The dealbreaker: soldered SSD

[SL2]

Since when did the Laptop have a cheap design?

It looks good, I admit that, and comparing it to Lumia 950 wasn't fair, but it does lack features for that price, no USB C, no T3, and you're stuck with the WLAN brand that caused trouble for SP2 users.


Yes, again, most people doesn't change components like that, and I agree, but models that doesn't allow that are usually cheaper.

Cost like an XPS 13. Built like a Chromebook.

As a comparison, this is what you do if your XPS WIFI is acting up:
http://www.windowscentral.com/dell-xps-wifi-fix-upgrade-wireless

$799 should be the starting point, it's still a premium model, even if very simplified. MS can't act like Apple in this regard as long as they have competition.

 

[Lucas Borges]

You can see this as a trend, to get lighter, thinner and more good looking, devices will end up having all in one chips or boards. If it doesn't affect performance I personally don't care. A good SSD won't require upgrade anyway, and for the kind of use this Laptop is focused even 128GB should be fine. I would go with 256GB at least tho, is safer, but I whish there was a i7 + 16gb RAM + 256gb SSD option, the best cost/benefice future proof (sorry for being a little out of context)

 

[Ariel Takom]

I think there might be a few reasons why this would've been a good move by MS.

1) Standardizing the SSD means that the hardware will work for users as expected by MS, much like how video game companies expect the game they develop to perform well on a console that's meant to play that game, unlike PCs where the hardware configuration is different for each users, causing some user to experience better gameplay, while others facing technical issues that needs solving.

2) Better transfer speed, I'd reckon.

3) Prevents bulkiness. Seeing the M.2 slot on my laptop (Dell Inspiron 15 7559), the slot would've prevented the Surface Laptop to be designed as thin as it is now.

 

[Drael646464]

As far as you know, right. But there are definitely plans for a Surface Pro 5. We just don't know about them. Panos Panay isn't dropping the Surface Pro line. That's for sure.

I just learnt the widely spread quote was a misquote. How I actually read it now, is maybe the followup to surface pro isn't called surface pro 5 (maybe), and if they release one, they are looking for more than just processor refresh, but more experiential changes.

My bad.

 

[Drael646464]

It looks good, I admit that, and comparing it to Lumia 950 wasn't fair, but it does lack features for that price, no USB C, no T3, and you're stuck with the WLAN brand that caused trouble for SP2 users.


Yes, again, most people doesn't change components like that, and I agree, but models that doesn't allow that are usually cheaper.

Cost like an XPS 13. Built like a Chromebook.

As a comparison, this is what you do if your XPS WIFI is acting up:
Having Wi-Fi issues with your Dell XPS 13 ? Here's how to fix the problem. | Windows Central

$799 should be the starting point, it's still a premium model, even if very simplified. MS can't act like Apple in this regard as long as they have competition.

I think that's just it. Apple users are quite interested in this device, and surface users. HP and Dell users, not so much. It's a different audience.

 

[SL2]

HP and Dell users, not so much. It's a different audience.

I'm not so sure about that. It doesn't look that different. Remember that both companies have lots of various product lines, it's not all elitebooks and such.