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 
No comments:
Post a Comment