Surface Book now available to pre-order in the UK - but it's NOT cheap

MICROSOFT'S first laptop, the highly-anticipated Surface Book, is now available to pre-order in the UK.

 

Microsoft's 'Ultimate Laptop' packs six million pixels, 512GB of internal storage and 16GB of RAM

 

The Surface Book is now available to pre-order in the UK. But it'll cost you.

The stylish aluminium laptop – the first to be designed and built by Microsoft itself – was announced last October, alongside the Microsoft Band 2, Lumia 950 series and Surface Pro 4.

Microsoft opened up pre-orders to UK customers at 12:01am last night via the Microsoft Store, as well as Curry's PC World.

The first batch of Surface Book pre-orders will ship by February 18th, according to the Microsoft website.

Prices start from £1,299, which includes 128GB of internal storage, an Intel i5 processor and 8GB of RAM.

Microsoft charges an eye-watering £2,249 for the top-end model, which bundles 512GB of internal storage, a Core Intel i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and dedicated graphics.

 

Those prices are inevitably going to draw comparisons with Apple's netbook range, something Microsoft embraced at its launch event.

On-stage at the event, the Redmond technology firm claimed its first-ever laptop was twice as fast as the Apple MacBook Pro.

Microsoft has dubbed its new device "the Ultimate Laptop".

And it's hard to disagree, thanks to the stellar specs packed into this lightweight 1,515g Windows 10 machine.

 

The Surface Book has the highest resolution display on a notebook, almost 300 pixels-per-inch

 

The Surface Book has a backlit chiclet keyboard is reportedly one of the quietest on the market

 

Microsoft claims its first laptop PC is the “Ultimate laptop”

 

The Surface Pen attaches to the side of the laptop via magnets

 

The Microsoft Surface Book has the highest resolution display of any laptop – a stunning 13.5-inch PixelSense display with some six millions pixels, or 267 pixels-per-inch.

For comparison, Google's Chromebook Pixel, a previous record holder, has 239 pixels-per-inch. The Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display has 226ppi.

The stunning display on the Surface Book can also be detached thanks to the Muscle Wire Lock technology in the new hinge, dubbed "dynamic fulcrum hinge", transforming it into a Surface tablet.

The bundled Surface Pen, the same redesigned model that ships with the new Surface Pro 4 two-in-one hybrid, can also be used to draw, navigate and annotate on the eye-wateringly sharp display.

 

The display can also be re-attached so that the display is facing away from the keyboard, if you need to use the laptop in a presentation mode, or use the keyboard base to hold the touchscreen display at an angle.

Navigating around the Windows 10 operating system is controlled through the multi-touch glass trackpad.

Microsoft's "ultimate laptop" also includes a chiclet keyboard, with backlit keys which the Redmond firm say are "perfect" for typing and are almost silent when in use.

Data transfer is handled by two USB 3.0 ports, but there is no sign of the new Type-C variation. An SD card slot is also built into the laptop, which sports 12 hours battery life.

"We're moving people from needing to choosing to loving Windows, and these devices promise to fuel even more enthusiasm and opportunity for the entire Windows ecosystem," Chief Executive Satya Nadella announced, during the unveiling of the Surface Book in New York City, last year.

Surface Book will also be available to pre-order in Austria, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand and Switzerland and Australia today.