With a name akin to a tennis brag, the Microsoft Surface Pro is an odd beast. It’s the love spawn of Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, if Murray was a tablet, Djokovic a laptop and their union were capable of producing an electronic gadget. This tennis reference has ceased to be of use, but we’re sticking with it.
Straight OUT of the (service)box – fine we’ll stop – the Surface Pro is a sleek black slab of plastic and 10.6-inch full HD display. It’s chubbier than most tablets, owing to muscular innards comparable with a mid level laptop. This ballast has two results: moving around the tablet-like ‘Start’ section of Windows 8 is slippery quick, allowing you to grab emails, play games and beam out video with eye watering efficiency. But at a hefty 907g, the strain on your wrists is painfully apparent after anything more than 20 minutes of cradling.
Snap out the rear kickstand (unfortunately non-adjustable), attach a magnetic keyboard and the Surface Pro does a convincing impression of a laptop. Microsoft is adding to its own app store with great pace, but you can still be “productive” with it if that’s your thing, happily messing about with text documents and spread sheets like a loser until the battery dies (a pleasing 8-10 hours). Crack out the accompanying stylus pen and you can look like quite the nonce as you touch, draw and tap your way into a efficient coma.
The Surface Pro won’t make sense for everyone. Starting at £719 without a keyboard (£109.99 for the conventional type cover, £99.99 for the bewilderingly thin touch cover), it’s a powerful little mover, offering a lightning fast tablet experience and super portable laptop option. If you’re looking for a hybrid device, the Surface Pro could be just your thing.
You can find the Microsoft Surface Pro here
