My Surface Laptop Review

raqball

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I received the Surface Laptop so here are a few initial thoughts on the machine…

Build Quality: 10/10

The build quality is superb and above average! I am very impressed with the build but do have concerns over the Alcantara cover. It feels great and it adds to the overall look of the machine but I worry about its long tern durability.

Specs / bang for the buck: 7/10

My machine has the following specs which are underwhelming for a machine priced at this point. At this price point I would have expected the 7300U and faster SSD’s..

  • I5 (7200U)
  • 8GB RAM
  • 256 SSD
The 7200U is about 10% slower on average -v- the 7300U. Not a huge deal really but for a $1,300 machine you’d expect a better CPU.. The SSD is terribly slow compared to other machines at similar price points.

SSD Speed test:

surface_ssd.png


Ports: 2/10

There is one USB A, one display port, a headphone jack and the quick disconnect charging port. I don’t mind USB A only but since it’s the machines only usable option, I think USB C would have been the better choice. The magsafe like quick disconnect power port is a nice addition. It’s the same power adapter found on other Surface products.

Screen & Sound: 9.5/10

The screen is gorgeous and I have no screen bleed on my unit. Sound is WOW! Unbelievable how good this machine sounds! The 3:2 aspect ratio is great for viewing documents and webpages but lacks a little for video viewing.. Overall very happy with the screen and sound.

Keyboard and Trackpad: 9/10

The keyboard has good travel and feels nice to type on. The keys are on the firm side and are not wobble or lose. The backlight on the KB works great and there is little to no light bleed through. The trackpad is one of the best you will find on a PC and it’s pretty close to being as awesome as the MacBook trackpads. My only minor complaint is that clicks on the trackpad are slightly on the loud side.

Windows 10S -v- Windows 10 Pro:

I kept Windows 10S on it for about 3 days before doing the 10 Pro upgrade. I found a few apps in the store to take over for missing programs I’d normally install. One massive bummer of 10S is it’s Edge only for the browser and you can not change the search engine from Bing… I personally don't mind Edge and Bing is fine but I'd prefer Chrome and Google for search..

Also one minor bump on 10S with a Kodak Verite 65 Plus printer.. Windows 10S would not recognize it when I attempted to connect wirelessly... I was able to snag the driver from my X1C and load the driver through Device Manager but since 10S prevents external installs, that was my only option..

Even though the machine ships with Windows 10S you can upgrade for free to Windows 10 Pro until the end of 2017.. The upgrade to Pro process only takes about 2 minutes to complete..

After using 10S for a few days I actually think most could easily get by with it.. By most I mean home users, students and office task type users..

MS could really help themselves and get people to stick with 10S with a few minor tweaks and store apps. They really need to add Chrome and give the ability to change the search engine. Those would be nice and I think more would consider sticking with 10S if those 2 things were implemented.

RAM usage on 10S is stellar however..

ram_usage.png


Other thoughts:

I can’t comment on battery life as I’ve only had the machine for less than a week. The machine stays pretty cool and I’ve not heard the fan yet, even through the updates after initial boot. Overall I am impressed with the machine.

I will be buying Microsoft Complete for the machine as it is non repairable at just about every level. Also this will diminish my concerns about the Alcantara fabric wearing or staining. I’d recommend that anyone considering this machine get the Microsoft Complete warranty.

Photos:

WP_20170630_13_41_31_Pro.jpg


WP_20170630_13_42_18_Pro.jpg


WP_20170630_13_42_33_Pro.jpg


WP_20170630_13_42_54_Pro.jpg
 

libra89

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Feb 6, 2015
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I received the Surface Laptop so here are a few initial thoughts on the machine…

Build Quality: 10/10

The build quality is superb and above average! I am very impressed with the build but do have concerns over the Alcantara cover. It feels great and it adds to the overall look of the machine but I worry about its long tern durability.

Specs / bang for the buck: 7/10

My machine has the following specs which are underwhelming for a machine priced at this point. At this price point I would have expected the 7300U and faster SSD’s..

  • I5 (7200U)
  • 8GB RAM
  • 256 SSD
The 7200U is about 10% slower on average -v- the 7300U. Not a huge deal really but for a $1,300 machine you’d expect a better CPU.. The SSD is terribly slow compared to other machines at similar price points.

SSD Speed test:

https://s14.postimg.org/y0y960xwh/surface_ssd.png

Ports: 2/10

There is one USB A, one display port, a headphone jack and the quick disconnect charging port. I don’t mind USB A only but since it’s the machines only usable option, I think USB C would have been the better choice. The magsafe like quick disconnect power port is a nice addition. It’s the same power adapter found on other Surface products.

Screen & Sound: 9.5/10

The screen is gorgeous and I have no screen bleed on my unit. Sound is WOW! Unbelievable how good this machine sounds! The 3:2 aspect ratio is great for viewing documents and webpages but lacks a little for video viewing.. Overall very happy with the screen and sound.

Keyboard and Trackpad: 9/10

The keyboard has good travel and feels nice to type on. The keys are on the firm side and are not wobble or lose. The backlight on the KB works great and there is little to no light bleed through. The trackpad is one of the best you will find on a PC and it’s pretty close to being as awesome as the MacBook trackpads. My only minor complaint is that clicks on the trackpad are slightly on the loud side.

Windows 10S -v- Windows 10 Pro:

I kept Windows 10S on it for about 3 days before doing the 10 Pro upgrade. I found a few apps in the store to take over for missing programs I’d normally install. One massive bummer of 10S is it’s Edge only for the browser and you can not change the search engine from Bing… I personally don't mind Edge and Bing is fine but I'd prefer Chrome and Google for search..

Also one minor bump on 10S with a Kodak Verite 65 Plus printer.. Windows 10S would not recognize it when I attempted to connect wirelessly... I was able to snag the driver from my X1C and load the driver through Device Manager but since 10S prevents external installs, that was my only option..

Even though the machine ships with Windows 10S you can upgrade for free to Windows 10 Pro until the end of 2017.. The upgrade to Pro process only takes about 2 minutes to complete..

After using 10S for a few days I actually think most could easily get by with it.. By most I mean home users, students and office task type users..

MS could really help themselves and get people to stick with 10S with a few minor tweaks and store apps. They really need to add Chrome and give the ability to change the search engine. Those would be nice and I think more would consider sticking with 10S if those 2 things were implemented.

RAM usage on 10S is stellar however..

https://s15.postimg.org/kcq789g9n/ram_usage.png

Other thoughts:

I can’t comment on battery life as I’ve only had the machine for less than a week. The machine stays pretty cool and I’ve not heard the fan yet, even through the updates after initial boot. Overall I am impressed with the machine.

I will be buying Microsoft Complete for the machine as it is non repairable at just about every level. Also this will diminish my concerns about the Alcantara fabric wearing or staining. I’d recommend that anyone considering this machine get the Microsoft Complete warranty.

Photos:

https://s18.postimg.org/do4u77co9/WP_20170630_13_41_31_Pro.jpg

https://s18.postimg.org/asrr0c8o9/WP_20170630_13_42_18_Pro.jpg

https://s18.postimg.org/mtd712g2x/WP_20170630_13_42_33_Pro.jpg

https://s18.postimg.org/bsi1w1nu1/WP_20170630_13_42_54_Pro.jpg
Solid review. I'll be looking forward to your battery life experience. I'm shocked that you haven't heard the fan yet, considering that you upgraded it.

Sent from mTalk
 

raqball

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I have not really pushed the machine yet and have pretty much just used it for web browsing, email, office use ect. I'll put it though some light video editing later and see if the fan ramps up then..
 

raqball

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Quick update.

The fan did kick in when I was editing, processing, converting and exporting a 5 minute 1080p video and also later on when I was transferring a 9GB Excel file from a USB stick.

Also battery life appears to be about 8 to 9 hours for my use thus far. I do have brightness cranked up to 75% though so you might be able to squeeze more with lower brightness..
 

nrprad

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Oct 4, 2011
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I have the Cobalt i5 model, and love it for everything that I have needed it for. My only issue, and it may be just this unit is when watching any internet streaming video (YouTube, Vimeo, embedded flash, etc.) it has some framerate issues. I noticed it lagging and when I pulled up the task manager, it was +90% on the CPU usage. Wondering if I should swap it, upgrade to 10 Pro, or if it is just the capacity of the device in general.
 

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