Difference between Microsoft Surface Pro and Dell Latitude 10 Windows Tablet

Key difference: At the time of its release, the Microsoft Surface was touted as the perfect cross between a tablet and a laptop. It was initially released February 2013. The Microsoft Surface Pro features a 10.6-inch ClearType HD screen with approximately 208 ppi pixel density. The screen is full HD, a feature not readily avilable in most tablets. The device runs Microsoft Windows 8, which the same OS that is being run in various laptops and desktops. The device has Full Windows capability. It can practically run all Windows programs, including games. The Latitude 10 tablet is quite slick and light weight at 658 grams. The devices comes with a 10.1-inch IPS (1366 X 768) Wide View Angle LCD capacitive touch screen and is powered by a 1.8 GHz Intel Atom Z2760 processor.

Today is the world of smartphones and tablets. So, much so that tablets and smartphones are attempting to replace the traditional and bulky desktops and laptops. The Microsoft Surface is a series of tablets that aim to do just that. The advantage that the Surface has over a number of other tablets is that it will run the Microsoft Windows operating system, whereas most other tablets run Android. The iPad runs the iOS which is more similar to the iPhone OS rather than a Mac OS. Hence, at the time of its release, the Microsoft Surface was touted as the perfect cross between a tablet and a laptop. It was initially released February 2013.

The Microsoft Surface Pro features a 10.6-inch ClearType HD screen with approximately 208 ppi pixel density. The screen is full HD, a feature not readily avilable in most tablets. The screen affords the true 16:9 aspect ratio which matches most movies and shows, eliminating the black bars that pop up. The Microsoft Surface Pro also has a 10 point multi-touch.

Microsoft Surface Pro is powered by a Dual-core 1.7 GHz Intel Core i5-3317U processor, which is backed by 4 GB of RAM. It also features two cameras, a front-facing and a rear-facing. Both are 720p HD LifeCams with True Color.

The device runs Microsoft Windows 8 Professional, which the same OS that is being run in various laptops and desktops. The device has Full Windows capability. It can practically run all Windows programs, including games.

The device comes in three memory size variants: 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB. However, the actual memory storage available for the user is 23GB for the 64 GB variant and 85GB for  128 GB variant. The actual user memory available for the 256 GB is not currently specified. The size disparency is because of the system backup storage recovery partition, which can be manually deleted by experiences users.

The input devices for the Microsoft Surface Pro includes an on screen keyboard, a physical keyboard that doubles as a cover, as well as a pen stylus. The physical keyboard can be purchased separately or as part of a combo with the device itself. It attaches magnetically and electrically to the base of the tablet.

Physically, the device is quite similar to the Microsoft Surface RT, same look, and same color. However, it is thicker than the RT and has a full USB 3.0 port, in addition to a Micro-HDMI port, microSDXC card slot, Headset jack, Mini DisplayPort and Cover port. Similar to RT, it also has a built in kickstand, which has been critized by some as beinf too difficult to manage. Additionally, Microsoft has also acknowledged issues with the stylus pen. The stylus pen has been reported by some users as randomly not working correctly, especially with older applications that do not have complete pen support. There have also been some reported issues with Wi-Fi and while waking up from standby mode.

 Dell is a popular computer manufacturer, which has made a name for itself in the laptop and desktop market. However, the company is still trying to garner a name for itself in the tablet market. The company launched the new Dell Latitude 10 Windows tablet in the beginning of 2013, that claims to bring all professional and personal needs of the desktop and laptop to a portable tablet. The tablet runs on Windows UI and OS to make it compatible with almost all Windows desktops and PCs.

The Latitude 10 tablet is quite slick and light weight at 658 grams without the dock and only the two-cell battery, with the four cell battery the device can weigh around 850 grams. The device is quite easy to hold in landscape mode, while in portrait it is a bit bulky and awkward. The devices comes with a 10.1-inch IPS (1366 X 768) Wide View Angle LCD capacitive touch screen that provides a decent enough resolution; however, the device does fall short on pixel density compared to the top-of-the-line tablets. The device also provides adequate picture quality, nothing mind-blowing, but it’s bad enough to complain either. The screen is made of Corning Gorilla Glass that protects it from shattering and small scratches.

The company has incorporated a number of ports for easy connectivity on the device itself such as USB 2.0, SD Memory Card Reader, Docking Connector, Stereo headphone/ Microphone combo jack, Mini-HDMI, Micro-USB charging port and Micro-SIM slot. The device also has the volume rocker and the power button on it in addition to all the ports. The device can be made into a laptop, similar to the other tablets in the category with a dock. However, the dock differs a little from the others and is only a plastic base with a metal support plate that stands at a weird angle and holds the tablet up. The dock itself houses four USB ports, an HDMI output, an audio-out jack and an Ethernet connection. The dock allows the device to support external keyboards and mouse that can be attached to the device.

The device is powered by a 1.8 GHz Intel Atom Z2760 Processor with Intel® Burst Technology, making it quite fast and powerful for handling day to day functions. The tablet also runs a full version of the 32-bit Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro (depending on the pricing of the model), which means that a person can use it as a proper desktop and install own desktop software, run different programs as they would on a proper desktop computer. This makes the tablet very customizable for personal as well as professional needs. The device comes with a 2 GB RAM, which lacks performance compared to the Core i5 processors. According to many review websites, the system is best for simple tasks and limited multitasking. The system also is a bit sluggish, when shifting from portrait to landscape modes.

The tablet comes with two battery options: 2-cell (30Whr) Lithium Ion battery (swappable) and optional 4-cell (60Whr) Lithium Ion battery (swappable) for more power. The battery life is quite excellent and should last around 10 hours, according to Dell. The swappable battery allows users to get more juice out of the device by doubling the battery life. The tablet also comes in three different variants: $649 - Dell Latitude 10 essentials configuration - 64GB storage; $899 - Dell Latitude 10 - 64GB storage and $999 - Dell Latitude 10 (enhanced security) - 128GB storage. They have slight differences and added features that are available in the higher priced version; however, the hardware is the same in all of the versions.  The additional features in the high end tablet include fingerprint and smart card reader. The second and the third version come with Windows 8 Pro, while the basic one comes with Windows 8. Addition features in the two most expensive models are: Wacom stylus support, rear LED flash, micro-USB charging port, mini-HDMI port, micro-SIM slot and hardware TPM chip.

The information for the detailed table about the two devices has been taken from the Microsoft website, Dell Website, Sydney Morning Herald Website, CNet.com and Wikipedia.

 

Microsoft Surface Pro

Latitude 10 Windows Tablet

Launch Date

February 2013

Q1/2013

Company

Microsoft

Dell

Size

275 x 173 x 13 mm

274 x 176 x 15.9mm

Display

10.6 inches ClearType HD screen

10.1-inch screen IPS Wide View Angle LCD capacitive touch

Screen

1920 x 1080 pixels (~208 ppi pixel density) 16M colors

1366 x 768 pixels (~155 ppi pixel density)

Protection

VaporMg casing

Corning Gorilla Glass

Weight

910 grams

658 grams/ 820 grams

2G Network

N/A

-

3G Network

N/A

-

4G Network

N/A

4G LTE Multi-mode (Dell Wireless DW5806 for AT&T, Sprint and

Verizon Wireless) Option

GUI

Windows 8 Pro

Windows 8 UI

CPU speed

Dual-core 1.7 GHz Intel Core i5-3317U

1.8 GHz Intel Atom Z2760 Processor with Intel Burst Technology

GPU

Intel HD Graphics 4000

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator

OS

Windows 8 Pro

Windows 8/ Windows 8 Pro

Chipset

Intel Core i5

Intel Atom Z2760

RAM

4GB RAM—Dual Channel Memory

2 GB

SIM Size

N/A

miniSIM (WWAN-only

Internal Memory

64/128/256 GB

64 GB

Expandable Memory

microSDXC card slot

Up to 128GB

Sensors

Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass

Ambient light sensor

Connectivity

Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi direct, Bluetooth, USB

Wireless LAN + Bluetooth (Standard):

Dell Wireless 1536C (802.11 a/b/g/n 1X1) and Bluetooth 4.0 LE Combo Card

Mobile Broadband4 & GPS Options:

Dell Wireless  5565 HSPA+ Mini Card Option

Gobi 4G LTE Multi-mode (Dell Wireless DW5806 for AT&T, Sprint and

Verizon Wireless) Option

Data

WLAN, Bluetooth, USB

USB, Wi-Fi, HDMI, SIM (Data only), Bluetooth

Speed

-

1.5GHz HFM, 600MHz LFM

WLAN

Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)

Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n 1X1

Bluetooth

Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy technology

Bluetooth v4.0

USB

Full-size USB 3.0

USB v2.0

Primary Camera

720p HD LifeCams with True Color

8 MP rear camera

Secondary Camera

720p HD LifeCams with True Color

2 MP front camera

Video

720p @ 30fps

720p HD video recording capability

Camera Features

Geo-tagging

Autofocus

LED Flash

Sound Enhancement

Microphone, Stereo speakers

stereo headphone/ microphone combo jack, integrated/ noise reduction array microphones

Audio supported formats

MP3/ WAV/ eAAC+ player

-

Video supported formats

MP4/ DivX/ Xvid/ H.264/ H.263 player

-

Battery Capacity

42 W-h

2-cell (30Whr) Lithium Ion battery (swappable)

Optional 4-cell (60Whr) Lithium Ion battery (swappable)

Talktime/ Multimedia

-

Up to 10 hours

Standby Time

-

-

Available Colors

Dark Titanium

Black

Messaging

Email, Push Email, IM

Email, Push Email, IM

Browser

HTML5

HTML5

Radio

No

No

GPS

Yes

-

Java

-

No

Additional Features

  • Full-size USB 3.0
  • microSDXC card slot
  • Headset jack
  • Mini DisplayPort
  • Cover port
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Accelerometer
  • Gyroscope
  • Compass
  • Windows Mail and Messaging
  • SkyDrive
  • Internet Explorer 10
  • Bing
  • Xbox Music Video, and Games.
  • Optional docking capabilities with external keyboard and mouse
  • Optional Wacom Active Stylus
  • External USB DVD+/-RW (optional)
  • Dell Data Protection | Access
  • Intel® Platform Trust Technology
  • Trusted Platform Module (TPM)5 1.2 enabled
  • Chassis lock slot support
  • Support for optional Computrace
  • Compatible with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager

Image Courtesy: microsoft.com, dell.com

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