Microsoft Surface Book has a rival now, and that’s none other than Porsche Design Book One. It’s a clash of two premium devices. People buy them not because they need them but because they can afford them.

The Porsche Design Book One doesn’t ship until April but its specs and features are already known. Hence, it will be interesting to compare the two. The two are very premium devices that command a significant price. While the Book One costs US$2,495 (US$3,330 approx), the Surface Book commands a price of US$2,699 (AU$3,600 approx). The Porsche laptop is thinner than the Surface Book but not lighter. The Book One is an anodised aluminium in a matte, silvery finish, whereas, the Surface Book is magnesium with matte, silvery finish.

The Microsoft Surface Book has a Dynamic Fulcrum Hinge, which is a complicated mechanism. It has an articulated structure and Muscle Wire Lock for releasing the display. However, this makes the Surface Book an inch thicker than the Porsche Design Book One, which has both a 360-degree hinge and a detachable display. There’s a small button that detaches the display. According to PC World, users of both devices enjoy enhanced system settings, such as, Windows 10 Pro.

The Book One has a clear advantage over the Microsoft Surface Book as it comes with an Intel 7th-generation (Kaby Lake) Core i7-7500U processor. It is a dual-core chipset that runs at 2.7GHz up to 3.5GHz. The Surface Book comes with Intel’s 6th-generation Skylake CPU. Both the laptops have 16GB RAM and 512GB internal storage. In terms of GPU, tech experts find the Surface Book better than Porsche’s laptop. Microsoft has incorporated Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 965M. It alternates with integrated Intel HD 520 graphics.

However, this makes the Surface Book hotter and thicker than the Design Book One, which has Intel’s integrated HD Graphics 620. As it’s Porsche, experts expected a better and speedier GPU. In terms of display, the Surface Book has a 13.5-inch PixelSense IPS display with a 3,000 x 2,000 resolution and 3:2 aspect ratio, plus 10-point multi-touch. The Porsche Design Book One has a 13.3-inch QHD+ (3,200 x 1,800) IPS display with an LED backlight and 16:9 aspect ratio. The 10-point multi-touch display uses Gorilla Glass 4.

The Microsoft Surface Book and Porsche Design Book One use Microsoft’s Precision Touchpad. Both have styluses that magnetically attach to the side of the display. They also have 5MP front cameras and infrared cameras for Windows Hello. There’s an 8MP rear camera in the Microsoft Surface Book. It does not have USB Type-C ports but only two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, SD card slot and mini DisplayPort. The Porsche Design Book One has a USB 3.1 Type-C port, two USB 3.0 Type-A ports in the keyboard dock and a microSD card reader. The display has a USB 3.1 Type-C Thunderbolt port.

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