Nice review, agree about the keyboard glitches, sometimes my pen stops working as well, thankfully a restart only takes about 10 seconds and seems to fix it ! Other than that it's an amazing machine, better than the iPad Pro I had.
I had the big iPad Pro, sold it to my wife, it was ok but the severity of apples closed ecosystem made it more of a hindrance than a help, much happier with the Surface .
kenny kap Surface Pro 4 does look better because the design is cleaner. But since the Lenovo is cheaper by quite a bit, that would get my vote. It's not that the Lenovo looks ugly, just that the SP4 looks slightly better. I won't mind either.
thank you i was looking for an artist's in-depth review of surface pro. you've helped me a lot with this video. I've always used photoshop but i will now try out new programs when i buy a surface pro
@15:38 you talk about resolution making things bigger on the screen, its a very easy to make it appear bigger, just by using scaling option on the windows display settings.
CC has been programmed for use on high resolution screens. Unfortunately for people using CS6 and older software, they have to spend the extra money to upgrade even when their old software are still working perfectly.
Good video. thanks for sharing it. One word on the UI and forgive me if someone else has mentioned this in the comments. I have the exact same problem with Flame Painter Pro 3. The UI doesn't scale in HD. In settings under display, you can change the recommended resolution to 200%. I believe the default is 150%. The menus will display much better. It's not a great solution because the UI should scale by default. But it is a workaround until the developers get it together. Also, I have many creative applications on my SurfaceBook (i7, 16GB RAM, 512SSD, Nvidia dGPU) and Pro 3 (i7, 8GB RAM, 256SSD) and I've found the best application for my needs for illustration is Clip Studio Pro (formerly Manga Studio). It is absolutely phenomenal and I got it on sale in a bundle with Motion Artist. Clip Studio surpasses SketchBook Pro 7, Krita, Photoshop and Gimp for my character design and layout needs. This is also the reason why I never use applications like Medibang Paint. It's not as good as Clip Studio, ArtRage or Sketchbook Pro on Surface Pro devices. For those that want to digitally paint on Surface devices there are only two applications I use, ArtRage 4.5 and Rebelle. Rebelle has the absolute best digital representation of watercolors and acrylics I've have ever seen, bar none. Paint is applied and reacts so realistically in Rebelle that it's scary. Watercolor actually run, bleed and blend like real watercolor. When water is applied to painted areas they react realistically. This high level of representation comes at a price as the app sometimes lags trying to process the data to create such realistic results. But it's worth it IMO. Truly amazing. ArtRage comes in second in terms of realism but is better than Rebelle in UI, optimization and supported features. Anyways, I'll stop there. My SurfaceBook has been a phenomenal creative tool that's been worth ever penny even at those sinfully expensive prices. It's a game changer as I can't see myself using a mobile OS ever again for creative work. That says a lot considering I've created some really strong pieces using Android tablets. Problems I've had with my SurfaceBook/Pro 3 have been minimal thank goodness with a couple of Windows 10 updates being the culprit. If I had to do it all over again, I'd still go Surface Pro devices over anything else. Not perfect but damn good for the price.
Teoh Yi Chie Sorry for the late reply. Busy day today. You're welcome and thanks again for the video. It's always great to see other Surface users and hear their opinions. I'll subscribe to the channel and check out your other videos too. In the meantime, my blog features a lot of experimentation with different creative applications and processes on Surface devices. Check it out. candynjuice.blogspot.com/
You need to be in tablet mode for the onscreen keyboard to come up automatically. It makes sense, especially since Windows prompts you to switch to it when you detach the keyboard. The reason why zooming doesn't work in some apps is because those apps are detecting your pen too close to the screen, thereby activating palm rejection which affects pinch to zoom. Not really a glitch with the OS - more an issue with some apps and the way you are holding the pen. Also, you refuse to upgrade to Adobe CC and then complain about how CS6 doesn't scale the UI properly. Why?? Adobe CC supports UI scaling and touch gestures perfectly. Please don't criticize things that are user caused.
Perhaps they could be more apparent, yes. BTW, are you going to review the new Surface Pro with the new pen? There's apparently some big improvements to the pen including better responsiveness and tilt support. You might also find that Windows 10 is a lot more polished now.
+Jay Y I would not be reviewing the new Surface Pro anytime soon because in Singapore, they launch months later. You can check out Brad Colbow's review.
The issues you're having with gestures is because you're trying to do them while the pen is too close to the screen, so you're triggering palm rejection.
I think the computer doesn't zoom with one hand when your nails hit the surface. It drew lines instead. I think it read your nail as the pen tip. If you make sure only the fingertip skin touches then you might be able to use one hand instead of one finger from each hand.
I believe the keyboard pops up with the "write" screen instead of the keyboard because it senses you holding the pen. I would guess that if you did not have the pen near it, the on screen keyboard would appear when you tap the keyboard, rather than the long "write" field.
Hello, excellent review! I have a question though, I use AutoCAD and other engineering software that involve drawing, which, this computer seems excellent for. However, some of these programs require quite a lot of power. Do you think the 8GB I5 would be powerful enough to effectively run these programs?
It should be fine. You might want to read around to see how well AutoCAD works on such high resolution screens. The user interface may be too small, unless you plug into another larger screen.
Do not get this for art. I've been using it for over a year and half. The pen is okay. I work in sketchbook pro 8.6 and Ps cc 2017. This particular sp4 suffers from screen flickering due to poor thermo management. When the screen gets hot it flickers. I installed a 3rd part clock counter for my windows clock and it shows the seconds. This help alleviate the flickering problem in my case. I'd avoid any microsoft surface product in the future. I've used older Lenovo 220 and 230 ts to good effect. Stick with Wacom.
As always great artist reviews! Btw did u use PS in SP4? If so, did u have any issues? Cuz I recently got SP4 with PS CS6. But whenever I open PS, photoshop's toolbox is extremely small; like, everything was small. Small icons and stuff... I know that SP4 have a high resolution, but what can I do?! I searched for solutions, tried, but didn't work. Still the same... Please help! Thanks :')
Thank you very much for such informative review. I'm choosing which one to buy: surface pro 4 or ipad pro for drawing and other stuff, so it helps a lot.
+Bev Roberts Thanks. I'm still irritated at times. Today I read an article on how to improve the battery life, something that Microsoft wasn't able to do www.neowin.net/news/four-ways-to-improve-surface-pro-4-battery-life
very good review. I'm looking into getting the i7 with 16gb ram. do you think with more processor and ram it would be less glitchy? I'm leaning more towards the ipad pro but I also need a laptop because ipad pro cant record and has no file system which is annoying.
great review ..i just got the i7-8gb-256gb... it's not my main but will do illustration and light video editing. was worried about the ram but somehow u showed it,s sufficient ...still the case now? thx a lot
my main problem is the pen's side button not being simple right click as wacom stylus. In SP4 pen you gotta click button keep it clicked and then with force touch the tip of pen on to screen so that right click could get finally activated - it literally drives me nut, i want to crush and destroy, and do swear a lot. Arghhhh, in photoshop right click button is vital to me to change brushes and it sizes, i use it A LOT. There is not even some hack to make it right cuz apparently there is some kind of hardware limitation. If only i knew about it, i'd think twice before buying sp4
I was looking at getting the SP4 i5/8gb. Has the system slowed down at all for you? I would mainly be using it for web browsing, some video editing, photoshop & illustrator. You think these specs are more than enough for what I'd be using it for?
can we upgrade the surface pro 4 model of 256 gb to 1 tb via that micro SD card slot. if not then please suggest me an another way to do it please.....
Hi thanks for the great review , I would like to know if there is any wobbles in straight lines and in slow and precise strokes in surface pro 4 and i also found that 'Acer Switch Alpha 12' is much cheaper then surface pro 4 . please suggest if surface pro 4 have wobbles then i have to go for switch alpha 12 . if not then i would like to spend money on surface pro 4 .
+sharry singh There's the wobble line issue in all the tablets I've tested except the Wacom that I have not tested. If you do want to buy, get the Lenovo Miix 510 which I think is more worth the money. Full review www.parkablogs.com/picture/artist-review-lenovo-miix-510-with-active-pen
+kenny kap I recommend at least 8gb RAM. Windows also uses RAM. But for the $400 to upgrade to 8gb is not worth it. You can check out the Lenovo Miix 510 which is cheaper but works similarly to the SP4.
+Richard Birkett I had problems with the inteface after an update. Now my Sketchable icons are huge and almost unsable. I'm still trying to find a fix for that. Anyway, Sketchable works fine.
I have the 4 bg ram core i5 version. My surface pro can run illustrator and photoshop well at times, but there are times where I experience lag everytime I choose between brushes to draw on photoshop. Does the 8gb ram version have the same problems with these programs?
Hi..coming back again :) any thoughts of extending Surface Pro 4 battery life? am desperate looking for powerbanks and hoping for power keyboards !! thx :)
Hi. My Wacom Cintiq Companion 1 has begun to suffer from the power cord not charging the battery defect. I've heard it's pretty common with this model. I lost an hour or so of work yesterday so I'm beginning to take it seriously now. It's an i7 with 8gb of RAM. I wonder, how it would compare to this i5 with 8gb of RAM from Microsoft? I think I could tolerate the loss of a little screen real estate if it's light enough to hold in one hand. But what about the performance of this newer gen i5 vs. the older i7? Much thanks in advance to anyone that can advise.
If you're just using it for digital painting, i5 8gb RAM should be sufficient. I recommend the 2017 model over the SP4 because the pen performance is significantly better, but not as sensitive as a Cintiq of course.
Man... I got mine right after it came out and I've had such a terrible experience in every way.... I've gone through 4 pens and still not having it work. So many Microsoft/windows10 issues.....
I went to the Microsoft store in my parent's city and they got me two replacements and they both worked for two days and then started to disconnect after 30 minutes of use and no matter what I'd do (re-pair, turn on and off bluetooth, update drivers, etc) the only way I could get it to work was restart the Surface..... the people helping me at the store basically said they didn't know what was wrong and said "sorry." and that was all...... They did what they could to help but couldn't figure it out........ A friend of mine has the same issue....
Hey, does a cintiq work properly connected to the SP4 or are there driver issues? I'm wanting to use the SP4 when I am out and connecting my cintiq when I am in my studio.
I have the first generation Surface and got the same problem with Photoshop but I solved by installing the Wacom software for Windows that you can download for free and with that problem solved Photoshop works perfectly with the pen of Surface ... try it !!
+Frankie Velez I found out that it's got to do with the Wintab drivers. When installed, Photoshop will work nicely with Surface Pen, however, some other drawing software may be affected.
@@umarharun7089 If you don't think you'll be drawing much (look at your current workflow), then get the laptop. Getting a Surface Pro is not going to make you draw more if you aren't already drawing.
Hey ya Teoh, I just got this same surface 4. I am having Jitter problems when drawing slow. Do you get this also, if so do you know a hack to fix it? The 07/14/16 update from microsoft didn't seem to fix it. Thanks for any input Kind regards Frustrated inker
The lines are jittery when drawing slow. For photoshop, I use a plugin called Lazy Nezumi Pro (not free) which smoothens out the strokes. As for other graphics software, the jitter will be there if you draw slowly.
Thanks mate. I used that app also but it makes a parallax so details or short lines loose precision. I didn't do the job I wanted (illustration) so I've brought an iPad and their stupidly expensive pen. So far it draws much better Thanks for your reply
Windows - in my eyes - is just no touch OS... touch OS need to have bigger icons and touch optimised software (as well as pen-optimised), that's simply it.
I'm debating between the SP3 vs Note 12.2 for roughly the same price for use for school. taking notes with the pen and typing papers. Amy thoughts on which would suit my needs better?? thanks!
I've not used Note 12.2 before so I can't say much. If it's just for taking notes, then perhaps you can just get Surface (non-Pro) 3. www.parkablogs.com/picture/artist-review-surface-3-vs-ipad-air-drawing
+Teoh Yi Chie I've tried 10" screens. too small for me. I can get a SP3 for $350 with type cover. I'm just a little worried since I haven't used a Windows machine in over 15 years.
I find that when i try to hold the pen down in something like medibang it right clicks instead of draws. I tried to download wintab drivers but they wouldnt download, any help would be appreciated
Wintab didnt help but i figured out what is wrong, the pen gestures like hold to right click and swipe to drag don't stop working in all non windows store programs. Which basically means i can't make dots or fast lines. I really hope there is a way to fix this because i got the surface specifically to draw on
yeah, I actually disabled flicks and hold to right click in the control panel but i still get the circle around the cursor that stops me from making little lines
Thanks for the help, i tried that but when comparing something like sketchbook pro(from windows store) to medibang, there is a huge gap in pen accuracy, especially when doing small lines and circles
+Sudipto Ranjan Right now it's very irritating. It does not pop up automatically although I have set it to do so in the settings. I don't know what's wrong.
Sudipto Ranjan Right now I just cannot get the correct keyboard to show up. I need to go find a fix/hack for it. That's the problem with Windows. There can be frustrating things like this.
+Teoh Yi Chie It seems more like a problem with Chrome specifically, didn't care enough to fix bug for 2 in 1 with detachable keyboard like surface. www.lovemysurface.net/finally-fix-chrome-keyboard-issues/
+Teoh Yi Chie The handwriting keyboard should only come up when you click the icon with the pen. If you click it with your finger, it should be the Qwerty keyboard. I believe you can also set this in preferences as well. Great review.
I have the type cover. But i am confused if i buy a screen protector for this device or not. I am using my device for taking lotT of Notes and Drawing.
I saw review telling that the surface pro is better display than asus. I just want to know how your opinion as an artist (in terms of pen pressure). Its okay if you thought so.. thank you.. :)
Hi, could you answer me if the surface 3 (non pro) version will be fine for someone who is not an artist but want to buy a tablet for studying and making notes(math exactly, on university, so it should be a good accuracy, saying with my experience with galaxy note 4)? It's in my country like two times cheaper than the surface pro 4 and I can't test both of them. Will be 2gb ram(instead of 4) and intel atom(instead of i5) enough for it? And of course: working with pen on 3 or pro 4. What is your experience with those differences?
+TheMelancholicMan You can certainly use Surface 3 to take notes. The pen is sold separately. The default nib is the felt tip kind so it writes slower compared to the plastic tip (sold separately). The 2gb RAM model is fine for light work. The main difference between S3 and SP4 is the latter is higher spec.
+TheMelancholicMan My other suggestion is to get the new iPad since the price has dropped to usd 329. You can get the Adonit Dash 2 stylus or Adonit Pixel as stylus for it. Should come up to around same price as Surface 3. This is good option if you do not need Windows OS. I have reviews on parkablogs.com for the stylus.
+Teoh Yi Chie Hi, I went today to electronic shop to test tablets and those are my observations: Ive tested surface 4 pro and yoga book and Ive to say that yoga book was better for drawing with its "graphic tablet"(the keyboard part) than surface and a little worse on yoga book's screen. that was so weird because surface is much more expensive(i can find yoga book like for $500) and i wonder if that surface didnt have drivers for its pen or pen was broken(other didnt work at all). Is it possible? What are your experiences with yoga book in comparison to surface pro 4?
I really need a portable computer that can handle medium graphics (3D +2D) and I quit gaming a while ago but might get back into it but not games that take too much power and I really like the touch pen.. my budget is 1800 -2000 aud.. should I get this?
The SP4 is good if you have the budget for it. If not check out the alternatives and competition at www.parkablogs.com/content/surface-pro-4-alternatives-artists-list
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Hey, some advices here. You can use Wacom Expresskey Remote with the Surface ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-i6Cv-mu5a_w.html You can also use some on-screen hotkey programs such as Touchkey and RadialMenu. You can search for Touchkey tutorial on RU-vid. Here's a RadialMenu example: imgur.com/aXCmxWz works perfectly on the Surface3 (N-trig) so I think it should work with the Surface Pro 4 fine.
