Is the SP4 still worth buying?

[Brad Semenick]

A few months ago I damaged my MacBook screen which will cost me just shy of $1000 to fix which seems like a bit much for me. I've always been interested in the surface lineup so now seems like a good time to hop on the bandwagon. I'm a student so I don't have​endless money to spend on a laptop (although I wish I did) so I'm wondering if the surface pro 4 is still worth buying now that the new surface pro and surface laptop are out. I use my laptop for web browsing and music, lots of YouTube, a lot of word, Excel and PowerPoint, as well as light video editing. The tablet form factor would be great for taking notes in classes and labs, as I do a lot of math and physics. Any help is much appreciated!

 

[kaktus1389]

The 2017 Surface Pro is basically Surface Pro 4 with some changes made to the pen, screen and form factor (most changes are made inside the tablet so you can't really see them) so I'd say you're good to go with Surface Pro 4.

 

[Timbre70]

It's small improvements. That's why 5 was not used in branding.

 

[anon(10237065)]

In the end it depends on the price. If you can get a decent discount, then yeah, but if it's just like $100 cheaper, then pay more and get the new Surface Pro. There are only advantages really. But yeah, SP4 was already great enough!

 

[dirtyvu]

Get the new surface pro. Skip the pen or buy it later. Buy the older keyboards that came out with the surface pro 4. The battery life alone makes the new surface pro worth it. As great as the surface pro 4 is, the battery life is atrocious. If you actually plan on using the thing for school or work, you need good battery life.

 

[onlysublime]

If you are not an artist, you could buy the older Surface Pen ($50-60) which is much cheaper than the new Surface Pen ($99). It'll work on both the Surface Pro 4 and the new Surface Pro.

I'd also recommend the Type Covers meant for the Surface Pro 4. They come in fantastic blue and teal colors as well as other colors. They're much cheaper at $129 than the newer Alcantara keyboards. I have both the alcantara and the older keyboards and to be honest, the alcantara has aged better than the other keyboards. Which is why I'm surprised at the comments people have made about the alcantara keyboard.

Then down the road, you can always upgrade the accessories. It's why I read comments on the new Surface Pro and am perplexed. If a person has a Surface Pro 3 or Surface Pro 4, nothing says that you have to buy a new keyboard or new pen. So all the comments that the cost of the new Surface Pro is the machine, the pen and the keyboard is false. A SP3 or SP4 user can upgrade just the machine now. And down the road, buy a new keyboard or a new pen if desired.

 

[Areil Bart]

Great

 

[Awhispersecho]

Because of the price discounts at this point, I actually think the SP4 is worth buying more now than it was when it came out. It's a great device with plenty of power, a beautiful screen and amazing build quality.

 

[onlysublime]

After using my new Surface Pro for a few days now, the battery life definitely stands out.

For all the love I had for my Surface Pro 4 machines, battery life was never good. And it used to drain even just sitting in my bag. People who have owned the machine know about the dreaded hot SP4 in the bag with nearly no battery. It got to the point where I completely shut down the machine rather than have the machine sleep. Which is fine since boot time is so good with SSD. After I started shutting down the machine rather than sleeping it, I was happy with the machine but battery life was never great. You really do have to turn down the beautiful screen for the SP4 to have decent life.

 

[Keeptechcoolandsimple]

surface pro 4 is still a great machine so i say yes.

 

[beno76]

Like onlysublime said. It comes all down to the batterie. If you are more or less close to a socket go for the 4. If you are more mobile put in the extra cash.

 

[Ravi Sharma 2016]

A lot of improvements have been introduced over time through windows and firmware updates. The surface pro 4 is doing a lot of things right these days. I had some doubts when I got the unit in January 2016. It felt buggy with sleep issues (hot bag syndrome, not waking up, battery performance). Battery life does depend of the way you use it. It is good enough for my needs.
I would not trade up for the SPro due to the mentioned improvements. The difference between the two, partly thanks to the updates, has been somewhat reduced. I think I will skip a few generations, until a new SP will arise that should be (at least) considerably better than my sp4.

 

[FAHMI BASSEM]

My uncle is facing lots of touch screen issues, -don't know if it's up to date or not-, How's your experience with touch?

 

[Bobvfr]

I was very lucky (Well I think so), just about the time of the newer models launch, I saw an advert on Gumtree (Online second-hand shop) in the UK, a Surface pro 4, i7 with 8g and a 256ssd, it came with the keyboard, docking station, pen and case and was in immaculate condition (and I didn't pay a lot of money for it as the man was a bit desperate for the cash).

Absolutely delighted with it.

And it gave me the chance to give my wife my i5 SP3 with docking station to replace her original SP so she has a similar set up to me and that makes my life much easier.

If you want the latest and best then get the newer model, but as far as I am concerned the SP4 is still a pretty good device and even the SP3 is a better tablet/portable PC than most budget tablets.

 

[Byrese]

Yed. Use it everyday

 

[X0LARIUM]

My uncle is facing lots of touch screen issues, -don't know if it's up to date or not-, How's your experience with touch?

I second that. Horrible UX. The touch precision is something MS needs to work on for sure. Nothing compared to the iDevices (any of them).