Considering a Surface Book

[cnashx]

I am considering a Surface book to replace my MacBook Pro and my iPad mini.
I have replaced my iPhone 6S with a Lumia 950XL and I am enjoying it and replacing two more of my objects with a single is very intriguing.

My only possible issue is that I was planning on getting the i7/16GB/512GB. However, I have also been looking at the Surface Pro4...
I do a lot of browsing, photoshop and video editing (personal use, this will not really be for business except on the occasional basis).

I'm wondering if I will be over investing with the Surface Book instead of the Surface Pro4, but then again I am worried that a Surface Pro4 may be underpowered. Also... The Surface Book is so nice looking. A family member got one and I really like the look and feel.
My current MacBook Pro is the top of the line model from last year and there are still some times I get some intermediate lag.

Just looking for opinions. Thank you!

 

[orlbuckeye]

I purchased one ablout a month ago. I got the i5/8 gb/ 256 gb /DGP and it's plenty powerfull. I've read that the i7 to i5 difference is the i5 gets more bang for the dollar. The problem is to get to 512 GB storage you need the i7. Now Amazon has a 256 SDXC which is compatible with the Surface Book and you can cut 800 to 1000 off the surface price and use it to buy a SD card and have lots left over.

 

[Priaptor]

I am in your boat as well. I purchased the i7/8/256 with nvidia and love the thing. I moved over from the 13" Macbook Pro as well. I really like the SurfaceBook with few exceptions. I really wish the had a power charger that allowed you to charge the tablet portion of the unit when detached and really wished they had a USB port on the tablet portion of the unit.

Also as I am finding, many applications are not very well scaled for the screen size when compared to Apple.

The keyboard and touchpad are not quite as good as Apples but close enough. On the bright side, the display is amazing, the pen works incredibly well and am really enjoying my photo editing on this thing.

 

[pavvento]

I am in your boat as well. I purchased the i7/8/256 with nvidia and love the thing. I moved over from the 13" Macbook Pro as well. I really like the SurfaceBook with few exceptions. I really wish the had a power charger that allowed you to charge the tablet portion of the unit when detached and really wished they had a USB port on the tablet portion of the unit.

Also as I am finding, many applications are not very well scaled for the screen size when compared to Apple.

The keyboard and touchpad are not quite as good as Apples but close enough. On the bright side, the display is amazing, the pen works incredibly well and am really enjoying my photo editing on this thing.

It is my understanding that the power cable does power the tablet portion if you plug it in on the bottom (where it connects to the keyboard). Is that not the case?

 

[worwig]

It is my understanding that the power cable does power the tablet portion if you plug it in on the bottom (where it connects to the keyboard). Is that not the case?

Yes, you can plug the charger directly into the Clipboard (tablet) to charge it.
But sadly, there is no USB or microSD card in the Clipboard.
You can plug a dock into just the Clipboard I'm pretty sure, and get expansion that way.

 

[orlbuckeye]

Yes you can use a docking station with the Surface Book. You can also use it with Windows phones which is called Windows Continuum. There is a 3rd party docking station thats add like 6 USB 4 2.0 and 2 3.0 ports is available at Amazon.

 

[orlbuckeye]

FYI. I had a probelm with my pen. I thought is was battery until I replaced 2 in 2 days. After trying to reconnect like 15 times finally I got a driver error. I went to Device manager under Bluetooth and saw the Surface Pen with no yellow checks but I deleted then hit search for new hardware and the pen started working immediately. So it was the driver became corupt. I used the pen again today and there is no problem.

 

[jmerrey]

I'd be interested to know what you use your iPad Mini for. I have a SB and an iPad, and the clip board will never replace the iPad for me. Battery life, size, and app selection are the reasons why.

 

[cnashx]

I'd be interested to know what you use your iPad Mini for. I have a SB and an iPad, and the clip board will never replace the iPad for me. Battery life, size, and app selection are the reasons why.

iPad is used mostly just for browsing.
Lately I have used it for browsing, music and snapchat since windows doesn't have snapchat. But snapchat isn't essential so if it was gone it wouldn't kill me haha.

 

[jmerrey]

For me, that would be the biggest consideration, iPad vs. Surface Book clip board. I bought the SB knowing that the clip board would only be used for note taking in meetings, and general short term use. I know you can charge it via the included cable, but to be honest that's not the most convenient solution. I use my iPad for social media, movies, reading, basically anything personal. I've attempted to do that with the SB clip board as an experiment, but it's quite large, and just not as comfortable. For me, both devices serve their purpose, but neither could replace the other.

Another item to note, the processor in the SB may be very different from the one in your MacBook, you may want to check. The SB has a dual core, while the MB may have the quad core, which will be a significant drop in power from MB to SB. I don't need that power, so I'm fine, but it might be worth checking into. That need would depend on your work case. I wouldn't be surprised if the XPS15, and keeping your iPad, ends up being the best solution for you. Personally, I'm all for device convergence, but not at the expense of the experience. Good luck!

 

[Hardcore1973]

I use the Surface Book and the iPad Pro together and made a video you guys can check out if you want to see them in action. https://youtu.be/3I7RDdB3kao

 

[SurfTiger]

microcenter has them for $200 off now. got the i5/8gb/256gb/dGpu for $1,699

 

[cnashx]

Anyone else with an opinion?
I still haven't decided.
I'm not sure if the dGPU and Windows hello is worth the additional price (I do like the look of the book though as well).
Again the heaviest parts of my usage will be video editing and photoshop.

Thanks!