How are you enjoying your "Go"

wolfpack219

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So I finally got my Go today. I purchased the 8gb/128 SSD model with Alcantera KB from Best Buy Ebay for $565.72 before taxes. I was impressed with the build quality upon opening the box. You can definitely tell it's a Surface product. It took me approximately 30 to 45 minutes to set it up and get all the OS drivers updated. Set up was really easy but I would think part of the process would be to update drivers and such automatically as it can greatly affect performance, however I had to do that on my own. Let's get into actually using it.

So the first thing I did was open up a ton of programs, browser tabs, file explorer, music apps, PDF files, email, video in browser, word docs, excel doc, and basic game sonic go for free from the windows store. It didn't slow down anything. I tabbed through and scrolled through pages just fine. I didn't notice any slowing that was detrimental or degrading my experience. So I closed everything out and just started using it normally. This tablet/laptop is fantastic. For what I will use this for it will be great. I noticed at full charge it said in the lower right corner I only had 4 hours of battery. We'll see over time here how accurate that is since i have yet to drain it. What's your guy's experience been like?
 

Dude2

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Hi Wolfpack, glad to hear you are finding the Go so beneficial. Do you have any external monitors connected to the Go?

Have you tried working with the MS Docking cord yet?
 

jnjroach

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It has been by Go too device (groan) since I received it...I've left my SB2 docked and have taken with me to all of my meetings both internal and external. I did as a test dock with my Gen3 Surface Dock driving my 34" WUHD Monitor...
 

LibbyLA

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I’m in a crunch time getting ready for the fall semester to start next week. My problem with the Office “nag” screen has morphed into a problem with not being able to uninstall Office completely and reinstall, which is very serious given that I need to modify a presentation and use both PowerPoint and OneNote the first day of class.

I used my Go connected to an overhead projector, external speakers, and a USB headset to record some test videos with Camtasia Studio.

I plan to post about my experience within the next few days, but I have to get this class prep done first. It doesn’t help that I’m participating in a pilot of a new version of our course management system and that’s not getting off to a stellar start.
 

wolfpack219

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I stay away from preview software or insider builds usually. I like the software to be as consistent as possible. Can't wait to hear how your experience has been.
 

LibbyLA

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If you’re referring to the pilot I mentioned, it’s not preview software or an insider build. We run a very customized version of Moodle, but because it’s so customized, we can’t upgrade as new versions are released and that is causing problems. Those of us in the pilot program are testing the latest build to see what compromises we may have to make, if changing how we work with Moodle will work. It’s a necessary evil and apparently I’m a prized member of the testing community because they know I don’t hold back. I’m picky, detail-oriented (and crabby, but they know it’s not at them).

I got a lot done today, even with the problems, but MS support was supposed to call me at 5 today to troubleshoot the Office problems and I haven’t heard from them yet.
 

ClintRo

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It has been by Go too device (groan) since I received it...I've left my SB2 docked and have taken with me to all of my meetings both internal and external. I did as a test dock with my Gen3 Surface Dock driving my 34" WUHD Monitor...

You did a test??? So what were the results?
 

richard_rsp

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I'm pretty happy with my Go 4gb. I still think it's a bit expensive, once you add the keyboard especially, but it's a high quality device. Plus, I was able to pick up a flawless open box model from BestBuy for $342 and $111 for the alacantra keyboard. I've been using it for the past 48 hours as my primary device and it seems to do almost everything I want. I have been playing cuphead with no issues with an Xbox one controller. Also downloaded Chrome. I think Edge actually works better, so I've defaulted back to it (with uBlock active). I was replacing a Chromebook, which I loved, but it was the quality that convinced me to give the Surface Go a go...glad I did (so far)!
 

HeyCori

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I'm enjoying it so far. I expected the battery life to be better. It's not bad but I'm probably getting about 5-6 hours. I could squeeze out more if I did some simple battery saving techniques, but I'm never too far away from a charger. I'm extremely glad I got the pen over a keyboard. It has come in handy, especially for navigating certain parts of Windows. I even used it for taking notes at a meeting today which was cool. Eventually I'll load up some books to go along with the various sites I browse on a daily basis.
 

WAA1523

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I have enjoyed my SG so far, but I have a question. I have Crystal Mark readings very similar to the review here on Windows Central, particularly the write speeds (130 MB/s). There are some SG owners who have posted Crystal Mark write scores of 500-600 MB/s. Since I consistently get lower scores, should I seek to exchange my SG?
 

wolfpack219

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seems like people are enjoying the device contrary to all these reviews saying it's crap because it doesn't have an I5 with a GTX 1060. My experience has been great and my wife who is not a tech person at all loves the device.
 

LibbyLA

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I discovered with my iPad Pro 9.7 (Apple silicone cover, Apple Smart Keyboard) and my iPad Pro 10.5 (third-party silicone cover, Apple Smart Keyboard) that that size/form factor is perfect for me. The Go with keyboard and pen weighs almost exactly what the iPP 10.5 weighs without the Apple Pencil and the Go is actually just slightly thinner than the iPP 10.5 complete package.

I love that I can fit it in a tiny case with accessories.

I’m one of those who actually finds typing on the ASK very easy. I’m having to get used to having a slanted, rather than flat, keyboard and a little more key travel, but I’m getting accustomed to the keyboard and the track pad (which I find to be silky smooth and very responsive) very quickly.
 

Insti Gator

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I discovered with my iPad Pro 9.7 (Apple silicone cover, Apple Smart Keyboard) and my iPad Pro 10.5 (third-party silicone cover, Apple Smart Keyboard) that that size/form factor is perfect for me. The Go with keyboard and pen weighs almost exactly what the iPP 10.5 weighs without the Apple Pencil and the Go is actually just slightly thinner than the iPP 10.5 complete package.

This is so often overlooked. Surface Go may technically weigh more than an iPad/Pro but I don't know ANY family/friends that use their iPad without a cover because they need a cover to double as a stand. In that case, the Surface Go's stand is built in and therefore doesn't really need the case/cover.

Once you factor in the cover/case on an iPad it's the same or bigger than Surface Go.
 

Mike Buckhurst

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I've been using my (8GB) Go in earnest for a couple of days. Normally I use an old Dell XPS 15" i7 L521 for my work when traveling or a Surface Pro 4 - depending on the kind of work I'm doing. So I thought lets see if I can use the Go to replace the Dell.

This means I need to run Office, Visual Studio and SQL Server, in addition to configuring and setting up Windows CE 6.0 devices, so a real test for modern hardware.

Firstly the SQL Server isn't running a big database, simply an asset manager I wrote in C#, so not a huge OLTP, it does mean I usually have 10 or so tabs open in SQL management studio, as well as the C# application running. Neither feel noticeably different to the Dell, perhaps a little slower in opening, but once running, fine. At no point did I even think about the fact I wasn't using the normal machine.

Configuring the Windows CE 6.0 device, that required some updates, because windows 10 doesn't like them, once done the process was flawless and absolutely no different to my usual hardware, I tend to take images of all devices, which involves saving the image to OneDrive, this process gives a time taken, so is handy for measuring performance, here I saw absolutely no difference in performance - I'm very pleased with this because this is a job I need to do on customer sites, so flying with the Go would really help.

Loading and reading emails in Outlook is as fast as you'd expect, everything is down to the network connection, so not an issue for the Go. I opened Excel spreadsheets and again no issues. You really can't tell it's not a more powerful machine.

My final job is configuring routers and access points via their web interface, I didn't expect issue, and I didn't have any. Typically for this I have Wi-Fi connected to my home network and an ethernet connection to the router.

In all this I've been using the device at 125% scaling, which is (for me) the best compromise over resolution and readability, I found this to be perfect, even though it's a lot smaller than the 15" laptop, I had no problems working and this scaling still gives enough screen space for the likes of Visual Studio.

Perhaps my biggest problem, is connecting the thing to ethernet, I've got lots of usb to ethernet connctors, but none with USB-C, so a quick order from Amazon and I've got an Anker USB-C to USB3 adapter - I went for the Anker because the metal body. This works fine with my Go, I've got a Nintendo Switch USB ethernet, a UGREEN one and I bought an Anker at the same time as the adapter (removable cable makes it much safer for travelling), the latter two having USB ports, interestingly the Anker treats it as USB3 but the UGreen as USB2.

All in all I'm quite impressed, it does leave me wondering if the 4GB model would have been as good, but finally I have a light replacement for my laptop, I'm off to Fry's later to pick up a USB-C battery pack, so I'll be testing that later, if I can get a transatlantic flight watching movies and TV shows, then I'll have found my perfect machine.

I reckon I'm getting 5-6 hours battery life doing this work - I deliberately ran without power just to see how it goes, which is a little disappointing and a bit less than the Pro 4, but livable especially if an external battery pack works out.

Interestingly enough I've been trying to find a truly portable system, but always hit issues, this is the first time I actually have everything I need in one device that's light. There's been a long line of different devices that never quite lived up to the starting with an Acer CULV (too low resolution but performance ok), cheap 8" tablet (too slow, 32GB not enough storage, couldn't charge and use USB), Dell 10" early tablet (felt sluggish, storage again limited), Dell Venue Pro 10" (the first device that came up to scratch but still a bit sluggish and heavy). Each time I ended up back at the XPS (or whatever I was using at the time). The Surface Pro 4 would have easily coped but it's not configured for this work, so wasn't an option.

There is one last thing I need to try, one aspect of my job is doing Wi-Fi surveys of large buildings, the Dell, struggles on battery life, I need to try the Go for this, especially with a pen to mark spots on the building map, but the messing around with cables and adapters for USB, means I'm waiting on a nice long USB C cable to replace the Anker Ethernet/USB adapter cable, if this works then I can keep my special WiFi adapter safely tucked away rather than sticking precariously out of the socket.

If the Wi-Fi surveying works, and I see no reason it wouldn't, the Go will become my perfect machine.
 

wolfpack219

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I've been using my (8GB) Go in earnest for a couple of days. Normally I use an old Dell XPS 15" i7 L521 for my work when traveling or a Surface Pro 4 - depending on the kind of work I'm doing. So I thought lets see if I can use the Go to replace the Dell.

This means I need to run Office, Visual Studio and SQL Server, in addition to configuring and setting up Windows CE 6.0 devices, so a real test for modern hardware.

Firstly the SQL Server isn't running a big database, simply an asset manager I wrote in C#, so not a huge OLTP, it does mean I usually have 10 or so tabs open in SQL management studio, as well as the C# application running. Neither feel noticeably different to the Dell, perhaps a little slower in opening, but once running, fine. At no point did I even think about the fact I wasn't using the normal machine.

Configuring the Windows CE 6.0 device, that required some updates, because windows 10 doesn't like them, once done the process was flawless and absolutely no different to my usual hardware, I tend to take images of all devices, which involves saving the image to OneDrive, this process gives a time taken, so is handy for measuring performance, here I saw absolutely no difference in performance - I'm very pleased with this because this is a job I need to do on customer sites, so flying with the Go would really help.

Loading and reading emails in Outlook is as fast as you'd expect, everything is down to the network connection, so not an issue for the Go. I opened Excel spreadsheets and again no issues. You really can't tell it's not a more powerful machine.

My final job is configuring routers and access points via their web interface, I didn't expect issue, and I didn't have any. Typically for this I have Wi-Fi connected to my home network and an ethernet connection to the router.

In all this I've been using the device at 125% scaling, which is (for me) the best compromise over resolution and readability, I found this to be perfect, even though it's a lot smaller than the 15" laptop, I had no problems working and this scaling still gives enough screen space for the likes of Visual Studio.

Perhaps my biggest problem, is connecting the thing to ethernet, I've got lots of usb to ethernet connctors, but none with USB-C, so a quick order from Amazon and I've got an Anker USB-C to USB3 adapter - I went for the Anker because the metal body. This works fine with my Go, I've got a Nintendo Switch USB ethernet, a UGREEN one and I bought an Anker at the same time as the adapter (removable cable makes it much safer for travelling), the latter two having USB ports, interestingly the Anker treats it as USB3 but the UGreen as USB2.

All in all I'm quite impressed, it does leave me wondering if the 4GB model would have been as good, but finally I have a light replacement for my laptop, I'm off to Fry's later to pick up a USB-C battery pack, so I'll be testing that later, if I can get a transatlantic flight watching movies and TV shows, then I'll have found my perfect machine.

I reckon I'm getting 5-6 hours battery life doing this work - I deliberately ran without power just to see how it goes, which is a little disappointing and a bit less than the Pro 4, but livable especially if an external battery pack works out.

Interestingly enough I've been trying to find a truly portable system, but always hit issues, this is the first time I actually have everything I need in one device that's light. There's been a long line of different devices that never quite lived up to the starting with an Acer CULV (too low resolution but performance ok), cheap 8" tablet (too slow, 32GB not enough storage, couldn't charge and use USB), Dell 10" early tablet (felt sluggish, storage again limited), Dell Venue Pro 10" (the first device that came up to scratch but still a bit sluggish and heavy). Each time I ended up back at the XPS (or whatever I was using at the time). The Surface Pro 4 would have easily coped but it's not configured for this work, so wasn't an option.

There is one last thing I need to try, one aspect of my job is doing Wi-Fi surveys of large buildings, the Dell, struggles on battery life, I need to try the Go for this, especially with a pen to mark spots on the building map, but the messing around with cables and adapters for USB, means I'm waiting on a nice long USB C cable to replace the Anker Ethernet/USB adapter cable, if this works then I can keep my special WiFi adapter safely tucked away rather than sticking precariously out of the socket.

If the Wi-Fi surveying works, and I see no reason it wouldn't, the Go will become my perfect machine.

Well that's a very good real world review. Sounds like your getting the most out of it.
 

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