Which size of the Surface Book 2 do you prefer?

[d33pth0u9ht]

I currently have the original SB and will be moving to the 15 inch SB2 as soon as pre-orders open up. The ability to game when on business and not having to carry a separate gaming laptop will be awesome. I value the detachable display, especially on long flights. I just turn it around and it works like a dream to watch movies when flying.

No other laptop does everything this one will do. Period.

 

[Terry Tigner]

“One hidden note.” I think I’ve read and watched just about every story / announcement on the SB2. This information has not been anything I’ve read. Is it part of the Xbox controller? Please provide a reference to the “hidden note.”

 

[ReprobusR]

I could never use 13"; therefore 15" is my choice. Although 17" would be ideal.

 

[Drewidian]

I currently own an original SB i7/16GB/512GB/dGPU and am considering upgrading to the 15" with similar specs. I'm currently debating whether or not to upgrade my 7 year old gaming rig that is struggling or to get the new SB and let my wife have my original. Mainly I'm considering Mixed Reality and the SB2 seems to be a reasonable choice for it, but I'm considering waiting for Gen2 which should be wireless. When the SB2 is available I'll go take a look at it in the NYC store which is just a couple of blocks from my office. By then I should have made a decision.

 

[doach5]

I just got back from the microsoft store and while the 15 is larger, it is not by that much in my opinion. I called Microsoft and they told me the specs internally are the same on the higher end 13.5 model to the 15 other than the GPU. Structural wise they are identical. Why people are saying the 13.5 is the same as last year i have no idea. Its the same size but thats it. Its a completely different laptop.

The 13.5 due to the aspect ratio provides more surface area than a 16:9 13.3 laptop. The surface dimensions of the 13.5 model is 84.11 sq inches compared to 75.57 for a 13.3 16:9 laptop. Thats a whole ten inches. Compared to a 16:9 15.6 laptop the difference is only 20 sq inches at 104sq in compared to 84.11 for the 13.5 inch SB2.

The 15 SB2 has a sq in area of 103.8, almost the same exact of sq in area of a 15.6 16:9 laptop. The only dirrerence i see between the 13.5 SB2 and the 15 SB2 is 1.5 inches and a better GPU. Is it worth it considering a $400 dollar price difference between the higher priced i7 models?

 

[FXi2]

The 15 has fans in both the base and screen and a higher TDP spec (lookup the I7-8650u Intel spec sheet on "tdp up") bringing the base clock to 2.1. But you may prefer the higher portability of the 13.5.

 

[doach5]

Thanks for that. I looked into it further and yes the 15 inch can pull higher wattage 20W as opposed to 15W on the 13.5 for sustained workloads. Performance will still be close between the two regardless.

https://youtu.be/eClGBqV63P8


Still undecided on which one to get. I like that the 13.5 i7 is fanless and the portability. The GPU on the 15 is nicer but i dont really have a need for it. I mainly tele-conference and take notes while doing so the extra inches on the 15 would be better so i thought.

After comparing i was shocked by not seeing that big a difference between the two screen sizes.

 

[samuele dassatti]

I think the 13.5" is far more interesting since it packs more power than a traditional 13" laptop and has even more screen real state thanks to the 3:2 aspect ratio. The 15" is certainly good, but I think it isn't for me since I don't need the extra power.

 

[doach5]

I agree. The 13.5 SB2 is slightly larger (almost the same) screenwise as a 14 inch 16:9 trational laptop. The 15 inch SB2 is the same size as a traditional 15.6 laptop. (Check my earlier post).

I actually like the fanless aspect and from the video and notebookchecks review without a fan the 13.5 inch machine can operate well over the 15W TDP and run over 2GHZ for long periods underload.

Check the review here:

https://www.notebookcheck.net/First...rface-Book-2-Convertible-Review.263954.0.html

Voltage setting characteristics here:

https://youtu.be/gJhk_D3wVMc

The GPU is stronger and you will get better wattage and higher sustained clock rates due to the fan in the 15 inch. How much more though?

 

[canadoc01]

I think the 13.5" is far more interesting since it packs more power than a traditional 13" laptop and has even more screen real state thanks to the 3:2 aspect ratio. The 15" is certainly good, but I think it isn't for me since I don't need the extra power.

Agreed. Compared to other 15 inch devices, you can get desktop like performance from 2 in 1 from Lenovo and soon from Dell and HP.

There is nothing out there too compare to the 13.5 inch. Even compared to a Mac the 13.5 blows the door s of any 23 inch MBP but the 15 inches have very similar performance except the gpu

 

[DCW1000]

I have a power base version of the original 13.5 book that is my standard carry-along machine. I have 15" Book 2 that is my preferred home laptop. The 15 is clearly the better machine, but it's just a little large for easy transport. A tighter 15" case might make it easier to port, but the oversize 15' carriers just get too bulked up when you add a bunch of accessories.

 

[Mattemt294]

i went with the 15"model. There are other laptops out there that can get similar performance, especially in the price range. Being a Microsoft fan I prefer their product. Another good reason is the pen support and the tablet mode. The tablet half weighs even less than a SP. I prefer that over folding a laptop 2 in 1.

 

[Isaiah Heart]

If I were in your shoes I would wait for the successor to surface book 2.

 

[Isaiah Heart]

13.5 inch.