Is Surface laptop a Surface Pro with a battery base?

[kashgohel]

Looking at specs for both Surface Pro (2017) and Surface Laptop I always thought the Surface Pro should have a longer battery life because you could remove the keyboard that's consuming the power. Then I look at Surface Book and its again the same tech but still a lower battery life than Surface Laptop. I assume its because of the larger battery?

So would it be a good idea for Microsoft to boost the Surface Pro line-up with a "performance-base" detacheable keyboard? Something with at least a battery life if not a dGPU?

What are your thoughts?

 

[k1s23]

hey there. i noticed that also with both devices. how is something more compact when in use (surface pro) not able to last as long in battery? maybe windows 10 s has something to do with battery life? i dont know if its possible to create a performance base detachable keyboard because i dont know if the contacts where the keyboard meets the surface pro can charge the battery. although not as pretty, an alternative would be to attach the keyboard just like the type cover and have a cord that extends to the charging port of the surface pro.

 

[kaktus1389]

So would it be a good idea for Microsoft to boost the Surface Pro line-up with a "performance-base" detacheable keyboard? Something with at least a battery life if not a dGPU?

I think this is the reason why they made Surface Book and that we can expect for Surface line products to stay the way they are now for some time with 24-36 month upgrade cycle.

Surface Book has higher resolution than the Surface Laptop, also has less battery efficient CPUs and electricity is also used for the muscle wire that is holding the clipboard to the base. Surface Laptop beats all of the Surface products when it comes to battery life because it does have a bigger battery, but also lower screen resolution, OS locked to the Store and also I believe it doesn't have as good silicon for pen as other devices since it won't support tilting the pen.

 

[k1s23]

I think this is the reason why they made Surface Book and that we can expect for Surface line products to stay the way they are now for some time with 24-36 month upgrade cycle.

Surface Book has higher resolution than the Surface Laptop, also has less battery efficient CPUs and electricity is also used for the muscle wire that is holding the clipboard to the base. Surface Laptop beats all of the Surface products when it comes to battery life because it does have a bigger battery, but also lower screen resolution, OS locked to the Store and also I believe it doesn't have as good silicon for pen as other devices since it won't support tilting the pen.

hey kaktus. as always good points mentioned. its interesting to think that each device has a specific purpose within the "family" of the surface line. the dedicated gpu is definitely a surface book thing, so if you really want a dedicated gpu then go with that device. if not, but still want a laptop with a good battery life the surface laptop got you covered. they all have the commonality of touch and pen capability, which is what made the surface line what it is to begin with, but still serve distinct purposes.

 

[jmork]

a dedicated gpu would be sweet on the surface pro line!
But yeah, each product has a certain demographic theyre looking for, and price points microsoft wants you to pay. The Surface Laptop seems like its supposed to be the budget line.... which is funny since its still too expensive. I guess the Surface Pro just went up in price, so the Laptop is more budget friendly?

Also, the keyboard hardly uses any battery....

 

[Harshvardhan Sahay]

I think it is more than that. They new feel to the keyboard and improved specs bumps it up.

 

[kashgohel]

i dont know if its possible to create a performance base detachable keyboard because i dont know if the contacts where the keyboard meets the surface pro can charge the battery. although not as pretty, an alternative would be to attach the keyboard just like the type cover and have a cord that extends to the charging port of the surface pro.

Hmm you have a point. They would need to create a whole separate line of surface pro's to get those extra contact points for the keyboard to charge the surface pro.

The cable idea isnt pretty but its a good solution if they just want to increase the battery life without changing the surface pro. Nice one.

 

[k1s23]

a dedicated gpu would be sweet on the surface pro line!
But yeah, each product has a certain demographic theyre looking for, and price points microsoft wants you to pay. The Surface Laptop seems like its supposed to be the budget line.... which is funny since its still too expensive. I guess the Surface Pro just went up in price, so the Laptop is more budget friendly?

Also, the keyboard hardly uses any battery....

hey there. i agree it wold be nice on the surface pro products, and the surface laptop products too. then both the surface pro and surface laptop would be more gamer friendly. (i think i understand your question) as for the price of the surface pro going up, actually compared to the surface pro 4 when it was released, the surface pro 2017 is being released $100 cheaper starting at $799 (according to zdnet the surface pro 4 started at $899: Microsoft Surface Pro 4 announced: Specs, price and release date | ZDNet ).

 

[k1s23]

I think it is more than that. They new feel to the keyboard and improved specs bumps it up.

hello. improved specs including also the processor bumps up the surface pro battery life and gives the surface laptop really good battery. its a nice combination of things that works perfectly with these devices.

 

[k1s23]

Hmm you have a point. They would need to create a whole separate line of surface pro's to get those extra contact points for the keyboard to charge the surface pro.

The cable idea isnt pretty but its a good solution if they just want to increase the battery life without changing the surface pro. Nice one.

hey haha yeah its a solution. but unfortunately that means making the complete device heavier. on the plus side though, the surface pro already has an excellent amount of estimated battery life doing basic tasks so its nice to have that reassurance when buying a product. id still carry around a charger, but at least i know i wouldnt have to go looking for an outlet every few hours if i was doing research or multi-tasking.

 

[zareentk]

all laptop-tablet hybrid in general have a low battery life, and surface pro, i think, is the one with the longest battery life. it might have something to do with the tablet mode since they use separate parts of the hybrid than the laptop mode.
then again maybe the technology is not advanced enough

 

[k1s23]

all laptop-tablet hybrid in general have a low battery life, and surface pro, i think, is the one with the longest battery life. it might have something to do with the tablet mode since they use separate parts of the hybrid than the laptop mode.
then again maybe the technology is not advanced enough

hey there, its really dependent on the electronics inside but i think the simplicity of the electronics in the surface lineup are what make the battery life so good. for example the lenovo 720 15 inch is a 2 in 1 that is brand new but it only has an estimated 5-6 hours of battery life. the major factors affecting this: size (15 inch screen), resolution (1080p and 4k options available), and dedicated gpu among others. that product is heavier than the surface laptop so you would hope the battery is strong to power the lenovo 720 for a long time, and im sure the battery is strong, but it gets beat by the surface laptop by more than double the hours. the technology is advanced in at leas the lenovo 720, but it might be too advanced as it targets a different crowd (people that really want to push the graphics in a laptop).