It means you'd better be ready to live off Wi-Fi. There's no Ethernet jack, and not even a packed-in USB dongle, which might be the most bothersome part of all. I don't think many people will choose a Surface Pro over an iPad, but some people might indeed consider it over an ultrabook or 11-inch Windows 8 ultraportable.
I'm comparing the Surface Pro with an ultraportable PC instead of a tablet, because for its feature set and price, that's what you'll be comparing it with when shopping. Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacksĮthernet (via dongle), 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Microsoft does include BitLocker encryption to more safely protect the data on your solid-state drive (SSD), but that's not a feature we tested. You get a bare-bones set of basic software, and that's it. Microsoft Office does not come preinstalled on the Surface Pro, though it will run the full version of Office as well as any similarly configured Core i5 laptop. That's okay for front-facing Web chat, but for rear camera photos it's a bit of a letdown, even though I can't ever imagine holding a Surface Pro up to take a picture. The Surface Pro has two cameras, front- and rear-facing, and they're both 720p. It's better than you'd expect out of a machine this small, however. You can run legacy Windows applications on the Surface to your heart's content, but those won't be nearly as touch-friendly.Īudio, conveyed through built-in stereo speakers, sounds adequate but not spectacular. The "fun factor" is definitely present in the Surface Pro, but there isn't the incredible level of tablet-friendly app support that iOS and Android enjoy. It took some fiddling to get window sizing just right, but I found that working on my desk with the innocuous Surface on the side of my monitor as a PC-slash-second-screen was a bit of a treat. Working in multimonitor mode operated exactly the same as you'd expect on a Windows PC. A built-in Mini DisplayPort carries audio and video, and with adapters (sold separately) you can switch over to VGA or HDMI if needed.
You can connect the Surface to a larger monitor easily many will. It's not quite as brilliant as the iPad's Retina Display, but it feels like it's getting spiritually close. The Surface Pro, in painting programs and a few other apps I tried, felt comfortable to navigate. That's the magic that made the iPhone and iPad so fun to use. Capacitive multitouch feels buttery-smooth. Even if you didn't use another monitor, the Surface's IPS display is one of the best I've ever seen on a small Windows computer. The good news is that the Surface Pro supports up to 2,560x1,440-pixel resolution on an external display. I found myself able to work on it easily, but I could also see that you'd want to plug in a monitor for all-day use. The 10.6-inch display is small, especially for a full Windows laptop, but it's crisp and bright and has a full 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution.
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