Microsoft’s Surface Book is a magnum opus in every sense. No wonder Microsoft is one of the most widely recognized brand symbols across the face of the earth. Time and time again, it brings out innovative and cutting-edge products which are right on the money. Following the shadows of its predecessors, comes the first ever Microsoft laptop – The Surface Book!
Microsoft Surface Book
Laden With a Myriad of Features
Its magnesium built design is slick and it packs a punch. The laptop weighs a mere 3.5 lbs. as a complete unit and in terms of size it has a 13.5in high-resolution display with 3000/2000 PPI ratio. It also has a new surface pen and this pen has 1024 points of touch so it gives better control, better flexibility while it can be latched along the Surface Book with the magnetic lock. The laptop comes in a nice grey colour. Another interesting feature is that one can undock the Surface Book like a tablet so basically it’s a 2-in-1 laptop. The tablet form weighs 1.6 pounds so it’s pretty light. The Graphics Processor Unit (GPU) is in the base where the keyboard is, and the processor is in the tablet part of the laptop.
Internal Mouth Watering Specs
In terms of internals, the Surface Book boasts a wide array of eye-catching specs in it. It’s powered by the sixth generation Intel processor either Core i5 or i7. It has a dedicated GPU which gives better video processing and also some good gaming performance. In terms of RAM, one can opt up to 16 GBs and storage options goes from 128 GB to 1 TB. The laptop boasts a commendable 12-hour battery life.
The hinge which connects the Tablet part of the laptop with the base seems to be inspired from the Lenovo’s Yoga 3 Pro, but it looks pretty nice. The laptop has got 2 USB 3.0 ports, a HDMI port, and a SD card slot. The keyboard is well laid out with nice fleshed out raised keys, which are back-lit, and are complemented by a glass track pad, which enables some effortless typing. Though designed along a 2-in-1 concept the device functions like a traditional laptop, as one can of course edit documents, Word, PowerPoint, MS Excel, one can also go ahead and have programs like Photoshop and Premier Pro. The laptop’s performance is astonishing even while multi-tasking with heavy consumption applications.
Other Noteworthy Features
In terms of other specs, it has a 5 MP front facing camera with better low-light capture capabilities and an 8 MP rear camera. Even writing on the touch screen is really smooth and simple and another thing to note is that the stylus actually has changeable tips, one feels like a brush, one like a pencil, and one like a pen, hence adding more functionality to the laptop. The stylus also has an eraser on top, so one doesn’t have to go to the erase option on the device, hence making it more convenient while operating.
Pricing & Models
Pricing on this beast of a laptop starts at $1499 and goes up to $2699. There are five models available, with varying configurations of RAM and storage space, CPUs. The cheaper variants have a core i5 processor, 128 GB of storage space and no dedicated GPU. The upper end versions have 512 GB to 1 TB of storage space and a dedicated Nvidia GeForce GPU.
With Microsoft stepping into the laptop arena with this premium device which is capable of delivering powerful performance coupled with acrobatic skills of turning into a slate and be used even as a tablet, it has clearly indicated its intent to become an all out device manufacturer and challenge the likes of Apple and even long-time hardware allies HP, Lenovo and Dell.
