This Surface Laptop is the First Overpriced Device With a Surface Branding

[FAVIOLOSKY]

I agree with most people defending the Surface Laptop. I honestly don't understand how people can't grasp that this is not the same category as the Surface Pro or Book, thus should not compare it to the Book or Pro lines. This is a traditional clamshell device that gives you the feel and quality of the Surface line but like previously said, a more traditional laptop design. If you continue to compare to Surface Pro 2-in-1 then you don't get the point. Surface Pro already dominates their category, this was not meant to dethrone it. If someone doesnt want the detachable keyboard be it the book or the pro, then you would have to get say XPS13, which this device makes sense to compare to. Only concern would be USB-C. But there is not that much consumer push for it, and while most of us want it, the truth is, most users are not necessarily tech oriented enough to appreciate the change. they will be rather upset because they cant connect their usb mouse dongle, or usb-A external hard-drive. One thing people are forgetting is that this device also has Windows Hello Face Recog.

 

[butterscotchcrematorium]

I actually know a lot of people who don't like using Surface simply because they aren't laptops. They want to be able to actually use them on their laps more easily without getting a kickstand just right to have it get knocked out of place and fall over.

I don't mind using my Surface on my lap, but I get why some people don't like it. People want a device that best suits how they will use it, and for many people a traditional laptop fills that need much better than a Surface tablet will.

 

[kaktus1389]

As it was already mentioned, I still think that Surface Laptop is a great looking device, it's light, touch enabled, compatible with Surface pen and I see that as key features that audience this is aimed at is looking for. I think it's priced so high so they would not make direct competition to OEMs. It's true though that if MS would offer Surface 4 running on arm chip, I'd rather go with it than the Surface Laptop, even if I am considering an option to buy the Surface Laptop anyway.

If you compare performance of the Surface Laptop and any of the MacBooks, you'll find that Surface Laptop is much more performant and cheaper than Apple's products. I agree that it is by no means cheap, but you get desired quality and believe me, there are a lot of high school students in my country who actually buy MacBooks. My 2-in-1 once ran out of battery at the moment when I needed it the most so a friend borrowed me his MacBook for a few minutes, to finish the speech I was writing and I can say those were the worst minutes of my life behind a computer (not that it was slow, but the UI and the trackpad gave me some hard time). I would not expect that to be the case with Surface Laptop.

 

[Yangstax]

It seems that there are two fatal flaws with this design.

- No back camera

It is strange that when they demoed the View Mixed Reality on stage, they had to use SP4's camera while the new Surface Laptop doesn't have one. How do you expect students to experience the VMR? Besides, you do need back camera occasionally to take photos and to take backside pictures while use Skype.

- No Tablet mode

The demo videos show students all draw in the Tablet mode while laying flat. But the Surface Laptop can not be flipped into Tablet mode. It is uncomfortable to draw while the screen is in the upright position.

I don't know what Panos' team are thinking. But I would certainly pass this device and wait for SP5 or check into other OEMs' offerings.

 

[Drael646464]

It seems that there are two fatal flaws with this design.

- No back camera

It is strange that when they demoed the View Mixed Reality on stage, they had to use SP4's camera while the new Surface Laptop doesn't have it. How do you expect students to experience the VMR? Besides, you do need back camera to take photos and to take backside pictures while use Skype.

- No Tablet mode

The demo videos show students all draw in the Tablet mode while laying flat. But the Surface Laptop can not be flipped into Tablet mode. It is uncomfortable to draw while the screen is in the upright position.

I don't know what Panos' team are thinking. But I would certain pass this device and wait for SP5 or check into other OEMs' offerings.

They'd be thinking that laptops are a growth market, and they are being fought for by two competitors, macbooks and chromebooks, and basically "this is Sparta!" bit of a throwdown and make a laptop. Personally I'd also rather have a detachable or 360 too. But laptops sell. There will surely be more in the surface line this year.

 

[Tsang Fai]

It's been pretty easy to objectively justify the price tag of Surface devices (excluding early RT devices) compared to the competition, but that all changes with this one. It's more like an overpriced joke like them MacBooks now; merely for looks, barely for functionality.

Not just look. But also lightweight - a very practical consideration when purchasing a laptop. I would not use a cheap but heavy laptop.

Overpriced? Can you suggest a similar, cheaper laptop with similar spec, and most importantly, a light and thin one? We should realize that the price includes the premium build quality.

 

[Tsang Fai]

It's been pretty easy to objectively justify the price tag of Surface devices (excluding early RT devices) compared to the competition, but that all changes with this one. It's more like an overpriced joke like them MacBooks now; merely for looks, barely for functionality.

Not just look. But also lightweight - a very practical consideration when purchasing a laptop. I would not use a cheap but heavy laptop.

Overpriced? Can you suggest a similar, cheaper laptop with similar spec, and most importantly, a light and thin one? We should realize that the price includes the premium build quality.

Bear in mind Surface Laptop is an ultrabook for use outdoors, instead of a heavy laptop to be used only at home and office. If you do not care the weight and look, there are always many many choices.

 

[Drael646464]

Not just look. But also lightweight - a very practical consideration when purchasing a laptop. I would not use a cheap but heavy laptop.

Overpriced? Can you suggest a similar, cheaper laptop with similar spec, and most importantly, a light and thin one? We should realize that the price includes the premium build quality.

Bear in mind Surface Laptop is an ultrabook for use outdoors, instead of a heavy laptop to be used only at home and office. If you do not care the weight and look, there are always many many choices.

Pretty underappreciated, that this is like a "slimline" laptop, with higher end specs. Power with lighter weight (power for size/weight ratio). But if you don't like it don't buy it.

 

[Zeem Frostmaw]

'Restricted to the Windows Store' =/= 'Restricted to Windows Store Apps'

This is nothing like RT.

 

[Steve78UK]

This is disappointing and quite an embarrassment for the Surface brand. I always have high respect for Surface tablets, in fact we have three Surface 3 in my family. But this is just wrong, they went full 360 from innovating the Hybrids to directly competing with the Macbook Air by crippling the overall usability performance only to have a fashionable device.

And still don't understand why they didn't put USB C instead ,the dodgy DisplayPort in all of our Surface 3 are broken and we barely even used it.

The high price tag of this device and the current state of Windows Apps quality doesn't make sense to me. No, thank you, Microsoft but Chromebooks makes more sense

Most people don't have a need for USB-C right now, therefore this decision pleases those that have standard USB connectivity requirements right now (so, nearly everyone). Yes, USB-C would have been nice, but it's not a deal breaker at all.

I don't really see many better premium ultrabooks on the market right now and surely everyone will choose the free upgrade to full Windows 10? Surface Laptop is a win in my eyes.

 

[Chintan Gohel]

Not just look. But also lightweight - a very practical consideration when purchasing a laptop. I would not use a cheap but heavy laptop.

Overpriced? Can you suggest a similar, cheaper laptop with similar spec, and most importantly, a light and thin one? We should realize that the price includes the premium build quality.

Bear in mind Surface Laptop is an ultrabook for use outdoors, instead of a heavy laptop to be used only at home and office. If you do not care the weight and look, there are always many many choices.

How light do you need it to be?

Taking similar specs of an i5 7th gen, 8GB RAM, 256GB Hard drive and 13.5 inch screen or closest in size:

HP ProBook 440 G4 Notebook PC (ENERGY STAR) | HP® Official Store

This one costs 819USD while the surface laptop is going to be 1300USD for the same specs. The HP laptop is 1.6kg, no touch screen while the surface laptop is 1.25kg and very few ports

HP ENVY - 13t Laptop | HP® Official Store

This one is an i7 model, 8GB and 256GB SSD, weighs 1.3kg, has ports and Microsd slot and costs 900USD. Equivalent surface laptop costs 1600USD

These are just 2 models I got from the top of the list at the hp website, I haven't even tried checking dell or lenovo or other companies

 

[raqball]

So, Microsoft released the Surface Laptop today, and from the looks of it, it's looking like the first overpriced and already outdated device with a Surface brand attached to it.

- No USB Type C port in 2017.

- Touch screen is a gimmick as it can't be converted to a Tablet form-factor to make practical use of it.

- Restricted to the Windows Store unless you buy Windows 10 Pro. Almost like Windows RT all over again.

- No storage expansion port, something even the slimmer Surface Pro 3/4 and Surface RT/2/3 had, a MicroSD card slot.

- Only 1 front-facing webcam and it's downgraded to 720p

- Doesn't make sense for students compared to the Surface Pro line, despite it trying to target them, especially with it lacking the ability to transform into a notepad and replace ALL of a students need for paper/notebooks/textbooks (that's what my Surface Pro 2 has long done).

Despite it lacking all of the above and being 1/3rd as versatile as the Surface Pro (Mono Laptop vs Tablet+Digitizer Drawing Board+Laptop), its starting price is exactly the same as the Surface Pro. What exactly is there to justify the price tag of this over the Surface Pro 4, which is even cheaper now? Or do you agree it's just outright overpriced compared to the competition?

- I don't care about USB C and living the dongle life
- While I do not care about the touch screen, it's not a gimmick. Some will use it.
- It's not restricted to Windows Store. Free Pro upgrade till the end of 2017 then $49 after that.
- No SD card slot is a bummer..
- 720p front camera is fine

Not everyone wants a 2 in 1 or convertible.. I can see this as a serious MacBook Air competitor (the Air's are everywhere on college campuses)...

I pre ordered the i5 / 8 / 256 and will more than likely instantly take advantage of the free Pro 10 upgrade. Overall it's a nice machine at a decent price..

 

[mflotron]

$1000 for a "RT kind" laptop?
Ok, you'll say its not RT because you can install win32 apps (only available in store). But what is the store? there is nothing interesting, basically some limited UWP apps and and a pair of useful win32.
But wait, you can upgrade free/$50??? Why? I'm confused.
$1000 is too much money for a regular laptop, and lot for one that is mangled.
Now i understand why Windows Phone is dead, they always think from the manufacturer perspective, not from the user.

 

[raqball]

$1000 for a "RT kind" laptop?
Ok, you'll say its not RT because you can install win32 apps (only available in store). But what is the store? there is nothing interesting, basically some limited UWP apps and and a pair of useful win32.
But wait, you can upgrade free/$50??? Why? I'm confused.
$1000 is too much money for a regular laptop, and lot for one that is mangled.
Now i understand why Windows Phone is dead, they always think from the manufacturer perspective, not from the user.

If you take advantage of the free Win 10 Pro upgrade then it's a full fledged Win 10 machine... What's not to like about that?

Even if someone wants to keep Win 10S it's still not a bad deal. Slightly overpriced if used with Win 10S? Sure but not overboard pricing in my opinion..

My one and only concern is the cloth KB. Wonder how that is going to hold up over time..

 

[mtf1380]

I believe the W10S is meant to give greater assurances/protection to younger, inexperienced users, or anyone else for that matter, from malware, security breaches, and viruses. I like the idea of a unit that is almost guaranteed to be safe and sound...might be a good way to promote it - backed with a GUARANTEE from MS.

 

[mtf1380]

I said before I have a Surface Pro and Book, and therefore didn't see me need for one...but! after more thought I am rethinking the idea. When I got the Book (already had the Surface Pro 3), I got a new briefcase that would allow me to carry both in a compact way...the problem is, the two devices together are pretty heavy. But "IF" I can figure how to give my customer my Surface Pro to hold, and swipe an image, or file, from my Surface Book, or this new laptop, to that Surface Pro, I would more than likely get this new laptop too, just for the weight reduction

In fact: Does anyone know of an easy way to swipe an image (screen's image) from one device to another - without a local wifi connection, cables would be OK as long as the cables are compatible with the M/F ports on both the Surface Pro 3, Book, and/or MS Laptop?

 

[Krystianpants]

Thanks for your opinion. People out there may have different opinions. It's crazy. So different that even though you think your surface is superior, someone out there prefers to use a mac. My friend loves mac OS and dislikes windows. Some people like Donald Trump, some don't. If students today are using macbooks without being able to turn them into tablets to write on then it must not be that important to them.

 

[anthonyng]

For those are you arguing for a rear camera, what do you need that for on a laptop? When my SP3 is docked, I never have a use for it. Even when undocked I never need that rear camera! Would like to know about some use cases as to me right now, it's just a check list item.

Touch screen is handy, I use it on my work issued Lenovo T460 frequently. Even when it doesn't have pen support.

 

[JaimitoFrog]

Originally posted by mtiede
I fail to see why someone would want this instead of a Surface Pro 4. Pro can be either a tablet or a laptop so why would I want something that can be only a laptop?

Because this is not a replacement to SP4.

 

[JaimitoFrog]

Originally posted by Chintan Gohel

Originally Posted by Tsang Fai
Not just look. But also lightweight - a very practical consideration when purchasing a laptop. I would not use a cheap but heavy laptop.

Overpriced? Can you suggest a similar, cheaper laptop with similar spec, and most importantly, a light and thin one? We should realize that the price includes the premium build quality.

Bear in mind Surface Laptop is an ultrabook for use outdoors, instead of a heavy laptop to be used only at home and office. If you do not care the weight and look, there are always many many choices.

How light do you need it to be?

Taking similar specs of an i5 7th gen, 8GB RAM, 256GB Hard drive and 13.5 inch screen or closest in size:

HP ProBook 440 G4 Notebook PC (ENERGY STAR) | HP® Official Store

This one costs 819USD while the surface laptop is going to be 1300USD for the same specs. The HP laptop is 1.6kg, no touch screen while the surface laptop is 1.25kg and very few ports

HP ENVY - 13t Laptop | HP® Official Store

This one is an i7 model, 8GB and 256GB SSD, weighs 1.3kg, has ports and Microsd slot and costs 900USD. Equivalent surface laptop costs 1600USD

These are just 2 models I got from the top of the list at the hp website, I haven't even tried checking dell or lenovo or other companies

Buy whatever you like. I have SP4, SB, and a Surface Studio. I don't need a laptop, but i want the surface laptop. Those hp and dell laptops are nice, but i never wanted to get one.

I'm ordering a surface laptop for my girlfriend, just because. She only watches Netflix, surf web. It's a great all around device with a premium and attractive packaging. And unlike macs, it has touch screen and pen support.