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Surface Go Reviews: It can game surprisingly well on the low end.
- Thread starter Bomblord
- Start date
OP
OP
That will be tough to test lol. Not only am I not going to leave my brand new device untouched on sleep mode for 24hrs+ I also have no method of knowing when it actually died in that case.
Finally kept my preorder, should be shipped tomorrow to get it on Tuesday.
When I was at Gamescom I was just unable to use my Pro 2 (with its dead battery) when I wanted because I had to shut it down and boot it back up every time I wanted to move in the apartment...
So even if the CPU of the Go is a bit weaker (but stronger GPU), at least I'll have more portability (weight less) and finally a working battery.
When I was at Gamescom I was just unable to use my Pro 2 (with its dead battery) when I wanted because I had to shut it down and boot it back up every time I wanted to move in the apartment...
So even if the CPU of the Go is a bit weaker (but stronger GPU), at least I'll have more portability (weight less) and finally a working battery.
Yeah, though I've had some time to play with the 4gb model too
Just leave it sleeping overnight without plugging it in and see how much battery charge was lost in the morning. :P
OP
OP
Can't atm don't have a desktop any longer. Will have access to one in a few weeks though.
Alright I'll take note of the battery percentage and let you know tomorrow morning.
On an unrelated note Skyrim continues to be my go to tablet benchmark and at low 720p (no texture pack) it felt smooth as butter playing around in third person. I did have one outright hitch but it seemed to have been a streaming issue or something because it disappeared as fast as it started. Also my suspicions about it being perfect for manga reading were founded. I was able to comfortably make it through an entire volume and it looked gorgeous on this screen with it's high contrast and accurate colors.
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OP
OP
Went to bed it was at 33% when I woke up almost exactly 8 hours later it was at 30% so roughly a 3% loss per 8 hour period
That's shockingly good for a Windows device. That's iPad levels of sleep efficiency. My Surface 3 (the previous gen version of this) drained the battery like crazy, since Windows kept doing stuff while asleep.
Thanks for the test! Hope you are enjoying it!
My order is still on the "pre-ordered" status, it releases tomorrow in France, I ordered the 11th of July...
They send the keyboard at least, but UPS says it will be delivered on the 30th...
Well, at least I could use my student discount even if I'm not student anymore since years (thank school mail still working).
They send the keyboard at least, but UPS says it will be delivered on the 30th...
Well, at least I could use my student discount even if I'm not student anymore since years (thank school mail still working).
OP
OP
The mobile browsing experience with Firefox is surprisingly good even on the 4gb model. You do need to be reasonable with the open tabs but it handles the web just as well as any other device with 2-3 tabs open. my biggest complaint is that the window doesn't resize when the touch keyboard pops up so when the text field is at the bottom screen like on here you cant see what you are typing when using it purely as a tablet which i seem to have taken to doing frequently.
More general impressions I love the manga reading experience using Kindles windows app i just wish comixology didnt make you use an annoyingly clunky web interface. Ive been thinking of trying bluestacks to run android apps but im worried about the performance.
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Yay I received the keyboard !
And that's it.
Go and mouse not shipped yet, thanks Microsoft Store, glad I pre-ordered day-one for nothing.
And that's it.
Go and mouse not shipped yet, thanks Microsoft Store, glad I pre-ordered day-one for nothing.
OP
OP
FYI 8GB Surface Go from best buy on ebay for $425 with the 15% off code.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Open-Box-Excellent-Microsoft-Surface-Go-10-Touch-Screen-Intel-Pentium/323390998058?hash=item4b4b9b062a:g:-f4AAOSwGnxbbiMF
Edit: Probably returning my model and going with this deal I can get it and the type cover with the discount for $6 more than than I payed for the lower end model and type cover.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Open-Box-Excellent-Microsoft-Surface-Go-10-Touch-Screen-Intel-Pentium/323390998058?hash=item4b4b9b062a:g:-f4AAOSwGnxbbiMF
Edit: Probably returning my model and going with this deal I can get it and the type cover with the discount for $6 more than than I payed for the lower end model and type cover.
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The most recent Humble Bundle is pretty nice for people who own a Surface Go. It's the Digital Tabletop Bundle. At least these four games have built in touch support:
Ticket to Ride - Complete Bundle
Sentinels of the Multiverse
Carcassonne
Talisman
I've played the first three and they work very well and are fun. Carcassonne is an IRL favorite of mine, though I wish this version included more of the expansions.
Ticket to Ride - Complete Bundle
Sentinels of the Multiverse
Carcassonne
Talisman
I've played the first three and they work very well and are fun. Carcassonne is an IRL favorite of mine, though I wish this version included more of the expansions.
Finally received mine, but not the mouse yet, I guess UPS will have to come 3 days in a row for the same order, not really shipping-cost efficient.
It's really tiny and light compared to the SP2.
For now I only did the initial setup, add my account, remove the S limit and update Windows.
It's really tiny and light compared to the SP2.
For now I only did the initial setup, add my account, remove the S limit and update Windows.
I have been tinkering with it and 2D games shouldn't even blink, but tbh I'm not sure how well Unity runs on this chipset or even if it does, but the Go is at least on par with my OG Surface Pro 2 for most use cases I've encountered.
Portable Windows :p but the performance, or lack of, worries me.
Would I be better even with a Surface Pro 2? They sell really cheap these days (second hand of course)
I moved from a Surface Pro 2 which battery died and can't be switched to the Surface Go, performance is about the same (a bit less CPU but more GPU), but it's WAY MUCH lighter, so more confortable!
Really? Was expecting the Surface Pro 2 to have much better performance overall
CPU is a bit higher on the Pro 2, but in the end you don't really notice it unless you run some benchmarks.
The Go is enough for my use, some web browsers are laggy (like Chrome), Edge is faster, and weirdly the Edge Chromium dev preview is faster than Edge despite using Chrome's engine.
On the mobility side there's a big difference, the Pro 2 is heavy and thicker, the Go is light and thin, and its stand has unlimited positions, the Pro 2 only has two stand positions.
What do you want to use a Surface for ?
I was a bit confused by this thread until I realised/remembered that this is basically a $500 tablet that runs windows. I keep forgetting that the surface line are actually windows machines. So these are pretty interesting.
When my ipad air 2 finally croaks, I will have to look at surface as a replacement.
When my ipad air 2 finally croaks, I will have to look at surface as a replacement.
Love my surface go. Been visiting my girlfriend lately, and we play Diablo 3 together on it, play stardew Valley, etc. It's a much more capable Maxine than I think your giving it credit
The Surface Go is a really nice machine! At my office people have different Surface devices so I see them all, and people always envy the Go. The keyboard takes some getting used to, but it's so portable and the USBC is handy to use it on a desk.
Definitely be careful with buying older surfaces. The battery is often devastated, and the screens are bad compared to newer ones.
Mainly web browsing, videos, netflix, some light gaming (no Overwatch or Witcher 3, or anything lol MTG Arena, Elder Scrolls Legends, for example), music, etc
So Chrome is still laggy? This was one of the things that put me off when this launched last year. Have you tried Firefox? That's my main browser at home.
I'm hoping the next revision of the Go, if there even is one, will sort this.
From what I have seen, Firefox runs great. The only issue is with Chrome, which I don't use so...!
Oh, that's good to know. I may wait until the summer to see if there's a new, more powerful version.
I did not try Chrome since a long time on the Surface Go, I mainly use Vivaldi (Chromium), but as some pages takes a bit longer to load than Edge I use Edge on my Go, it's also more touch-friendly.
I should be enough then, even more if you plan to use it as a tablet, the Pro 2 is really heavy.
I did not try those games but I tried a few and with low settings some were running better than on my Pro 2.
Also, as the video chip in the Pro 2 is quite old, it could not render Shenmue 1 & 2 remastered for example, it was totally glitched, whereas the Go could without any problem and the game ran quite well (it's a 30 FPS locked game).
You'd think that they would follow the Xbox trend and slap one of them fancy GPU/ CPU AMD combos in there. Would get way more performance, no? Would also unify their product architecture. Or is heating a concern?
Heat dissipation has always been a problem with Surface devices.
That said, with USB-C starting to be in the Surface line, external GPU could be a solution to the lack of graphical power.
I'm on the cusp of buying a Surface, but having trouble deciding which one, I'm 70% on SP4 i7. Checking ebay furiously for a good price for one. I just want a device to play some of my less demanding steam library games on the train, stuff like Broken Swords, the old Tomb Raiders, and maybe some newer indie games, maybe something like the Witness, etc. Anyone talk me out of it? The SP5/6 models are a bit too pricey at the moment.
I've watched a lot of youtube videos of the various models, surprising how well they handle PC games, what a time for portability!
I've watched a lot of youtube videos of the various models, surprising how well they handle PC games, what a time for portability!
Chrome issues have all been resolved on the go. People posting here seem to not have used it in some time
It does, just lower the resolution :D
I also tried the open beta of Anno 1800 on it, got around 15-20 FPS at minimum settings and a low resolution, but in such games the CPU is limiting so with a growing population FPS would lower even more.
There was a few examples of games running on the Surface Go in the other thread : https://www.resetera.com/threads/is-the-surface-go-a-game-changer.54955/page-8
That would explain why Edge Chromium is much faster than Vivaldi then.
Honestly I say either get a Surface or an iPad unless you absolutely need Android, Android Tablets have kind of fallen off a cliff, iPads have just way better value for the money even in the 350 buck segment.
That's good to know, thanks.
I'd like to know too. The Google Slate is way too expensive and I'm not keen on Samsung. Seems like the Android tablet market is pretty much dead.
Yeah unfortunately. Don't want samsung either but it seems like it's the only way to go for android tablets.
Wish oneplus did tablets...
I use alot my surface go for high end graphics games via shadow pc. Xbox one X streaming and dock switch graphics( also via xbox streaming) The software use is imput mapper 2 +1 and the controller is ipega 9083. Gaming experience to another level with that setup.