Gadgetory

Microsoft Surface excels thanks to his thoughtful design the sensible implementation of its keyboard cover and the innovations brought about by its start interface unfortunately apps support is dismal performance especially on the Internet can be slow at times and like the old guy at the club still hanging around after last call the traditional Windows interface is still here wearing out is welcome hi I'm Eric Franklin and today I'll take a first look at Microsoft Surface first let's talk about design surface has a larger than usual ten point six inch screen there's a built-in kickstand on the back as well as micro HDMI a full USB 2.0 port and hidden under the kickstand a micro SD card slot front and back cameras are 720p capable there's also a headphone jack and a nice clicky volume rocker and power /sleep button the Windows Home touch sensor will take you back to the start interface if you're ever confused or loss surface runs on Windows RT kind of a light version of Windows 8 which includes the Tao based start interface if you're accustomed to other tablet interfaces this one will take some getting used to over the course of a week I went from hating it to absolutely loving it and then finally landing it liking it with some reservations I won't spend too much time here as this isn't a Windows RT review but I will point out my three favorite things first the gestures swipe left to get the charms menu swipe right for recent apps it's white right then left for a list of recent apps swipe up or down for more options swipe down across the screen to close an app like I said there's definitely a lot to learn here but it feels great once you do then there's split screen Samsung tried this earlier in the year with a note 10.1 but here it's fully realized it allows you to watch movies while you work or read comics while you watch movies or even watch TV shows while we watch movies or play games or whatever I really really dig this feature and lastly search you can easily search the entire drive or just a particular app it's a convenient and efficient solution the problem here is that the interface is still linked with the old Windows desktop interface surface comes with office 2013 preview and each of those apps runs from the desktop you can't install apps to this interface which isn't touch optimized and has small icons and links that are just frustrating to use and some options like programs and features serve no purpose at all touch cover doesn't have depressive Okies so it's gonna take some getting used to but after a few days thanks to the tablet's extra wide body you may find is actually more comfortable than any other tablet keyboard accessory you've ever used type cover which does have depressive Okies is even better with a much shorter learning curve so what's the bad well apps actually they're not so much bad as pretty non-existent if you're an app theme you need not apply here also web speeds and opening app speeds are inconsistent and usually feel sluggish games performance I don't really know there aren't enough quality games here to fairly judge again more apps please movies on the Zune Marketplace look crisp though surface starts at 500 bucks for 32 gigabytes that same configs available for $600 with a touch cover and $700 gets you the 64 gigabyte version with the touch company that's not cheap and those looking simply for its how it to watch movies on they want to opt for cheaper alternatives but thanks to its comfortable covered keyboard accessories and the inclusion of office 2013 service is the best productivity tablet yet it's a real shame though that there aren't more apps to choose from check out my full review for more details once again this is Eric Franklin and this has been a first look at the Microsoft Surface you