We received this review unit of the Microsoft Surface Pro last week but we only got to unbox it this week-end. We also got to compare it with our own MS Surface RT (which we reviewed earlier here).
The Surface Pro is the version which closely resembles a full-blown laptop with a powerful Intel Core i5 processor under the hood. The device can be technically considered an ultrabook once you pair it with the keyboard cover.
Based on the design and form factor, the Surface Pro is very similar to the Surface RT although the Pro is slightly thicker than the RT and it comes with a dedicated stylus, just in case you want to draw or sketch on the touchscreen display.
There are two variants of the Surface Pro — one with 64GB SSD and the other with 128GB.
Microsoft Surface Pro specs:
10-inch ClearType HD Display @ 1920×1080 pixels
Intel Core i5
Intel HD Graphics 4000
4GB DDR3 RAM
128GB SSD
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
Rear camera @ 720p
Front-facing webcam @ 720p
USB 3.0 port
microSDXC card slot
Headset jack
Mini DisplayPort
42 W-h battery
Windows 8 Pro
10.81 x 6.81 x 0.53 inches (dimensions)
2lbs (weight)
The pen/stylus comes with the box while the keyboard attachment and cover is sold separately.
The tablet has a built-in metal stand at the back which flips out to give you a free-standing position at about 135-degrees angle. The extra sheet of metal that connects with the stand probably serves as some sort of ventilation (the device can heat up fairly fast).
Using either the stylus, the trackpad on the cover or an external mouse (via USB or Bluetooth), the Surface Pro can basically do anything a regular laptop or ultrabook can — including some serious gaming, video and office productivity (Photoshop/Premiere) and everything else in between.
For the most part, we can theoretically say it’s a good contender for a netbook replacement and likely candidate as an alternative to an ultrabook.
Unlike the Surface RT which failed to impress us as a laptop replacement, the Surface Pro supports basically all apps and programs we run on our regular Windows machine.
We still need to spend some more time with it, use the device as a laptop replacement and observe any difference (good or bad) from this kind of setup. We will get back to you for the full review in a week or two.
The device is not officially released here in the Philippines but there are several grey market units already selling them in the Php60k range. The review unit was lent to us by the good folks from Galleon.ph (see listing of the Surface Pro here). They have order-basis units starting at Php49k for the Core i5 model.
We’re pretty sure everyone here has had a bad experience with their local internet service providers. While some continue to agonize with lack of support, intermittent service, or unfulfilled broadband speeds, the rest will just shut up and move on to the next provider.
Paying Php999 a month for 1Mbps? That’s about Php1.40 per hour for 24/7 each month. Even if your ISP is only giving you 256Kbps from that 1Mbps promise, we don’t think they feel they’re making any profits from subscribers. Add to that the cost of laying out underground cables to your neighborhood, paying for call center reps, sending technicians to your home — no ISP will think Php1.40 per hour will cut it.
So what do they do? They will also undercut you. After watching this video, you will know why.
Your local ISP — “you won’t like it, but there’s no other option”. Click like/share if you think that’s true. :p
Samsung has probably one of the most number of tablets in the market. The line-up is so packed that it is split between two categories — the Galaxy Tab and the Galaxy Note. The Galaxy Note 8.0 combines the best of both the Galaxy Tab brand and the Galaxy S brand. Why? Check out our full review of the Galaxy Note 8.0 below.
Most folks think that the Galaxy Note 8.0 was Samsung’s response to Apple’s iPad Mini. However, if you trace back Samsung’s tablet history, they were the first one to make a 7-inch tablet with the Galaxy Tab 7 (introduced in September 2010).
Since then, it was followed by the Galaxy Tab 7.7, Galaxy Tab 8.9 and then the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus and Galaxy Tab 2 7.0. The Galaxy Note 8.0 is already the 6th in the line of 7-8 inchers. So it’s only but logical to believe that it was Samsung who convinced Apple to make the iPad Mini.
Before we get into the meaty details, check out our video preview below:
If you’ve tried the Galaxy Note 2 and the Note 10.1, we’re pretty sure majority of the features and functionalities are just the same. The Note 8.0 is mostly a play on the size and form factor of the tablet and nothing more.
Design & Construction
The Galaxy Note 8.0 can be easily identified as Samsung. It looks like a much larger Galaxy Note 2 with slightly different details. Plastic surrounds the hardware of the device, creating a lightweight feel for the tablet. It doesn’t feel as cheap as you’d expect and is solidly constructed all around. It may get hard to hold with one hand though, as you’ll really need two-handed operation.
On top you’ll find the place for the 3.5mm audio jack. On the left side you’ll find the micro SD card slot and place for the micro SIM. All the way to the right you can see the power button that is quite difficult to handle, the volume rocker and the IR blaster. Down below you’ll find the S-Pen, along with the speakers and the micro USB port.
Samsung employs the menu, back and home buttons down below the display which is a unique call compared to other tablets. In practice however, it doesn’t feel any different from on-screen buttons.
Some news are stating the Galaxy Note 8.0 will also come in different colors, specifically black. For the meantime, we’re stuck with white and we have to say it gets pretty dirty really easily. The back basically attracts mostly any type of dirt or debris that it can encounter, so keep in mind to buy a case or to have a cloth with you to help clean the device when needed.
Display
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 features an 8-inch LCD display with a resolution of 800 x 1280 pixels, which gives out a ppi of 189. Now, for multimedia purposes, the 8-inch idea works well; it’s a convergence of portability without much compromise for experience. It feels much better for use with the S-Pen, but on the other hand, the display makes things less portable than a 7-inch tablet (totally no one-handed operation) and more crazy looking for a phone.
The resolution of the device feels like it’s on the edge of being good. It’s acceptable for the most part, but there are just some cases like the icon texts where we feel like pixels have the tendency to show. Color saturation works great here as an LCD panel. It’s no AMOLED screen, but it does quite well compared to it as blacks have a certain depth to it. We didn’t have a problem with viewing angles on the other hand, and even elements such as the brightness level impressed us as well.
OS, Apps & UI
Android 4.1.2 runs the show here, but is skinned similarly to other Samsung devices. Moreover, it features the apps that can be found on other Note devices too. Samsung is obviously pushing you to use their native software — AllShare, Samsung’s Hubs, Paper Artist, aNote HD, Dropbox, S-Voice & all the other Samsung apps such as S-Planner.
Also included are all the features found in the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, such as AirView.
The slightly longer S-Pen now works with the capacitive buttons unlike before, and we observed that palm rejection works great when drawing stuff with the stylus. It was responsive all-around, and from navigation to drawing/handwriting.
With the bigger screen, Samsung did very few difference from their phone interface. It’s very similar to the phone UI, and has less similarities to, let’s say, the homescreen of its bigger brother, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1.
Multimedia & Camera
Video playback goes smooth as we said that the display greatly compliments the experience. The speakers come as a great partner to the said experience as it produces loud and clear audio compared to other devices. Like we said, the speakers go at the bottom of the tablet and not behind it, which equates to no nuisances at all.
For a tablet, the 5MP camera does great on good lighting conditions since details remain sharp and colors remain vivid.
On low-light environments, the image quality starts to struggle and becomes grainy. Luckily, if you can adjust photo lighting to your preference through 3rd-party software, your photos may not turn out to be useless after all.
Video capture at 720p works average on the other hand. Mediocre is the sound captured and focus is on the slow side since details remain flat while everything works smoothly from colors to exposure management.
We were disappointed that, despite the powerful hardware, the device cannot record a full HD 1080 video.
The tablet features an IR blaster so that you can use the tablet as a remote for your TV. It comes with bundled software and the selection of media devices that it can manipulate is quite good. The software however needs to be sorted out as two-digit channels cannot be inputted with a TV that needs a specific button for it – and the software doesn’t have that button. To cut it shortly, you’ll need to go to two-digit channels manually by default.
Performance & Benchmarks
With a 1.6GHz quad-core processor under the hood, along with 2GB RAM, the device runs very smoothly. From social networking to gaming, we didn’t encounter problems with it.
The Galaxy Note 8.0 got a score of 6,787 on Quadrant, 16,946 on Antutu & and 59.6fps on Nenamark 2. The results definitely showed that it packs almost the same hardware muscle as with its other Galaxy Note siblings.
We ran it through a video loop at 50% brightness and 50% volume, and we managed to drain a full battery in more or less 5 hours. Through moderate use (slight gaming and internet browsing), it managed to live through a day with a little more juice before sleeping.
Conclusion
While some portion of the market would bend towards bigger tablets, while the others go towards the smaller ones, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 tries to meet both needs – and safe to say it succeeds. It’s no titan in the camera battlefield, and it might look crazy if you’re going to hold it up to your ear to take a call, but if you can go buy a Bluetooth headset and accept a size compromise, the Galaxy Note 8.0 can easily replace all your mobile devices — your large tablet and your smartphone.
The Galaxy Note 8.0 has a suggested retail price of Php23,990 (WiFi+3G) and will be released in the Philippines on April 13, 2013.
It’s about Php2k more expensive than an iPad Mini WiFi+3G but we think Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 P3100 (WiFi+3G) already has that price point covered at Php15k.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 N5100 specs:
8-inch TFT LCD display @ 800×1280 pixels, 189ppi)
Exynos 4412 1.6GHz quad-core CPU
Mali 400MP GPU
2GB RAM
16/32GB internal storage
microSD support up to 64GB
5 megapixel camera, 720p video capture
1.3 megapixel front-facing camera
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA
3G/HSPA+
IR Blaster
GPS with aGPS support, GLONASS
Bluetooth 4.0
Android 4.1.2 Jellybean
Li-Ion 4,600mAh battery, non-removable
210.8 x 135.9 x 8mm (dimensions)
338 grams (weight)
Photography is a superb skill to discover and succeed in. There are lots of different reasons a person should learn how to get photographs. There are various moments that might be worth remembering and may easily be using the right camera.
Some people are beaten down from pursuing photography. Certain DSLR cameras can be quite expensive plus they view it as being a hobby that you’ll require money for – but that’s not true in any way. Even if you only have a little money you can buy a relatively cheap digital camera that you won’t should buy constant film for. As soon as you invest in it, you can worry about the lights and backdrops to make your subject look professional. You can boost your skill with the help of lenses for your camera set which assists you to take different kinds of pictures while keeping focused beautifully over a subject wherever it’s at. If you’d prefer the idea of portrait photography, you will require big backdrops for the photos and a nice two to four set of lights stands. It will likewise be beneficial for you to read up on photography a bit before you embark on the journey since there are certain keywords like aperture and shutter speed which will be imperative to finding out how a digital camera works. Regardless of what your subject could be, with the right eye, knowledge and cameras, anyone can create a beautiful work of genius. Photography is an excellent hobby to consider as well as a quite interesting and captivating profession for those interested. For your upcoming photography endeavor, you can trust the LA shop to look for all future equipment needs.
BlackBerry’s comeback in the smartphone market will be determined by the success of the BlackBerry Z10 and the new BB 10 OS. Check out our full review of the BlackBerry Z10 after the break.
RIM’s (Research in Motion) overhaul is a trifecta of a brand new OS, a new hardware and design signature capped with a re-branding from being called RIM to just BlackBerry.
It’s a big, bold move that got a lot of attention and indeed they’re getting some traction. It’s not a huge one but certainly something that’s in the positive direction.
Design and Construction.
The BlackBerry Z10 is the first flagship handset running the new BB 10 OS and, as such, represents the shift in BlackBerry’s approach in the smartphone market. The Z10 is a good start with its large, 4.2-inch full touch screen display. The handset is actually relatively large for a 4.2-incher, with the polycarbonate chassis.
We were able to use and test both the black and the white variants as well as the LTE model and the non-LTE (3G) model so we have a pretty good experience between the two.
The black model has a matte and rubbery back panel while the white model has a more polished dimpled finish (perhaps to keep the dirt away). We liked the look and feel of the white model better as it highlights the refined finish of the device and the contrast between the rim and the dark display.
The power button is situated at the top side of the unit along with the 3.5mm headphone jack and the noise-canceling mic. The right side are the controls to the volume controls that flank the voice action button (an attempt to copy the long-forgotten Siri).
The left side is where the micro-USB port is placed for charging and the micro-HDMI port for external display output. The speaker grills are found at the bottom end. At 9mm on the side, it doesn’t feel too thin nor too thick at all, plus the weight is just a little on the heavy end.
At the back is the large BlackBerry logo (in glossy silver) as well as the camera and LED flash, all tucked in the top left corner. The battery cover has a polished polycarbonate material with some dimpled texture for better grip.
The front panel is almost entirely covered with glass with a small strip of plastic coating on the top and bottom corner. There are no physical buttons here whatsoever so it’s actually a bit of a challenge to figure it out if you’re a first-time user.
Display.
The Z10 only has a 4.2-inch display which is slightly larger than the iPhone 5 but generally much smaller than many high-end to mid-range smartphones in the market. The chassis looks big though and the glass panel may seem expansive but that’s because of the wide bezel of the screen. The thick slab of glass is also fitted into a thin, black metallic frame.
With a resolution of 768×1280 pixels, the screen has a much better resolution than the iPhone 5 at 355ppi. And true enough, the quality of the display is evident when watching HD movies. Viewing angles are good, color saturation is rich but even and has ample brightness to give good contrast and outdoor visibility.
The screen has an unusual aspect ratio of 15:9 so you will notice a thin, black border on the sides when playing videos in landscape position.
We’re not particularly sure what type of glass or LCD was used by BlackBerry on the Z10 but it seems solid and durable. What we didn’t like about it was that the screen gets smudged with oil pretty easily and an absolute fingerprint magnet.
OS, UI, Apps.
If there’s anything that poses a big challenge to new users of the BlackBerry Z10, it is going to be the BB 10 OS. People who used to own the BlackBerry Playbook might be already somewhat familiar with it but the ones who have been using BB 6 or BB 7 OS are in it for a bit of a surprise.
The BlackBerry 10 OS is purely gesture based — flick/swipe to the right side of the screen will scroll you across the app lists; swipe/flick from the left side of the screen will bring you to the BlackBerry Hub; swipe up from the bottom of screen will show you the open panels/windows (running apps); swipe down will bring you to shortcuts for settings.
The call button, search and camera shortcut will appear at the bottom while you’re in the app list or the panel window. They disappear once you get to the Hub, where all messaging and social media accounts converge to give you a centralized view of all messages you receive.
Once you get familiarized with these gesture commands, you’d be up and running in no time. However, if you’re already too comfortable with iOS or Android, you will definitely need some time to get the hang of it.
Access to over 100,000 apps can be done via the BlackBerry AppWorld. What’s really nice and unique with their marketplace is that they allow users several ways to pay for the apps and once of the most convenient method was thru Paypal.
However, despite the fact that the number of apps in BB AppWorld has already surpassed the 6-digit mark, we were still left looking for the usual apps we normally get from the iTunes Store or Google Play. The essential ones are actually there (Instagram is missing if you search for it but you can actually get it by side-loading the app from your PC).
One of the nicest features that we think BlackBerry has put a lot of focus on was the virtual keyboard. BlackBerry has been known to design the best physical keyboard so it’s surprising that they’re able to meet expectations when it comes to the virtual keyboard.
Even the text and word prediction is pretty smart. While typing the letters or words, the keyboard offers suggestions right on top of the next probable letter you will tap. To auto-complete, just swipe the words. It’s actually intuitive and easy to use.
Multimedia and Camera.
We never really regard the BB as a multimedia device but the Z10 showed good promise in that department. The device handles media files just fine — 1080p videos plays smoothly, HD games load well and movie playback is exceptionally long in terms of battery life. We were disappointed with the volume of the speakers though.
The 8MP camera has exceptional optics and performs well even on low-light conditions. Focusing is fast and exposure is very even, images are clean and crisp, well saturated and colors are vivid.
Here are sample photos taken with the Z10:
Video recording quality is also equally good at full HD 1080p. Quality is obviously miles away from any previous BlackBerry handset we’ve ever tested. Here are some sample clips we took:
Coming from a lot of previous BlackBerry handsets that didn’t give much attention to the camera, we’re pretty impressed with the performance of the 8MP shooter on the Z10.
Performance and Benchmarks.
The device, with its pretty decent hardware specification, pretty much handles all the OS and app requirements that we managed to run it with. The UI is pretty smooth, apps load fairly quick, and multi-tasking is very optimized (only the last 8 apps remain accessible in the panels window, probably to keep the memory/RAM free for newer tasks).
We couldn’t get any other benchmark tool to test the device with so we settled with GeekBench. The Z10 scored 1,463 but since this is the first BB 10 handset we’ve tested, we can’t really compare it with anything else.
The result was taken from the non-LTE version running TI OMAP so we’ll have to test the Snapdragon version to be able to compare the relative performance between the two.
Call Quality, Connectivity and Battery Life.
Call quality is decent with the BB Z10. There are some noticeable distortions in the voice once in a while but for the most part, the audio quality is decent to good. Text messages are pretty fast, both with sending and receiving.
What could be the biggest difference between BB 10 OS and the previous BB OSes is the absence of push email. Emails are now pulled every 15 minutes or so, just like what you would have them in Android and iOS.
BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service) is also gone and all you need is basic data service. This is certainly good news to a lot of people who subscribe to BIS and Data separately. However, those who relied heavily on BIS and push email will sorely miss these features.
Battery life of the BlackBerry Z10 is actually good but it still depends on your usage behavior. We fired up a number of 45-minute TV series and the device lasted for about 9.5 hours continuous playback with 50% screen brightness and 50% volume (WiFi is on but no other apps running at the background).
At that rate, it’s actually already in the range of the battery life of tablets which is pretty impressive (we were actually surprised ourselves).
However, with other tasks like web surfing and playing games, it’s much more battery-hungry. With regular but moderate use, we are able to last more than a day from a single full charge. For heavy internet users, expect the device not to last the entire day. Good thing it has a removable battery at the back.
We liked the fact that there’s NFC and LTE on the Z10. However, take note that there’s a 3G-only version so stay away from that. With the LTE version, we managed to get as high as 28Mbps downlink speeds with Globe LTE.
Conclusion.
With the introduction of the Z10, we believe BlackBerry has finally embraced the smartphone market. It’s got a modern design, a competitive hardware configuration, and a unique operating system that has lots of potential.
We think the BlackBerry Z10 is a move in the right direction. It may look like it still needs some catching up to do in terms of the app ecosystem compared to iOS or the hardware muscle that a lot of Android handsets are bulking up with but it’s a gap that we think is already narrowing, unlike a year or two ago. For most BlackBerry users, the Z10 is a smartphone they can finally be really proud of.
The BlackBerry Z10 has a suggested retail price of Php29,990. It’s available for free on Smart All-In Plan 1800 and Sun Plan 1799 (3G version only) as well a Globe Plan 1799 (LTE version exclusive to Globe).
BlackBerry Z10 LTE specs:
4.2-inch display @ 1280×768 pixels, 356ppi
Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon 1.5GHz dual-core Krait
Adreno 225 Graphics
2GB of RAM
16GB of internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD card
8MP rear camera
2MP front-facing
micro HDMI
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, dual-band
Bluetooth 4.0
NFC
LTE 100Mbps
GPS w/ aGPS support
Li-Ion 1,800 mAh battery
BlackBerry 10 OS
137.5 grams (weight)
130 x 65.6 x 9mm (dimensions)
BlackBerry Z10 3G specs:
4.2-inch display @ 1280×768 pixels, 356ppi
Texas Instruments OMAP 4470 1.5GHz dual-core
PowerVR SGX544 GPU
2GB of RAM
16GB of internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD card
8MP rear camera
2MP front-facing
micro HDMI
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, dual-band
Bluetooth 4.0
NFC
3G/HSPA+ 21Mbps
GPS w/ aGPS support
Li-Ion 1,800 mAh battery
BlackBerry 10 OS
What we liked about it:
* Nice design and solid build quality
* LTE support (Globe only though)
* Great virtual keyboard
* Impressive camera
* Google performance
* No need for BIS
What we did not like:
* UI has steep learning curve
* Missing apps in BB World
* No push email
* A bit pricey
