Which Variant of the New Surface Pro will you get?

[david90531]

So after 3 and a half years of waiting, finally I can update my Surface Pro 3 to the new Surface Pro (starting to get used to it not being Surface Pro 5 now finally..)

I'm wondering which version of the machine everyone that will be getting the new SP is thinking of buying?

Personally I think one of the cool "new" features is definitely the fanless i5 processor, and 128GB is simply too little, so I will be getting the i5 with 256GB. Although I had thought of the i7 256GB trim for the better GPU, but I'm not certain how much better it actually is (I'm a light gamer but watch a lot of videos and movies on my SP3). Also I heard i7 machines tend to run hot in general, and even my i5 SP3 gets super hot at times...

Sound off in the comments for your opinions

 

[rdubmu]

I am going to wait, I just got a surface pro 4 for the Black Friday special, I also have a surface pro 3, if I can sell both for at least $1200, I am gonna pick up the fanless I5 256gigs with 8 ram if that configuration is available.

 

[onlysublime]

I'm getting the i7/8GB/256GB option. I've been extremely happy with both of my Surface Pro 4 i7/8GB/256GB machines. I'm going to sell one of those and replace it with the new Surface Pro.

 

[david90531]

I am going to wait, I just got a surface pro 4 for the Black Friday special, I also have a surface pro 3, if I can sell both for at least $1200, I am gonna pick up the fanless I5 256gigs with 8 ram if that configuration is available.

Nice! I always thought of having a Surface Pro 4, but since Pro 3 was still working flawlessly I really didn't see the point. Finally the Pro 5 is out now so I can upgrade once and for all. I'm also going for the 256GB fanless i5

 

[david90531]

I'm getting the i7/8GB/256GB option. I've been extremely happy with both of my Surface Pro 4 i7/8GB/256GB machines. I'm going to sell one of those and replace it with the new Surface Pro.

Did your Surface Pro 4 with i7 have overheating issues? Does it get hot doing just productivity stuff? That's one of the reasons I've been steering away from i7 machines because I had an ASUS laptop with i7 that was prone to heat issues.

 

[onlysublime]

It would get hot under high sustained load but hot is relative. The metal never got hot like the aluminum on MacBooks. That would roast your goodies if it sat on your lap.

I've never had overheating issues. I never had the SP3 i7 because I heard that throttled pretty easily under load, defeating the purpose of getting the i7. But the fans do start whirring when I'm doing a lot of Photoshop, Lightroom, or Premiere Pro work. I'd be wary of a fanless system under sustained heavy loads. But most people that use laptops don't push their machines hard.

 

[convergent]

I've got the i5, 8G, 256G on pre-order. I had bought the same spec'd SP4 about a month ago and returned it a few days before the announcement. I'm liking the improvements. I look at this a bit differently than the folks saying to wait for a bigger next upgrade round. Big redesigns usually mean big bugs and a long time to resolve them. I'm hoping this will be the most refined and polished Surface Pro to date. There were 3 things I wasn't completely crazy about on the SP4 - battery life, the sharp edges, and the accuracy of the pen. Those are all improved. I wish they had a 512G version of the i5 though, as I would have paid more for that, but the gap to the i7 with that SSD size is way to big.

 

[Sparro]

I'm going for the i5 fanless, 8G, 256G as well. I too would have liked a 512G option. I would have paid for the extra space. Going up to an i7 is just too expensive for what I'd be using it for. There is also an article on Windows Central that says the 2017 Surface Pro with i5 should be faster than the Surface Pro 4 with i7. Hoping thats true!

 

[onlysublime]

I seriously doubt that claim that the Kaby Lake i5 in Surface Pro is faster than Skylake i7 in SP4. Kind of wishful thinking.

For one thing, the GPU in the i7 is the Iris versus the standard Intel graphics that come with i5. Iris is a significant boost and is closer to dedicated GPU than integrated Intel graphics.

And Kaby Lake is a refinement of Skylake. The tock after the tick. It is not significantly different architecturally.

 

[GG002]

If I got one, I'd probably go for the i7 model, mostly because of the Intel Iris plus. I have a Surface Pro 3 i5, which has served me well, but better graphics would have been nice since I like to work with Photoshop and Premiere pro on-the-go, plus some CAD software too. Unfortunately, I don't think a SP (2017) will find its way into my hand unless I win one.

 

[Karel Pelckmans]

The i5 being Passively cooled and being a full blown i5 and not the trimmed down mobile version looks like a very nice configuration!

 

[david90531]

I was thinking about getting i7 because of the IRIS graphics so I can play some games, but then I mostly game on my PC anyway.... so probably not

 

[RichHowerton]

Like the idea of the i7, 16gb model..but will wait for the internal cell card model. Would have bought a surface pro sooner, but they never had a model with an cell card. Never quite understood that.

 

[falcon304]

I too have the SP3. If I were to upgrade I'd once again get the m3 model. The SP3 i3 does what I need it to and it was relatively inexpensive.

 

[CrippsCorner]

I've gone for the i5/4Gb

I'd of loved the 8Gb version, but I just cannot justify that kind of cost to replace my already perfectly working computer! I've just managed to keep it under a grand, with education discount and Quidco, which was my intention.

At least I'm still getting a fanless model :angel:

 

[Madrilenyo93]

I've gone for the i5/4Gb

I'd of loved the 8Gb version, but I just cannot justify that kind of cost to replace my already perfectly working computer! I've just managed to keep it under a grand, with education discount and Quidco, which was my intention.

At least I'm still getting a fanless model :angel:

What has your experience been with the 4gb i5? Has it been enough RAM for you? Or do you regret not getting the 8gb?

 

[CrippsCorner]

I've never felt I needed more! Maybe I would have noticed the difference... don't know. At the end of the day 90% of the time I'm only using Chrome, Skype & Twitter so hardly intensive stuff!

 

[philknall]

I got the i7 16GB. Coming from a pro4 i7 8gb, I'd sometimes wished for more RAM in Photoshop or Clipstudio, so I used it as an excuse to get this one Can't help but wonder how much of a difference it would've made if they'd made a 256GB SSD variant though.

 

[jmork]

I5 is fanless! Definitely the one to choose <3

 

[convergent]

I5 is fanless! Definitely the one to choose <3

I've had my i5 fanless for a while now and agree that it is a good choice. I haven't heard the fans running once!

Seriously, I am quite happy with it. The most challenging thing I run on it is Lightroom, all the MS Office suite, MS Project, and lots of browser tabs open (currently using Firefox primarily). Not feeling any lag or slow downs, even when docked with a 4K display and using the SP display for dedicated tablet mode.

A few people have reported backlight bleed, but I don't see any on mine when displaying solid black screen.