I’ve spent the last 6 months playing with my new computer system from Microsoft. The Microsoft Surface Studio, an all-in-one desktop PC created specifically for designers.
What I was after was a system with an integrated screen/pressure sensitive tablet for drawing directly on screen with a stylus. I got a lot more. I didn’t really understand how good the screen was until it arrived. It’s big, really big. You only see the edges out of the corner of your eye and the resolution is crisp (4500 x 3000 pixels). And when you lay it down as a draft table on your desk… wow. I now almost always have the screen tilted back at about 10°, now vertical looks strange.
Being able to move and zoom with on hand touching the screen and the other sketching with the stylus is so intuitive.
The main specs;
Screen: 28 in PixelSense Display
Resolution: 4500 x 3000 (192 DPI)
Color settings: Adobe sRGB, DCI-P3 and Vivid Color Profiles, Individually color calibrated
Touch: 10-point multi-touch
Processor: Quad-core 6th Gen Intel Core i7
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M 4GB GPU GDDR5 memory
Storage: Rapid hybrid drive 2TB
Memory: 32GB RAM
THE GOOD
The most amazing quality screen you have ever used.
Tilting your screen flat.
Pen and touch.
Quiet.
THE BAD
The cost.
Not upgradable.
Almost no programs work with the surface Dial.
The screen is too glossy.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Does this make me a better designer? Well, no. Of course not, it’s just a tool, but it does make my working day more enjoyable and tasks are quicker to perform on this system.
Should you buy one? If you can afford it, yeah go for it, it’s a lot of fun.
Microsoft are again and again showing Apple what the future holds. This is the future and it’s a blast!
