Microsoft Surface Book

The Surface Book's design is pure function. The inventiveness in its form hinges quite literally on the new Dynamic Fulcrum Hinge, a flexible aluminum “muscle” with four rotational points to allow the laptop's screen to easily, steadily bend all the way around to become a clipboard folio, or to detach completely to become a tablet. The screen detaches and securely reattaches with the push of a button, and is securely held in place by a Muscle Wire Lock made of nitinol, a metal that contracts when it comes into contact with an electrical charge.

The 3.34-pound machine, which Wired magazine called “easily the most compelling device” Microsoft has ever made, is the first full-sized laptop in the Microsoft Surface family. It packs powerful specs, including a full-sized, back-lit keyboard; two USB ports; a DisplayPort; and an SD slot.

The keyboard trackpad is smooth and glassy, designed to be meticulously responsive. The 13.5-inch screen, a 3:2 aspect ratio, was designed for maximum viewing angles, and is enabled for touch and pen.

The attached Surface Pen combines 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity with low latency. That, plus Palm Block technology, means you can rest your pal on the screen and write naturally for an authentic, pen-on-paper or creative canvas feeling.

The aim of the Surface Book was to provide creative professionals with a beautiful, commanding laptop - one powerful enough to use professional-grade photo and video editing tools, and flexible enough to adapt to all the different ways and places people get things done.