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surfacepro.jpg
Microsoft today announced that its Surface Pro tablet will go on sale on February 9 in the United States and Canada. Originally slated to arrive in January, the Surface Pro tablet is priced at $899 for the 64GB model and $999 for the 128GB model.

The Surface Pro sports an Intel Core i5 processor with Intel HD Graphics 4000, 4GB of RAM, and a more robust battery. Unlike the RT version of the Surface, it is able to run the full version of Windows 8 as well as Windows 7 applications.

Both versions of the Surface Pro ship with a Surface pen, but the Touch or Type Covers, which retail for $100, are not included.

Anandtech took a preliminary look at the tablet, and created a chart comparing the Surface Pro to the Surface RT and Apple's iPad.

surfaceprocomparison.jpg
Beginning on February 9, the Surface Pro will be available for purchase on Microsoft's website, at Microsoft retail outlets, and third party retailers like Staples and Best Buy.

Alongside the Pro, Microsoft is planning to release a 64GB standalone version of the Surface RT for $599, $100 less than the version that ships with the included Touch Cover, and a slew of new Surface accessories.

Article Link: Microsoft Surface Pro to Be Released February 9 with $899 Price Tag
 

duervo

macrumors 68020
Feb 5, 2011
2,465
1,232
With all new gear, especially something like this, I take a rather guarded stance towards it (shields are up!).

Very few tablets have impressed me up to this point, contrary to most of the grandiose claims made by many of them. However, I will say that the ability to run Windows apps on the Surface Pro, and as a result, have full compatibility with MS Office documents (Visio, Project, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint mostly), this one has me intrigued.

It's also cheaper than I was expecting. So, I might end up going to check one of these things out one of these days to see if they live up to the hype.
 

BC2009

macrumors 68020
Jul 1, 2009
2,236
1,371
The more appropriate price comparison here is to the MacBook Air (and Touch Cover or Type Cover keyboard needs to be included in that price comparison). From the early reviews I have read, Surface continues to be a compromised tablet and a compromised "ultrabook".

As a tablet it is heavy and much of the software is not optimized for touch.

As an ultrabook it cannot be comfortably used in your lap and the keyboard and trackpad are not as good as the MacBook Air.

I think the Windows 8 OEM's have better answers for the "convertible tablet/ultrabook" category than Microsoft does.

EDIT: According to Microsoft, the Type Cover is NOT included in the $899 price. They refer to it as optional in a caption for a picture, and when listing what is included, they omit it. So the Surface Pro price (with keyboard) is $1028 versus the MacBook Air at $999. If you are in the market for a convertible Windows 8 machine, I would look to one of the Microsoft OEM's that at least gives you an actual full-blown UltraBook that can be used in your lap, but can also serve as a compromised tablet like the Surface Pro. There is no sense on compromising both the laptop and tablet experience in a convertible laptop.
 
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Renzatic

Suspended
Skip win 8, it's pretty much a usability nightmare.

I'm sure the 5 minutes you spent with Windows 8 was absolute hell for you.

Got to agree, maybe by Windows 9 they will have a more seamless integration between desktop and touch interfaces but at the moment it is a pain to use.

It could use some spit shine and fine tuning, but it's hardly unusable. Once you learn where all the new stuff is, it's not vastly different than what came before.

It all really comes down to how much you like having a fullscreen start menu. That's about the biggest difference between it and 7 if you ask me.
 

MRU

macrumors Penryn
Aug 23, 2005
25,368
8,948
a better place
Anandtech chart is flawed....

Why the comparison with the iPad only ? Surely a fairer comparison would be between the surface pro and the MacBook Air 11" stock.


MBA
11-inch : 64GB
1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor
Turbo Boost up to 2.6GHz
4GB memory
64GB flash storage1
Intel HD Graphics 4000
1376x768 Resolution

$999.00


SurfacePro
10.1"
Dual Core i5 processor
4GB memory
64GB flash storage
Intel HD Graphics 4000
1920x1080

Surface Pen accessories included.

$899

Touch Cover additionally $119

Total cost of Surface pro including Touch Cover = $1018
 
Last edited:
Aug 26, 2008
1,339
1
Skip win 8, it's pretty much a usability nightmare.

Not at all, I use Windows 8 every day, it works great. Not a huge fan of the modern apps right now, but the start screen is actually pretty well done, the built in search on that page is awesome, and you never have to see it if you don't want to.

People who complain about Windows 8 usability have no idea what they are talking about IMO.
 

scrapple

macrumors regular
Sep 23, 2004
191
5
STEAM, DROOL!!!

Just wish it had 8gb of ram... my steam games and my corded 360 joystick would love this on long flights.....

Ill wait for benchmarks...
 

bushido

Suspended
Mar 26, 2008
8,070
2,755
Germany
u may as well just get an ultrabook if u feel like running not optimized full blown apps on it. i just dont get the point ... especially since its coming without the clipon keyboard
 

inkswamp

macrumors 68030
Jan 26, 2003
2,953
1,278
All arguments about the usability of Windows 8 aside, this doesn't look like a bad machine. However, I wonder how much of an uphill battle it's going to be for Microsoft given the damage done by the underwhelming Surface RT. Can't imagine people flocking to this on the first day of availability even if it's the best tablet/mobile device out there.
 

jrlcopy

macrumors 6502a
Jun 20, 2007
546
822
Got to agree, maybe by Windows 9 they will have a more seamless integration between desktop and touch interfaces but at the moment it is a pain to use.

I love it and windows 8. I feel that the chart should be comparing it to a MPA as well though. Since you have full desktop mode and it's basically a laptop.
 

lilo777

macrumors 603
Nov 25, 2009
5,144
0
The more appropriate price comparison here is to the MacBook Air (and Touch Cover or Type Cover keyboard needs to be included in that price comparison). From the early reviews I have read, Surface continues to be a compromised tablet and a compromised "ultrabook".

As a tablet it is heavy and much of the software is not optimized for touch.

As an ultrabook it cannot be comfortably used in your lap and the keyboard and trackpad are not as good as the MacBook Air.

I think the Windows 8 OEM's have better answers for the "convertible tablet/ultrabook" category than Microsoft does.

It's a hybrid device. The fact that it may be compromised as a tablet and as a laptop does not mean that it's not a great device. It's a new device category. In many ways, laptops can be considered as compromised desktops but that does not mean that they are not worthy devices to have.
 

nickftw8686

macrumors regular
Oct 6, 2011
151
8
I literally just took back my Surface RT, first couple of weeks i loved it, then performance issues, multiple freezes, software bugs, wifi signal drops, and very iffy app performance between microsoft and third party apps I had enough. I loved the build quality and the feel so the pro might be the money since it runs full windows 8. Sadly the battery life is going to be a big issue for most people that are looking at tablets and not comparing it to a laptop.
 

numbersyx

macrumors 65816
Sep 29, 2006
1,155
100
Biggest problem for me is the awkward size. Win 8 is not a bad OS at all. Just not Mac....
 

mac jones

macrumors 68040
Apr 6, 2006
3,257
2
I've tried Windows 8. A horrible experience. They actually are trying to drag back that disaster 'Metro'. They are calling it something else now.

WTF is wrong with them? They have this market share but they are lost


l o s t.

But maybe this thing is really cool. Looks cool.
 

notjustjay

macrumors 603
Sep 19, 2003
6,056
167
Canada, eh?
I was recently in a mall (Yorkdale Mall in Toronto) and amused to see the Apple Store and Microsoft Store almost side-by-side. So, I thought, OK, let's go laugh at the Microsoft Store.

I sat down and played with a Windows RT tablet. I probably spent 20 minutes playing with it. And you know what? I was pretty impressed.

There are some quirks, and some usability issues as compared to the iPad (you pretty much need the touch keyboard, Win RT is obviously optimized for NOT using the on-screen keyboard) but as a tablet that could run Office and get work done, this could be a strong contender. I'd wait until the next major OS update, because there are definitely glitches, but the potential is there.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I would choose a Windows 8 tablet over Android.

I really like the idea of a tablet running "full" Windows 8 that I could run my desktop apps with, but like others I am concerned about battery life. Tablets have spoiled me for 8-10+ hour battery life, and the Pro apparently only gets about half that.
 

HiRez

macrumors 603
Jan 6, 2004
6,250
2,576
Western US
I don't get this thing. It looks like they took some good ideas but jumbled them together into something that is somehow less than the sum of its parts. I can't imagine choosing this over either an iPad or a MacBook Air (or even one of the many Wndows clones of it). I'm sure they'll sell a few million of these but MS bet the company on it and I don't see this pulling them out of their slow downward spiral.
 

lilo777

macrumors 603
Nov 25, 2009
5,144
0
I love it and windows 8. I feel that the chart should be comparing it to a MPA as well though. Since you have full desktop mode and it's basically a laptop.

Of course it should. iPad OS is a phone OS. Just look at the Connectivity comparison. While it shows only WiFi for Surface Pro Surface Pro actually has way more connectivity options than iPad because it has USB port which (with a real OS) can be used to connect 3G/LTE dongle and many other devices.
 
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