Surface Pro advice to former Mac user

[dc9super80]

I have been a Mac user for a long time, but recently decided to give my MacBook Air to my wife as she needed the portability and began using a Lenovo Windows machine. To my surprise, Windows 10 is just wonderful, it is as usable as OSX (don?t kill me but an OS without gestures is unusable to me). I feel as comfortable as I did on OSX (my workflow didn?t take a hit as usually would happen with an OS change) and I truly think both OS are pretty much on par right (obviously subjectively speaking). OSX is just a bit more fluid, due to software being specifically made for hardware, but I do prefer the aesthetics of Windows 10. That said, upon contemplating my next machine, which was obvoiusly going to be a Mac until I started using Windows 10, I decided that the Surface Pro 4 is more what I am looking for and what fits in my lifestyle. Questions...

1. Are there any glaring bugs or problems with the device?
2. How is the keyboard and trackpad?

These two points are make or break for me, the trackpad on the Lenovo I use now really annoys me and it is the one thing I miss from my Mac.

 

[eastbayrae]

It's still somewhat buggy and the trackpad on the touch cover is horrid compared to my MacBook.

 

[spoonxii]

I find the keyboard and trackpad to be at least comparable to my Air-

 

[anon(66956)]

Nothing beat a Mac trackpad, but the one on the SP4 comes close. It's smaller, but the motions you make on it are responsive and fluid.

 

[billyboyblue]

Macbook == no touch screen, SP4, touch screen, you can't really get more gesture control than that buddy. It sounds like you need a laptop that can be a tablet as needed, the SP4 really doesn't sound like it's for you. Check out the New Yoga x1, or the Surface Book.

 

[RealtorTechGuy]

SP4 with all the latest updates is excellent. Portable,light, touchscreen, KB is excellent. Track pad is very usable. I do carry a surface mouse with me though.

 

[onlysublime]

SP4 continues to get better with every update to the drivers and Windows 10.

I've never been a trackpad fan. I use it in a worst case scenario. Between the touchscreen, the pen, and my Logitech trackball and mice, I have zero need to use the trackpad.

 

[dc9super80]

Macbook == no touch screen, SP4, touch screen, you can't really get more gesture control than that buddy. It sounds like you need a laptop that can be a tablet as needed, the SP4 really doesn't sound like it's for you. Check out the New Yoga x1, or the Surface Book.

Yes good point, I do need more laptop than tablet. The touch controls why cool aren?t a selling point for me. I need a good trackpad for the work I do.

 

[TimU66]

Ok - background info. I switched from Windows to Mac years ago. Simply got tired of re-installing every 6 months to keep a clean system, and smoothly running - as well as Vista. I've been a happy Mac user since that time, and still am. I think Windows 10 is ok - it holds some promise, but not ecstatic. After I saw a friend with an SP3, I was pretty impressed with the hardware. Got an SP4 the day they were available retail. Mine has been relatively trouble-free, a few things, but not the major things that so many others seem to have.

As to your questions:
1. Are there any glaring bugs or problems with the device?
Check the internet. They are legion, and won't take you long to get even publication articles now saying the same things as many users. Seems if you get a "plain vanilla" device (mine is an i5/4GB/128GB), you seem to have fewer issues. If you get an i5/8GB/256GB - there are more issues. The i7s seem to have a lot of issues. Battery life is nothing near an Air (I have a 2012 i7/8GB/128GB Air), and almost 4 years later can routinely still get at LEAST 6-7 hours out of it surfing the net/email/etc. The SP4, when I got it would go for maybe 3.5 hours, with display set way down, and doing all the "tricks" everyone recommended to extend battery life. The last firmware update seems to have fixed this for most, and seems to have solved my general issue of power draining even when off. To be honest, Apple isn't without their issues too - but they generally seem to be more "niche" when they do, and not anywhere near as widespread as the SB/SP4 issues have been. So I'm not casting stones here, but it certainly seems the SP4 came out well before it should have (with many pubs and pundits now saying the same thing).


2. How is the keyboard and trackpad?
Not like the Air keyboard, or a Mac keyboard in general. Trackpad is ok, but I've found that when you want to "tap-click", where a Mac will use the entire surface of the trackpad for a click, the SP4 keyboard uses the left side for single click, and I think the right side for right click, but that never seems to work for me. I always use the "two-finger" click on the trackpad for a right-click, and that again, only works on the left side of the trackpad. In general, keyboard is ok (to be honest, I originally thought the "chicklet" keyboard on the Mac would be awful - memories of the PC-Jr era keyboard - but wound up loving the Mac keyboard).

Since this isn't about Win10, I'll give the hardware an 8.5/10 for it's CAPABILITIES - which are not yet fully realized IMHO. Right now, about a 5 or 6 out of 10. I hope that MS will fix the issues, but with the progression of new hardware, I'm not so sure they'll get all of them dealt with before the next round of hardware comes out.

So, why did I buy? I've had an iPad since day 1, and still like the platform and iOS. Two things I don't like about iPad (since day 1) - the lack of a stylus and the lack of using a USB interface for more storage, transport, etc. I kept hoping they'd get the USB thing straightened out - they haven't. They finally got the stylus on the iPad Pro - but when purchasing the entry-level Pro AND the stylus - price is essentially the same as the SP4 (after the usual $100 sales that seem to be present quite a bit). Even with the USB-C on the iPad Pro - still no USB "host" interface - so no ability to use a flash card, etc. Yes, one can purchase an "interface" dongle, but I don't want a dongle on a dongle, ad nauseum. And, those dongles are almost ALWAYS very specific about what you can/can't store on them. Or they are "one-way" - into Videos/iPhoto/etc. apps, not into almost any app, etc.

I bought knowing that the hardware is too tempting to pass up for those attempting to get Linux or even OS 10.10/11 running on it. You can google those if you wish. Fairly good results so far - Linux being ahead of OSX efforts. I think the OSX efforts are hampered by the lack of OSX Skylake drivers right now - and I'm sure that can be overcome as soon as the next release of Apple hardware with Skylake on it.

So - there's an "honest" appraisal. It's ok - it ain't no Mac (but might be turned into one). If all you ever used a Mac for was lightweight stuff - well, then most anything else would work. If you use/used a Mac for heavier video/photo/etc. editing - then the SP4, IMHO, won't cut it.

 

[Smithy London]

I have been a long time Macbook air and pro user also. I was completely captivated on buying my i7 Surface Pro 4. The machine is totally slick and has a better performance than the current Macbook Pro 13 retina. The new keyboards released for the Pro 4 are superb and the large touch pad is similarly constructed out of glass like the Macs. I get an easy 6-7 hours out of the Pro 4, its difficult to compare it to the Air as the Pro 4 has a high res screen and this uses more battery power than the lower quality screen of the air.
Windows 10 on the Pro 4 has been a little buggy. I have followed some of the hints of this site and switched off the update services until Microsoft nail the small issues, as mine works fine for me.
I do miss the Apple time machine, as there is no real windows alternative.
The pro 4 is a great machine and much nicer than the current Macbook Airs.

 

[Smithy London]

Also I use the Surface Pro 4 for Video editing on the go, like I did with my last Macbook Pro 13. The Pro 4 is faster!! The only Macbook that will better it currently is the Macbook Pro 15!

 

[dc9super80]

Thanks for your comment. I have been using this Lenovo machine for a few weeks now, testing the waters so to speak and all sorts of weird bugs show up. One that particularly annoys me is the trackpad, which by itself sucks compared to the MacBook?s but additionally swipe gestures suddenly stop working at times. Another is the fact that some devs haven?t updated their apps for higher display resolution so they look fuzzy. I upgrade to Windows Pro and there is a bug that prevents me from changing the display language. Then there are system app redundancies all over the place, which when unseen doesn?t really matter but it makes the OS seem so unfinished. Windows 7 was the last MSFT OS I used and it was pretty stable and mature. OSX may have bugs here and there and Yosemite certainly had its fair share, but nothing so glaring, and capable of interrupting work flow.

I find myself feeling upset at MSFT because I like WIndows 10, I like where MSFT is heading with it, I love the aesthetics considerably more than OSX, and I love access to some speciality apps I didn't have access to on my Mac, but I am growing cold on it. I need my machine to simply work all the time and well. So if W10 has problems and from the comments here the Surface has its own hardware problems I don?t think it is ready to be my main machine. Maybe I should wait until the new Macs are released in March and run BootCamp or a virtual machine should I need something from Windows. I still think the Surface form factor is what I need in my life but I will wait until it matures some more, maybe Apple copies the idea (sadly).

P.S. Power is not a problem, I am a scientist, the most I need is a good statistics application, a bibliography manager and an office suite .

 

[alyka_t]

i've found this thread very helpful. Fellow mac user here contemplating the switch over the either the pro 4 or the surface book and I'm definitely a bit hesitant. I'm so used to what I know that switching seems very odd. They seem like amazing machines though, just not sure which to go with.

 

[seremify]

I've been an Apple fan for a while now and in general, I prefer Apple products over competing options but I really wanted a Windows machine to play some old school games without compromising so much to make it work and to also have a choice in where I buy my games from (e.g. CS:GO, UT, Simcity, etc - Steam, Origin, GOG, etc)

Overall for me, the biggest thing about the SP4 (and similar to why I bought the Surface 3 before) is that I loved the form factor. It was just great having something different to a normal laptop which was more portable, easier to 'get to the action' like an iPad (although nowhere near as quick/slick as my iPad Air 2), etc...

However, I have had random bugs pop up (already documented on Google from the many other users) and the battery life is abysmal compared to my Macbook Air or iPad - and unlike my Surface 3 (which I've sold as I wanted something more powerful so I could play games), it requires the very very expensive proprietary charger cable (compared to Surface 3 using micro USB).

Trackpad/keyboard are nice given how thin/light it is. As others mentioned the gestures are a bit hit or miss (compared to the consistency of how well they work in Mac OS X), and the trackpad is good for Windows machines but not yet on par with the Mac ones. Keyboard is a little noisy compared to Macbooks/Lenovos which can bother significant others if you like to type in bed, but typing speed/accuracy wise it's on par (I can get 130-140wpm with ease and maintain 99%-100% accuracy across both my MBA 11", SP4 and Lenovo T430 - as long as I'm on a stable table!). Stylus is sortof useful when out and about, but realistically not a must have. It's nice that it's included though.

OS-wise; I think I'm flexible enough to adapt to either. Only major issue I have with Windows is there's no equivalent to Time Machine in terms of simplicity of just backing up the entire PC to a NAS, and being able to open individual files with ease. One of the key things I liked about Windows 8 was the OneDrive integration which has gone out the window with Windows 10 (i.e. it's now just like Dropbox without the symbolic links forcing you to download/sync a folder if you want to see what's inside using Explorer). I do like the Windows Hello though. Cortana isn't in my region so a moot point.

Anyway to cut a long story short Op, have a think about the form factor and whether that suits your lifestyle/uses. For me, I love going to cafes and pulling out my Surface. Something I wouldn't do with my Macbook.

 

[Steve Adams]

i've found this thread very helpful. Fellow mac user here contemplating the switch over the either the pro 4 or the surface book and I'm definitely a bit hesitant. I'm so used to what I know that switching seems very odd. They seem like amazing machines though, just not sure which to go with.

Are you mobile more than stationary? that will make your decision easier. If you are on the go more, the SP4 would be the better buy, as its smaller, lighter and more compact. If you tend to use your computer more at home or at work, the BOOK is an awesome piece of hardware.

The thing I love about my lowly surface 3 is its' a great tablet in tablet mode, using my surface pen is a joy. When, I want to type etc, clip on my keyboard and its comparable to any small notebook. Once you get used to keyboard button placement, you can type VERY fast on it. Mine does not have the new glass touchpad, but I still find it fine for what I do as I have touchscreen and you get used to using that more than the pad anyways. Then, when I get home, I toss it in the dock, it charges, runs a full size keyboard, mouse and touchpad on my desk, as well as ALL USB periferals at the same time. Plus I have speakers, subwoofer and a 24" monitor.

The surface product really is an ALL IN ONE computer. NO, maybe the keyboard is not as good as a "REAL" notebook, but the package as a whole is better than ANYTHING ELSE available right now.