Microsoft Surface Pro 2 Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 21, 2013 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- Microsoft
- Mobile
- Surface
- Surface Pro 2
Display
Like Surface 2, Surface Pro 2 ships with 150% DPI scaling enabled for classic desktop applications. Unfortunately even under Windows 8.1 there are a lot of issues with DPI scaling in 3rd party applications and touch targets. Chrome for example is mostly unusable as a touch browser in classic mode.
There’s not much difference between the new 1080p panel in Surface 2 and what’s in Surface Pro 2. Both feature a laminated cover glass and the same increase in color gamut. The end result is a big improvement over the previous generation, but not quite up to the level of color accuracy we’ve come to expect from cheaper tablets.
Surface Pro 2's display does get substantially brighter than the panel in my Surface 2 review sample. One thing I don't have a good feel for is just how much variation there is between panel suppliers into the Surface lines.
It really is a very good display, it just could be better.
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andrewaggb - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
I'm curious about this as well. The surface pro 2 is tempting. I kinda wish it was a quad core part as I'd like to use it as a desktop replacement, but my current system is a dtr laptop with a first gen i7 620m and from what I can tell this should be slightly slower, but perhaps not enough that I'd notice. I'm not really unhappy with the current cpu performance I'm getting so I might be ok with that. But it would be nice to say it's definitely faster. Do we know which sku's of i5 dell is looking at? Any chance there is an actual quad core part?Also can anybody confirm, with surface pro 2 using displayport, I should be able to chain 2 dell professional monitors together should I not? I have a U2413 with displayport in and out, I'm pretty certain I could run two of them from the single mini displayport on the surface pro2. That would definitely make the surface pro 2 a win over the dell in my books (which I believe uses hdmi)
Shadowmaster625 - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
It has two fans in it and you wonder why the battery life isnt better? hahahahahahjasonelmore - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
They really really really need to at least start putting a 4G HSPA+ Stack in this tablet. 4G LTE would be preferred, but just something that does not require me to carry a dongle or teather to my phone constantly. No doubt next year's version will have broadwell and a new chassis, and it will probably be the one to own, if they can get 4G integrated and connected standby.KAKAKAZAWWW - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
Anand, or anyone else - any chance MSoft will offer a patch in the coming months to improve SP2's battery usage? (that is, assuming it's a software issue)Very puzzling that there's a discrepancy in battery life - I would love to read some more from you about a more dedicated attempt to find out what the issue is.
Klimax - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
What's up with complaint about thickness? Yeah, it won't snap in half in your hand or suffer other kind of damage, but that is plus. Not to mention that thinness will cost you features and battery.KPOM - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
A 2lb device can be cumbersome to hold for an extended period of time. People complained that the 3rd iPad was "heavy." If Microsoft can get the Broadwell Surface Pro down to the size and weight of an iPad they might sell considerably more of them. At 2lbs, it is more like a small ultrabook that you can occasionally use as a tablet, rather than a truly converged device.Klimax - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
Argument was about thinness, not weight. That would count as goalpost moving... (Question however then becomes, do we have affordable materials and light battery tech for this use?)Also wonder how much weight adds display...
gudomlig - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
what is the background u used for the photos? seriously that is more interesting to me than the surface 2 or the surface 2 pro. MS is capable of making good products but their marketing tends to suck, think ZuneHD. At their price point they should absolutely include the keyboard if they want to be competitive IMO. But seriously what's the artwork in the background!YakubuL - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
Hey guys. I'm really interested in purchasing the Surface Pro 2 as my laptop/Desktop/Tablet all-in-one wonder device. Thing is I'm quite worried by this statement "Since there's no connected standby 64-bit version of Windows 8/8.1 yet, Surface Pro 2 ships without the feature."Searching around google for windows connected standby, I came across this white paper from Microsoft http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/ha...
In it Microsoft specifically claims "All client versions of Windows support Connected Standby on capable hardware—both ARM and x86/x64 systems."
In addition the article indicates that a lack of connected standby support would prevent many VOIP/IM services from functioning properly when the device sleeps as connected standby enables device wake-up in response Wake-on-Lan (WoL) Patterns.
The alternative would mean that the surface pro always stays in a full powered state. Interestingly enough, if your comment turns out to true, I wonder what this would mean for the rumored LTE surface pro 2. Mobile data without connected standby wouldn't make much sense .
beggerking@yahoo.com - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
not true. that was a iTurd who commented on that.my Surface Pro still had >60% batteries left after 2 weeks of inactivity. i didn't turn it off but i suppose it was in hibernation because i closed the lid(keyboard).