Microsoft Surface Pro Teardown

[odditory]

You have heard of USB storage right? If you can afford a Surface Pro, a fat USB key is probably something you already own several of. I have 3 on the desk in front of me including one large capacity high-performance USB3 device for transferring image files for work and such.

You heard USB storage is slow as molasses compared to an internal SSD right. If I'm buying a Pro then I want it to run x86 apps, likely productivity apps many of which consume a lot of space .. USB expansion storage is a band-aid and ultimately not a solution.

Yes you can do x, y and z tweaking and removing recovery partitions and uninstalling some bloat but most people outside a tech forum don't know how to do that and are stuck with whats given to them out of box - thus the backlash about lack of free space.

 

[mattjw916]

Considering the average laptop HDDs are slow as hell too I don't think your argument makes any sense. Maybe your $10 el-cheapo USB drive is slow but a Corsair Voyager GT has plenty of performance for even the largest file transfers.

 

[gunbust3r]

looks like that mSATA drive sits right near the edge of the device. FFS why could they have not given it sim tray like access and a small screw to keep it from being accidentally popped out.

Oops I forgot, so they can charge a $100 premium to go from 64 to 128 when you can get a 256GB at newegg for $199.

 

[Wrench00]

Ugg I have a HTC Radar and the digitizer is glued down in a similar manner. Having replaced two digitizers (mine and my wifes due to them getting cracked) I can tell you it's no picnic and it never goes back together the same.

Why could they have not done something like the Nokia phones where the screen is held in by a metal locking bar hidden by the SIM tray.

Because it would have made sense.

 

[pelo]

You aren't going to do large scale image manipulation on a 10+in screen so the "muh photoshops" argument isn't really applicable. Professionals use pshop on a large color-calibrated display (usually more than one) not a tiny tablet.

That's a very, very good point.

Now, tell me again why "professionals" would want a $1000 device with 4-hour battery life over a $300 tablet? And if "professionals" can't use it for the tasks they need, what the hell does an average user need a device like that for?

 

[Azhar]

Remove the recovery partition and you get a large chunk of space back... plus you can always rip out anything else that you don't want on it or do a clean install if you're anal. If space was a concern, buy a 128MB version. I don't see how this is any different than any other SSD ultrabook.

You aren't going to do large scale image manipulation on a 10+in screen so the "muh photoshops" argument isn't really applicable. Professionals use pshop on a large color-calibrated display (usually more than one) not a tiny tablet.

Pro-tip: not all Photoshop users are of the professional variety, so the "muh professionals who use photoshop with eagle eye vision and gigantic 40 inch monitor" isn't really applicable.

My HP Folio 13 ultrabook has a resolution of 1366x768 and I have zero problems enjoying Photoshop on it.

 

[SkribbelKat]

Pro-tip: not all Photoshop users are of the professional variety, so the "muh professionals who use photoshop with eagle eye vision and gigantic 40 inch monitor" isn't really applicable.

My HP Folio 13 ultrabook has a resolution of 1366x768 and I have zero problems enjoying Photoshop on it.

This. I had Photoshop installed on a netbook at 1024x600. It also had more jigawatts of storage than a Surface Pro.

 

[Azhar]

This. I had Photoshop installed on a netbook at 1024x600. It also had more jigawatts of storage than a Surface Pro.

Thank goodness Qaddafi is gone. Libyan uranium is so much easier to obtain now!

 

[mattjw916]

That's a very, very good point.

Now, tell me again why "professionals" would want a $1000 device with 4-hour battery life over a $300 tablet? And if "professionals" can't use it for the tasks they need, what the hell does an average user need a device like that for?

Dur, you realize that there are different professions right? A professional graphic artist doing commercial grade image manipulation and retouching is not going to do it on a 10in tablet. On the other hand a business IT user who is on the go can easily toss this in a carry-on and not sacrifice their standard Windows apps (like you have to do for non-x86 tablets) in the process. And since the business world doesn't adopt new technology as fast as the neck-beards in mom's basement it is quite common to be locked into legacy apps that only run on Windows. An iPad is super-neato as a toy but it's complete and utterly useless for work.

People who have real jobs don't care if it costs $1000. If you're flipping burgers for a living you aren't the target demographic of this device. And unless you are doing a NY to LA transcon or live in N Korea I'm sure you can find somewhere to plug it in and charge it. The battery life isn't any worse than my Lenovo and it has a higher-res screen, is lighter, has a stylus, etc, etc, etc.

 

[XamediX]

The Yoga design terrifies me. In a thread about how well built the Surface Pro seemingly is... I think the Yoga isn't. I guess we'll see what the repair rate is on them in a year or two.

What about it scares you so much? I think it's a worthy competitor as far as build quality and we are talking about Lenovo here. They are known for quality HW as well.

I want the Lenovo Twist! That thing looks gorgeous and it runs Core i7 and 8GB RAM for $860. Peanuts compared to most Core i7 laptops.

Why? The Lenovo has a lower resolution screen and will end up at $1300 to $1500 by the time it's configured.

No it won't. I already did the comparisons. You get more with the Yoga 13 than with the surface. The Surface Pro is $1130 when you add the keyboard and choose the 128gb option. The Yoga 13 for 1150 has 8gb of memory compared to 4gb on the Surface Pro. If you choose the 1500 option than the specs blow the surface away. But the Surface does win in the resolution department. Although the screen is so small that desktop use is tougher to maneuver than the bigger Yoga 13 even with its lower resolution. I only got a chance to play around with a Surface Pro in person though so that is more of a theory.

 

[mattjw916]

What about it scares you so much? I think it's a worthy competitor as far as build quality and we are talking about Lenovo here. They are known for quality HW as well.

The modern Lenovos are a far cry from their Thinkpad ancestors though. My Surface Pro feels substantially sturdier than either my mid-range Lenovo or my monstrous corporate Dell laptop. I wouldn't want to drop any of them though.

 

[XamediX]

Matt, I wouldn't call them a far cry, but yes I do recognize that there is a difference. Now what are your thoughts on the fact that the keyboard isn't included? Like, what did you do to in response?

 

[mattjw916]

I bought the touch cover and the goofy wedge touch bluetooth mouse as well. I like the touch cover but if I needed to do serious typing I would've gone with the type cover. My rational for the touch was that I wouldn't need to do a lot of text input on the keyboard anyway and it makes a nice slim cover as well.

At least you always have the option of plugging a full size standard USB keyboard into it if you really wanted... They are ubiquitous in the business world and usually are stacks of them laying around if you are desperate to type an impromptu novel on a tablet.