Since the release of Microsoft Surface (Pro), I've been waiting for the release of Surface 2 mainly because I felt that there were a number of a features and specifications that I felt that Surface Pro really should have had at the introduction. However, since the first Surface didn't include these features I had abstained from purchasing it - so here is the list of things that I'm hoping for in the Surface Pro 2 due to be announced on the 23rd of September.
CPU
One of the fundamental reasons that I had abstained from purchasing the gen 1 Surface Pro was the CPU. With the announcement of the Haswell chips from Intel it made decisions around purchasing new hardware very difficult if it didn't have a Haswell chip - the only reason that I had recomended a new laptop to someone was if the laptop had been heavily discounted much like the Windows 7 laptops.
With the improved performance and most importantly the battery life not having a Haswell chip meant that the Surface Pro would have been outdated within the year. With the close relationship and the market share between Microsoft and Intel I found it amazing that Surface Pro didn't have this included at launch, and instead in the same year Apple had announced the refresh of their Macbook Pros with the inclusion of the Haswell chips and then touted the performance and battery life.
Storage
The original Surface Pro came in with a measly 64GB and 128GB models, this is the total capacity once you take away the windows 8 install space, recovery space, etc... you are left with something that is extremely measly. Lets be honest, this is soemthing that I would have expected with Surface RT and not with the Surface Pro. If you are going to put the word 'Pro' on your products name you should try and consider the needs of your target audience, and some of them are not fully sold on housing everything in the cloud.
I'm expecting to have something greater than 256GB, this is a lot to ask but I feel that the Surface Pro should start with a minimum storage of 256GB otherwise you might as well stick a ARM Processor and call it a Surface RT.
WiFi and 3G/4G
Surface Pro contained support for wireless 802.11 a/b/g/n. This fantastic for today and now, however, 802.11ac is around the corner and I although this is all still in the draft stage I would hope that 802.11ac support is included from the get go.
I for one have been looking to 802.11ac as the saviour for my home network which is lagging constantly at the moment, and I'll uping most of the computers and devices to ac using a variety of dongles and PCI cards. This will mean, for me, support for 802.11ac in the Surface Pro 2 is paramount.
While we are discussing the wireless connectivity, a supplementary feature that is a must on the Surface Pro 2 is 3G or 4G connectivity. This will allow me put away my wireless modem for a while (I somehow don't think I'm going to get this feature).
Better Stylus Holder
There has been a number of people commenting on the location of the stylus, the main concern is that it is not secure enough to place the stylus in that position when you storing the surface away in a bag etc... I totally agree with this, while the location is great when you running in and out of a meeting it is not great for transportation. Furthermore the holder doubles as the connection port - great - where do I put the stylus while its charging ???
Keyboard Cover with an Extra Battery
When I first saw the Lenovo Helix I was completely blown away. The design was amazing, however, they were too late with bringing out that product to market. One of the key features was that with keyboard you increased the battery life. This did mean that the keyboard was heavier, but it also meant that your battery life increased with extra juice…
A dock with Extra PORTS
While Surface Pro is great and comes with a number of ports, and with Microsoft's view that these devices will be the post-pc devices, you would expect people to purchase the Surface Pro to try and replace their desktop/laptops etc… so it would be inevitable for the surface to be docked at some stage.
Most importantly, the dock should contain additional ports…and lots of them.
Release Date
Finally, Microsoft should take a page out of Apples book: When you announce a product to the market make sure you release the product quickly (i.e within the week, or month). I was initially interested in the Surface Pro and was at stage almost thinking of taking the hit to purchase the surface pro till the refresh came along - the only thing that stopped me was that Surface Pro was not available. Microsoft, you've probably lost the sale of millions of Surface Pros from people deciding to purchase an alternate product due to not getting your house in order.
So this above list of items/features are what I'm going to be expecting. Microsoft if you want my sale, please make sure the above is included.
