Microsoft released the Surface Book on October 26, 2015 in the US, with later release dates for other countries.
In the barely two months since its launch, the Surface Book has gained a lot of traction on the market, by some reports, accounting (along with the Surface Pros) for what appears to be Microsoft’s new-found dominance over Apple in the tablet sales category.
This success is as surprising as it is easy to understand.
Easy because the Microsoft Surface Book, despite initial announcements of being Microsoft’s first laptop, is in fact more than that: a laptop-tablet hybrid (which counts in the above mentioned report)!
Surprising, because not many expected that there was a good potential market for laptop-tablet hybrids out there just waiting to be tapped. Which Microsoft seems to not only have confirmed, but already dominated.
The design and functionality of the Microsoft Surface Book is, admittedly, impressive.
It splits into two parts: a bottom, solid keyboard base which also has the nifty capability of acting as a tablet stand and a top, completely functional and detachable tablet (including a battery).
When connected, they become a proper laptop. In other words, it doesn’t look, feel or function like a tablet with a support that happens to be a keyboard.
This also has to do with the brilliant hinge that allows you to move the screen of the laptop (in this case the tablet itself).
Because most of the important hardware is built-in into the tablet, it is of course heavier than a normal laptop screen. So the hinge was a critical component to take into account to prevent the screen from closing or falling backwards under its weight.
It’s made of multiple strong segments that neatly extend or retract as needed.
However, there’s a downside to this as well: when in a fully closed position, because of these segments, there is a bit of space at the back of the laptop, where the keyboard base and tablet are joined (think the spine, if the laptop where a book).
The tablet itself is a 13.5 inch display one, but with an intriguing, not so frequently used 3:2 ratio. It’s also slim: 8.5 mm.
As regards technical specifications, the Microsoft Surface Book is highly capable. With varying configurations you can choose from, but all of them with sufficient computing power and capabilities.
From the Intel ‘Skylake’ Core i5 CPU, 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of SSD storage cheaper entry-level models to the more expensive higher-end Core i7 CPU, 16 GB of RAM, and 1 TB of SSD storage ones. The latter also has a dedicated 1GB Nvidia GPU.
Prices currently range from 1,499 $ to 3,199 $.
Whether the Microsoft Surface Book success was just a fluke or Microsoft is actually on to something remains to be seen, but early signs are very promising. What do you think?
Image source: 1.
