full HD movies, surprising
for a supposed premium device.
Powerhouse under the hood
Where the surface does shine is in its processing
guts. Its 1.3GHz quad core Nvidia Tegra T30 is, on paper, much more powerful
than its iPad rivals. When running the Metro interface, opening apps, sending
emails and typing it performed flawlessly. The 2GB of RAM included no doubt
helps. I don’t think I ever saw any lag or shuddering of the interface, even
with several apps running simultaneously. How much of that raw CPU power is
being used up running Windows RT is unknown, but the front end experience is
excellent. There aren’t enough high-end games to push the device yet, so it’s
hard to know where it stands running games such as Infinity Blade 2 or Sky
Gamblers.
When
running the Metro interface, opening apps, sending emails and typing it
performed flawlessly.
Some serious cost cutting
The main camera on the Surface is very
poor, only 1.2MP. Personally, I don’t find this much of a problem, as these
cameras are superfluous on tablets. The front facing camera is also 1.2MP,
which is fine for Skype. Colors are muddy, the images are very grainy and
noisy. It is unusable for photographic purposes.
Microsoft has also made the Surface Wi-Fi
only, so no 3G or 4G. This is a disappointment, given the poor quality of Wi-Fi
access in the UK. This limits the device’s usability outside of coffee shops,
the office and the home.
Like most of its rivals, it includes a TV
out, which means users can run an HDMI cable straight into their TVs. Once
Smart glass launches properly (which wireless synchs movies across Windows
Phone, Windows 8 and Xbox devices), this feature will be made redundant.
Battery life is also around average,
running at around 8 hours for high usage - using email, surfing the net,
skyping and playing games.
Microsoft
has also made the Surface Wi-Fi only, so no 3G or 4G.
A shoddy showcase
As many users know, the Surface has been
designed as the showcase for the Windows 8 platform. A proof of concept if you
will. This is where it becomes a frustrating endeavor.
The front end Metro interface is damn good (modeled
on the excellent Windows Phone 7/8 model); it just feels so natural and
brilliant on this device. The live tiles and the left to right reading! sliding
structure of the interface is a wonderful change from Apple’s stilted icon
heavy UI with endless sunscreens.
I suspect many of Microsoft’s great ideas
will be ripped off soon enough.
It is then infuriating that the company
hasn’t had the guts to make it the entire operating system. It has opted to
fall back on the ugly, mouse and keyboard focused Windows 7/8 desktop. It seems
that when Microsoft couldn’t figure out how to ‘Metro’ something, they simply
dumped the old Windows on us.
It
is then infuriating that the company hasn’t had the guts to make it the entire
operating system.
While that UI works fine on a desktop, it
has no place on any tablet, and is a shocking failure by the company.
Cutting/pasting, trying to click on tiny folders or closing windows with the
(tiny) red X button is an exercise in frustration with chubby fingers on a
touch screen.
This is especially so for casual users,
many of whom bought a tablet specifically to get away from this kind of
computing experience.
Apps remain a problem
The main problem with this generation of
Microsoft products is the same with all new entrants in the mobile sphere — the
app store is limited. Like Windows Phone 8, it will take a while for app
developers to jump on board. Microsoft has a few basics in there, Skype is to
be integrated into the operating system (eventually), and Microsoft Office is
there for free, but otherwise there are very limited options, especially for
gamers.
Like
Windows Phone 8, it will take a while for app developers to jump on board.
Microsoft has a few basics in there
A laptop or a tablet?
Tablets, in their current incarnation, are
devices of simplicity. They are designed to do the simplest parts of computing,
quickly, efficiently and simply. They are toys, web browsers, e-readers and
creative tools rolled into one. Whether consumers are going to be happy being
charged $598.5 for a pretty case and good system specs (despite a poor screen),
a new interface, and an empty app store is up for debate.
Tablets,
in their current incarnation, are devices of simplicity.
The Surface seems more to be an attempt by
Microsoft to ‘correct’ users’ behavior; that is, force them to use a tablet in
a way that suits Microsoft’s existing business models namely as a laptop. The
sad thing is, Metro UI is that modern solution screaming to get out. We have
seen how brilliant Metro is on Windows Phone 8 devices. Why not do that here
too?
