Microsoft Surface Pro vs. MacBook Air
Gizmag’s Will Shanklin compares the specs. and other features of the Microsoft Surface Pro and MacBook Air, and finds that in many respects the two diminutive takes on an ultra-small but reasonably powerful and full-featured portable PC are remarkably similar. The reviewers note that although Surface Pro is essentially an Ultrabook in a tablet’s body, and most customers are consequently going to look at it as an iPad competitor, Microsoft’s professional tablet PC is arguably more comparable to a MacBook Air than it is to Apple’s iPad.
The 11.6″ MacBook Air is of course larger than the Surface Pro in all dimensions, and heavier, but in terms of specs. has the same Core i5 CPU, the same 4 GB of RAM, the same 64GB and 128GB SSD capacities, roughly the same battery life, and while the Surface Pro nominally starts at $!00 less than the MacBook Air, adding the keyboard cover that nearly every user will want makes it $20 or $30 more expensive for a 64 GB model. The Surface Pro actually has a higher-resolution display than the MacBook Air.
Gizmag says Surface Pro comes out of this comparo looking much lot better than it did against the iPad, noting that as a tablet, it’s beefy, expensive, and has crappy battery life, but when compared to a laptop, it holds its own in all of those categories.
If Microsoft communicates to customers that Surface is the coolest, most versatile laptop ever made, it has a chance to make a splash. If Redmond pitches it a tablet, they might have trouble. It will be fascinating to see how this plays out in the market.
Goodbye Surface RT, hello Surface Pro; Won’t Miss Getting Work Done Again
ZNet contributor Matthew Miller says he liked his Microsoft Surface RT device, but after a recent two-day trip he I realized he does need access to a full Windows computer while on the road, and is planning to pick up the Surface Pro.
After finding things he simply couldn’t do on the Surface RT, or an iPad, he’s convinced the Microsoft Surface Pro is perfect for his requirements. He says that while an Apple computer is not an option for his work as a professional engineer (naval architect), he dies use one at home for writing and other tasks, and while he could pick up a MacBook Air for around the same price as a Surface Pro, then he would have to get Windows installed on it, and if he just needs a computer for writing, he can pick up an inexpensive Chromebook.
He plans to pass along his 2009 MacBook Pro to his wife and use the Surface Pro as my his home computer with an external monitor, and that while there are a number of Windows 8 laptop and tablet options, he hasn’t seen any as light, well designed, and compelling as the Surface Pro.
