Microsoft Surface |OT| - Style, Performance, and Creativity in a Variety of Windows 10 Hardware

Deleted member 35509 · Dec 15, 2018

Surface Laptop 2 is on sale until tomorrow on the Microsoft site. It's been sitting in the cart and I really need a laptop, badly. I think it's beautiful and I need a laptop for general use. Reviews are glowing but everyone keeps mentioning it's only, single flaw: no USB C. I have nothing that uses USB C. It's on sale for $800 (unless someone can point me to a cheaper place :)), which I think is a great deal but should I be really concerned about the lack of ports?

I would definitely get a Book 2, no question but it's too expensive.

dock · Dec 16, 2018

Dache said:
Finally, is there any generally accepted 'best' estimate for a new Surface Book 3? I read somewhere that rumours place it around the end of 2019, but I'm not sure how accurate they are. I Google occasionally but don't usually find much.

Surface Book 2 is mid-cycle now, so it'll definitely see a revision in 2019, but it's hard to judge when. The power hungry 15" version is a big problem and I expect there is some pressure to fix that. It's even a problem with the Surface Dock, which provides less power than the SB2 needs. On the plus side the SB2 battery is pretty good, but it might be a bad choice if you're working in UE4 all day. It's still a great machine, especially if you can get a good deal for one.

I was originally planning to get a SB2 as my next machine but I ended up choosing a modest spec Pro 6 instead. I don't need the power and I like the lightweight form factor.

THEVOID · Dec 16, 2018

Hero Protagonist said:
Surface Laptop 2 is on sale until tomorrow on the Microsoft site. It's been sitting in the cart and I really need a laptop, badly. I think it's beautiful and I need a laptop for general use. Reviews are glowing but everyone keeps mentioning it's only, single flaw: no USB C. I have nothing that uses USB C. It's on sale for $800 (unless someone can point me to a cheaper place :)), which I think is a great deal but should I be really concerned about the lack of ports?

I would definitely get a Book 2, no question but it's too expensive.

If you don't have anything that uses USB-C then it won't matter. I don't either and never had a worry about using it on my SP4.

And that laptop is freaking gorgeous.

Dache · Dec 16, 2018

dock said:
Surface Book 2 is mid-cycle now, so it'll definitely see a revision in 2019, but it's hard to judge when. The power hungry 15" version is a big problem and I expect there is some pressure to fix that. It's even a problem with the Surface Dock, which provides less power than the SB2 needs. On the plus side the SB2 battery is pretty good, but it might be a bad choice if you're working in UE4 all day. It's still a great machine, especially if you can get a good deal for one.

I was originally planning to get a SB2 as my next machine but I ended up choosing a modest spec Pro 6 instead. I don't need the power and I like the lightweight form factor.

Cool, I'm not really wanting it to be super-duper top spec and the 13.5" size is important (and I'm prepared to go up a bigger form factor from an 11" Air for the convenience & extra power), so that's okay. if I'm gonna be using UE4 somewhere all day, I'll have access to a plug when I need it for sure. Otherwise it'll be balanced on the side of the sofa next to me where my Air is right now. Any bigger and it'd be a bit too big...

Stinkles · Dec 16, 2018

Hero Protagonist said:
Surface Laptop 2 is on sale until tomorrow on the Microsoft site. It's been sitting in the cart and I really need a laptop, badly. I think it's beautiful and I need a laptop for general use. Reviews are glowing but everyone keeps mentioning it's only, single flaw: no USB C. I have nothing that uses USB C. It's on sale for $800 (unless someone can point me to a cheaper place :)), which I think is a great deal but should I be really concerned about the lack of ports?

I would definitely get a Book 2, no question but it's too expensive.

I have a Book 2 - which I use as my desktop /sketch tablet and it's been perfect outside of an occasional bug with my apple wired full size aluminum. My boss uses the laptop 2 and says it's by far her favorite ever.

sooperkool · Dec 16, 2018

Exis said:
Yeah, stands are not out there, I was looking for something that would work for my DJ gigs and nothing exists.

This is perfect but too expensive and not released yet:

https://www.kensington.com/p/produc...ce-pro-docking-station---dphdmi---windows-10/

fourfourfun · Dec 17, 2018

Hero Protagonist said:
should I be really concerned about the lack of ports?

Essentially, if you want to use an eGPU (my thinking of this is you can dock with your TV and have your tablet run like some sort of uber Switch), then you're going to be out of luck. Otherwise, I doubt you'd have an issue.

I grabbed the HP Elite 1013 because I do have a vision of hooking it up to a TV to game. Although this could change in the future depending on how the tablet landscape changes over 2019/20. If storage and power really starts to ramp up, I may trade in.

koshiro · Dec 17, 2018

Dache said:
Cool, I'm not really wanting it to be super-duper top spec and the 13.5" size is important (and I'm prepared to go up a bigger form factor from an 11" Air for the convenience & extra power), so that's okay. if I'm gonna be using UE4 somewhere all day, I'll have access to a plug when I need it for sure. Otherwise it'll be balanced on the side of the sofa next to me where my Air is right now. Any bigger and it'd be a bit too big...

The 13.5 inch SB2 doesn't have the power drain issues that the 15" does (I have the 13.5" so can confirm that). However if you're looking at it for gaming on the side, it can only do current gen at medium-ish settings. Anything more than that and you'd want the 1060 found in the 15". However, the 15" is a good deal heavier than the 13.5", enough to make the decision for me to go with the 13.5" one. Would definitely recommend going to a store and picking them both up.

Navidson REC · Dec 17, 2018

sooperkool said:
This is perfect but too expensive and not released yet:

https://www.kensington.com/p/produc...ce-pro-docking-station---dphdmi---windows-10/

Wow, that looks great! How much will it be?

Dache · Dec 17, 2018

koshiro said:
The 13.5 inch SB2 doesn't have the power drain issues that the 15" does (I have the 13.5" so can confirm that). However if you're looking at it for gaming on the side, it can only do current gen at medium-ish settings. Anything more than that and you'd want the 1060 found in the 15". However, the 15" is a good deal heavier than the 13.5", enough to make the decision for me to go with the 13.5" one. Would definitely recommend going to a store and picking them both up.

I was looking at the 13.5" with the 1050 in it, is the 1060 that much better? Annoyingly the PC World in town (the only place that would have them on display) only has the 13.5" out...

Oh bums, I see now the 1050 only has 2GB of video memory and the 1060 has 6GB. Eennngghghhh... that's a... pain...

acheron_xl · Dec 17, 2018

Navidson REC said:
Wow, that looks great! How much will it be?

$400

Teiresias · Dec 17, 2018

I'm thinking of getting one of these in February as a gift for my BF's birthday. He really only does office-centric tasks, email, and media consumption, but since he really likes Starcraft that makes a Chromebook a non-starter.

Is there a consensus on what the best "sweet spot" Surface is given this use case from a power per price view? I'd be up for the Go as well, but just not sure about the battery life.

Navidson REC · Dec 17, 2018

acheron_xl said:
$400

Damn, that is quite a lot.

… still cool that this thing will exist I guess lol

SFenton · Dec 17, 2018

Hey, just jumping in here to share some recent experience. (Disclaimer: I'm a Microsoft employee, but I don't work anywhere near the Surface org- I just love technology and get the luxury of being able to play with recently-released Surface hardware!).

Over the last three years I've gotten to use a lot of Surface hardware for work and personal use- I have a personal Surface Book 1, a personal Surface Book 2 (maxed out), I've gotten to play with the Studio, I had a Pro 4 for work, and I've recently gotten the Laptop 2 for the new team I joined- and *wow*. I was mildly curious about the Laptop, but the thing is... in my head, it was "just a laptop". And, well, it is! But it's by far my favorite laptop I've ever used. In terms of portability and just "use it" factor, I prefer it over the Pro and both my Books.

I'm absolutely going to buy one as a personal laptop when my original Book bites the dust- I'd just love to see more ports. SD Card reader would be wonderful, USB-C for futureproofing.

For what it's worth, I use my Surface Book 1 for basically browsing at this point, the 2 for YouTube video rendering and upload (hence my need for SD card). I liked the Pro for its Studio Mode, and I love the Studio for the same reason (can't afford to buy one unfortunately- don't have a good use case for it!), but the Surface Laptop could basically be my daily driver (actually, it kind of *is* right now- a lot of light coding and document editing). I can't say anything bad about this machine right now besides port selection. I really like it!

koshiro · Dec 18, 2018

Dache said:
I was looking at the 13.5" with the 1050 in it, is the 1060 that much better? Annoyingly the PC World in town (the only place that would have them on display) only has the 13.5" out...

Oh bums, I see now the 1050 only has 2GB of video memory and the 1060 has 6GB. Eennngghghhh... that's a... pain...

Yup, the 2GB is the killer. 1060 frequently nets you twice the performance (as in, FPS). The worst case scenario I've found so far was Forza Horizon 4 - I can get 30fps on medium settings, BUT with a few of those settings turned to low. 1060 gets 60fps at high, I believe. So I mean, the 1050 works, but it's topping out already. It depends on your use case really. I went with the smaller size knowing that, as I didn't intend for it to be my primary gaming device (you know I'm a console man), but also because the portability was more important (the weight), and I find the size better for drawing on.

Basically there are compromises whichever way you go, depends which ones you're willing to make.

Dache · Dec 18, 2018

koshiro said:
Yup, the 2GB is the killer. 1060 frequently nets you twice the performance (as in, FPS). The worst case scenario I've found so far was Forza Horizon 4 - I can get 30fps on medium settings, BUT with a few of those settings turned to low. 1060 gets 60fps at high, I believe. So I mean, the 1050 works, but it's topping out already. It depends on your use case really. I went with the smaller size knowing that, as I didn't intend for it to be my primary gaming device (you know I'm a console man), but also because the portability was more important (the weight), and I find the size better for drawing on.

Basically there are compromises whichever way you go, depends which ones you're willing to make.

Yeah, I'm not planning on using it to replace any consoles any time soon either. The 1050 will comfortably run my current entire Steam library and there aren't any cross-Xbox/W10 exclusives I can really think I'd want, so I should be fine. The most taxing things I can think of that I only might want to play is W10 Tekken 7 or SFV for whatever reason, and that's a big maybe anyway...

koshiro · Dec 18, 2018

Dache said:
Yeah, I'm not planning on using it to replace any consoles any time soon either. The 1050 will comfortably run my current entire Steam library and there aren't any cross-Xbox/W10 exclusives I can really think I'd want, so I should be fine. The most taxing things I can think of that I only might want to play is W10 Tekken 7 or SFV for whatever reason, and that's a big maybe anyway...

I tried SFV over the weekend, and it ran great (solid 60fps). That was at 1080p - usually I use a custom resolution of 1504 x 1000 for games so it fills the 3x2 screen, but SFV just black-bars it anyway.

In any case it sounds like you know what the deal is with the 1050, so there shouldn't be any surprises for you there. It's a great machine - the first 'laptop' I've had that I've really loved.

Saad · Dec 20, 2018

Today, i'm officially surface pro 6 user, and i think i'm loving it so far lmao!
[256gb, 8gb burgundy]

Jag · Dec 20, 2018

Teiresias said:
I'm thinking of getting one of these in February as a gift for my BF's birthday. He really only does office-centric tasks, email, and media consumption, but since he really likes Starcraft that makes a Chromebook a non-starter.

Is there a consensus on what the best "sweet spot" Surface is given this use case from a power per price view? I'd be up for the Go as well, but just not sure about the battery life.

I use my Surface Pro for Warcraft, but it runs it great without a hitch. Had a SP4 for awhile and just upgraded to a SP6, which actually scored lower in my graphics benchmarks for some reason.

xyla · Dec 20, 2018

So - how's the Surface Pro 6 for the occasional gaming?
Would I be able to play - say Destiny 2 or PUBG in low resolutions with low details half way fluent?

I need a new Laptop sometime soon and I really like everything about it - except USB C and the graphics solution.
When is the next iteration due to come out? That's still half a year out for sure, right?!

BlakStatus · Dec 28, 2018

I'm interested in a refurb SP4 mainly for PS4 remote play and regular web browsing stuff. I have a Vita but I want something to hook up to my downstairs TV. I also have a PSTV but it sucks and is limited to 720p. Is it worth it for what I plan on using it for? Or maybe a Pro 3 since 4 can have the flickering issue?

shnitzel · Feb 3, 2019

I will be getting my Surface Go tomorrow. Any protips, recommandations for some useful apps and maybe some touch games?.

dock · Feb 3, 2019

shnitzel said:
I will be getting my Surface Go tomorrow. Any protips, recommandations for some useful apps and maybe some touch games?.

What are you using it for?
I recommend Opera as Chrome will eat all your RAM.
I sometimes use a combination of TouchKey for on screen buttons (Esc/Tab/etc) and AutoHotKey to remap the volume buttons to key presses.
The only touchscreen game I've played on mine has been Regency Solitaire.

WillyFive · Feb 3, 2019

shnitzel said:
I will be getting my Surface Go tomorrow. Any protips, recommandations for some useful apps and maybe some touch games?.

Civ V

shnitzel · Feb 3, 2019

dock said:
What are you using it for?
I recommend Opera as Chrome will eat all your RAM.
I sometimes use a combination of TouchKey for on screen buttons (Esc/Tab/etc) and AutoHotKey to remap the volume buttons to key presses.
The only touchscreen game I've played on mine has been Regency Solitaire.

Thanks. Mostly for surfing, YouTube, Office and some movie streaming.

WillyFive said:
Civ V

Sounds good.

MrPickles · Feb 5, 2019

I'm looking at getting a Surface Go to do work stuff...well, on the go. I really just need a browser and Office, maybe Acrobat. I have no intentions of ever playing any games or using photoshop or anything - that's what my desktop is for. I might occasionally watch netflix etc. on flights I guess. Do I really need to pony up $150 for 8gb of ram or will 4 suffice? It seems everything I read on the 4gb changes back and forth.

shnitzel · Feb 5, 2019

Has anyone tried Wargroove on a Surface device? I've read that it is playable with mouse only, so i guess it should be playable using the touchscreen?.

sethcheek · Feb 5, 2019

MrPickles said:
I'm looking at getting a Surface Go to do work stuff...well, on the go. I really just need a browser and Office, maybe Acrobat. I have no intentions of ever playing any games or using photoshop or anything - that's what my desktop is for. I might occasionally watch netflix etc. on flights I guess. Do I really need to pony up $150 for 8gb of ram or will 4 suffice? It seems everything I read on the 4gb changes back and forth.

FWIW, I bought the 4GB first, and returned it within a couple of days. The performance was just a little sluggish, even setting my expectations for it being a tablet. Tried the 8, and for me, it was PERFECT. Like you, my needs for it aren't games, photoshop, video editing.. just basic work, web-browsing and media consumption. Converted it from Windows S so I could install apps from outside sources and have had ZERO complaints with it. Got a Surface Pen with it to experiment, but haven't really had any practical uses for it other than note-taking/sketches.

dock · Feb 5, 2019

shnitzel said:
Has anyone tried Wargroove on a Surface device? I've read that it is playable with mouse only, so i guess it should be playable using the touchscreen?.

Lots of mouse-only games rely on right click, mouse wheel, hover and lots of other inputs impossible with a touchscreen. Some use an input library that blocks touchscreen mouse emulation entirely.

Obi · Feb 6, 2019

The latest update for Chrome finally fixed all the performance problems on my Surface Go. Nice smooth scrolling and pinch-to-zoom. Man I just finished moving over to Firefox too. Looks like I'm heading back again.

MrPickles · Feb 7, 2019

sethcheek said:
FWIW, I bought the 4GB first, and returned it within a couple of days. The performance was just a little sluggish, even setting my expectations for it being a tablet. Tried the 8, and for me, it was PERFECT. Like you, my needs for it aren't games, photoshop, video editing.. just basic work, web-browsing and media consumption. Converted it from Windows S so I could install apps from outside sources and have had ZERO complaints with it. Got a Surface Pen with it to experiment, but haven't really had any practical uses for it other than note-taking/sketches.

Thanks for the info. My sister has a Surface Pro from a couple years ago with 4gb ram and I tried it tonight and it seemed fine to me. I might swing by the MS store this weekend and see what they have to try in store.

kubus · Feb 7, 2019

I recently switched from my Surface Pro 3 4GB to a Surface Go 4GB and the difference is noticable for me. The OS feels slightly sluggish, browsing (in Edge) feels slightly sluggish -- it's minimal but I'm definitely notificing a difference in responsiveness between my Pro and Go. I wish I picked up the 8GB now but I bought the 4GB during a 20% off sale which ended now, so I can't really exchange it now.

I still love this little device but coming from my lightning speed Pro it takes a bit of getting used to.

Brot · Feb 7, 2019

Cheaping out on the RAM configuration of my Surface Pro 4 is probably my biggest regret.
More often than not it's a chore to use and it really made me hate the device over time. I still love the form-factor but right now it's basically a stand for my iPad Pro.

Dache · Feb 7, 2019

I should post an update - I got a 13.5" Surface Book 2 (i7/16GB/512GB) just before Christmas and have been using it as my only computer at home for a month and a half by now, and going from a 11" 2011 Macbook Air, I'm super happy with it.

The power level seems to be just right for my needs, although I haven't done any gamedev stuff on it yet. Every game I've tried so far has worked flawlessly, and I'm never going to want to play the latest AAA thing on this, so that's great. I love the screen, I love being able to use it as a tablet, it's not overly heavy, and it has the features I wanted on a Macbook Pro that they removed (i.e. USB3 and a dedicated, Magsafe-like power cable), without useless shit like the touchbar.

My biggest complaint about it is the touchpad, as it's not quite as responsive or well-integrated as MacOS touchpads and I miss being able to do some of the things I used to on there. For example, I used to use right-click gestures in Firefox all the time on MacOS by click-and-holding with two fingers which would begin a gesture within FireGestures (e.g. Up-down was page refresh), but this doesn't register 95% of the time on my SB2. I'm really missing the universal 'back' and 'forward' gestures with two-finger swiping that just worked on MacOS, but I've had to install an extension for those in Firefox Windows and it's unreliable in comparison. In time I'll get used to it, and at the end of the day it's not a dealbreaker as there are workarounds, but I wish that aspect was a little better.

shadowhaxor · Feb 9, 2019

I recently picked up a Surface Pro 6 for $699. Microsoft had it on sale and I got Bestbuy to price match it. The i5/8GB/12GB model. Ended picking up a keyboard as well. I'm still not 100% sure if I'll keep this, however, my time with the device has been hit and miss. I haven't used it for gaming, and I picked it up mainly to replace my aging Android tablet.

In tablet mode, I'm still frustrated that features such as predictive typing and autocorrect don't work, while some of the gestures don't make any sense. Chrome has issues, especially if you use incognito mode, which sends the tablet into a frenzy and there's no fix yet. Despite this apparently being an issue for years. On the other side, I love the power that the device has. With a keyboard attached, I find myself taking this out of the house, more and more. Especially nice when I'm out with the family and I want to start working on a story for my website or if I want to check out some code.

I've never been a fan of the Surface, mainly because I've had a laptop and I've never given the line a fair chance. But as I type this right now, I'm enjoying it.

dock · Feb 10, 2019

Dache said:
My biggest complaint about it is the touchpad, as it's not quite as responsive or well-integrated as MacOS touchpads and I miss being able to do some of the things I used to on there. For example, I used to use right-click gestures in Firefox all the time on MacOS by click-and-holding with two fingers which would begin a gesture within FireGestures (e.g. Up-down was page refresh), but this doesn't register 95% of the time on my SB2. I'm really missing the universal 'back' and 'forward' gestures with two-finger swiping that just worked on MacOS, but I've had to install an extension for those in Firefox Windows and it's unreliable in comparison. In time I'll get used to it, and at the end of the day it's not a dealbreaker as there are workarounds, but I wish that aspect was a little better.

Glad you're enjoying the Surface Book!

Yeah, touchpad support on OSX is amazing and the Windows 10 options are just not good. You have the three and four finger gestures, but there aren't many options you can set them to. I have no idea why I can set finger finger swipe to volume control but not back/next!! I don't use Firefox, but see if there are any options for three finger gestures instead of two finger. Your gestures may be clashing with "2 finger tap = right click", or the basic "two fingers = scroll" behaviour.

shadowhaxor said:
In tablet mode, I'm still frustrated that features such as predictive typing and autocorrect don't work, while some of the gestures don't make any sense. Chrome has issues, especially if you use incognito mode, which sends the tablet into a frenzy and there's no fix yet. Despite this apparently being an issue for years. .

Tablet mode in windows 10 kinda sucks. You're basically still using an interface intended for a laptop. I often use the flowing undocked onscreen keyboard because otherwise I can't see the part of the interface I'm supposed to be typing in. It's a nasty hack and nothing like using a real tablet.

Deleted member 19024 · Feb 10, 2019

I got an 8GB Surface Go with LTE for Christmas and it was pretty sluggish, even when loading Gmail and stuff from the outset. After a couple updates (no clue what was in them) and the aforementioned Chrome update, the machine feel better than new. I'm pretty darn happy with it, overall. It's plenty fast for web surfing, light coding, and even runs Cuphead without any trouble =). Not sure I could recommend it over the lowest end i5 Surface Pro 6, which is only a few bux more, but as a 10" PC, it's pretty great.

dock · Feb 10, 2019

NinjaMouse said:
I got an 8GB Surface Go with LTE for Christmas and it was pretty sluggish, even when loading Gmail and stuff from the outset. After a couple updates (no clue what was in them) and the aforementioned Chrome update, the machine feel better than new.

When I got my Surface Pro 4 with 4GB RAM I quickly realised that Chrome was gobbling all of my RAM and CPU. I changed to Opera and never looked back. I've been using Opera as my primary browser for four years now.

It's disappointing to hear that the Surface Go is underpowered compared to the SP4.

Deleted member 19024 · Feb 12, 2019

dock said:
When I got my Surface Pro 4 with 4GB RAM I quickly realised that Chrome was gobbling all of my RAM and CPU. I changed to Opera and never looked back. I've been using Opera as my primary browser for four years now.

It's disappointing to hear that the Surface Go is underpowered compared to the SP4.

Funny you mention the SP4 since my wife uses one of them as her main machine. I fully expected the Go to be at least on par with the 4 (for no reason other than time and technology) and the SP4 is still seems much snappier in day to day use. I sure like throwing the Go in my bag and using it with LTE on the commute to and from work tho.

criteriondog · Feb 14, 2019

Anyone have a 8gb surface go? What do they think after using it for quite a bit?
I have a surface laptop but am thinking of getting a go as well because I want to get something smaller, more portable and a pen.

MrPickles · Mar 3, 2019

criteriondog said:
Anyone have a 8gb surface go? What do they think after using it for quite a bit?
I have a surface laptop but am thinking of getting a go as well because I want to get something smaller, more portable and a pen.

I'm very late on this, but I ended up getting the 8GB Go a few weeks back after debating between 4/8gb. I haven't used it much outside of web browser and some Office stuff, but it's been just fine with me. Battery seems pretty great too. I like the portability and lightness of it as well.

koshiro · Mar 3, 2019

Dache said:
I should post an update - I got a 13.5" Surface Book 2 (i7/16GB/512GB) just before Christmas and have been using it as my only computer at home for a month and a half by now, and going from a 11" 2011 Macbook Air, I'm super happy with it.

The power level seems to be just right for my needs, although I haven't done any gamedev stuff on it yet. Every game I've tried so far has worked flawlessly, and I'm never going to want to play the latest AAA thing on this, so that's great. I love the screen, I love being able to use it as a tablet, it's not overly heavy, and it has the features I wanted on a Macbook Pro that they removed (i.e. USB3 and a dedicated, Magsafe-like power cable), without useless shit like the touchbar.

My biggest complaint about it is the touchpad, as it's not quite as responsive or well-integrated as MacOS touchpads and I miss being able to do some of the things I used to on there. For example, I used to use right-click gestures in Firefox all the time on MacOS by click-and-holding with two fingers which would begin a gesture within FireGestures (e.g. Up-down was page refresh), but this doesn't register 95% of the time on my SB2. I'm really missing the universal 'back' and 'forward' gestures with two-finger swiping that just worked on MacOS, but I've had to install an extension for those in Firefox Windows and it's unreliable in comparison. In time I'll get used to it, and at the end of the day it's not a dealbreaker as there are workarounds, but I wish that aspect was a little better.

Exact same model I have - glad to hear it's working out for you!

The touchpad itself is great I think, it's WIn10 letting you down there. Hopefully they'll improve stuff like this, as a lot of laptops are coming out with the precision trackpads now.

It's not really a AAA game machine of course, but so far it has been able to play everything I've thrown at it. Currently playing a load of Apex Legends, which happily ticks along as a solid 60fps (with textures reduced of course), so it can actually play current AAA games, just not at high settings.

Ushay · Mar 4, 2019

Still waiting for a Surface Pro with USB-C, 2019 is the year!

Ponn · Mar 7, 2019

So my cat knocked my surface off my desk and this happened.

It still powers on but I'm boned right? The cracks keep spreading with each touch

Zushin · May 12, 2019

Hey all,

I know this is a surface thread but didn't think was worth making a new thread for but I'm looking for a device that will replace my 2016 MacBook Air and 2018 iPad. The MacBook still runs fine but I got given it as a gift and just am not a fan of the OS. Similarly I hate how often I have to charge iPencil and it feels uncomfortable for me.

My main use will be productivity (emails, browsing, excel, word), SPSS and some video editing (not too much though). I'd also like some really light gaming on the side (Warcraft 3 reforged) but that's not essential.

My other requirement would be it has to be able to take notes in tablet mode. Price range would be $2000 Australian dollars max which is about $1200-1400 USD depending on taxes and all that. Would prefer to keep it around the $1500-1600 range if there's a good option.

The Lenovo C930 caught my eye but it's a tad expensive and doesn't perform as good as the HP spectre x360. However I've read terrible things about the HPs trackpad. The low end surface book 2 looks good but I'm not sure I'm a fan of the hinge and it will probably get refreshed soon yeah?

WillyFive · May 13, 2019

Zushin said:
Hey all,

I know this is a surface thread but didn't think was worth making a new thread for but I'm looking for a device that will replace my 2016 MacBook Air and 2018 iPad. The MacBook still runs fine but I got given it as a gift and just am not a fan of the OS. Similarly I hate how often I have to charge iPencil and it feels uncomfortable for me.

My main use will be productivity (emails, browsing, excel, word), SPSS and some video editing (not too much though). I'd also like some really light gaming on the side (Warcraft 3 reforged) but that's not essential.

My other requirement would be it has to be able to take notes in tablet mode. Price range would be $2000 Australian dollars max which is about $1200-1400 USD depending on taxes and all that. Would prefer to keep it around the $1500-1600 range if there's a good option.

The Lenovo C930 caught my eye but it's a tad expensive and doesn't perform as good as the HP spectre x360. However I've read terrible things about the HPs trackpad. The low end surface book 2 looks good but I'm not sure I'm a fan of the hinge and it will probably get refreshed soon yeah?

Surface Book is expected to be refreshed this year, yeah. Doesnt mean it will happen though.

Belvedere · May 20, 2019

Would anyone have any ideas as to why my SP4's battery life is considerably worse with the type cover on vs tablet mode? I recently bought a second hand SP4 and initially thought I had a battery with a bad cell because of the battery life. I was using it for hours in tablet mode though and got around 2-3x more time than when I had the type cover on. Does tablet mode invoke a specific power plan or anything I'm not aware of?

I've tried the basics light lowering the keyboard backlight brightness, etc.

LhommeCornichon · Jul 3, 2019

Hello guys!

So I already made a thread there : https://www.resetera.com/threads/editing-with-da-vinci-on-my-surface-book.125917/

But short, I have a gen1 SB without dGPU but I'm doing some editing (mainly with 1080p files), I'm loving DaVinci Resolve but the absence of graphic card is hurtful.
No need for gaming though.

I was thinking of upgrading to a used 13.5 inches SB2 (still warranty covered) at 1600€ with a i7 proc, 512Gb SSD, 16Gb ram and a GTX 1050.
There's a way cheaper one with a GTX 965m ( Gen 1 SB).

Or is it still too much of niche product and should I go for something more mainstream? Though my SB is the best laptop I've ever used.

Edit: currently I have a 13.5 inches, 8go, 128gb,the lowest.

easter · Oct 29, 2019

no one here bought a new 7?

dock · Oct 29, 2019

easter said:
no one here bought a new 7?

I'm not ready to replace my SP6, but SP7 sounds like the best SP in the lineup! I use my SP6 every day with a 4k external monitor for game development and 3D.

The reports of weaker battery than SP6 are alarming, but it sounds like a really nice revision. I have the i5 SP6 and I'm big fan of the fact it has no fan! The SP7 i5 is also fanless which is pretty amazing.

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