Hands on with the Surface Book
I went to my local Microsoft Store today and spent an hour or so playing with the new Surface Book. I went there expecting that I would order the Surface Pro 4. As cool as the Surface Book looked in the video, I felt that the advantages of the Surface Book's nicer keyboard and trackpad were outweighed by the extra weight and thickness. I came away convinced that buying the Surface Book is a no-brainer. It is awesome.
First, the keyboard is every bit as nice as a MacBook. The feel and travel of the keys is perfect. This is a best-in-class keyboard.
Second, the trackpad is equally awesome. The glass trackpad feels so smooth and graceful that it may even best the MacBook. I tried my son's MacBook Air for comparison when I got home, and I think the Surface Book's trackpad was a tad better. But there was a couple hours delay between the time I spent playing with each, so I don't want to say that too strongly until I can compare them side-by-side.
I think it's fair to compare the trackpad and keyboard to the MacBook because, until now, I think those are the areas in which all other laptop makers have completely dropped the ball, and MacBook has been in a class of its own. No more.
Third, the new pen is incredible. (Equally true for the Surface Pro 4, which uses the same pen.). I like the pen on my SP3 a lot, but the new pen is in a different league. With the pens on the SP2 and SP3, I always felt that they were very functional, but they felt nothing like writing on paper. Everything was just too slick and slid too easily. They lacked the drag that you feel with real paper. As a result, my penmanship was never quite as good as I could achieve on real paper. But with the new pen, the nibs has more "squish" to it, and it has just a bit of friction that gives it the same kind of drag you would feel with a pen or pencil writing on paper.
The eraser on the back is soft and squishy like a real eraser, and it also has just the right amount of friction. MS has managed to create a feeling that is very similar to using a real eraser on paper. You can tell they put a lot of effort into turning the new pen and Surface line into a real paper-like experience. I like it a lot.
Fourth, the overall design of the device is different and interesting in a very good way. I was concerned that the curve at the hinge, and the oft-discussed "gap," would cause the device to be too thick at the back half. But when I saw and held the device in person, I was very happy with the size and the weight. It is extremely elegant. Everything about it screams class, elegance, and quality. I was also concerned that it would be heavy compared to the SP4, but when the keyboard is attached to the SP4, the weight difference was not enough to matter to me. The Surface Book is slightly heavier, but not enough to make a real difference.
Fifth, the display/tablet/whatever you want to call it is really nice. The display gives a stunningly beautiful image. And when you remove the display from the base, I was shocked at how much I liked it. It looks very large next to the SP4, but it's surprisingly comfortable to hold, and the extra image size is really nice. The display actually weighs less than the SP4 without the keyboard, even though it is larger. The weight difference is small, but it is noticeable. That small difference actually matters when you are using a device as a tablet -- holding it with one hand for a while makes an extra .1 pound stand out. So, even though it is larger, the smaller weight makes it feel equally comfortable to hold. As a tablet, I preferred the Surface Book's detached display to the SP4.
As far as performance, etc., you can learn all about that online. But what I wanted to convey in this post was more about the feel of the device. There's no way to get that from looking at specs and pictures online. It's kind of like the difference between sitting in a luxury car and a Honda. You experience differences that you can't discern from pictures. The sound and feel of the door closing, the texture of the leather and brushed metal surfaces, and other things that you have to experience in person. The Surface Pro line has always had a lot of that sort of in-person luxury feel, but the Surface Book takes it to a completely different level. When you use it in person, you understand exactly why Panos kept describing it as "the ultimate laptop." It's not just the specs or the features. As I left the store, I couldn't help but keep repeating (out loud, I'm embarrassed to say), "that's exactly how laptops should have been built all along.".