Surface Pros (and Cons!)
In our post of the 19th March, we raised the point that many businesses are moving toward a more mobile hardware solution by adding laptops and tablets to their fleet. Recently, we decided to investigate one of these mobile solutions in more details.
The Surface Pro has been around since 2012, with esteemed clients like United States Defence (approved and certificated on their products list) and has been the official tablet device for the National Football League in the US.
With this great provenance, we decided to get some feedback from some local active Pro users. We asked them some standard questions regarding the Surface Pro and these are their anonymous - responses.
What we asked them | The Masked Surface Pro User | The Surface Pro Ghost |
|---|---|---|
| How long have you been using a Surface Pro? | About a month, now. | Seven years, but I've had the current one for four years. |
| Why did you choose a Surface Pro over other devices? | I needed a new portable device and I have had a clunky, heavy laptop with a large battery previously and I wanted something more portable with a long battery life. | The Surface Pro is brilliant for my situation. I spend about 60% of my time in an office and 40% out and about. The Surface Pro is as good as a PC or lap top in the office, more agile and easier to carry around and equally as good as a PC or lap top in any mobile scenario. |
| What do you like about the Surface Pro? | I love the portability - being able to easily disconnect it from the dock and take it home. | It's light and compact, yet has the same speeds, power and capacity as any desktop or lap top. It also doubles as a tablet. |
| What accessories do you use with the Surface Pro? | Lots! Surface Dock 2 (for use in the office connecting network, external keyboard, mouse and monitor), a USB-C Travel Hub (to connect to network and external monitor away from my desk), the Surface Arc Mouse (Nothing like snapping a mouse flat to turn off and then stow in my bag) and the Surface Pen (It feels great to pick up the Surface and sign documents with ease). | I use it with a full screen in the office and a full size key-board. |
| Are those accessories useful and user friendly? | Very user friendly, wireless devices connect with ease. Also, easy to fit required accessories in a small sleeve with the Surface Pro rather than carrying around a large laptop bag. | Yes. |
| Is the Surface Pro easy to use? | Ease of use is the same as any other Windows laptop. | I find it just as easy as any PC, desk top or lap top. |
| How do you find the speed and usability of the Surface Pro in comparison to other devices (like laptops or workstations)? | Speed for everyday tasks is perfect, although there were resource issues in connecting an external business grade webcam. | I don't find it different than any laptop or Desktop I have ever used. |
| That's a lot of Pros for the Surface Pro what Con can you think of? | Being a smaller device there are only two USB ports (1 x C, 1 x A) so when using portably you may need to rely on USB-C converters/hubs. | Nothing I can think of. |
| So, you'd recommend the Surface Pro to other people or businesses? | Yes, I would recommend using a Surface Pro especially if portability is required. | If you need to move around (even a bit) then yes, I highly recommend it. |
| Do you think the Surface Pro is great value for money? | Like any other name brand devices *cough* Apple *cough* you pay an excess for the brand on top of the function, but with the ease connecting the official accessories and their use I am glad to have spent a little extra. | Very much so. |
| That's great is there anything else you'd like to add? | Nothing I can think of. | My Surface Pro connects to all the cloud-based apps (drop box, One drive, Google drive etc etc) and office based apps (printer, scanner, etc etc). I can connect to my entire suite of apps basically anywhere I have WIFI or mobile data. |
From talking to The Masked Surface Pro User and The Surface Pro Ghost, we found that whether they are new to Surface Pro or had been using them for more than seven years, their user overall satisfaction level was very high. The consensus was that the transition from working on a larger device is seamless - as the Surface Pro can handle all your Microsoft Office programs just like the big desktop machines and also offers complete connectivity with the cloud, allowing uploading and downloading with ease.
Our mysterious interviewees also liked the fact that the Surface Pro can be paired with a wide range of accessories to make things even easier. With the use of a Surface Hub, you can connect to your monitor and full-size keyboard for that traditional set up, where the Typecover allows for ease of use when out and about. The pen also gets a great wrap for making it easy to sign a document or when using your Surface Pro as a tablet, in fact, the Surface Pro and the Surface Pro pen been proven to be able a great tool for use with standard applications, as well as animation programs. The Surface Pro is used by animators and cartoonists around the world, including DC Comics artist Francis Manapul, who has drawn, and in some cases written or co-written, major comics for DC, including Legion of Super Heroes, Flash and Detective Comics!
...With the use of a Surface Hub, you can connect to your monitor and full-size keyboard...
It seems that the Surface Pro is not only extremely versatile in the workplace but it's easy to transition to personal use. It's easy to plug in at the office but it is so small and lightweight that you can easily pick it up, drop it in your bag and in seconds you are out the door. Forget to send that email when you were in the office? Fire off that email while sitting on the lounge in your pyjamas, in seconds. Due to the Surface's sleep mode, you don't even have to wait for the device to boot, it is ready any time. Don't want to be chained to the desk in the office? Take the Surface Pro outside and sit in the sun while completing that spreadsheet. Take the Surface Pro to the coffee shop and continue working on the sales figures without having to lug around a large laptop bag and cables. With an inbuilt kickstand for the screen, the footprint of the device in "laptop mode" is small enough to fit on even the smallest of coffee tables at Gloria Jeans. Nothing beats being able to work and have a coffee! With the inbuilt Wi-Fi, camera and microphone, attend the marketing meetings from the beach! We live on the Central Coast, why not enjoy it while still being as productive as you would be if you were in your office?
...Loyal IT are offering a great deal on a Surface Pro bundle - The "Freedom" Package...
If you want more proof, read the reviews here's an example - you'll see Surface Pro constantly rated between 4 and 4.5 stars out of 5 for each generation! All this is all great news for customers of Loyal IT Solutions, who as an official Microsoft Reseller, have secured some great access and information on Surface Pros and other Microsoft products. Contact Loyal IT Solutions on 02 4337 0700 or email Kaylene to enquire today! Find out why the Surface Pro is a winner and take advantage of our great Bundle offer!
| Tags:Computer hardwareIT |
