Wednesday, 29 January 2014

Microsoft Surface Pro 2 vs Apple iPad Air vs Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1:Who is the best?

W.A.Khan,                                                                                                                                               Microsoft Surface Pro 2                                                                                                                               The Surface Pro 2's display may not have received an upgrade, but then it didn't need one. It's still a fine IPS panel that helps bring Windows 8.1's colorful and vibrant nature to life. The tablet itself is easier to use thanks to improved keyboard covers - even the Touch Cover 2 will prove more than adequate for most this time around.The Microsoft Surface Pro 2 is a faster, longer-battery-life version of the original model, upgraded with a current-gen Haswell processor. The keyboard cover is also improved with backlit keys, and is among the best tablet accessories ever devised.The Surface Pro 2 is a very tough product to judge, which is what makes it interesting. The good news is Microsoft has sorted out the most serious issue with the first version: the battery life. At around eight hours, the Surface Pro 2 mixes it with the Ultrabooks like the Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus and Sony VAIO Pro 13, even if it still falls a little short of 'tablet class' battery life.
But, The Surface Pro 2 remains stubbornly thick and heavy compared with some sleeker competitors. The base 64GB version may leave you starved for storage, and the keyboard cover, practically required, should be included instead of sold separately.
The bottom line: Microsoft's subtly updated Windows 8.1 tablet feels more like Surface Pro 1.5 -- improved battery life and better accessories make it a worthwhile (albeit pricey) laptop replacement, but it's still not an iPad-level category killer.                                                                                                                             Specifications
Display type10.6 nm
RAM4 GB
ProcessorIntel 4th Gen Core i5
Dimensions (WxDxH)10.8 in x 0.53 in x 6.8 in
Weight2 lbs                                                                                                                                               Price $899                                                                                                                                               VS                                                                                                                                                       Apple iPad Air                                                                                                                                         The Air is a tangible upgrade over the previous, fourth-generation iPad, no longer in production and so banished to the annals of history. The new iPad slots right in where its predecessor left off, priced at $499 for a lowly 16GB, $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB, and $799 for the maximum 128GB configuration. The iPad Air delivers more performance and comparable battery life in an attractive and impossibly thin-and-light package. An improved front-facing camera makes FaceTiming look better, and the Retina Display still looks great.
But, The Touch ID fingerprint scanner, introduced on the iPhone 5S, is sadly absent here, meaning you’ll still have to type in a passcode with every unlock and a password with every purchase. Starting at $499 for 16GB, it’s still expensive compared with the competition.                                                                            Performance:                                                                                                                                               The iPad Air shares the same processor with Apple’s flagship phone, albeit with a slight bump in clock speed. While the 5S runs at 1.3GHz the Air runs at 1.39GHz. It can achieve this because of the increased space and improved heat dissipation of the Air compared to the much smaller iPhone 5S.
Indeed, before we go into the detail about performance it’s worth noting that the iPad Air manages to keep its cool with consummate ease. Even when running intensive 3D games and apps for hours it barely breaks a sweat and, therefore, neither do your hands.
In practice, the iPad Air is blisteringly fast. Apps open instantly and games like Infinity Blade 3 look sumptuous and run smoothly. The benefits of having a SoC means that the GPU can be used to tackle compute tasks, which makes video editing and compute intensive apps, like AutoCAD, show no hint of slowdown.
The iPad Air performs 59% faster than the iPad 4 in the 3D Mark Ice Storm Unlimited CPU and GPU test and 91% faster in Geekbench 3 tests. The Peacekeeper browser test, which assesses web browsing performance, shows that the Air trounces its predecessor by being more than twice as fast. It's also faster than the stonking Snapdragon 800 processor on the likes of the Sony Xperia Z Ultra and Google Nexus 5. We're talking matter of degrees here, but the difference is there all the same.
Battery life:                                                                                                                                                 Battery life on the iPad Air is quoted at "Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music". We would say that's actually not a bad estimate, although the drain was closer to 2% every 10 minutes in general use, which equates to around nine hours' use.
Standby time is much, much better though. We found that we could stick the iPad Air in a bag, taking it out for the commute and messing about with on the sofa at home, for at least three days before it began to get low on battery.
In fact, the only real task that killed it was connecting to our amplifier via Wi-Fi while simultaneously streaming music to the same device through Bluetooth. It's doing things like this that make you realise that this is the kind of thing that we envisaged at the turn of the century, a tablet that has the brains and connectivity to do all the tasks we could want.In terms of connectivity, we've already mentioned the excellent Wi-Fi performance (in terms of distance from router, rather than improved speed) through the Multiple In, Multiple Out (MIMO) technology.
4G bands are now covered throughout the globe, and low power Bluetooth is also on board as well, making it an incredibly well-connected device.
The bottom line: Functionally, the iPad Air is nearly identical to last year’s model, offering only faster performance and better video chatting. But factor in design and aesthetics, and the iPad Air is on another planet. It’s the best full-size consumer tablet on the market.                                                                         Specifications
Release date11/1/13
Display type9.7 in
OSApple iOS
ProcessorApple
Wireless connectivityWi-Fi
Dimensions (WxDxH)6.6 in x 0.29 in x 9.4 in
Weight1 lbs                                                                                                                                             Price:$479.00                                                                                                                                             VS                                                                                                                                                         Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1                                                                                                                     The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 2014 is a seriously well-specced Android tablet, with a class leading quad-core processor and a superbly sharp 10-inch display.
Samsung's S Pen stylus feels perfectly at home with this stunning screen, turning the tablet into a sketchpad, a notebook, a virtual scrapbook, and much more beside.The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 sports a proven, sensible design, a bevy of useful features, and fast performance. The S Pen Stylus is a unique addition.The 2014 Note 10.1 has a non-removable 8,220mAh battery. That's significantly larger than the 7,000mAh battery of the last model, but it's needed because of the higher-resolution screen.
To give the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 more of a chance against its competitors, we turned off most of the Samsung extras, such as the eye-monitoring Smart Stay before setting the tablet to play a looped SD-quality video. It lasts for a fairly impressive 12 hours of video playback.
But, Only a limited number of apps make full use of the S Pen and some of the ones that do can be buggy and confusing. Some S Pen features aren't enabled by default and others don't work properly.
The bottom line: The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is the best Samsung tablet yet. If you can get over its somewhat high price, it's a sound Android tablet investment.                                                                         Specifications
Display type10.1 inTFT active matrix - Yes
OSAndroid 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
RAM2 GB
Processor1.4 GHz
Wireless connectivityWi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n
Dimensions (WxDxH)10.11 in x 0.35 in x 6.9 in
Weight1.29 lbs                                                                                                                                         Price;$409.00 to $536.66

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