The Surface Pro is On The Way!

It is only weeks away at this point. Will it be the :next big thing” that Microsoft hopes it will be? Or, is it just too expensive?

Microsoft Here comes Microsoft Surface Pro, 64 bits and All

“Microsoft’s Windows 8 Pro version of the Surface will arrive soon, giving consumers probably one the highest performing tablets to date.

Microsoft is already dropping not-so-subtle hints that the device is coming ‘early in 2013.’ And now it appears to have made its debut at the FCC.

Let’s look at what else Microsoft is saying about the 2-pound tablet that sets it apart from the current Surface RT tablet.

• 64-bit computing in a tablet: Surface with Windows 8 Pro is “a 64-bit tablet PC.” That’s not a trivial point. You get all of the goodness of 64-bit computing via Intel’s power-efficient Core i5 Ivy Bridge processors. Surface RT, on the other hand, is 32-bit only.
• Security: Support for the same level of security you can expect with any corporate Windows laptop. And Microsoft includes sBitLocker, which encrypts your hard drive’s data.
• Pen: It includes a pen. That’s really a holdover from the Windows 7 slates but something that some business customers still want.
• Mini DisplayPort/display: This allows connection to large high-resolution displays (e.g., Apple Cinema Display). That said, the Surface Pro’s 10.6-inch (16:9) 1,920×1,080-pixel display is already the same resolution of some desktop displays. Other ports include a full-size USB 3.0, microSDXC card slot, headset jack, and Cover port.

And we may already be getting a sneak preview of the Surface Pro courtesy of CNET’s review of the Acer Iconia W700 tablet.

Like the Surface Pro, the W700 is a 2-pound Windows 8 tablet that packs an Ivy Bridge Core i5 processor and a 1,920×1,080 display.

Here’s what CNET said: ‘In our benchmark tests, the Iconia W700 performed similarly to other Core i5-3317U Windows 8 laptops and convertibles, or a little behind. It’s well-suited for everyday use, from HD video streaming to social media, to working on office tasks.'”