An almost perfect Surface Pro 3 replacement.
11.6" is almost an impossible size to describe. The screen is quite bright (even in sun, provided you aren't reflecting the sun), details are sharp (no color bleed-through), and quite quick at 120 frames per second.
The SSD is a Samsung 128GB NAND, and is incredibly quick! From power on to Windows Logon, is maybe 3-4 seconds.
The RAM is a speedy 1333Mhz.
The CPU is a full Haswell (4th gen) i5, and with it's "turbo" function can clock from 1.6Ghz (or lower, depending on use) up to 2.0Ghz. If you are pushing it hard, the rear cover can get a bit hot, but the cooling fan for the CPU/GPU (single chip) at full power is still barely audible. Processing time is not desktop speed, but for mobile photo editing and such, it is a perfectly usable system.
The build is very nice and solid. I've bumped it around a bit with no scars or cracks. The keyboard module (which, really, is an accessory) is not built quite as well, and can creak or pop if it is not on a level surface (e.g. "lap"), but seems durable that it will do the job. The magnetic attachment isn't as strong as Microsoft's method, but in general this won't cause issues. Closed up, the magnets hold it tightly in place.
One thing it seems other reviewers missed, there is one USB 3.0 port! It is also the power charging port, so this can be a little troubling (low battery, but need the socket for data), but it is there, and it performs well. The keyboard dock's USB 2.0 provide enough power for a USB disk burner, which was a pleasant surprise.
The screen was off in spectrum (slightly yellow) but with a bit of work with the Intel video driver that was easily corrected, and this is as accurate as my desktop. Touch by finger is quite accurate, but I recommend a passive capacitive stylus if you need touch control a lot, just for neatness. A microfiber cloth is also recommended, to keep the screen clean.
Audio on the tablet was loud enough to shock me, given the size of the speakers, and the sound is very clear. However, it has ZERO bass, cut mids, and mostly highs (treble) were the most audible. The keyboard dock has additional speakers that fill in the mids, and help with the bass... still "laptop-y", but quite usable. The reversible dock also means you can set this up as a media device with all speakers facing forward.
The 2-cell battery was a worry, but I'm getting easy 3-4 hour runs from it, and if use is dropped (like just reading web text, email, etc.) it can it 5-6 hours easily. Definitely long enough for my needs. The USB type charger provides 20V (not the normal 5V USB is rated at), and charges the battery quite quickly, under an hour. My only worry is that a kid will plug the charging cable into one of their devices, and KABOOM! So when I disconnect the tablet, I unhook the power cable and hide it!
The only real con is that this tablet does not have an active stylus digitizer built into the display. Microsoft had Wacom built in to their version 1 and 2 devices, and swapped to NTrig for version 3 (and 4?), and initially I didn't see the need (especially given that this was HALF of the cost of a comperable Surface Pro 3). However, playing around with it with a JaJa stylus worked quite well (this stylus has it's own supplemental driver, allowing pressure sensitivity and palm rejection), but with the YuFu (JaJa's replacement) Bluetooth stylus coming up for release, I'm fairly certain that this tablet will be able to handle everything I need.
| Standing screen display size | 11.6 Inches |
|---|---|
| Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| Max Screen Resolution | 1920x1080 |
| Processor | 1.6 GHz core_i5 |
| RAM | 4 GB DDR3 |
| Memory Speed | 1600 MHz |
| Hard Drive | 128 GB flash_memory_solid_state |
| Graphics Coprocessor | Intel HD Graphics 4200 |
| Chipset Brand | Intel |
| Card Description | Integrated |
| Wireless Type | 802.11bgn |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 2 |
| Average Battery Life (in hours) | 8 Hours |
