Presentation of the new Surfaces 2

New York on September 23, 2013.

Hidden under a general media blackout never before seen on the company's products - there was not even a streaming signal, Microsoft presents the first evolution of its two tablets: the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 (formerly RT and PRO).

XatakaWindows colleagues are talking profusely about this, but I want to offer an analysis as a daily user of both tablets and the sensations that the ads have generated in me.

Surface Pro 2, the beast

With versions with 8Gb of RAM and 512Gb of storage on an SSD drive, the new Surface Pro 2 is simply brutal Quite a workstation for real, but in tablet format and with as many hours of autonomy as any current ultrabook, against which it competes.

Autonomy that we can extend even more with the new Power Cover r, which includes a battery in the cover/keyboard.

If anything, the processor still seems a bit lacking to me, an i5 - even if they are the new Haswell; especially for CPU killers such as developers or graphic designers; although for most mortals you get power to spare.

In my opinion, the most important thing about the Surface Pro 2 are its new accessories, in which the Docking Station stands out.

Let's keep in mind that the typical user of this tablet is someone who uses the device as an ultrabook, but doesn't want to lose the convenience of using a mouse, keyboard, and monitor ">

Another good news is that the device is lighter, thinner and, I guess, will get a lot less heat than the current version; which can sometimes be annoying.

In summary, a device that combines the advantages of an ultrabook with the advantages of a tablet. Ideal for those who have the ability to spend the price at which they are going to sell it... and that seems high to me.

Perhaps it would have been better to adjust the margins more or seek a little hatred from other manufacturers, and have entered with an impressive price. Although it must be recognized that it is within what is expected in the market sector to which it is directed.

Another thing to keep in mind, which Microsoft has corrected by making the logo more visible on the back of the tablet, is that carrying a Surface Pro 2 is going to signal prestige and highlight monetary capacity, and that in certain areas matters a lot (tell Sony with its Vaio brand, or Apple).

Surface 2, the RT we all want

The new Surface 2 should become a true machine for devouring iPads, high-end Android tablets and… Surface Pro and Pro 2 .

The improvements are, relatively, more important than those of its older sister since it also incorporates a new processor that gives it more power with less consumption, which leaves us with a tablet that exceeds 10 hours of continued activity.

I can also watch Youtube videos, recordings made with Windows Phone or vacation photos, with FullHD quality. Which, together with the new, more powerful and higher quality speakers, improves the main capacity for which this device is built: to be a complete mobile multimedia center oriented towards information consumption, but with capabilities for content creation and editing

In the presentation, Microsoft gave an impressive demonstration of the multimedia capabilities of the Surface 2 with Windows 8.1; and who tried to have four Office applications open simultaneously, jump into playing Halo for Windows 8, and to top it off, have a Skype video conference.

And do you know what conclusion/feeling it produced in me? The increasingly reasonable question of, Why do I want a Surface Pro 2?

About the comparisons with other tablets, I think they have finished making sense. There's nothing on the market that compares to a Surface 2… other than another Surface 2 from another manufacturer.

And to close the analysis on the Surface 2, I think it's important to point out that in the presentation of the Surface Pro 2, the background of the room was a serious and professional light gray. In contrast, the launch of the Surface 2 was against a fuchsia background (almost bubblegum pink) which, together with the description of the tablet as ">, leads me to believe that MS has taken an interest to capture the female and youth sector of the market.

This is how he showed a bone white Surface 2, beautiful by the way, and the range of strong colors for the keyboards/protectors that have reminded me so much of the colors of the Nokias and new iPhones.

Conclusions

The first conclusion is surprise for not being surprised.

Microsoft has managed to consistently improve its first two hardware devices, in a niche that I have never touched before and that is especially difficult, and the feeling I have is that we all knew that this way was going to be.

Something that the competition has taken years to achieve - the confidence of their customers that the evolution is going to get better - those of Redmond achieve it in the second version of their products and in less than a year of life .

The second conclusion is that I need to win a lottery. Because in this Spain of crisis, it will be impossible for me to buy the Surface Pro 2 without leaving me a kidney or something even worse along the way.

And the third and last conclusion is that I'm dying of curiosity about what the competing manufacturers of the Surface are going to do Ya Microsoft has set the bar high, but there's still plenty of room for improvement above and below these great, game-changing devices.

In Xatakawindows | New Surface Special