Thinking twice need assurance

[boltman2013]

I'm not interested in the surface book, I want the pro4 it needs to be a tablet first then a laptop. The surface books battery life isn't enough in tablet mode for my needs,

I'd consider the M3 if it had more than 128GB of storage as an option, it looks like it may be the i5 if this is the case

Remember you can put up to whatever you want per spec for a micro SD in the M3(128)... for instance just yesterday the Samsung Pro + 64GB UHS3 card was under $40 at Frys.... so in theory you could just use micro SDs (up to theoretical 2TB) for extra storage and save $$$$ over the i5 and IMO get a much better device with the M3.

Do not underestimate the importance of the proper processor for the SP4...M3 is designed with this device in mind.

Advantages...

Less cost
Silence and less dust
Battery
Energy savings
Less Heat

Negatives....
Cannot get 8GB of RAM ever.

So ask yourself is the bigger SSD really worth it over SD expansion?
Is silence important?
Is money important?

Think long and hard about the i5 versus M3... think you will be happy with the M3. (i'm a heavy user but I know SP4 limits too) and that is where Surface Book, Spectre, Dells come in llong with Vaio Z Canvas.

What I think is people overspend for no real reason. I'm telling you you will be happier getting a better product for less if you chose the M3. Plus you now have money for anything else (accessories, lumia , surface phone)

 

[chattoe]

Remember you can put up to whatever you want per spec for a micro SD in the M3(128)... for instance just yesterday the Samsung Pro + 64GB UHS3 card was under $40 at Frys.... so in theory you could just use micro SDs (up to theoretical 2TB) for extra storage and save $$$$ over the i5 and IMO get a much better device with the M3.

Do not underestimate the importance of the proper processor for the SP4...M3 is designed with this device in mind.

Advantages...

Less cost
Silence and less dust
Battery
Energy savings
Less Heat

Negatives....
Cannot get 8GB of RAM ever.

So ask yourself is the bigger SSD really worth it over SD expansion?
Is silence important?
Is money important?

Think long and hard about the i5 versus M3... think you will be happy with the M3. (i'm a heavy user but I know SP4 limits too) and that is where Surface Book, Spectre, Dells come in llong with Vaio Z Canvas.

What I think is people overspend for no real reason. I'm telling you you will be happier getting a better product for less if you chose the M3. Plus you now have money for anything else (accessories, lumia , surface phone)

You do make some valid points, I almost forgot about the micro SD card slot lol.

I would prefer 8gb of ram though,

They don't come out over here in the uk until the 12th so I still have plenty of reading and videos to watch while I wait for release date.

Any lag or anything on yours and how do you find battery life

 

[GatsbyGlen]

I have an i5 model and I don't have the heat/fan issue that everyone seems to think is a problem with the i5. Ironically, the i5 model has great reviews on Best Buy's site, the i3 doesn't. The only time I've heard the fan kick in is when installing Office 2016 and syncing about 10GB of files on OneDrive.

The litmus test for me will happen soon, my weekly Skype session. I previously used a Samsung Galaxy Tab S for this (always under battery) and it worked great. I'm eager to see how the Surface Pro 4 works as well, under battery. If the fan kicks in and it makes all sorts of loud noises, then I will have to reconsider.

 

[boltman2013]

Battery life is solid once you tweek it...5 to 8 hours estimate
No lag

 

[chattoe]

I have an i5 model and I don't have the heat/fan issue that everyone seems to think is a problem with the i5. Ironically, the i5 model has great reviews on Best Buy's site, the i3 doesn't. The only time I've heard the fan kick in is when installing Office 2016 and syncing about 10GB of files on OneDrive.

The litmus test for me will happen soon, my weekly Skype session. I previously used a Samsung Galaxy Tab S for this (always under battery) and it worked great. I'm eager to see how the Surface Pro 4 works as well, under battery. If the fan kicks in and it makes all sorts of loud noises, then I will have to reconsider.

Love to hear your results when you have them

 

[chattoe]

Battery life is solid once you tweek it...5 to 8 hours estimate
No lag

That's not bad

 

[GatsbyGlen]

Love to hear your results when you have them

I posted them in the battery thread. Here it is again below. I'm concerned that the i5 seems to spend a fair amount of time in boost mode above base clock, speed, (but so does M3). I saw it around 2.8, vs 2.4 which is base, but that's with Skype video active. On battery, I wish there could be a way to say don't go into boost mode, only do that when plugged in.

Some info. I used Skype today for 1 hour, 10 minutes. According to the battery report, I went from 43 to 6 % in that time (got the battery notification warning). During that time there was no fan at all, and I had chrome running in the background. I'm using the Desktop version of Skype, not the Windows app.

However, after plugging in, the fan did kick on while the battery was charging, stayed on for a bit, and then turned off. Nothing out of the ordinary I guess.

One thing I found interesting with CPU-Z is that the processor more often than not was at around 2.8 Ghz (28 x 100) while Skype was running with video call. I'll have to spend some time logging CPU utilization, particularly during battery time, to see how high it gets.

 

[GatsbyGlen]

I should mention that I changed my PROCTHROTTLEMAX setting to 95% (DC and AC) awhile back and I no longer hear the fan kick on when using Skype.

 

[jcomey]

I should chime in: I was a first-week adopter, trading in my SP2 for the SP4. I had read the reports, but in the end, I had to try it for myself.

I haven't had any of the issues that are reported here. I have the fan come on only when I'm streaming live video that is full-screen, with several other apps running (a couple text-based sim games, Chrome, Word). I have been in tune with the issues being posted here, and have been on the lookout for them.

So far, in my own experience, the only issue I have ever come across is that sometimes waking up from hibernate can require a few extra seconds of holding down the power button. Outside of that, this device has been brilliant.

 

[Justinian84]

It's also wise to remember that you're always going to read more complaints/issues than praise in forums. The large majority of people are most likely having no problems and too busy enjoying the device.

 

[ryland Johnson]

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