Microsoft Surface 2
The Microsoft Surface 2 is a definite upgrade over 2012's
Surface RT. It's faster, with a sharper screen, and houses better
cameras.The Microsoft Surface 2 has a sturdy build, smooth gaming
performance, and high-quality cameras. Windows RT 8.1 is easier to use
than before, and the built-in photo-editing tools and Xbox Music are
fantastic features. Office 2013 is included for free, and thanks to a
new kickstand angle, the tablet is less likely to fall off your lap.
But, App support still lags behind competitors, and Windows RT is still incompatible with legacy programs. It's too easy to mistakenly push the tablet into its lower stance, and the touch pad on the Type Cover 2 isn't as comfortable as it was on the previous version. Performance: Using the Surface 2 feels fast and responsive, which wasn't the case with the original Surface. This is borne out when browsing the web, as can be seen in an average SunSpider JavaScript score of 496.2ms. That's a very good score for a tablet.
Where the Surface always performed was in gaming, and the Surface 2 is no exception. Running the onscreen Egypt HD 2.5 graphics benchmark the Surface 2 achieved a respectable score of 33fps. Running the 3D Mark Ice Storm Extreme benchmark the Surface 2 scored an average of 8432, Ice Storm Unlimited averaged out at 12,787. These are very healthy scores that reflect our experience of a zippy machine even when running multiple processes.
Battery Life: Of course, the reason the Surface 2 uses Tegra 4 and not, say, an Intel processor, is to improve battery life -- though as the new Atom in the Asus Transformer Book T100 proved, the latest Atoms are very frugal, too.
Here the Surface 2 doesn’t disappoint. Microsoft claims 10 hours on a full charge, and we can’t fault its estimate. We spent a whole day using the Surface 2 on and off, using it to write, browse the internet and stream videos, and still had a comfortable 20-30% spare by the end of the day.
Our only real complaint here is that the auto-brightness system typically sets the screen a little dimmer than is comfortable, which means you’re constantly fiddling with it manually. The bottom line: The Microsoft Surface 2 is great for getting work done, but those looking for extensive app support (beyond Office) will find top Apple, Android, and Amazon tablets to be better options. Specifications
Release date10/22/13
Display type10.6 in
OSMicrosoft Windows 8.1 RT
RAM2 GB
ProcessorNVidia Tegra 4
Wireless connectivityBluetooth 4.0Wi-fi 802.11a/b/g/n
Dimensions (WxDxH)10.81 in x 0.35 in x 6.81 in
Weight1.49 lbs Price:$449.99 VS Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 Lenovo's ThinkPad Tablet 2 is a Windows 8 Pro tablet with its own stylus aimed at business users and mobile workers.The Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 is the best-looking Atom Windows 8 tablet yet, and the optional keyboard dock is excellent. All-day battery life makes it great for travel. Performance and Battery Life: Put a full version of Windows 8 on a tablet you're in for a bit of a juggle, just ask the Microsoft Surface Pro. You've got two balls to keep in the air: processing power and battery longevity. While the ThinkPad Tablet 2 often fumbles with the former, it flourishes with the latter.
Unlike the Surface Pro or the Surface RT, which are powered by an Intel i5 and an ARM processor respectively, this tablet has an Intel Atom chip. You may remember this processor from the netbook era of a few years ago, before tablets came along and cleaned their clocks. Now the Atom is back to power Windows 8 slates, like this and the Acer Iconia W510.The ThinkPad Tablet 2 handled web browsing well enough, with Internet Explorer at least. Sites load at an acceptable speed, and we were able to begin scrolling down the page almost instantly, before images and video embeds finished loading. Google Chrome, as well as the Google app, performed poorly though. There's an obvious need for a patch or two here.
The system had just enough grunt for some light multitasking. Using Window 8's neat split-screen feature, we could watch run a YouTube video while browsing news headlines in the Bing Daily news app. We also enjoyed listening to music via the Music app while playing some Angry Birds or Cut the Rope.
That's the limit of the ThinkPad Tablet 2's gaming and multitasking abilities. The low-wattage Atom processor is meant for battery life, not blazing speeds. Lenovo estimates the battery life at 10 hours. We generally came in around 8 hours, after taxing it with heavy web use and streaming video. That's not bad at all, enough to get you through the average work day, or to watch several movies on a long flight.While we enjoyed the battery life the Atom provided, it had us wondering why it was paired up with Windows 8. What's the point of making a device with wide compatibility if it doesn't have the horsepower to run the most important legacy apps? Food for thought, especially if you're between this and the more powerful but not as long lasting Microsoft Surface Pro, or just a regular old laptop.
But, The Tablet 2 is expensive, especially considering the small 64GB SSD, lack of USB 3.0, and generally slow Atom performance.
The bottom line: This Windows 8 tablet from Lenovo scores with great industrial design and battery life, but adding practically required accessories makes the ThinkPad Tablet 2 very expensive for what you get.
System configurations Windows 8 (32-bit); 1.8GHz Intel Atom Z2760; 2GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz; 737MB (Total) Intel GMA; 64GB MMC SSD Specifications
ProcessorIntel Atom
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows 8
Display Type10.1 in
Weight1.3 lbs Price: $679.00 VS Asus VivoTab Smart The VivoTab ME400 is being marketed by Asus as the best of both worlds – a device that can be used for business and for pleasure. And for that we would recommend it. The Asus VivoTab Smart ME400 is as inexpensive as Atom Windows 8 tablets get, and the add-on keyboard/touch-pad combo is excellent.The Asus VivoTab ME400 is our favourite Windows 8 tablet yet – it's not as efficient as an iPad, but you can use it with your existing software and have the best of the Start Screen and traditional desktop modes on the same device.Asus claims the VivoTab Smart’s battery is good for 9.5 hours of use. We found this was right on the money. It ran for 10 hours of continuous video with the backlight set at mid-level.
But, The keyboard doesn't actually attach, which can be a hassle, and the folding magnetic cover takes practice to set up properly.
The bottom line: In a sea of hard-to-distinguish Atom-powered Windows 8 tablets, the Asus VivoTab Smart ME400 stands out a bit thanks to clever accessories.
System configurations Windows 8 (32-bit); 1.8GHz Intel Atom Z2760; 2GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz; 725MB (Total) Intel GMA; 64GB SSD Specifications
ProcessorIntel Atom Z2760 / 1.8 GHz ( Dual-Core )
Memory2 GB
Operating SystemWindows 8
Display Type10.1 in IPS
Max Resolution1366 x 768 ( HD )
Graphics ProcessorPowerVR SGX545
Optical DriveNone
Weight24 oz Price:$479.99 to $583.06
But, App support still lags behind competitors, and Windows RT is still incompatible with legacy programs. It's too easy to mistakenly push the tablet into its lower stance, and the touch pad on the Type Cover 2 isn't as comfortable as it was on the previous version. Performance: Using the Surface 2 feels fast and responsive, which wasn't the case with the original Surface. This is borne out when browsing the web, as can be seen in an average SunSpider JavaScript score of 496.2ms. That's a very good score for a tablet.
Where the Surface always performed was in gaming, and the Surface 2 is no exception. Running the onscreen Egypt HD 2.5 graphics benchmark the Surface 2 achieved a respectable score of 33fps. Running the 3D Mark Ice Storm Extreme benchmark the Surface 2 scored an average of 8432, Ice Storm Unlimited averaged out at 12,787. These are very healthy scores that reflect our experience of a zippy machine even when running multiple processes.
Battery Life: Of course, the reason the Surface 2 uses Tegra 4 and not, say, an Intel processor, is to improve battery life -- though as the new Atom in the Asus Transformer Book T100 proved, the latest Atoms are very frugal, too.
Here the Surface 2 doesn’t disappoint. Microsoft claims 10 hours on a full charge, and we can’t fault its estimate. We spent a whole day using the Surface 2 on and off, using it to write, browse the internet and stream videos, and still had a comfortable 20-30% spare by the end of the day.
Our only real complaint here is that the auto-brightness system typically sets the screen a little dimmer than is comfortable, which means you’re constantly fiddling with it manually. The bottom line: The Microsoft Surface 2 is great for getting work done, but those looking for extensive app support (beyond Office) will find top Apple, Android, and Amazon tablets to be better options. Specifications
Release date10/22/13
Display type10.6 in
OSMicrosoft Windows 8.1 RT
RAM2 GB
ProcessorNVidia Tegra 4
Wireless connectivityBluetooth 4.0Wi-fi 802.11a/b/g/n
Dimensions (WxDxH)10.81 in x 0.35 in x 6.81 in
Weight1.49 lbs Price:$449.99 VS Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 Lenovo's ThinkPad Tablet 2 is a Windows 8 Pro tablet with its own stylus aimed at business users and mobile workers.The Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 is the best-looking Atom Windows 8 tablet yet, and the optional keyboard dock is excellent. All-day battery life makes it great for travel. Performance and Battery Life: Put a full version of Windows 8 on a tablet you're in for a bit of a juggle, just ask the Microsoft Surface Pro. You've got two balls to keep in the air: processing power and battery longevity. While the ThinkPad Tablet 2 often fumbles with the former, it flourishes with the latter.
Unlike the Surface Pro or the Surface RT, which are powered by an Intel i5 and an ARM processor respectively, this tablet has an Intel Atom chip. You may remember this processor from the netbook era of a few years ago, before tablets came along and cleaned their clocks. Now the Atom is back to power Windows 8 slates, like this and the Acer Iconia W510.The ThinkPad Tablet 2 handled web browsing well enough, with Internet Explorer at least. Sites load at an acceptable speed, and we were able to begin scrolling down the page almost instantly, before images and video embeds finished loading. Google Chrome, as well as the Google app, performed poorly though. There's an obvious need for a patch or two here.
The system had just enough grunt for some light multitasking. Using Window 8's neat split-screen feature, we could watch run a YouTube video while browsing news headlines in the Bing Daily news app. We also enjoyed listening to music via the Music app while playing some Angry Birds or Cut the Rope.
That's the limit of the ThinkPad Tablet 2's gaming and multitasking abilities. The low-wattage Atom processor is meant for battery life, not blazing speeds. Lenovo estimates the battery life at 10 hours. We generally came in around 8 hours, after taxing it with heavy web use and streaming video. That's not bad at all, enough to get you through the average work day, or to watch several movies on a long flight.While we enjoyed the battery life the Atom provided, it had us wondering why it was paired up with Windows 8. What's the point of making a device with wide compatibility if it doesn't have the horsepower to run the most important legacy apps? Food for thought, especially if you're between this and the more powerful but not as long lasting Microsoft Surface Pro, or just a regular old laptop.
But, The Tablet 2 is expensive, especially considering the small 64GB SSD, lack of USB 3.0, and generally slow Atom performance.
The bottom line: This Windows 8 tablet from Lenovo scores with great industrial design and battery life, but adding practically required accessories makes the ThinkPad Tablet 2 very expensive for what you get.
System configurations Windows 8 (32-bit); 1.8GHz Intel Atom Z2760; 2GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz; 737MB (Total) Intel GMA; 64GB MMC SSD Specifications
ProcessorIntel Atom
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows 8
Display Type10.1 in
Weight1.3 lbs Price: $679.00 VS Asus VivoTab Smart The VivoTab ME400 is being marketed by Asus as the best of both worlds – a device that can be used for business and for pleasure. And for that we would recommend it. The Asus VivoTab Smart ME400 is as inexpensive as Atom Windows 8 tablets get, and the add-on keyboard/touch-pad combo is excellent.The Asus VivoTab ME400 is our favourite Windows 8 tablet yet – it's not as efficient as an iPad, but you can use it with your existing software and have the best of the Start Screen and traditional desktop modes on the same device.Asus claims the VivoTab Smart’s battery is good for 9.5 hours of use. We found this was right on the money. It ran for 10 hours of continuous video with the backlight set at mid-level.
But, The keyboard doesn't actually attach, which can be a hassle, and the folding magnetic cover takes practice to set up properly.
The bottom line: In a sea of hard-to-distinguish Atom-powered Windows 8 tablets, the Asus VivoTab Smart ME400 stands out a bit thanks to clever accessories.
System configurations Windows 8 (32-bit); 1.8GHz Intel Atom Z2760; 2GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz; 725MB (Total) Intel GMA; 64GB SSD Specifications
ProcessorIntel Atom Z2760 / 1.8 GHz ( Dual-Core )
Memory2 GB
Operating SystemWindows 8
Display Type10.1 in IPS
Max Resolution1366 x 768 ( HD )
Graphics ProcessorPowerVR SGX545
Optical DriveNone
Weight24 oz Price:$479.99 to $583.06
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