From cnet.com
Microsoft Surface Go: 10-inch Windows tablet coming Aug. 2 for $399
by Dan AckermanJuly 10, 2018 1:43 AM PDT
It's smaller, more portable and less expensive. But it's also less powerful and
still drives up the real-world cost by excluding must-have extra accessories.
In other words, the new Surface Go from Microsoft is the answer to about half
your PC tablet dreams. But starting at a very reasonable $399, that may be more
than good enough. (Australian price is AU$599 and the US price converts to
roughly £299.)
The Surface Go has a smaller 10-inch display than the 12.3-inch Pro, making it
feel a bit like an iPad ($329 at Walmart). But it also swaps the Core i-series
Intel CPUs for lower-end Pentium processors. That means this new Surface may
feel more like a budget laptop and less like a full PC. It's a step down in
processing power, but the potential silver lining is that for most of what
people do on their PCs today -- surfing the web, media playback, using online
tools and services -- there may not be much of an experiential difference.
The closest comparison is a similar Microsoft product called the Surface 3
(minus the "Pro" designation), which was a 10-inch variant released in 2015
with an Intel Atom processor. At the time, I referred to it as "trickle-down
computing," and said it wasn't powerful enough to be your full-time computer.
We'll have to spend more time testing and using the Surface Go to determine
whether the same is true here.
In person, during a brief hands-on demo session, the 1.15-pound Surface Go felt
like it hit a sweet spot between design and functionality. The smaller body was
perfect for toting around easily in the hand or in a small bag. The best parts
of the Surface experience -- the excellent kickstand, the best-in-class
keyboard cover, the great stylus support -- are all here in miniaturized form.
It also takes a step into the future (some would say present) by adding a USB-C
port. Power can be connected via your own USB-C plug or with the included
magnetic Surface-style power connector.
Key specs
• Intel Pentium Gold Processor 4415Y CPU
• 10-inch, 1,800x1,200 display
• 4GB or 8GB RAM
• 64GB eMMC storage, or 128GB/256GB SSD storage
• 5MP Windows Hello face sign-in camera
• 8MP rear-facing autofocus camera
• USB-C, microSD card and headphone inputs
• Windows 10 S, Home or Pro
Still sold separately
Here's the bad news. While Microsoft has crafted a perfectly scaled backlit
version of its excellent keyboard cover, which I've always considered the most
impressive part of the entire Surface ecosystem, it's somehow still not
included in the purchase price. Like the keyboard covers for the larger Surface
Pro models, you have to buy it separately, starting at $99 (presumably £99 or
AU$139) for plain black or $129 for the Alcantara-covered color versions.
That's about $30 less than the keyboard covers for the full-size Surface Pro.
The Surface Pen stylus is also $99 (£99 or AU$139), and it's the same one as
you'd use on the Surface Pro. That means adding a keyboard and stylus could
bump the price up by 50 percent, which dampens some of the appeal of that low
starting price. While the Surface Pen is the same one Microsoft introduced last
year, there's a new, smaller Mobile Mouse ($35), that also comes in matching
colors.
34-microsoft-surface-go
The new Surface-branded mouse, with the current Surface Pen stylus.
Sarah Tew/CNET
The need for a new Surface
Microsoft's Surface line has taken some big evolutionary steps in the past
couple of years, moving past the original Surface Pro tablet to the heftier
Surface Book (with its Nvidia graphics hardware), the slim Surface Laptop and
even the all-in-one Surface Studio desktop.
But the Surface Pro line has been only minimally updated over its past few
iterations. The processors have been updated, the LTE model is now available to
consumers, and fancier accessories take on the Alcantara fabric look of the
Surface Laptop ($695 at Amazon.com). But there's been nothing big to make you
feel the pull to upgrade, or to consider jumping on Surface bandwagon if you
weren't already sold.
19-microsoft-surface-go
Sarah Tew/CNET
The new smaller Surface takes the laptop-like Pro and shrinks it down to an
iPad's size and price. Running Windows 10S or full Windows 10 ($100 at
Amazon.com) (there's a no-cost upgrade option) and an Intel CPU, even if a
low-end one, this at least makes more sense than the original Surface RT, which
used an ARM CPU and the very limited (and now largely forgotten) Windows RT
operating system.
Give me the keyboard cover with the system, and I'm potentially sold on the
spot. As it is, we'll have to run the Surface Go through our testing process to
see if it'll stand up to the rigors of student or on-the-go business life as
well as a similarly priced clamshell.
The Surface Go will be available starting August 2, initially in Wi-Fi models,
with LTE-equipped models coming later. Preorders start immediately in most
countries, including the US, UK and Australia.
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--
David Goldfield, Assistive Technology Specialist
WWW.David-Goldfield.Com<http://WWW.David-Goldfield.Com>