chgoeditor

Bumping this to get additional feedback from those who have used the Surface Book and/or Surface Laptop for a few more months since last posting. Any changes in your opinion of them?

I'm looking for a new personal laptop, and while Mr. CE would love to get me over to a Mac, I like my Windows technology.

I'm currently using a Lenovo (personal laptop) that I hate for myriad reasons, including a buggy touchpad mouse as well as a noticeable lip where the edge of the keyboard face of the laptop meets the side of the laptop that irritates my wrist any time I'm typing for an extended period of time. I think it's my first and last Lenovo. My work laptop is a Dell, which is fine.

I was a long-time HP fan, but swore them off after a couple laptops that barely made it 18 months. I'm open to revisiting them. But I keep hearing great things about the Surface, and feel as if I need to check them out!

Gaucho100K

Yes... additional feedback would be great... also on dates for upcoming releases. Thanks !!

LoveHateRelationship

Not a book but I have a Pro 4 and prior to that a Pro 3. I love the portability of it but I've run into a fair number of issues. My windows Hello is intermittent, phantom restarts, not sleeping properly, dead pixels, light leaking from the bezel. My wife's Pro 4 wouldn't connect to wifi hotspots properly and despite multiple visits to the Microsoft store, they just chalked it up to "This stuff happens." The kickstand is great for media consumption (something they should have put into the Book) but on the lap not so much. If they Surface Book were to get a kickstand I would consider getting it. I'm about 18 months into this Pro 4 and I'm waiting for a replacement unit to come in so I can swap it out due to the dead pixels.

All in all, it's definitely not as sturdy as a Mac nor is Microsoft as compliant in dealing with my issues as Apple. My previous laptop was a 2011 Macbook Pro and I used that for 4 years with no issue. I sold it and it was still in great working condition. Apple swapped out for a current model year when I brought it in for a speaker issue with no questions asked (this was when I bought a 2010 refurb).

On that note, there's supposed to be a new Surface announcement at the Future Decoded event at the end of October. No news on what that is yet.

http://bgr.com/2017/09/06/windows-10...-release-date/

goodeats21

I have been using Surface Book for 6 months now - provided by work.

It is "OK", but nothing amazing. As mentioned up-thread, the brick is a monster.

I have also been having display issues. Does not play well at all with Remote Desktop. Items on screen become comically small - unusable. This was overcome by installing some type of secondary RD manager application.

Also have major problems trying to use at my desk with dual monitors. Screen just blinks on-and-off when 2 monitors are connected to the docking brick. IT has yet to come up with a reliable solution. Had it working for about a month, but then reverted back to the blinks. Single external monitor attached directly to Surface works OK.

Also, be aware that the power connection is REALLY close to the mini display port on the machine itself. I have had to use a razor blade to remove the plastic trim/housing on the DP cable to get it to fit.

While in theory, the detachable screen (tablet mode) is cool, I just never use it that way. I have a personal iPad that I use for entertainment, etc, but when detaching the screen from Surface, just doesn't seem as comfortable.

Another small irritation, due to the touch screen on the Surface Book, it changes the way scroll operates on apps. Example - when I am at my desk and looking at a pdf, I cannot use the mouse scroll wheel to manipulate the document. You can change the setting inside pdf to use the scroll wheel, but then the touch screen doesn't work correctly when not at desk.
Things like that are unusually annoying.

That is my quick feedback. I don't think I would get one for personal use. In fact, if IT cannot come up with a fix for the dual monitors, I may ask to go back to a standard laptop - Lenovo.

COSPILOT

Sounds like the same issues I had with my Surface Pro 2. I was hoping things had improved with this, but apparently not.

joshwex90

Dunno - I have the SP3 and have had no issues related to dual monitors, proximity of display port and power connection, or scroll.

COSPILOT

As someone who would hook up to a client's screen multiple times a day/week, I had more problems than ever with the Surface Pro 2. Sometimes it would work, sometimes it wouldn't. Bluetooth connectivity to that goofy mouse Microsoft sells would fail sometimes, screen resolution would go wonky, etc. All of us using them switched back to Dell or HP laptops after a year of this and have never looked back. My other gripe was a single USB Port, with no dedicated LAN. More stuff to carry to make this work, and frankly made my presentation area look like a mess. Nothing like presenting to 150 people and the Surface decides to pull this crap.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the battery life, the small footprint, and everything else about it. Put simply, it was great as a glorified tablet, but failed me when it mattered most as a real computer.

And one more comment: Put a slider switch for power instead of a push button. Lost track of the amount of times it would somehow get bumped and turn itself on, becoming overly hot sitting in my computer bag on a long flight, and close to dead when I needed it most.

Gaucho100K

Bumping this up to see if anybody has updated info on new products launches... or has MS killed this thing and Ive missed the news...????

ckx2

https://www.techradar.com/news/mobil...rumors-1316294

DYKWIA

That's the Surface Pro rather than the Surface Book.

The Surface Book 2 is out now. A google search will give reviews.

Gaucho100K

Yes, exactly.... Im more interested in the Surface Book. I guess that the Surface Book 3 will not be coming out anytime this year, one will have to wait until 2019...??

Gaucho100K

Here is the "newest" rumour article I can find on the potential release of the Surface Book 3.

I dont know if any of the Techie experts here can rate how good a source of information the author/publisher of the below article happens to be.....? Im guessing that its just a "copy and paste" of another article from another source.... I get so many ads when I read it that maybe the source is quoted somewhere...?

https://www.christianpost.com/news/s...cessor-209069/

Gaucho100K

Bump......

Gaucho100K

Hmmm... not too many Surface Book fans on FT it seems....?

DYKWIA

Rather than bumping this thread, just read some reviews like most people do.