Review: My Year With Microsoft Surface Pro

Just shy of three hundred and sixty-five days ago, I transitioned from a MacBook Pro and iPad combo to a Microsoft Surface Pro 128GB. In light of this week’s assertion of Surface Pro three and my acquisition of a Surface Pro 2, I think it is time to mirror what that experience has become like. Like most parents, I changed into a little skeptical approximately the idea of mixing a computer and pill into an unmarried unit. Would it or not, it’s too heavy? Would the overall performance be too low? Would the battery life be lousy? And what about the new Windows eight OS? It really has been the concern of a lot of tooth-gnashing? I’ll attempt to solve this kind of question and greater as succinctly as feasible. Hit the bounce and permit’s get into the query: what is it want to stay with Microsoft’s vision for computing inside the future?

1. The Operating System, starring Windows eight/eight.1:

Microsoft Surface Pro

Windows eight.1 Update 1 had a great head begin with Windows eight, as I began its usage throughout the primary publicly available betas about nine months earlier than launch, twin booting on my MacBook Pro. That enjoy gave me lots of time to figure out a way to navigate the OS well earlier than release, so I did not have the conflict that quite a few human beings did. Of direction, it probably enables that I obviously revel in exploring and coming across new things. The early Windows eight experience did have its struggles, although. I’d become acquainted with the iPad or even to my Windows Phone 7 device, both of which had plenty of apps available in their shops. Windows 8’s save became notoriously barren by way of contrast, and that led to some early frustration whilst trying to use Surface Pro as only a pill. Too many apps and capabilities had been lacking to make for a fulfilling experience.

Nevertheless, the device’s ability to deal with legacy Windows laptop apps with aplomb saved me satisfied sufficient to keep, and the app shop catch 22 situation became much less critical by using the day. If there are one component Windows definitely desires to restore, even though, is its way of imparting the laptop. The desktop is still wrapped within the trappings of an archaic gadget whose time has passed, and it’s time for Microsoft to update it to an extra cutting-edge presentation that has fonts big enough to read on excessive DPI displays and big sufficient to perform with a finger.

With eight.1 and the brand new eight.1 Spring Update (surely? We could not just name it 8.2?), truly all my lawsuits about Windows 8 evaporated. While some dislike the new aesthetic, I’ve, in my opinion, located myself loving the flat colorations, energetic tiles, and removal of extraneous outcomes. My sincere desire is that as Windows evolves, it gets even flatter, and the metro aesthetic will become greater pervasive.

Suggestion: Use a Microsoft account, and use OneDrive! I cannot strain these sufficient. If you are the use of Windows 8–and on a Surface Pro, you will be–you shouldn’t create an old skool local account. Doing so cuts you off from some of Windows 8’s satisfactory features. Among these is the capacity to have nearly your entire PC configuration, proper all the way down to file sizes, places, and apps set up, backed up to your OneDrive account in the event you both want to restore your PC or your signal right into a specific Windows eight.1 PC. Best, even though, is that with OneDrive, you get 7GB storage at no cost, which, whilst not sufficient to cover, say, your track and photos collection, is probably lots to make sure your vital documents are all thoroughly subsidized up inside moments of you making any alternate. It’s smooth to discover ways to store in your OneDrive folder, and once you’ve got become acquainted with having that safe internet, you will wonder the way you ever lived without it.

2. The Hardware: Build Quality, Heft, and Capability.

Surface Pro Docking Station

I used to lug around a 2010 MacBook Pro thirteen. Three”, which weighed four.Five kilos, and an iPad 1, which weighed 1. Five pounds for a total of 6 kilos. So after I say that the 2 five-pound general of the Surface Pro and Type Cover was a big weight off my back, I’m definitely not kidding. The sacrifice turned into a smaller display screen, but the benefit became a miles extra effective processor and advanced screen decision and pixel density. The excellent construct is splendid: there is actually 0 flex to this device, its magnesium shell is hard and strong sufficient to withstand likely extra abuse than you need to sense comfy making your PC undergo. As a pill, it is half of a pound heavier than that authentic iPad turned into, however as a computer, it has a huge benefit over something Apple gives. But you, in all likelihood, wonder what I use my Surface Pro for?

Workload

Microsoft Surface Pro

I’ve spent a maximum of the beyond yr as a movie college student at UCLA, which means that quite a few of my workload involves modifying and transcoding video, compositing after results compositions, moving footage across different media, and so on. I use Adobe Premiere for the maximum of these duties, and my Surface Pro has dealt with all of them with grace. I’ve had no problems modifying and rendering 1080p video in actual time. And as you would assume from a Windows device with a complete length USB port, operating with external tough drives and optical drives is a breeze. Suffice to say, I also do the fundamentals, including working in Microsoft Office, writing in Final Draft, checking email, surfing the net, yadda yadda. Overall, I’ve had no complaints. Keep one: early on, my first Surface Pro had some severe issues with the Marvell Avastar wifi chip and needed to be exchanged, a hassle. It really is not entirely unusual with this tool. More on that later.

Read Previous

5 Reasons to Buy an Apple Laptop

Read Next

Why the New MacBook is Different