Hands-on Experiences with the Surface Pro 4

[onysi]

I just went to pre order it along with Ms Band 2. They both have it!!!! So much faster.

The pen has rubbery grip feel and so is the eraser part. I dont mind it having in the back now.

The Band is stretchy and so much lighter. The keyboard is SUPERB. as an SP3 user since the beginning, the keyboard just feels more like a laptop keyboard. The tablet still feels the Same weight tho.

Im impressed by the pen!! The side button is tight.

 

[Rafaelcab]

Re: Microsoft Stores have the Surface Pro 4 as a demo!! *impressed*

I just went to pre order it along with Ms Band 2. They both have it!!!! So much faster.

The pen has rubbery grip feel and so is the eraser part. I dont mind it having in the back now.

The Band is stretchy and so much lighter. The keyboard is SUPERB. as an SP3 user since the beginning, the keyboard just feels more like a laptop keyboard. The tablet still feels the Same weight tho.

Im impressed by the pen!! The side button is tight.

I'm so stopping by the Microsoft Store here in Salt Lake tomorrow hopefully they have it too.

 

[r0st4]

Re: Microsoft Stores have the Surface Pro 4 as a demo!! *impressed*

And I'm just sitting here, in Central Europe, feeling envious as hell

 

[chattoe]

Re: Microsoft Stores have the Surface Pro 4 as a demo!! *impressed*

Why don't MS have any stores here in the UK

 

[onysi]

Re: Microsoft Stores have the Surface Pro 4 as a demo!! *impressed*

Sorry guys. Im sure your tech stores in Europe will have a demo soon. What was your BestBuy equivalent store called again?

 

[cxily]

Re: Microsoft Stores have the Surface Pro 4 as a demo!! *impressed*

Tested and yes it is impressive, considering selling my 4 months old SP3.

 

[Cainer2]

Re: Microsoft Stores have the Surface Pro 4 as a demo!! *impressed*

Sorry guys. Im sure your tech stores in Europe will have a demo soon. What was your BestBuy equivalent store called again?

PC World or Currys probably. I'm on the verge of pre-ordering this even without some hands on, I'd feel better if I could pop down PC World for a go first...

 

[chattoe]

Re: Microsoft Stores have the Surface Pro 4 as a demo!! *impressed*

PC world is crap to be honest! I know more than their staff it's embarrassing.

I have an Apple Store Which is fantastic, they know their stuff! Having the equivalent of that for MS over here would be great

 

[Rafaelcab]

Re: Microsoft Stores have the Surface Pro 4 as a demo!! *impressed*

Just stopped by the Microsoft Store here in Salt Lake and yes it is definitely awesome and worth the upgrade for me. I tried putting it through its paces with allot of windows/applications open and it didn't get warm or the fan kicking in and the new trackpad is night and day an improvement.

 

[ytrewq]

I went to my local MS store to try one out, and I agree that the new keyboard is a radical improvement over the SP3 keyboard. For me, the SP3 keyboard has always been typos-waiting-to-happen. It was very much a compromise. But the new keyboard is completely different. Very close to a quality laptop keyboard.

The pen is also amazing. I have always spoke highly of the SP3 pen, but they managed to make it miles better by transforming the feel of the pen to more of a real writing-on-paper experience. Fantastic job by MS.

With that said, the pen and keyboard are accessories. The SP4 itself is nice, but I don't know whether it is so much nicer than the SP3 that everyone should jump to hand over their money for an upgrade. I'm a gadget guy, so I'm upgrading, but the SP4 itself is only a modest step up from the SP3, IMHO. That's OK, because the SP3 is outstanding and doesn't need much improving. I'll be upgrading to the Surface Book, but that's a different issue.

 

[TechFreak1]

Re: Microsoft Stores have the Surface Pro 4 as a demo!! *impressed*

PC world is crap to be honest! I know more than their staff it's embarrassing.

I have an Apple Store Which is fantastic, they know their stuff! Having the equivalent of that for MS over here would be great

Well, that's a given otherwise they wouldn't be able to live to their own self-titled "Genius" label :winktongue:.

But yeah, a Microsoft store would great... no more broken demo units, silly childish reps who are so concerned about themselves other than the customer. Not to mention we would at least get some decent warranty service too.

Have you tried talking to a rep as a normal person?

they just look at you as if you're talking gibberish or just used the foulest language they have heard.

 

[worldspy99]

Went and played with the Surface Pro 4 at the Woodland Hills, California store last night. They had two devices on display. One with the black Type Cover with the fingerprint scanner and one with the Cyan Type Cover sans the fingerprint scanner. The slightly bigger screen than the Pro3 is noticeable and the device is very light, and nice to hold. The Surface pen attached to the side very very nicely, the magnet is quite strong! I tried writing, drawing in One Note and did not notice any discernable latency or lag while using the Pen. The eraser is quite intuitive to use as well. Had no difficulty in converting written text to typed notes as well. I typed on both the new and old Type Cover and I like the new one better. The tactile feel on the keyboard is very nice and the spacing of the keys helps tremendously. I played with the XPS 12 keyboard as well and I ended up liking the new Type Cover better. The track pad on the new Type Cover is also very nice and better than the old one and better than the Dell trackpad.

I didn't get too much farther than that because the store was closing. I only had about 25 minutes to try out the phone and the Pro 4. Also some of my time went in pre-ordering the Lumia 950 and 950 XL.

Enjoy the pics!

 

[Talldog]

I see folks are saying they like the new keyboard better, but nobody specifically mentions the stiffness. One of the things I really dislike with my SP3 keyboard is how it feels "bouncy". Did they stiffen it up for the SP4?

 

[Geo Hutchings]

I went to my local MS store to try one out, and I agree that the new keyboard is a radical improvement over the SP3 keyboard. For me, the SP3 keyboard has always been typos-waiting-to-happen. It was very much a compromise. But the new keyboard is completely different. Very close to a quality laptop keyboard.

The pen is also amazing. I have always spoke highly of the SP3 pen, but they managed to make it miles better by transforming the feel of the pen to more of a real writing-on-paper experience. Fantastic job by MS.

With that said, the pen and keyboard are accessories. The SP4 itself is nice, but I don't know whether it is so much nicer than the SP3 that everyone should jump to hand over their money for an upgrade. I'm a gadget guy, so I'm upgrading, but the SP4 itself is only a modest step up from the SP3, IMHO. That's OK, because the SP3 is outstanding and doesn't need much improving. I'll be upgrading to the Surface Book, but that's a different issue.

I am not upgrading tell surface pro 5. So I am for now just getting the sp4 pen and sp4 keyboard for my pro 3

 

[phelme]

well, I'll be coming from a Surface Pro 2, so given all I liked about the Pro 4 I tried this afternoon, there is no question I'll be getting one since basically everything is better.

i'm curious though about the type cover w/ the fingerprint reader, it sounds like it's intended for the older Surface Pro's, so they can have a Windows Hello security feature. did anyone actually ask about this at a store? I forgot to.

 

[chattoe]

How much lighter is the pro 4 v the pro 3, the pro 3 feels very heavy in comparison to my iPad to which this would replace. I'm hoping it's nice and light and the keyboard is usable on my lap with good key travel and a touch pad that matches my MacBook. If all that Lines up then it will replace both the iPad and the MacBook.

 

[TechFreak1]

How much lighter is the pro 4 v the pro 3, the pro 3 feels very heavy in comparison to my iPad to which this would replace. I'm hoping it's nice and light and the keyboard is usable on my lap with good key travel and a touch pad that matches my MacBook. If all that Lines up then it will replace both the iPad and the MacBook.

The Surface Pro 4 actually weighs less then the Surface Pro 3, it depends on which model you get:

Core M: 766 Grams
Core i5: 786 Grams
Core i7: 786 Grams

The Surface Pro 3, is 800 grams regardless of which Core variant you get.

Links below:

https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/devices/surface-pro-3

https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-gb/devices/surface-pro-4

The ipad and Surface Pro 3... are just... not comparable :grincry: a Surface 2 would be the appropriate comparable for the ipad.

In regards to the keyboard, I would recommend trying it out in person.

 

[chattoe]

Could you see a pro 4 as a replacement for an iPad and a Mac? There for having one device that does both jobs of a tablet and a laptop.

The most powerful thing I throw at my Mac is video conversion after ripping my blu ray movies

 

[Poirots Progeny]

Could you see a pro 4 as a replacement for an iPad and a Mac? There for having one device that does both jobs of a tablet and a laptop.

The most powerful thing I throw at my Mac is video conversion after ripping my blu ray movies

Easily a replacement for a mac. The sp4 may look like a tablet bit it is a fully featured pc (a mac equivalent). It can also replace the iPad depending on what you do with the iPad - again, the sp4 is a pic so, provided you can get the program/app our use the web, you can do whatever you want. I routinely use the sp3 with multiple brokerage accounts as a fully fledged trading platform - it's above and beyond an iPad. Depending on how you use it. Apps designed specifically for the iPad may or may not have an equivalent.

 

[chattoe]

When I played with the pro 3 on Thursday holding it as I do like my iPad it felt pretty heavy. The OS was silky smooth.

I'm just worried in regards to using it in my lap as I don't have a desk what with the way the keyboard is,