Microsoft Surface Pro 2 Review

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• ananduser - Wednesday, October 23, 2013 - link

  Anand usually calibrates for 200nits. But it seems to me that Anand rushed the testing, I mean the Pro is definitely worthy of PC testing. This review only focuses on tablet testing.

• jje - Wednesday, October 23, 2013 - link

  I am writing this on my Galaxy Note II because the S pen stylus is so much easier to use than a tiny onscreen keyboard. l am thinking of getting a bigger tablet, such as the Note 10.1, but l use OneNote a lot and the Android version isn't great and of course there's no integration with Outlook (which doesn't exist on Android). I would love to come out of a meeting, click on a note l've just made with my stylus and drop it onto the tasks list in Outlook to update my to-do list. So the digitizer in the surface is, for me, a really attractive feature. I don't want or need another laptop, I want a bigger version of my phone that runs Office and uses a stylus. The Surface Pro is overkill (too expensive and a bit heavy) but the surface 2 doesn't have a digitizer. So, I am waiting for Dell's Venue Pro 11 and to test drive a Note 10.1. l wish Microsoft and others would think about making a perfect tablet instead of a half-arsed laptop.

• Imaginer - Wednesday, October 23, 2013 - link

  The thing is, if going by sheer physical size, there is no one size fit completely all. It is asking for one shoe size for everyone, big and small.
  
  Microsoft left other sizes for now open to other hardware partners. The Dell Venue Pros go at 8 inches as well as 11 like you mentioned. Sony has an 11 inch offering. Acer offers a 7 inch tablet.
  
  And Wacom themselves offer a 13 inch Companion tablet.

• jje - Wednesday, October 23, 2013 - link

  Sure, but it's not just the screen: the surface Pro is heavy and expensive, arguably because it's overpowered. Microsoft have been in pen computing a very long time and its handwriting recognition is superb: l just wish they would put it in the right hardware.

• Serr - Wednesday, October 23, 2013 - link

  "I did notice an odd display corruption issue on Surface Pro 2 when waking up from sleep (pictured above). Resetting the device or sometimes just doing another sleep/wake cycle was enough to fix it. Microsoft tells me it’s aware of the problem and plans to issue an update shortly to address it."
  
  "I noticed the same trackpad disappearing issues on Surface Pro 2 as I did on Surface 2, Microsoft claims a fix is in the works."
  
  "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."
  
  "While multitasking on Surface 2 can struggle, the same really can’t be said for Surface Pro 2."
  
  "Just like last year, my recommendation comes with a caution – Surface Pro 2 is good, I’m happier using it than I was with last year’s model, but the Broadwell version will be even better."
  
  Looks like a "don't buy" advice for both tablets to me.

• althaz - Thursday, October 24, 2013 - link

  Multitasking may struggle on the Surface 2 (in my experience it depends what you are doing), but you can't do it all on other tablets :).

• althaz - Thursday, October 24, 2013 - link

  Also, the 150% scaling issues do exist, but I can't recall encountering them. This might be because there's not many desktop apps that I use (basically Office, remote desktop, games and Putty).
  
  If you want to use Chrome (I do use Chrome on my desktop, but prefer IE11 on my Surface Pro because it's faster and supports touch) or another 3rd party browser this might be where the issue starts to crop up.
  
  The other things are minor bugs (no different to similar things on every laptop/phone/tablet released) and will be fixed promptly.
  
  Not that I'm saying you nessecarily should buy, but for what it is there is no better device ever made.
  
  What it isn't though is a lightweight tablet or a portable typing machine. As somebody who uses it for portable gaming (emulators, Starcraft and Football Manager mostly), in-transit media and information consumption and a portable desktop PC though, I can say I do not miss my laptop (in fact I am not 100% sure where I even left it).

• Utomo - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link

  Suggestion: 1 Microsoft need to improve the windows 8, so the battery life is much better. including on standby 2 need a thinner body 3 Price is too expensive.

• Devjones2236 - Sunday, October 27, 2013 - link

  First, the stylus is the best in its class. It has very good accuracy and feels like you are writing with a pen not a piece of crap rubberized marker like the ipad. This requires a capacitive screen, which is much more expensive than a non-capacitive screen (ipad or any other apple product, as well as Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro and most other windows machines) it has premium specs with a high def screen. I hate when people compare this to MacBook Air. The air is not touch screen at all and does not have a HD screen. The 128 gb ipad is $800 without a keyboard and it cannot run legacy applications, does not have a capacitive screen allowing for digitized stylus (just the crappy bamboo sticks), does not come with a pen, and does not have the performance the Surface Pro 2 has. iPads are good for what they are but the surface pro 2 deserves a premium price. In addition, it is perfect for taking written notes on in meetings where clicking keyboards are not allowed or in class, it is productive on the go, and at home I hook it up to a 32 inch LED TV which allows me to be very productive. The weight is not that big of an issue unless you want to read a book sitting in a chair. I read PDFs on it all the time. However, if reading is the only reason you want a tablet I would stay with a 7-8inch light tablet

• Proppw - Sunday, October 27, 2013 - link

  "This requires a capacitive screen, which is much more expensive than a non-capacitive screen (ipad or any other apple product,"
  You just made a fool of yourself! Apple uses capacitive screens since iPhone 1 for touch enabled screen products (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch).
  This shows how ignorant MS shills are!