Microsoft Surface Pro Windows 8 Pro 128 Gb

FEATURES

Supports the full Office experience : Run Outlook, Word, SharePoint Designer, PowerPoint and more. (Office applications sold separately.)

10.6" ClearType HD touch-screen display : 1920 x 1080 resolution, 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio

VaporMg casing : Precision crafted to be tough yet elegant, without excessive bulk. With a watchlike finish that's incredibly smooth and durable, Surface is a delight to hold and touch.

Integrated Kickstand : Provides uncompromised support and flexibility. Flip out the Kickstand for hands-free entertainment. Whether you're watching a movie, or shooting video, Surface stands on its own.

Pen input : Included stylus pen lets you jot down ideas anytime, anywhere. Crafted to work with Surface, it's a stylish way to edit, collaborate and do your signature work.

Ports and connectivity : Add extra storage using the microSD card slot. Watch movies, show photos, or present your work on the big screen through the video out port. Has full-size USB port for data transfers.

Built-in Wi-Fi capability : 802.11b/g/n wireless LAN and dual 2x2 MIMO antennas provide reliable Internet connectivity.

Front- and rear-facing 720p HD video cameras : Rear camera is angled to shoot straight ahead when the Kickstand is flipped out. The Kickstand also enables hands-free Skype video chat or recording.

128GB on-board memory : microSDXC card slot available.

Bluetooth 4.0 compatible : Easily link with other Bluetooth-enabled devices, such as a wireless keyboard, mouse and other accessories.

Weighs 2 lbs. and measures just 0.5" thin : For lightweight portability.

DEEPER REVIEW

BODY : The Surface looks great. It is definitely a well-made device, and you can tell a lot of thought went into every detail. It may be heavy compared to a Kindle, but to me it feels like a computer should. If this is too heavy for you, then you probably need to go to the gym more. In landscape mode, the Surface is short and fat, which works well for some programs, and not so much for others. In portrait mode, it's long and narrow. Again, sometimes this is good, and sometimes not. The material feels smooth and high quality. However, when you are holding up a $1000 tablet, that smoothness is a bit unnerving. I'd recommend a case if you're going to be carrying it around a lot

PRODUCTIVITY :  This is what you buy a PC for. I immediately loaded MATLAB, started my Office 365 trial, set up all my email accounts, and got to work. I've pushed this thing pretty hard; having simultaneous programs running doesn't even make it flinch. I've had multiple downloads going, Netflix streaming HD movies, and MATLAB and Excel running all at once, and I didn't notice any significant lag. Working on the small screen takes some getting used to, especially for coding or spreadsheets, but the fact that it's even possible on a tablet is impressive. The Surface won't be replacing your 32 GB RAM desktop power-horse work station, but it can generally get the job done.

SCREEN :  It is small. The resolution is very high. As others have mentioned, this makes things on the desktop very small, and navigating at a 100% viewing level is challenging, to say the least. It's a gorgeous screen, extremely bright, and beautiful to look at. But working in the traditional Windows desktop mode is difficult. You can work around this in most programs by increasing the view, but not everything has been optimized for the Surface yet, and sometimes you have to choose between either a tiny screen or blurry text.

The touch functions of Windows 8 work great. I love all of the swipe gestures, and coming from a Windows Phone, they are not too hard to learn. The pen is fun and remarkably useful. It makes an excellent alternative to the track pad, and is good enough to even recognize my sloppy cursive hand writing. Not sure it's going to replace hand writing in a notebook, but it's a fun option. If you need to include complicated equations in word documents, the pen sure beats typing them out. Once more programs are optimized for touch, it will only get better.

BATTERY LIFE / FAN / STORAGE / APPS :  These are the some negatives I've read about most. I haven't timed the battery life yet, but I've used it a bunch of times while unplugged and have not found myself running to a power outlet because the battery drained out. I've been working this thing pretty hard, and the battery has not seemed at all unreasonable, though like with anything, it could probably be better.

Like I've said, I haven't been easy on the Surface, and I have yet to get the fans running. It does get warm, and you can feel a slight breeze of hot air coming from the side vents, but I still haven't triggered the fans. Not sure what I have to do to get them going, I'm hoping they aren't broken.

I had 89.4 GB of free space right out of the box. I have yet to uninstall anything, or remove the recovery partition, but I'd estimate that once I do I'll have an extra 12 or so GB's of space, plus 64 from an SD card, and pretty much an infinite amount from USB drives. For my purposes I don't think I will ever need more than the original 90-ish GB.

I don't even understand the app argument. Maybe for Windows Phones, or the Surface RT, but with the Pro you have access to literally the entire software world. I don't need a 99 cent photo editing app, I have Adobe Photoshop. I don't need some Angry Birds type of game, I have Skyrim and Black Ops. Not sure how apps even got into the argument against Surface.

KEYBOARD :  Though the type cover isn't technically part of the Surface, I feel it is worth mentioning. The Surface isn't exactly "bricked" without a keyboard, but I find it hard to imagine getting any real work done without one. The smaller size and form factor take some getting used to, but I have had no problems typing with it, and all the old Windows shortcuts work fine on it. It is a bit flimsy, probably because it's so thin, and it feels kind of cheap. It works great, I just wanted a little more for over a hundred dollars. The track pad, however, is awful. Mac definitely has the market on track pads, and this one does not live up to that standard. Even with the help of the touch screen and pen, sometimes you just need the traditional point-and-click of a mouse. For that reason, I'd highly recommend getting a separate Bluetooth mouse to go along with the type cover. And don't forget, this is a full-blown Windows PC with Bluetooth and USB, so you can get any keyboard you want to work with your Surface, not just Microsoft's.

GAMING :  This is not a gaming PC. They make gaming PC's, specifically for that purpose. There are even standalone consoles that do nothing but play high end games. All that said, right after Office I loaded up Steam and did some gaming. No, the Surface is not a portable Xbox replacement, but you definitely can play some decent mid-core level games on it. Here is a list of what I've played so far:

Portal 2

Dead Space 2

Half Life

Super Meat Boy

Braid

I've even heard games like Skyrim will run just fine, though I haven't tried yet. I'll update this list as I test out more games, but you can probably get a good idea of what this machine is capable of already.

SPECIFICATION

• CPU Chip: 3rd generation Intel Core i5 Processor with Intel HD Graphics 4000 
• System memory : 4GB RAM--Dual Channel Memory 
• OS : Windows 8 Pro Storage5 
• Storage : 128 GB (approximately 89 GB available for user content)
• Display Screen: 10.6" ClearType HD Display
• Resolution: 1920x1080 Aspect Ratio: 16:9 (widescreen)
• Touch: 10-point multi-touch 
• Audio Stereo : speakers Video Microphone 
• Ports :  USB 3.0
• Casing: VaporMg Color: Dark Titanium
• Physical buttons: Volume, Power Cameras Two 720p HD cameras, front and rear-facing Wireless 
•  Wireless: Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n) 
• Bluetooth : 4.0 low energy technology Sensors Ambient light sensor 
•  Layout: QWERTY 
• Interface: Magnetic 
• Sensors: Accelerometer 
• Hardware warranty: 1-year limited hardware warranty. Touch cover sold separately. 
• Surface Pen Dimensions: 8.5mm 
•  Hardware warranty: 1-year limited hardware warranty 

WHATS INCLUDE IN PACK

• Microsoft Surface Windows 8 Pro with 128GB Memory
• Power supply
• Pen
• Quick start guide
• Safety and warranty documents

DIMENSIONS + WEIGHT

• Height: 6.8 inches
• Width: 10.8 inches
• Depth: 0.5 inches
• Weight: 2 pounds

 PRICE :

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