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Class 9 student's take on Microsoft Surface

Last updated on: November 8, 2012 15:02 IST

Shashank PM, a Class IX ICSE student from Pondicherry, gives you basic information on Microsoft Surface tablet, touted as serious competition to Apple's iPad.

The Microsoft Surface was one of the most anticipated tablet of the Holiday Season 2012. The Surface was unveiled in June this year. It was launched to customers last week at $499 for the 32GB tablet and an additional $100 for the touch cover.

First impressions

Surface looks 'Stunning' with its kick stand and its 3mm thin keyboard cover. It is as slim as Apple's iPad 4 at 9.4mm or 0.37". It weighs in at 680g, a touch heavy.

The outer shell of the Surface is encased in magnesium, which makes it 3x lighter than aluminium.

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Class 9 student's take on Microsoft Surface

Last updated on: November 8, 2012 15:02 IST

The Surface runs on Microsoft's new Windows 8 RT. The look is adopted from the Windows Phone 7.5 with its iconic Live Tiles. The Surface comes preloaded with Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 Preview.

The pack has been optimised for Touch. There is a Windows Store for the Surface from where you can download apps and games. There is also a new feature called Snap Apps where you can have two apps open at any time.

Xbox gives you access to music, movies and gaming.

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Class 9 student's take on Microsoft Surface

Last updated on: November 8, 2012 15:02 IST

The Surface has a dull sized USB 2.0 port, with which you can transfer files using pen drives, etc. The Surface comes with a Touch cover which is 3mm thin and also serves as a Keyboard.

If you are uncomfortable with the Touch Cover, you can buy a Type Cover with a mechanical keyboard which is only 6mm thin.

Class 9 student's take on Microsoft Surface

Last updated on: November 8, 2012 15:02 IST

The Surface has an integrated Kick Stand which is extremely useful. The Surface then stands like a photo frame.

The Kick Stand

The Surface comes equipped with two cameras. Both 720p front and rear. It can be used to take photos and videos as well as make video calls.

Now for the insides...

Class 9 student's take on Microsoft Surface

Last updated on: November 8, 2012 15:02 IST

Surface has a 'Quad-Core' NVIDIA Tegra 3 chipset with 12 graphic cores. Surface offers 2GB of RAM and storage of 32 or 64GB.

It has a 10.6" HD Ready Display with a Resolution of 1366 x 768, an aspect ratio of 16:9 and 5-point multi-touch. The 16:9 aspect ratio is convenient for watching movies. It has 2 microphones and stereo speakers.

Surface has a microSDXC card slot, a headset jack, a HD video out port and a cover port. It also has a gyroscope, an ambient light sensor, a compass and an accelerometer.

Class 9 student's take on Microsoft Surface

Last updated on: November 8, 2012 15:02 IST

Surface has a 31.5 Watt-hour Battery which is charged by a 24W power supply.

Surface has Wi-Fi 802.11 (a/b/g/n) and Bluetooth 4.0. It comes with 1 year warranty.

Overall the Surface tablet is expected to be very productive. It can be used to create content, not only to consume it. Acer, Samsung and Apple in the form of the Transformer Infinity, The Galaxy Tab and the iPad 4, respectively pose stiff competition to the Surface.