New toys! The Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 – seriously productive and fun tablets!

  • Article

Surface 2The next evolution of the Surface tablets, see what’s new and improved!

To pre-order or find more information check out the official Surface site or read the announcement on the Surface blog.

 

 

Surface 2

Let’s start with the highlights of the Surface 2 – this is the evolution of the Surface RT.

[View:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSuqxDwPPEw]

 

  • Thinner and Lighter less than 9 mm thick and under 1.5 lbs
  • The built in kickstand has two positions, this may not sound like a big deal, but for those of us who use the Surface RT regularly this is very good news. The built in kickstand on the original Surface RT was very useful, but there were times I wanted a steeper angle. Hopefully this means my friend Rogan doesn’t have to use a box to raise the angle on his Surface anymore.
  • Longer battery life (10 hours) , personally I found the battery life of the original Surface RT was good enough for me and I spend a lot of time on long flights. But, I will never complain about having longer battery life and 10 hours will get me through an entire season of Game of Thrones next time I am on the road.
  • Stiffer Backlit keyboard. The keyboard is stiffer making it more effective when you have the Surface on your lap. Some of the new keyboards are also backlit. This may not seem like a big deal, but I do find that there are times when I am working on my Surface in a low lighting situation (planes with lights dimmed, hotel rooms with lousy lighting) so I was happy to hear about this feature.
  • USB 3.0 – faster file transfers!
  • Widescreen HD display – I do watch a lot of movies and TV on my RT. There’s even an HD video out port so I can connect it to a big screen.
  • Outlook 2013 RT and Office 2013 RT – Not only do we get Office 2013 RT with the Surface, so you can work in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, we also get Outlook 2013 RT which provides an improved email experience over the original Surface RT.
  • 1 year of unlimited free voice calling landlines and free Skype Wi-Fi at hotspots with purchase ( there are some limitations on numbers you can call, but this will save me money when I am calling home, or my kids steal my RT to skype their friends)
  • 200 GB extra SkyDrive storage with purchase (that's a lot of photos to share with your family)

Surface Pro 2

Now let’s take a look at the Surface Pro 2 that evolved from the Surface Pro and runs the full Windows 8.1 operating system

Don’t forget as a student you can use DreamSpark to load your Surface Pro with tools like Visual Studio professional for free too!

[View:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJLY4Cgk18U]

 

  • Faster – the Surface Pro 2 runs on an intel 5i processor.
  • Longer battery life
  • Up to 512 GB Flash storage – means you can store more files on the Pro
  • Power cover keyboard – this new keyboard cover gives your Surface Pro 2 extra battery life. You can also use the new backlit touch and type covers for your Surface Pro 2 as well. FYI – the power cover keyboard is not backlit (only so much stuff you can fit into a keyboard that thin). These new covers are more rigid so they work better on your lap as well.
  • USB 3.0 – faster file transfers!
  • The built in kickstand has two positions, just like the Surface 2, the Surface Pro 2 has two kickstand positions. Good news for all of us who found the single position less than ideal for certain situations.
  • Write & Draw – You still have an awesome pen drawing experience that pressure sensitive.
  • Widescreen HD display – For when you take a break from work to watch a movie
  • 1 year of unlimited free voice calling landlines and free Skype Wi-Fi at hotspots with purchase ( there are some limitations on numbers you can call, but this will save me money when I am calling home, or my kids steal my RT to skype their friends)
  • 200 GB extra SkyDrive storage with purchase (that's a lot of photos to share with your family)
  • Docking Station - The Surface team has also announced a docking station for the Surface Pro 2 so it’s easy to work at home and connect your external monitor, Ethernet, full size keyboard, speakers and other accessories. The docking station will be available in early 2014.

And if Music is your life…

Check out the Surface Remix project! A cover for DJS! You can also find out about it from Linkin Park’s’ Joe Hahn

[View:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK6Hs-qHh84]