When comparing Microsoft Surface Pro 4 vs Wacom Intuos Pro Medium, the Slant community recommends Microsoft Surface Pro 4 for most people. In the question“What are the best graphics tablets?” Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is ranked 2nd while Wacom Intuos Pro Medium is ranked 3rd. The most important reason people chose Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is:
The (included) Surface Pen has a very interesting set of features - it allows for 1024 points of pressure, has an eraser on top, and when you click the eraser it will open Cortana (Microsoft's new voice assistant). It's magnetized, so it will stick to the left side of the Surface. The Surface achieves all of this via its new N-trig technology (replacing the Wacom technology found in older generation models). There's also palm rejection technology, so whenever the pen tip it close to the screen is will ignore all finger or palm touches.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Great pen support
The (included) Surface Pen has a very interesting set of features - it allows for 1024 points of pressure, has an eraser on top, and when you click the eraser it will open Cortana (Microsoft's new voice assistant). It's magnetized, so it will stick to the left side of the Surface. The Surface achieves all of this via its new N-trig technology (replacing the Wacom technology found in older generation models). There's also palm rejection technology, so whenever the pen tip it close to the screen is will ignore all finger or palm touches.
Pro Laptop-level specs
The Surface Pro 4 comes in configurations from core M up to a core i7. RAM starts at 4GB, and goes to 16GB. Storage caps out at 256GB of SSD storage, which should be enough for most users. These are all specs that can be found in most laptops - even beating out some budget-midrange desktop options.
Pro Good expandability options
The Surface has a USB 3.0 port that can be used for a mouse to be plugged in, or you can plug in a USB hub or Microsoft's own Surface Dock, which has 4 USB 3.0 ports, audio output, Gigabit Ethernet, and two HD video ports. The Surface Dock allows for as much expandability (or more) as most laptops out there. There's also a SD card slot if you need more storage (current SD card sizes range up to 200GB, although this won't be as fast as the internal SSD speeds).
Pro Good build quality
This tablet feels like a truly solid premium item that won't break anytime soon.
Pro Enjoyable user experience
The Wacom Intuos Pro feels very natural when drawing. It takes no time in detecting everything that's drawn and it really makes users feel as if they are drawing on a physical medium. In fact, sketchers have the option of covering the tablet with a sheet of paper and drawing directly on it, while the tablet simultaneously takes the digital input, thus enabling the tablet to be used without a computer or screen. The whole philosophy of this tablet is to emulate drawing on paper. For example, it is capable of making different layers or changing to the next page by the simple push of a button or switching between ink mode and stylus mode by bringing the tip of the respective pens close to the paper surface.
Pro Enough space to store all your work
The Intuos Pro has a good amount of storage space in it. It stores up to 200 pages at once. This means you don't have to constantly worry about transferring your work to the computer before running out of space.
Pro Easy to set up
The Intuos Pro is simple to set up. Just install a few drivers on your computer and you're ready to start using the tablet.
Pro Beginner-friendly
The fact that the user is able to place a sheet of paper to draw on, on top of the screen, without interfering with the tablet's functionality is a great help for beginners not used to this sort of tablet.
Pro High accuracy
The Intuos Pro has more than 8000 units of pressure sensitivity, making it capable of very accurately detecting every small stroke. The work area works perfectly with a paper sheet on it or even a thin book.
Cons
Con Expensive
You can find a computer with similar specs for about half the price of the Surface Pro 4. You are paying a premium for the high-end build quality, for the engineering required to manufacture a fully portable computer, as well as for the high resolution touchscreen.
Con Lack of touch-focused apps
Windows has traditionally been a mouse-and-keyboard operating system. Finally, third party apps are starting to become more touch friendly, although it's a long, slow process. The Windows Store still lacks many big titles, which means the only option is to download the regular Windows version of most apps, which are rarely touch-friendly.
Con Not very portable
The Intuos Pro is heavy, making it a unsuitable option for those that want a tablet to carry around.
Con Very display dependent
The Intuos Pro lacks a display unit. It is solely an input device so there is no feedback of what you're sketching. This means that is easy to make mistakes. Also, a lot of practice is needed to be able to draw on one surface and view the result on another. The fact that users can draw on a sheet of paper placed on top of the screen, without interfering with the tablet's functionality, is a great help.