Microsoft Surface
RT
The Microsoft Surface's Metro interface is innovative, elegant,
powerful, and versatile. The tablet feels strong and well-built, runs Office
2013, and includes rich video and music services. Its keyboard cover
accessories are the best ways to type on a tablet, period.
But, The tablet's
performance can be sluggish, its Windows Store is a ghost town, Metro takes
getting used to, and the Desktop interface feels clunky and useless. Performance:
A
common misconception is that the traditional desktop isn't available in Windows
RT, but that's not true; it's accessed via the desktop tile on the Start
screen, but its relevance is severely diminished.
As Windows RT can't
run traditional programs you need to use the old style Windows Explorer less,
but it's still on hand for browsing file systems, USB sticks, organising
folders and more.
The 'charm' bar to
the right also includes search and share buttons and these are threaded through
every part of the OS, from files to settings, to the information held within
apps.Another triumph is the on-screen keyboard, which is large, sensitive and
easy to use. It's not as smart as some third-party keyboards on Android, but we
typed with two hands quickly and accurately and the extra inch of screen space
made it much easier to use than its iOS counterpart.
We had a few problems
with the large keyboard panel blocking information we needed, but the icon to
show or hide the keyboard is always on hand in the bottom-right corner of the
desktop.
As we've already
mentioned, performance is a slightly mixed bag. The system is always responsive,
with silky smooth transitions and snappy navigation.
However, we found
that some apps were slow to load, with lingering splash screens. What's more,
1080p playback was a few frames per second short of perfect.
While we wouldn't say
that the Tegra 3 chip performed appallingly, there's certainly no headroom, and
it seems to be the graphics core that struggled most.
Multitasking apps
never missed a beat, but it was loading the graphically-intensive apps and
movies that showed the biggest strain on the processor.
Even some basic games
ran at a noticeably low frame rate, so it seems that Windows RT might need some
optimisation.
Battery life:
Our experience of the
battery life has bemused us somewhat. We started off a day with the Surface RT
at 100 percent and only used the tablet intensely for around an hour and a half
while shooting our video review. We then used the Surface RT in the evening for
around 30 minutes web browsing. The next morning, however, the Surface RT
needed the mains charger to switch on so the battery had full depleted
overnight. Strange considering Microsoft touts 7-15 days idle life.
The bottom line: If
you're an early adopter willing to forget everything you know about navigating
a computer, the Surface tablet could replace your laptop. Everyone else: wait
for more apps.
Specifications
Display type10.6
inColor TFT active matrix - Yes
OSMicrosoft Windows
RT
RAM2 GB
ProcessorNVIDIA Tegra
3
Wireless
connectivityIEEE 802.11nIEEE 802.11bIEEE 802.11aIEEE 802.11g
Dimensions (WxDxH)9.3
mm10.8 in 6.8 in
Weight676
g
Price;$494.98
to $599.00
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