It's too big and heavy

[Steve Ridges]

Since everyone knows that the Surface pro is unusable because it's too big and heavy, I brought mine into work with my type cover to compare to my co-workers tablets. Get what? It's thinner and lighter than one guy's iPad in some Targus case with a keyboard and it's the same as my friends Samsung Galaxy Note in his portfolio case...and while they're dinking around with Angry Birds, I'm syncing source code via SVN, and setting up VMWare. This thing rocks!

 

[VagrantWade]

I think most of the people complaining that it's too big and heavy, are comparing it to toy tablets like the iPad and Nexus' line, or even the beautiful RT.

It is a silly comparison though considering this is a PC.

 

[theefman]

Since everyone knows that the Surface pro is unusable because it's too big and heavy, I brought mine into work with my type cover to compare to my co-workers tablets. Get what? It's thinner and lighter than one guy's iPad in some Targus case with a keyboard and it's the same as my friends Samsung Galaxy Note in his portfolio case...and while they're dinking around with Angry Birds, I'm syncing source code via SVN, and setting up VMWare. This thing rocks!

Maybe that was their plan all along, let others do all the work while they play with their toys! Tell the higher-ups to get Surface Pro's for all, dont let them skive off while you do all the work!!!

 

[wpguy]

I think most people complaining that Surface Pro is too big and heavy are comparing it to other tablets... conveniently ignoring the folder cases and keyboards nearly all carry their tablets around in. In the iPad sea at work, I can't say I have seen a single naked iPad.

 

[pdch]

I can hold it with one hand comfortably, I think Apple was paying for bad reviews - so they had to find something to complain about.

Oh, and on the power thing, I've been running mine on battery since 10 this morning - normal business use. It is 5:30 now, and still has 66% battery left. Sure, if you leave it on and run it constantly, it will run down in 4-5 hours, but if you use it like a normal person (walking away, coming back to it), it lasts all day on battery.

 

[StarLog]

Took mine to work today, sat down with the COO and fixed his active directory issue. then he noticed it was my new Pro. Keep in mind I am the network admin for a medium company. He said you cannot use that at work. Others will want to bring their personal laptops on the work network. Damn man this is my network, guess I will have to work on him a little. Or find another job. This thing makes my job so much easier.

 

[stephen_az]

I can hold it with one hand comfortably, I think Apple was paying for bad reviews - so they had to find something to complain about.

Oh, and on the power thing, I've been running mine on battery since 10 this morning - normal business use. It is 5:30 now, and still has 66% battery left. Sure, if you leave it on and run it constantly, it will run down in 4-5 hours, but if you use it like a normal person (walking away, coming back to it), it lasts all day on battery.

No offense but that is the equivalent of saying my car will go weeks on a tank of gas because I only get in in a couple times a day. Four to five hours of intermittent use is what it is, whether it is spread across a day or a week or used in one shot. Try to use it constantly for a day and sit someone else down with a Lenovo Yoga and see who can work longer. Alternatively, get on a cross country plane with connections, get hung up in a lousy airport with only a handful of outlets and a plane full of people fighting over them, and try to get a full day of work done because that is what your boss needs. My Asus or Toshiba laptops with I5 and I7 processors will last the day and have some charge left over, so will the previous HP I5. My Surface RT will do just about as well. The same is true of some of the competing touch products. BTW, that is just one scenario of many that matter to people. As an archaeologist working in environmental compliance, I would view Surface Pro as the perfect device, if I could use it for a day in the field. Lots of others also work in professions where a device is needed and a plug will not be found. People have adapted iPads and other tablets to the task to get things done, and while they work they are clunky and inefficient. In the comparison between inefficient and "it ran out of battery life half way through the day" inefficient will win every time. That is, of course, unless I want to get paid for four to five hours or my client thinks four to five hours is good enough - no, those are obviously not options in the real world. Some will use a competing tablet, most will use a long life laptop, and almost none will use a short battery life Surface Pro.

Simply put, four to five hours of battery life is terrible for a tablet or a well designed laptop; poor to bad in comparison to quality first generation Windows 8 tablets; and barely even competitive with the first generation of mediocre touch screen laptops. I can live with the weight - it is barely noticeable. The same goes for thickness. I can just about tolerate the heat but do view that as a significant design flaw. It is still more a nuisance though than anything else. The battery life, on the other hand, is an absolute fatal flaw. For me, if it cannot last a day, it is not worth having. It just will not be on my purchase list, or my list of recommended devices for others either with my employer or other companies. I will, however, continue to recommend Surface RT, Lenovo's hybrid options, and probably the new tablet series from HP.

 

[foaf]

No offense but that is the equivalent of saying my car will go weeks on a tank of gas because I only get in in a couple times a day.

Unless your job is 'on the road', isn't this how the average person uses their car?
I'm not defending the 4-5 hours battery, but everyone has an expectation of the average use case, and pdhc's use case resembled the average I have in mind.

 

[pdch]

No offense but that is the equivalent of saying my car will go weeks on a tank of gas because I only get in in a couple times a day.
.

You stick with your RT then, I'm loving my pro. I just want to know what i7 laptop you are using that will last all day if you are running on battery and constantly banging on it all day. The only way you go home with a charge on an i7 is if you are using it the same as I'm using my Pro...which is how most of the world works with a mobile device. You work on it, then do other things, then come back to it, etc. I guess you take your yoga to the bathroom and keep working on it so it never goes to sleep...

BTW, I took my Pro to court this morning, still running on same charge. I've been using it as my primary device all day, and it still has charge...nearly 12 hours later. The battery will be fine for most mobile users. Its all about what you are looking for.

 

[anon(5370748)]

You stick with your RT then, I'm loving my pro. I just want to know what i7 laptop you are using that will last all day if you are running on battery and constantly banging on it all day. The only way you go home with a charge on an i7 is if you are using it the same as I'm using my Pro...which is how most of the world works with a mobile device. You work on it, then do other things, then come back to it, etc. I guess you take your yoga to the bathroom and keep working on it so it never goes to sleep...

BTW, I took my Pro to court this morning, still running on same charge. I've been using it as my primary device all day, and it still has charge...nearly 12 hours later. The battery will be fine for most mobile users. Its all about what you are looking for.

He probably stole a pre-production Haswell machine from CES

 

[sleepyking]

You stick with your RT then, I'm loving my pro. I just want to know what i7 laptop you are using that will last all day if you are running on battery and constantly banging on it all day. The only way you go home with a charge on an i7 is if you are using it the same as I'm using my Pro...which is how most of the world works with a mobile device. You work on it, then do other things, then come back to it, etc. I guess you take your yoga to the bathroom and keep working on it so it never goes to sleep...BTW, I took my Pro to court this morning, still running on same charge. I've been using it as my primary device all day, and it still has charge...nearly 12 hours later. The battery will be fine for most mobile users. Its all about what you are looking for.

I too would like to know what laptop/ultrabook there is running on i5/i7 that lasts 10-12 hours of continuous use? I had a thinkpad t420 on i5 and no chance in **** that lasted even close to 8-10 hours of heavy usage.But I agree with the above I think each user just needs to figure if the pro is the right device for them. After reading all the experiences so far with battery I think the pro is fine for me. Like many users, I wouldn't be on it all day so I'm more convinced it should be ok

 

[ChrisInSD]

I too would like to know what laptop/ultrabook there is running on i5/i7 that lasts 10-12 hours of continuous use? I had a thinkpad t420 on i5 and no chance in **** that lasted even close to 8-10 hours of heavy usage.But I agree with the above I think each user just needs to figure if the pro is the right device for them. After reading all the experiences so far with battery I think the pro is fine for me. Like many users, I wouldn't be on it all day so I'm more convinced it should be ok

My tank-like, realtively new work issued HP EliteBook running an i5 is a disaster when it comes to battery life. I would KILL to get 4-5 hours out of it! My personal (admittedly very aging) MacBook Pro also cannot compete with Surface Pro for battery life. Oddly, despite all these bad reviews, it sounds like if I had this thing it would be the longest battery lifed computer I own.

Also--doesn't it have some sort of Sleep feature or something for when it's not in use that can keep the battery going for longer??

 

[fonzman78]

Dude, don't buy the Pro. It's not for you. If you absolutely need more than 5 hours of battery life, then stick with your ipad or android. Or the RT like you mentioned. Go off to your happy place and be content with your mobile device. For me, and other Pro owners, it is exactly what we want and we like having a computer at our fingertips vs using a toy like ipad or android. It's all a matter or needs. You need more than hours battery life otherwise the Pro would be perfect. Ok, good for you. "Move along, these aren't the droids you're looking for. Move along."

 

[pdch]

@sleepyking My Alienware 11x i5 (sandybridge) actually lasts 10 to 11 hours while playing continuous hd video

@ChrisInSD: Yes, it goes into sleep mode just like any windows laptop if it is idle. My Pro 128 went over 12 hours on a single charge yesterday. I was using it as my primary device.

 

[Talderon]

@sleepyking My Alienware 11x i5 (sandybridge) actually lasts 10 to 11 hours while playing continuous hd video

@ChrisInSD: Yes, it goes into sleep mode just like any windows laptop if it is idle. My Pro 128 went over 12 hours on a single charge yesterday. I was using it as my primary device.

I used mine to watch movies while on a bus to and from work (1 hour each way) and also as my "laptop" while in meetings to keep in touch on Lync and Outlook email.

I fully charged mine on Sunday night and have not put it back on the charger until this morning at work.

edit: I did do a couple tweaks, when on Battery, the display brightness is 20% instead of the default 50% (I left plugged in mode at 50%).

 

[ryker002]

Seems like most people here are satisfied with there battery life, but a battery life over 12 hours for a actual computer. Now thats nice.

 

[power5]

Every laptop equipped person at my office is docked at the office. They unplug for meetings in the conference room, then plug back in when they go back to their desk. When they go to customer meetings they take their laptop and cord. They close it when leaving the office and it uses no power till they get there and open it up. They do not use the cord while with the customer, its just with them because its in their laptop bag. I assume they plug in at home though. I use my computer constantly at work. I do lots of CAD work and probably let my computer rest for about 2 hours all day. I dont see how any laptop on the market can do an 8 hour day for me without being plugged in.

The airplane scenario is the only sorta plausible example. 4 hours is quite the plane trip though. I have not had a boss yet that expects me to be available every hour of the day when I am traveling. Most of my bosses understand that traveling requires me to be away from my computer at times.

I bought my kids weak android 4.0 tablets. They have a 1.4ghz SC processor with 3000mAh battery. Expected use time without charge is 4 hours. I tested it by playing movies back to back and was able to get through a 2 hour youtube movie over wifi 2 times just barely. It actually powered down just before the credits on the second pass. When I have it sleeping I have had it "on" for 2 days with 0% battery loss. So, putting a pro to sleep during the day will definitely get you longer life without charge. I would like to know if someone can perform a similar test and play movies back to back over wifi and see how long their surfacePro lasts.

 

[sinime]

@ title... My wife says that to me all the time!

Sorry bout that

 

[trseattle]

Surface Pro is outstanding. I wrote about it in the following blog...

Surface Pro - the ultimate mobile solution? http://qr.ae/13mTq

 

[StarLog]

He probably stole a pre-production Haswell machine from CES

thats why he was in coirt. lol