I had a chance to do some research and play around with a Microsoft Surface tablet. The Surface tablet is the newest tablet from Microsoft. It is a little bit bigger than an iPad, uses the Windows RT OS, and offers a snap on keyboard.
Surface Specs
As I noted above, the surface is about the same size as an iPad. It is 10.81 x 6.77 x 0.37in and weighs in at 1.5 pounds. The screen itself is 10.6″ and the resolution goes up to 1366x768px. It employs a quad-core NVIDIA CPU and comes with 2GB of Ram. When it comes to storage, there are 2 options: 32GB and 64GB. It has 2 cameras, one on the front and one on the back. It also has a number of input ports. It has a Full-size USB 2.0, microSDXC card slot, a Headset jack, a HD video out port, and a Cover port.
Now, let’s talk about what these specs mean. During my trial of the Surface, I noticed that the Windows OS was zippy and easy to use. The CPU and RAM were more than capable of handling all I threw at it when testing it out. I also found the image on the screen to be quite good for a tablet. I tried out a video and the video quality was pretty solid. I don’t think there is much to say about the storage space. The 32GB and 64GB options are pretty standard for tablets right now. One thing I really liked about this tablet was the ports. I like that you can add a microSDXC card to add storage. I also really liked the full-size USB port as well. I thought that these ports really add to the functionality of this tablet.
The Snap On Keyboard
The snap on keyboard is really what sets this tablet apart from the competition. This keyboard acts as a cover when you are not using the tablet. You can also remove this cover when you just need to use the touchscreen. However, you can snap this keyboard onto the tablet if you need to do more typing.
I have a lot of trouble typing up long emails or documents using a touch keyboard. In my opinion, this snap-on keyboard really makes the Surface more versatile. I could see some people ditching their laptops for a Surface due to this versatility. I found the Surface quite capable as a tablet, but I also found that it could keep up pretty well with tougher tasks like typing long emails, composing an article, creating a Powerpoint presentation, or working in excel.
Windows RT
The Surface tablet comes with the Windows RT OS. The Surface also comes with Word, Excel, and Powerpoint built in. Windows RT looks and acts quite a bit like Windows 8. In my opinion, Windows RT was easy to use and was pretty quick to respond to my actions.
One downside of Windows RT is that it has trouble with 3rd party applications. I didn’t try this personally, but I have seen that the tablet had trouble installing a program like Firefox. Talking to someone from Microsoft, this is something they would like to change in the future, but this is not something that works right now.
Surface Apps
One thing that is still an issue with the Surface is the apps. Right now, the iPad and Android app stores are way ahead of what Microsoft has. This could change in a hurry. A representative from Microsoft says that the Surface will have 100,000 apps ready by January. However, this compares to the current 250,000+ apps in iTunes.
Final Impression
Overall, if I was considering a tablet, I would really think about the Surface. With Windows RT, a snap-on keyboard, and pretty solid specs, this tablet can compete with the best of them. It is currently priced at $499 for the 32GB and $599 for the 64GB. I would have to consider whether or not this price was worth it or not. Also, with some of the rumored improvements, it might be worth waiting for the next Generation of the Surface as well.