Gadgetory

with its built-in kickstand included keyboard cover and Windows 8 OS Microsoft's surface with Windows RT is definitely a unique tablet but that's just on the outside what about on the inside let's find out I'm Bill Detweiler and this is cracking open from a hardware standpoint there's a lot to like about the windows RT version of the surface the ten point six inch IPS screen has a true 16 by 9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 1366 by 768 it has stereo speakers a micro HDMI output a full-size USB 2 port micro SD card slot and 720p front and rear cameras Microsoft didn't skimp on the internals either it has a quad-core 1.3 gigahertz NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor 2 gigs of ram bluetooth for Wi-Fi and it comes in either 32 or 64 gig models it's slightly heavier than the third gen iPad and galaxy note 10.1 but only by a few ounces overall it's well-built and feels sturdy in your hands and thankfully you don't need a heat gun to crack it open with the kickstand raised remove the two Torx screws on the stands hinges and then the stand itself the case screws that were hidden under the stand come out next followed by the thin piece of trim along the top edge and then the screws that were underneath that from the bottom lift up on the back cover and in the process disconnect the battery from the motherboard and we now get our first look inside the surface and can continue our teardown the battery is glued to the back cover but comes off without much fuss next to come out is the magnetic charging port and microSD card reader assembly followed by the speakers then what appears to be a third smaller speaker and the headphone jack and volume button assembly after disconnecting it from the motherboard and detaching all its connectors we can remove the smaller touchscreen circuit board last to come out is the motherboard and once it's removed we can detach the cameras pop off the shields and get a good look at the chips to power the surface at this point our teardown is pretty much complete while it is possible to separate the LCD from the front glass panel the two are held together with strong adhesive and I don't want to risk damaging either component by separating them now in the past I would have criticized Microsoft for using this construction technique because it increases the cost of replacing a cracked screen or broken panel but having spent way too much time trying to remove specks of dust from between the iPads glass panel and LCD I'll spend the extra money for a quicker repair now the only real downside here is that the magnetic contact for the touch cover can't really be accessed without removing the LCD a surface with Windows RT isn't the most difficult to crack open tablet I've worked on know that title still goes to the iPad but it's not a cakewalk either hopefully the surface with Windows probe which is aimed at businesses will be more repair friendly now for more information on the surface including real world tests pricing and first impressions of Windows 8 check out Erik Franklin's full CNET review now to see more teardown photos and read my full Hardware analysis go to TechRepublic comm forward slash cracking open mind build that wallet thanks for watching