Are you buying the new Surface Pro or what?

[DJCBS]

Surface Laptop was estimated 14.5 hours, but The Verge got more like 7-8 hours (on both Windows 10 and Windows 10 S)

Anyway, I've pre-ordered my Surface Pro I'm still on the original model from 4 years ago! Which to be fair is still working perfectly. That one's off to my mum now.

I actually wanted the Surface Laptop, but I can't live without an SD card slot! Luckily noticed at the last moment before ordering.

Gone for the burgundy keyboard just for a change from everything being black. There's going to be no one at home this week to collect it mind you maybe I'll be able to pick it up at the weekend.

I would also advise no one to believe the 14.5 hours Microsoft advertises. Those numbers are always unrealistic (no matter the company). A normal user will likely get around 7 to 9 hours of battery life on the Surface Laptop depending on what kind of apps or programs you use.


As for the Surface Pro5, if you're upgrading from the Surface Pro (yes, there's a reason I call it Pro 5 regardless of what Microsoft says lol) then you will enjoy your upgrade A LOT. And even though the Surface Pro still works perfectly, you will NOT for a single minute question your upgrade, I can assure you of that

 

[david90531]

Most definitely. I've been waiting patiently for 3 years for a true successor to my SP3, and it's finally here. Getting the i5 8G 256GB varient as soon as I can

 

[onlysublime]

I would also advise no one to believe the 14.5 hours Microsoft advertises. Those numbers are always unrealistic (no matter the company). A normal user will likely get around 7 to 9 hours of battery life on the Surface Laptop depending on what kind of apps or programs you use.

You have to look at how they arrived at 14.5 hours. It's for video playback at medium brightness. That is all. It's not using Photoshop. It's not using Microsoft Office. It's not playing games. It's not web browsing.

This is how most laptops are measured. Look at real world MacBook Pro battery life versus what they advertise.

It's video playback at medium brightness. Contrast that with the Surface Pro 4 playing video where the SP4 was expected to get about 9 hours with video playback at medium brightness.

 

[DJCBS]

You have to look at how they arrived at 14.5 hours. It's for video playback at medium brightness. That is all. It's not using Photoshop. It's not using Microsoft Office. It's not playing games. It's not web browsing.

This is how most laptops are measured. Look at real world MacBook Pro battery life versus what they advertise.

It's video playback at medium brightness. Contrast that with the Surface Pro 4 playing video where the SP4 was expected to get about 9 hours with video playback at medium brightness.

Exactly. Which is why I said no matter the company. That's like those videos about which web browser consumers more energy. As if anyone used any computer that way. Or like when you see companies advertising "how easy to hold" a phone is - look at the ads for the LG G6 - by showing a hand holding the phone by the sides, as if it was a pole...because that's definitely how people hold phones lol


The battery life should be good, but it's definitely really dependable on the use someone gives the Surface. Just like any other device.

 

[Cameron Todd]

Just picked up my new surface pro i7 256g . Very nice i had the surface pro 4 previously. Small upgrade but very smooth and better hinge and also curved edges now

 

[david90531]

I heard even the i7 version has very quiet fan, compared to SP4 and especially to SP3 (mine sounds like an airplane ready for take off sometimes...)

 

[jimmy s1]

i5 or i7, anyone?

 

[Dusteater]

Simple answer is that it doesn't, until the vast majority of devices support USB-C then there's no need for it on the SP. I always think of Printers, first we had the Centronics port only, then we had transitional printers that added USB-B connections so until we see the same thing happen with USB-C there's no need for it.

@Dusteater you do know that "proprietary charging port" handles more than just charging, it's used for the dock and as of the new SP it will have a USB-C adapter for it as well.

Why are people still making the argument that until everything has USB-C, nothing should have it? That's not how we make progress. Microsoft could very easily have included it.

Surface Dock is useless because it won't work with any other laptop. The USB-C adapter for SP will likely not support modern USB revisions, and certainly won't support Thunderbolt 3.

At the price point the Surface is at, I expect much more. Overpriced and closed ecosystem of accessories.

 

[neo158]

Why are people still making the argument that until everything has USB-C, nothing should have it? That's not how we make progress. Microsoft could very easily have included it.

Surface Dock is useless because it won't work with any other laptop. The USB-C adapter for SP will likely not support modern USB revisions, and certainly won't support Thunderbolt 3.

At the price point the Surface is at, I expect much more. Overpriced and closed ecosystem of accessories.

Lets flip this around, why is EVERYONE making the argument that EVERYTHING should have USB Type-C on it when almost nothing uses it?

The only devices that use USB Type-C at this point are phones, not really a compelling argument for having USB Type-C on devices, when other things like storage devices and printers have it in addition to USB Type-A then Microsoft will add it to Surface and considering even Microsoft supply a Type-C to Type-A cable with the 950XL it shows how much USB Type-C has been adopted.

Surface dock is not useless because it wasn't designed to be used with anything other than Surface anyway.

 

[convergent]

Why are people still making the argument that until everything has USB-C, nothing should have it? That's not how we make progress. Microsoft could very easily have included it.

Surface Dock is useless because it won't work with any other laptop. The USB-C adapter for SP will likely not support modern USB revisions, and certainly won't support Thunderbolt 3.

At the price point the Surface is at, I expect much more. Overpriced and closed ecosystem of accessories.

I've not heard anyone saying that nothing should have USB-C. Not sure where you are seeing that. I would not skip buying something if it came with USB-C. But since I don't use it, its a non factor for me. Its not a widely used "standard" today, and I'm not confident it will become one because its not really a standard at all, other than the connector. In fact I just read this week that a new revision is coming out that is faster. So all those existing systems with USB-C won't support that.

As for the dock. If you are only going to use it with a Surface Pro, then why do you care that it doesn't support other things. I would rather have something that is fully supported and works well than buy a universal USB-C dock and have a 50 page listing of compatibility charts and explanations.

The price of the Surface Pro is in line with their competition... tier 1 OEMs and Apple. I've used Macs and Windows PCs for many years and the new Surface Pro is the best computer I've ever owned.

Clearly its not designed for you because you must have USB-C and Thunderbolt 3. Good that we have choices.

 

[Dusteater]

The reason Microsoft will never include USB-C is because they saw the Apple model and want to squeeze the money out of consumers with proprietary accessories. That's it. No technical reason. It's pure greed.

They charge a premium for an inferior product. That's why I buy HP.

 

[convergent]

The reason Microsoft will never include USB-C is because they saw the Apple model and want to squeeze the money out of consumers with proprietary accessories. That's it. No technical reason. It's pure greed.

They charge a premium for an inferior product. That's why I buy HP.

I'm sure you have it figured out there... they will NEVER have USB-C... and of course its "pure greed"! Its a good thing for you that HP is a non-profit company that isn't in it for the money... oh wait....

I'm pretty sure USB-A is more of a consistent standard than any USB-C port. As for the dock, are you under the impression that HP doesn't make proprietary docks also? HP 230W Docking Station | HP® Official Store Ooops. And Apple is now using USB-C and doesn't make any proprietary docks. They sell a lot of expensive dongles so their customers can connect their one USB-C port to things they need to connect to it. They did sell the display with a built in dock... I had one. It was using Thunderbolt, also not proprietary, and also the next great thing that never really caught on except in over priced peripherals.

Maybe you don't have it figured out after all. Maybe Microsoft is just simply doing what they said and sticking with USB-A for now because they don't believe the alternatives are mature at this point.

 

[onlysublime]

what a ridiculous argument. nothing is proprietary about USB-A. it is being used by 98% of devices and peripherals. there are only 2% of peripherals that are USB-C and 90% of that 2% are batteries.

 

[SeanD_Colorado]

IF greed where truly the motivation, why not follow Apple completely? include only USB-C and sell a boat load of dongles and cables now. That is where the money currently is.

Not that I believe greed was ever Apples motive either. Apple simply decides Apple is going to do what Apple is going to do. They will push whatever Apple decides to push. Through blunt force if necessary and cost to the user be damned. (This coming from a self professed Apple Fan, but I am not naïve.)

I think USB-C causes some confusion in the market. Because it isn't even really a standard, so much as a definition of the port connection itself. The underlying technology, could be anything from USB 2, such as Nokia's N1 tablet (which uses a USB 2.0 Type-C connector), to USB 3.0 to USB 3.1. Simplicity seems to be the stance Microsoft has taken, at least according to them. It wasn't about greed, it was about simplicity for the user. Whether someone agrees with MS or not on the decision to not use the USB-C port specification, I seriously doubt greed played any part of it.

Even the Samsung T3 SSD I purchased, the sole peripheral I currently own that is USB-C, ships with a USB-C to USB-A cable, rather than USB-C to USB-C. I had to purchase one separately to use it with my MBP. It plugs right in to my Surface Pro, with the cable it shipped with. So again, the money trail is currently with USB-C, not USB-A.

As for HP, wasn't greed and the fact that it's current cash cow drying up, the printer market, what lead to layoffs, bad acquisitions and outsourcing? Of course companies are in it to make money. Apple, Microsoft, Dell, HP, Lenevo, etc. It doesn't matter the flag they fly, they are all in it for the bottom line.

But a choice to include or exclude USB-C, being about greed? Come on now. If you don't agree with the design decision, that's fine. But that is all it is, a design decision.

 

[Mister Burns]

I'm waiting to see what woa brings in the fall

 

[BrianEmbry]

I'm waiting to see if a Surface Book 2 shows up this fall. If not I will get the new Surface Pro. I really like the Surface Book keyboard.

 

[convergent]

I'm waiting to see if a Surface Book 2 shows up this fall. If not I will get the new Surface Pro. I really like the Surface Book keyboard.

I played with a Surface Book in the Microsoft store quite a bit before deciding which I wanted. In the end, I do like the keyboard on the Surface Book, but I don't dislike the Surface Pro's keyboard. What did it for me is that when I'm at my desk, I dock the tablet and put the keyboard away, so that I have a dedicated tablet. I also have times when I'm doing interviews for much of the day and just using tablet mode. So the lack of battery life and ports on the Surface Book when detached from the keyboard pushed me to the Surface Pro... and I prefer the 12" size.

 

[anon(7901790)]

I'm not getting one. I have the SP3 and it is still going strong. Had Microsoft included a USB-C connector instead of a USB-A, I would have jumped. Microsoft could have included two USB-C connectors. Since USB-C includes power, data, and auding/video, either port could have been used for charging. While the other could be used for peripherals or a dock.

 

[ClintRo]

I am buying the NSP I5 8 GB 256 GB model on the payment plan that I can upgrade in 18 months.