Two reasons why the Surface Go exists

[Jcmg62]

Not that I'm into bashing Microsoft's OEM partners, but seriously, it's like they're not even trying.

I came across these two gems over the weekend.

A Linx and a Lenovo. These are the only 10" Windows devices I've seen in a long time. And they suck.

Atom Processors. 2GB Ram. 32GB storage. People, it's mid-2018. Why on earth are you bringing out machines with 3-4 year old processors? And 2GB Ram...what the heck. A low cost smartphone has more than that.

I spent a few minutes playing with these devices. The screens were terrible. Windows could barely run on them. Opening an app would take forever. A simple screen swipe would result in a horrible jarring motion while the device tried to catch up with your command.

These machines were thick, heavy, ugly and just really poorly built.

Some time back, Zac Bowden wrote a piece asking why there weren't any decent 7-10" windows tablets on the market. Well, Lenovo and Linx stepped up to the plate and created a couple of monsters.

The reason I'm ranting about this is that I'm a ******. I'm passionate about Windows 10. I want to see it succeed because a high rate of adoption and a high rate of user happiness means more investment in the platform, more apps, more form factors, etc

But Microsoft is totally up against the ropes when it comes to OEM laziness.

Seriously, if you'd never used a Windows 10 device before, and your first user experience was one of these devices, your assessment of Windows would be toilet water, and you'd happily go back to using your Android/Apple device without ever looking at Windows 10 again.

Honestly, I can't for the life of me figure out why Microsoft would let these manufacturers build such poor quality devices. They give the Windows experience a really bad name. They drive new customers away.

 

[Adventurer64]

I agree. This occurs in the corporate world as well where cheap Dell Latitudes are issued by cost cutting IT departments. Actually, these low end Dell Latitides are rather pricey for the features offered. I haven't upgraded mine for 5yrs now cuz the new ones arent much better. Still have spinner drives, low res screen, giant bezels, etc. No wonder people want Macs. Its funny, because our corporate IT director uses a Surface Pro 2017. Everyone else gets junk. I could go on, but I personally know numerous folks that use Apple products at home because of the Dell junk they are forced to use at work.

 

[Timbre70]

Yes, buy a Mac and install Windows.

 

[Jcmg62]

https://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news...ly-to-switch-on-*******-laptop-20180717175193


Lol....just came across this satirical view of the problems people have with laptops

 

[Timbre70]

If you use a Mac, there is no need to switch off. Just put to sleep and it will go for months without any problem. This is unlike Windows.

 

[Jcmg62]

If you use a Mac, there is no need to switch off. Just put to sleep and it will go for months without any problem. This is unlike Windows.

True. This is something Microsoft is addressing with Windows-on-Arm

 

[jpspiderman]

Honestly though what's happening here is laziness. I have the HP envy note 8 and all the 10 inches still use hardware that this thing runs on. They just don't want to invest.

Right now yes the surface fo is the only viable Windows tablet. Nothing else even comes close.

 

[bj2386]

I don't think it's laziness at all. Companies are motivated by money, and there is just not a significant market for small Windows tablets. This has been true for years, going back to the Dell Venue 8 days which was discontinued without a successor. I believe the only reason MS stepped back into this market is that they needed to have at least one good tablet option on offer to support their renewed push back into the education sector. Don't expect any OEMs to follow their lead, especially now that there is a solid option being provided for this niche market.

 

[dsharp75]

The Lenovo Yoga Book is the best Windows 10 tablet (like) device in years. It's heel is the keyboard, but you shouldn't be coding on this thing anyway. Its alway been a decent device for consumption, the inking is flawless and as close to always on as Intel can get. I really can't justify getting the Surface Go over this right now; in fact, since Andromeda still isn't here , I'll just wait to compare the Lenovo Yoga Book 2 (due this year) to the Surface Go but I think Lenovo will have the edge with a better processor.....

 

[iSingBass]

I know it's getting long-in-tooth in the market, but the thing keeping me from buying a Surface Go at this point is that I love my Asus Transformer Mini T102HA, still available from Best Buy and Amazon at least. That Surface Pen, though...
I too am frustrated by how stale this device category has been, and irritated at manufacturers for insisting on offering 2GB RAM devices almost exclusively (instead of not-at-all). The resulting poor performance to unwitting buyers is, I believe, is likely responsible for nearly killing the compact tablet/2-in-1 Windows device as a market option.

Edit: I see now that there's even a minor update, T103--better camera, Windows 10 Pro, better battery, and even an eSIM option.

 

[Peter Rokeby]

I wish I had the money to waste on a Mac sleeping for months. My Windows computers are expected to be used and are rarely turned off.

 

[ddn123]

This has more to do about the advancement in Windows 10 and Intel processors. This also has to do with cloud-based systems. Bank of America is almost completed their digital office, which means all documents are digital. If you go into a branch today, there is a PC on the desk accessing the BofA network. But to sign a document (let's say a credit card application) you now sign an iPad. Let me ask a simple question. If all these large National/Global enterprises are moving rapidly towards a digital cloud based info system, woudl they rather use Windows 10 devices as for their front line workeres, or integrate iOS devices into their network? the BofA client rep does not need you to type into the tablet, just sign the tablet. Thus the Go is a pretty competitive product to integrate into the enterprise IT system.


But the Go was not really technically doable, until Intel was able to move past the Atom based chip. Intel will become more competitive once they move to 10nm when they can get the yields higher.

 

[GreyFox7]

Totally agree with this. Although Microsoft is partly at fault, they should set the minimum specs realistically but they say wink wink you can build a Windows PC with 32GB of storage, in part because they want to pretend that they are competitive on devices like this.


I think the vendors plan was to draw out the life of the cancelled Atom series by releasing models with the lowly X5-Z8350 then go to the X5-Z8550 and finally the X7-Z8750 after three years but it's worse than that some have released two iterations using the Z8350 so I guess they could drag this out for six years. Frankly they should be sued for technology malpractice. This is so so shameful.

 

[flier79]

Samsung Galaxy Book 10.8 was released an year ago, comes with Core M, and is faster than Surface Go as per tests I have seen online for the processors. That remains the best 10" option on the windows side also because it has Wacom digitizer which is just hard to beat for inking. Check it out if you haven't already. Surface Go comes with 8GB RAM option which is appealing but the slower processor kills it in my opinion. Hopefully Samsung will release an updated version this year.

 

[theefman]

No huge mystery, yet again the problem lies squarely with Microsoft. Back when Windows 8 launched there were a ton of small screened devices like the Dell Venue 8 & 11Pro, Acer W510, and later devices like the Asus Transformer Chi. Eventually a few things emerged: Windows was not really suitable running on a small screen and the consumer apps were lacking to make it competitive with ipads and android tablets. This is the reason moving to a larger screen with the SP3 saw more adoption from OEMs, much more usable in its expected use cases.

Looking at Windows 10 today i don't see any significant changes that would suggest small screened Windows devices would be any more desirable hence the lack of OEM interest.

Sent from mTalk

 

[Vivio vrvly]

Why 10" are so unpopular as windows pc? Just compare them to android and nee surface go: They were often slooow, screen was of small resolution, big bezels, no pen, poor tablet ui, no tablet apps, poor support, no next gen with better specs/features, just processor.
Pricy because of full w10 - that also wasn't going to help.

 

[tflash]

10" tablets in general are too big and too small at the same time. They are tiring to hold without a stand or a prop. They are too small to use as a laptop at arms length from my eyes. If you ask me, the perfect size for a tablet you aren't going to hold 6" from you face is the 11.5 - 13 in. range, and the perfect size for a tablet without a keyboard is 8".

The Acer Switch 3 is 11.5" and is a direct alternative spec wise to the Surface Go.

 

[Adventurer64]

and the perfect size for a tablet without a keyboard is 8".

I agree, I have a beater 8" Toshiba Encore tablet that I use quit often when traveling or surfing the web at home. I use it almost as much as my SP2017. I think the Surface Mini that never launched was near 8".

 

[Wevenhuis]

The surface Go could be a decent choice, but the choice for hardware and cpu, a type cover not part of the package deal and a poor state of the windows 10 tablet experience is standing in the devices way.