So the iPad has been around for a while now and is doing pretty well in the 10-inch tablet segment. Until Google came out with its Nexus 10 last year making things a little more competitive. And now, in 2013, Microsoft finally unveiled its Surface Pro, running Windows 8. We think it’s got the potential to overtake the Nexus 10 and maybe even dethrone the iPad from its top spot, at least on paper. But is it really worth investing in?
OS: The Surface Pro, like we mentioned above, runs the full version of Windows Pro – so it’s basically like your laptop, only more portable. The iPad 4 runs the latest version of iOS – iOS6, while the Nexus 10 runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. So in terms of OS, all three are pretty much up to date in their own league.
Display: If you’re looking for a big screen, the Surface Pro does emerge the winner with its 10.6-inch screen, compared to the 10.1-inch screen of the Nexus 10 and the 9.7-inch screen of the iPad. The Surface Pro is fitted with a ClearType Full HD display having a 1920X1080 pixel resolution and has a 10-point multi-touch capability. But if it’s ppi you’re after, the iPad 4 has a 264 ppi resolution, while the Nexus 10 boasts of a tremendous 299 ppi display.
Tech specs: Microsoft’s Surface Pro is as powerful a tablet as you can expect – a 3rd generation Intel Core i5 processor, Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU, and 4 GB of RAM can make it seem almost like a laptop. Compare this to the iPad 4’s 1.4 GHz dual-core processor and 1 GB of RAM, or the Nexus 10’s 1.7 GHz dual-core processor with 2 GB of RAM, and you can see why we’re blown away by Microsoft’s offering.
Pricing: This is the one most important deciding factor for the success of the Surface Pro. While Microsoft hasn’t revealed anything yet, we’re hoping for it to be priced somewhere around $1000. It does make it pricier than the iPad 4 which starts at $499 and the Nexus 10 that starts at $399, but for all that it does, will the consumer shell out the difference?
