I too have the i7/16GB/512GB model. I've had mine since it was introduced and it is my full-time daily driver. I use Interactive Brokers Trader Workstation, Microsoft Visual Studio 2015, Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop CC subscription, Chrome browser and Microsoft Office 365 subscription. All my data and photos are kept on Microsoft OneDrive and I also keep a Windows 10 backup on a local USB Hard Drive. There is no question that my Surface Book is the best, most fun to use computer I've ever owned! I love my Surface Book!
The Surface Book has a high res, highly accurate touch screen for me to make digital art. The MacBook Pro does not. Left that out of your comparison. The MacBook Pro you're talking about also starts at $2k whereas the Surface book starts around $1300.
I was in the market for a 2-in-1 with ultrabook guts and weight but tablet versatility. The Surface line has been on my radar, since the Surface Pro 3 and have been strategically waiting for the next iteration, the Surface Pro 4 before I made a purchase. Then Microsoft comes out with the Surface Book alongside Surface Pro 4. I then started looking into the specs. I think the discrete GPU in the base of the Surface Book put my decision over the top since I can use it for very lightweight gaming like Minecraft on Max settings. I was very tempted to get the very top end model with the i7/1TB SSD, but Best Buy did not have it in stock and wouldnt for a few weeks estimated at the time. I got the i7/512GB SSD/16GBRAM instead for $500 less and applied the money I saved towards a 3 year warranty, which in turn helped me bargain the price down a bit. So far it functions very well as a laptop. Simple games like Minecraft runs awesomely. I haven't loaded anything GPU challenging yet, but soon. On the rare occasion when I need to detach the screen, the tablet portion is very lightweight, making things like note taking or using the stylus very convenient. The battery life on the screen by itself is a bit anemic, but as mentioned in the vid, it can be used in "clipboard mode" docked into the keyboard for the extra battery but the screen facing front. The weight shoots up, but if you have a table handy the keyboard cn act as a display stand. The price is a bit steep compared to some of the other 2-in-1s and/or ultrabooks in the market, but IMHO it gives it a high watermark for a "premium" device, especially in Cafes filled with "me too" Macbook Airs, Pros and Macbook wannabes. Yes, the MBP line might edge out the Surface Book in raw performance because of the quad core vs the dual core, the ability to use a touch screen on the same device make the MBP, to me at least feel a bit outdated. Aside from the Surface Pro 3 and 4 which works in tablet mode, lighter and better than the Surface Book, the book easily has the feel of a dedicated ultrabook, but with the convenience of a touch screen and pen input and the power of a discrete GPU. Complete thumbs up for me!
Having had mine a few weeks I love it, and everything talked about in this video matches my experience well. Although I would say tablet mode can be frustrating sometimes. there are a few minor things, for example the lack of physical buttons make switching between tasks such as OneNote and a browser slightly annoying. Then again maybe I just haven't figured out the most optimal usage mechanics yet. I've very successfully used it for graphic design, drawing mathematical equations and diagrams, and general note taking. I've run a few games on it, mostly quite low spec stuff, but it has been slightly disappointing there (not that I had high expectations)I although downloading the NVIDIA control panel and r winning a few optimisations really helped. Finally the screen, it's beautiful, but comes at a small price. The crazy high resolution means a fair few pieces of software don't render properly, but this probably wouldn't be a problem for the average user.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE - Can you do a video with a TRIPLE MONITOR SETUP using the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 or Surface Book. You can turn off the tablets monitor and daisy chain three monitors to it via Display Port. Make it happen guys. Use 1080p or 1440p monitors.
hoping for quad core option and better video card in surface book 2. Also, I would love a 15 inch model. I think MS almost has a hand on firmware and os issues--i do not regret sitting out version one of this product. Looking foward to october
sell my macbook for the same price as the i7 with 16gb memory and 256gb storage plus an xbox one. im torn! sell my MBP for $1700 and buy them or keep my MBP which im super happy with
Should I buy the i7 version with 256GB incl. office, surface dock and pen tip kit for 1599 EUR, completly new? Or more, would you still recommend it for that price?
So, if you use Photoshop, you must also be using Nik by Google. How did you resolve the font scaling problem with Nik (as a plug-in) without changing screen resolution?
its odd your 512gb ssd beats my 256gb on only 2 of the 8 crystal disk marks tests - I would have thought it would have beat it on all of them - we all know the 128gb ssd has terrible scores I though the 512 would whip the 256 gb ?
I will buy this puppy . I have an Huawei matebook core m3 with 4gb of ram, I'm a graphic designer and this surface book will be an excellent upgrade even if its an old device
i wanted to buy this so badly, but the battery thing when you disconnect it and the fact it doesn't have any usb-c port damned it. as a laptop, it's meh for the price you pay, as a tablet it's fine until the battery runs out 3 hours after use. the pricepoint is way way way way way too high for what it is. the surface pro 4 seems like a much smarter buy
Great work as usual Isaac! Loved the intro! I'm pretty impress with the S.B but as well as you, is more the idea on what's to come what excites me :) Great to know you're better now :)
Thanks Vicente! Appreciate your support. Also, if I have ever spelt your name incorrectly, I apologize! I have a close friend named Vincent, so spelling can get mixed up often. ;)
***** Hahaha you're always welcome Bud! And don't worry about it (you haven't) Vincent is just the English way of saying my name so is ok ;) also I've seeing people spelling it wrong even having my name on top the comment lol
+Alessio Kris I've also had it for about 5 months (i7, 512 GB with nVidia GPU), and it's my daily driver for most of my computing needs (work, games, movies, etc.). It's by no means a gamer laptop, but it runs World of Warcraft and Diablo III with decent settings. When I use other people's computers I start to miss it :P Had some glitches when I first bought it, but they've all been fixed through Microsoft's firmware updates, so if you buy one make sure the first thing you do is run Windows Update.
In the video, you said you wanted a stiffer hinge and a surface book that could be opened with one hand. Couldn't that be impossible to do both, the stiffer the hinge, the more difficult to open, but you get less screen wobble.
Fantastic review. While it was slightly glitchy at launch, I have loved it the past month more and more each day. it does have a few compromises, but the benefits it brings to the table far outweigh the cons.
Love mine every day. It feels like the future, and seeing the way other companies are rapidly moving in this direction as well it seems they all agree.
Nice video... I also need advice. Im a college student who has a couple of English classes left. Debating over the sp4 and the SBook. I mainly would use it to type those essays and surf the web( entertainment). The sp4 I would get is the $999 model and the type cover. The SBook I would get is the $1499. Need help choosing from these two.
I can't decide neither but I guess I'm going for the SB because for the sp4 i5 with 8gb + the type cover you'll pay almost as much as for the sb and since a good keyboard is very important for me I guess it's just the better choice
Iv used my tablets as a camera before in public, not sure why many people get upset or say dont use tablet cameras in public. Anyways I use my tablets camera because the viewfinder is so nice, love having such a huge screen, I can see so much more and much clearer. Anyways great video, debated on buying the surface book but didnt want to spend that much money so I bought the sp4 for $640.00 new. Core i5, 4GB ram, 128GB SSD.
The main problem are people who use tablets as camera during concerts and other events and thus blocking the view for other people just so they can record something in shitty quality to show their friends how cool it was. Aside from that most people won't care I guess.
SaHaRaSquad No that makes sense but what I am saying is that if you dont get in the way of others with it, you know just use common sense then I dont see the big deal in using your tablet as a camera.
Radiant Rose If its the first surface product you ever bought and your not to sure if youd like it then yeah I could see it being worth it but if you know you will like it then Id have to say no it wont be worth it because when I am just web browsing I see that I use about 80% - 90% of ram and I only have about 5 tabs open. So Id say if you know you will like it go for the 8GB ram version at least but if you are like me, you dont know for sure if youd like it and you find it for a good deal then go for the 4GB model
+anzatzi I've had my i7 512 16GB +GFX Surface book since December. It still Glitches and freezes almost everyday amidst working on projects(the worst thing in the world if you're the type that forgets to save), youtube videos, or even trying to relax, simply watching a movie file. Its unacceptably annoying. I want to have microsoft send a replacement SB but I already know the new one will be quite bad; and who wants to keep starting over with a new OS?? I formatted 3 times already with all their troubleshooting and firmware upgrades.
+Melissa Guth photoshop works great prob works well with even 1-2 gb files, steam works well but to an extent not the best for games tomb raider i can play on high settings bearly
Would be cool if it was able to close as well. The hinge makes a big gap between the keyboard and the display, and makes it feel thicker than it actually is.
awepecness 101 0.2 millimeters more than a Macbook pro, and I think that has enough key travel! I guess it depends on who likes it the most. Also, if the Macbook can have just 0.2 millimeters less key travel, then they could make the screen lay flat when closed anyway right?
fantastic review, having the i5 version with dgpu myself I agree with everything you say (except for the part about it being impossible to open with one hand, witch I do everyday)
+Njoi Fontes Thanks Njoi! I guess my hinge is a bit stiffer than yours. I'm used to the hinge on a MacBook Pro, which I can usually open with one finger.
This is really an all in one device for people with a limited budget. You no longer need to buy a tablet and a laptop you can get them both in a single device. Its a dream and windows 10 is just about perfect.
+Aravind Gopal not if you want to buy a decent laptop and a decent tablet. You can buy the base version of surface for less than that. with that you get a clipboard which is better than others available and a laptop with an amazing keyboard, trackpad, specifications and screen.
Nice video, but you played Minecraft with the integraded intel gpu and not with nvidia!!! With intel gpus it's impossible to reach more than 40fps...Please pay more attention on these small details
+Canoopsy word.. Hey download the nvidia experience app. even though we have a custom gpu it'll adjust the settings for any game found installed on the system. That plus adjusting which gpu an app will use changes everything. Within the stock nvidia display settings you can adjust this (sure you know this already). but essentially forcing full throttle in my adobe apps has made this lil pc a beast...
