Has Anyone Ditched Their Desktop For a Docked Surface?

[RealtorTechGuy]

I use an SP4, i5, 256GB. I use it as my exclusive computer and have two Docks one at the office and one at home. Works like a charm, excellent solution. New dock is small which is better than what I was using before - Pluggable with my SP1. Like the single cable - charge and connect. I believe there are some minor compatibility issues with DVI ports and maybe some monitors. But both my monitors are working fine with a VGA adaptor.

 

[rgc6789]

Guys, I'm glad your SP4 works perfectly, but as I'm sure you've read many people are having issues with their SP4. I got my wife an i5 and it was pretty bad. I returned it for several reasons, but got an S3 with LTE and things were better. Still had an issue with speaker crackle that was settings related right out of the box.

I'd really like to track one of you guys down and see first hand how well your SP4 is running and do an audit of the system to see what the differences are. I suspect MS is using multiple hardware vendors for a bunch of components and some of them are misbehaving. I'm sure they could be fixed with software updates, but it's a bit disconcerting how bad my wife's SP4 ran fully updated, no apps, out of the box.

My i7 comes this week. Fingers crossed!

I'm on my 3rd Surface Pro 4 - the first 2 had hardware issues. However, I bought mine from the local BestBuy and the first 2 were from the same original batch that were in the store for launch. My third one, and the one that seems to be fine after 10 days, is from the followup batch. Small sample size I know, but I think the first batch seems to have had a number of lemons.

 

[toddpart]

Can you tell me where you got your messenger bag? It looks exactly like what I've been on the lookout to get for my SP4. Thanks!

Yup - I did this last year with the SP3. I like the dock on the SP4 even better. Pictures follow.



SP4 "Office in a Bag" ready to take off for a meeting:
View attachment 116011

 

[bitek]

I just switched from MacBook Air. While surface pro 4 is great form factor it still requires refinement. Windows 10 is buggy especially after experiencing OS X and battery life is terrible when compared to 13 in air. Pen and display are plus for pro. Considering your usage, is I would wait till things settled down especially battery life.

How is it buggy? Battery life is better on MacBook Air but than MacBook Air does not come with i7 CPU. Isn't?

 

[zkyevolved]

If it weren't for some of the other games I play, I would use my SP4 as my exclusive device. Besides the sleep bug where it drains my battery, I think my device is mostly bug free. There are color changes while using Edge, but I don't use Edge. But I can see why this would bother people. When they bring Edge features up to par, especially sync (which has been on/off in my experience), then I'll try it again.

I really would love to turn my SP4 into my full desktop. Hehe. I'm sitting on my sofa in my room with my pet right next to me and I love it! I actually enjoy leaving the full gaming desktop off!

 

[cj-m]

What bag are you using for your "Office in a bag"?

 

[someoneinwa]

I wasn't planning to do this but I did. I had a nice 27 inch all in one that was the "main" PC in the house. I streamed TV and movies to it to watch from a recliner late at night and did all my work and consumption there. Then I bought the Surface Pro 3 for work. Within a few months I was using the SP3 in that recliner for TV and the NYT crossword app and reading and one night it dawned on me how much less often I was using that big all in one. I didn't plan to ditch it but just before the SP4 was announced the big out of warranty PC died. I decided to give the SP3 the chance to become a desktop as well as a tablet and laptop. And when Microsoft announced the new Surface Dock, I was sold. I bought a good quality monitor and the new dock. I love this set-up. The Surface Pro goes with me each day to work and gets plugged into the dock when it comes home for desk related work like writing, photo and video editing and so on, and some games too. Then it comes with me to the recliner if I want to do the crossword or watch TV and then back on the dock for overnight. It's a great system and far less expensive than a replacement all in one would have been.

 

[Misterb]

Yes. Works very well. I have a 50" 4K monitor, connected to the Surface Dock. I have a nice wireless Microsoft full keyboard and mouse, external speakers and 2 TB external hard drive all plugged in to the dock. I sit down, plug in ONE cable, and everything comes up and starts working. I leave my desk and want to take the SP4 with me, I unplug ONE cable and I'm back to being a tablet with a hell of a nice keyboard cover when needed.

I'll have to take a picture for you guys sometime. It's a sweet system. The SP4, dock, and keyboard cover are pricey, unless you're able to replace a laptop, tablet, and desktop. Then you realize it isn't such a bad deal, and is actually extremely convenient.

 

[zkyevolved]

Yes. Works very well. I have a 50" 4K monitor, connected to the Surface Dock. I have a nice wireless Microsoft full keyboard and mouse, external speakers and 2 TB external hard drive all plugged in to the dock. I sit down, plug in ONE cable, and everything comes up and starts working. I leave my desk and want to take the SP4 with me, I unplug ONE cable and I'm back to being a tablet with a hell of a nice keyboard cover when needed.

No power cable?

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[omegafiler]

I tried this out for awhile as a test. I setup a separate area with a USB hub, monitor, keyboard, etc. SP4 connected to a 24" monitor via DisplayPort. As far as performance, it worked rather well. Although it doesn't take much for the CPU fan to kick in. Using both monitor and tablet display, several chrome tabs, watching videos on Edge on the other display, etc. CPU wasn't going much past 30%, but after a little bit of time, CPU fan would noisily kick in and was quite annoying.

Don't really have that issue in tablet-only mode with light usage. Stays nice and quiet. SP4, i5, 256gb, 8gb.

 

[etphoto]

My desktop is 4 years old (but still works fairly well) and when I decide to replace it I think I'm going the SP4 dock route. Glad I saw this thread.

 

[Misterb]

No power cable?

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

The Surface Dock cable also charges the device. So yes, all that plus power with one cable

 

[Misterb]

I tried this out for awhile as a test. I setup a separate area with a USB hub, monitor, keyboard, etc. SP4 connected to a 24" monitor via DisplayPort. As far as performance, it worked rather well. Although it doesn't take much for the CPU fan to kick in. Using both monitor and tablet display, several chrome tabs, watching videos on Edge on the other display, etc. CPU wasn't going much past 30%, but after a little bit of time, CPU fan would noisily kick in and was quite annoying.

Don't really have that issue in tablet-only mode with light usage. Stays nice and quiet. SP4, i5, 256gb, 8gb.

Probably because you do less in tablet mode. Try most of those at once in tablet mode. Bet the fan comes on. Mine does

 

[omegafiler]

Probably because you do less in tablet mode. Try most of those at once in tablet mode. Bet the fan comes on. Mine does

Oh yeah, I know. You can just watch CPU usage and already know when the fan will kick in. I just do a lot more, with more screen real estate. So for me, fan is likely to be running the entire time in "dock" mode.

 

[sott3]

I have ditched my Dell Latitude w/ port replicator for the SP4 with the dock. Working just fine with two external monitors connected to the Dock. Only thing I did was turn off Windows Hello because it the camera kept looking for me when I locked the computer and walked away, and that seemed to make it overheat. Using the fingerprint reader on the keyboard cover instead.

 

[DCProjMgr]

Can you tell me where you got your messenger bag? It looks exactly like what I've been on the lookout to get for my SP4. Thanks!

It's the Outback Solo for Surface Pro 4 from Waterfield Designs. They have several options for the Surface Pro. Search the forums and you will find more comments about them.

 

[WildKarrde]

My Chemistry teacher replaced his Power Mac with an SP3, and was very pleased. His uses are similar to your own.

I could get by with just an SP4 as my only computer, and if I had to choose, I would have to choose the SP4. But I'm really glad I can have both. When I'm at home, I primarily use my desktop, but often times in tandem with my SP4. They compliment each other beautifully.

That said, I'm often away from home, and have realized that over the last couple years my SP2, and now SP4, are really my primary computer. The only thing I miss about my desktop when I'm away is the ability to do some pretty serious gaming.