This is the real practical review of Surface Go. Many useless reviews are about testing gaming performance, video and picture editing performance that we won't do with Surface Go.
I agree! I’ve seen way too many reviews knocking the device because they’re comparing it to a damn iPad, which is like comparing apples to oranges. This is exactly the type of review I’m looking for to help me with my purchasing decision, so thank you.
Seriously, this is the review we need. It helped my decisions, I want something to integrate with how I do David Allen's GTD. I've been scouring reviews listening to the same stupid crap... wanting only to see how it does things for people who actually work... or take notes.
The amount of reddit posts too.. Luckily, the 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD version is on sale in the US for $519.99 and actually INCLUDES the type cover. Definitely going to check it out when I get the chance. It's a solid companion device for productivity and work. Deal expires at the end of september if anyone wants to consider it.
"This is my first video ever, my kids do vlogging so they taught me." *proceeds to get 97k+ Views* Great video, this was very informative, and it's exactly what I was looking for :)
I think I'ma ditch all my papers, just carry my Dell XPS 13 & a Surface Go. Thanks for the information video! I'm in my second year of college and appreciate the knowledge this early in my college life
Hey Alan, Dell XPS 13 is a great laptop! Surface Go would be of great value-add to your study set-up. I wish I had Surface Go when I was in college; 4 years of my hardworking college notes are permanently gone.
I have been using mine for work this school year and it's TREMENDOUSLY improved my workflow. Note taking, social media posting for my school, using it to manage Google Classroom and Class Dojo during class, beaming videos to my projector on the fly via Miracast, lots of light duty tasks that are made so much easier having it in my hand and not having to worry about lugging something heavy around. OneNote alone has been incredible, it's probably the best note taking app around and it's perfectly functional with this device and the Surface pen. It's been great, and a fantastic secondary device.
Jino! Great review! Your kids were right - you have a knack for this. You have pretty much exactly described my work situation. I got tired of looking for the random pieces of paper that I took notes on and decided to go digital. I've been using OneNote on an android tablet, but it lacks the ability to sync audio to my notes. Your video convinced me to take the plunge on a Surface Go. I'd like to see more videos with your tips and tricks.
Hello bccgbob, You're far too kind -- thank you! I'm glad that it was helpful. This actually happened by an accident where I just grabbed my phone and start filming on the spot thinking maybe some people will watch. ;) I didn't know that people were even interested in writing notes on Surface Go (going 100% digital), but this is actually how I work with two devices -- I call them Batman & Robin. They compliment each other so well. You will love Surface Go! It's simply priceless for getting things done.
I'll have to look at the Surface Go. I'm a detective and use a Surface Pro 2017 and One Note to organize all my case files. Some of the cases I work are huge and it's so nice to have everything organized and readily available. I'm sure the Go would be a perfect addition. Thanks for the video.
OH MY GOD FINALLY SOMEONE SPEAKS ABOUT WHAT I REALLY WANT! Thank u man for deciding to making this review this way! This helped me alot in my decision, finally someone whos surreal and talks about what really matters and doesnt look paid or bribed by huge brands thanks again man! Keep itup!!
This was one of the best "reviews" if you want to call it that. It was actually very useful. It covered real world application and didn't just cover specs. Thank you. Keep it up!! Im a plumber by trade and im also in real estate. So i need something that is versatile and. Mobile since i spend alot of time on the road.
Hello Again! Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad that the video helped! Yes, Surface Go is truly helpful when I'm on the road or traveling. It gets my stuff done. Personally, I carry Surface Go everywhere with me. Hopefully, when I find some time, I'll make more real world application videos!!
Good video on how you use OneNote. I've been using it for years. I can't remember when I last used Evernote. ON works great for work because it works so well with all my Office products. I use ON daily as a digital Bullet Journal with elements of David Allen's GTD. It really keeps me organized, but you need to embrace what ever system you're using and make it a habit, which you are.For Tagging your notes, you can use the stock Tags or create custom Tags. Regardless of which Tag you use, ON has a great feature called Find Tags. It will display all your Tags by type and where they're located in a side panel. ON will also create a Summary Page of all your Tags and it retains a link to where each Tagged note came from. If the notes are on a Networked Notebook, you can easily share notes with your team mates via links. You can send them a Link to a Notebook/Section/Page or Paragraph and they'll be able to open it and view the content. You can send them the Summary Page from the Find Tags feature, and they can click on each of the links to view the notes.You can also create Outlook Tasks from ON and keep track of your Tasks or delegate the tasks to your team mates. Keep sharing your ON ideas!!!
Great review. I'm a teacher and currently use the surface pro 4 as my primary computing device. I'm also a HUGE OneNote fan so seeing how you use the surface go was really appealling to me. Of course on a teacher's salary I gotta figure out how I can afford a surface go in addition to what I already have, but this has made me realize there is a lot I could do with it.
I often think I could do with a 2nd device to take notes, while using my primary device. But I don't think I could bring myself to own 2 surface devices! Not sure why, just me. But, great use of the tech and nice to see someone demo'ing their OneNote setup. Too many people on RU-vid doing this with other apps and iPads! :)
Thank you Scott for your kinds words!! I totally understand about carrying 2 devices; thankfully, Surface Go doesn't add much of weight. In my case, it was almost impossible to take handwritten notes while I'm on my primary laptop for emails or PowerPoints, but either way, as long as you have the content/notes down, everything should be good!
You couldnt imagine bringing yourself to owning 2 Surface devices? Scott I own 3 lol. I actually have the very first Surface (Surface RT) to my mom. Then I got the 1st Gen. Surface Book, then I purchased the 1st Gen. Surface Laptop, then I purchased the 5th Gen. Surface Pro. I have to say I love all the devices. I use the Book for artsy/studio stuff, I use my Laptop for school, I use the Pro for media/streaming/ect. I do want a device for note taking though, but then again I could use the Pro for that too. I just have to say the Surface product line is incredible.
Awesome, thanks for sharing man! I'm thinking of getting the Surface Go to replace my iPad Mini. This video will definitely help me how to organize my notes as well because I just switched to using OneNote earlier this year.
Hello, I was considering the Surface Go for my classes for one week now. Your video is very informative, and it has that personal touch that many reviewers lack of. Thus, my desire for buying this device has been strengthened by your video! Thank you so much, sir. Best wishes to you, Kiet
This was helpful for me! I have a surface book 2 and I was debating have the go as a secondary device so when I have to take notes off my surface book I dont have to always multitask. I love onenote. Thank you for posting!
Great video on a use case. David Allen recommends dating every note! Your daily / monthly organizing is very similar to a bujo. A use case that many people have not realized is that with Windows 10 you can extend wirelessly onto the smaller tablet for a second screen. This was a use case with my surface 3. I've also had great success with the J5Create JUC700 Wormhole. It allows the surface to be an extended monitor over USB. You would need a USB-C/USB-A female adapter or usb hub for the surface go. I've spent at least the same amount on USB monitors and stands. With the cheaper surface devices you get the best of both worlds and use the cheaper surface devices for a USB/Wireless windows 10 monitor on the go.
Rob, I haven't looked into David Allen's strategy, but I agree with his methodology 100%. I usually date just about everything and anything. I even wrote a date on my kids when they were born. ;) It sounds as simple as is, date outlines the timeline and history of the events. Priceless!!
Hi Thanks for sharing. I think your video is very useful for me. The reason is that you use your Surface since 2014 as such, it helps you to become a paperless person. The idea of being paperless lead everyone of us thinking about how we actually put our meeting note or even Post-it by writing on a piece of paper. So your video reminded about the use of pen but not so much about typing. You also talked about Evernote and OneNote. In that instance, it is a geniune share about your experience and I greatly appreciate your sincerely. Thank you.
Very informative. I don't know if I've ever commented on a video but I like that you showed practical usage for your workflow. I'm not sure if you are aware of the Microsoft App called Office Lens but I think you would find it useful for its integration with OneNote. It's essentially a mobile scanning app that is great for scanning documents, business cards, white boards etc. May benefit you when traveling.
Hi Darson34! Thanks for sharing thoughts. Definitely, I travel 2~3 times a month and work optimization is far one of my top priorities. I haven't tried Office Lens, but I'll definitely give it a go! Again, thanks for sharing.
I love onenote too! watching this made me really chose surface go over ipad pro ^O^ haha also thanks for the tip re putting dates as title of the notes! :)
I like the way you organize your notes. I've got almost 14 years of notes in my OneNote and I've always had trouble organizing them. I'm going to adopt your Year, Month, Day/Note method.
14 years of notes?? Wow, that's amazing! With your given experience and expertise in OneNote, I'm certain that you have a beautiful structure already. Your comments are far too kind.
@@kamrankambang7953 the cpu is bad enough that can run very few apps at once and be slow. this is essentially a 500 notepad he has there. Those usually cost like 2 dollars. That being said a digital online notepad is a great thing. Go to surface pro 4 and better and you can open a few office apps, few browser tabs as well.
I have Surface Go too. It's very capable and I'm impressed with it. I want to show off my productivity with it but I just don't want people to dig into what I do lol
Interesting that attaching a keyboard to your S4, even if easily detachable, is too much mental friction and that not having one for your S Go feels like freeing you up mentally to take handwritten notes for meetings. Great vid, thanks for posting
+1000 was thinking of selling my xps 13 for the xps 13 2-in-1 but this little guy looks amazing, purpose built for note taking and that's it! Starting University studies next year and I have always been useless with paper notes but I think this might be the thing to get me to start taking notes properly. Love your organisation and dating tips!
Hi Jino, this is great, thank you! Have you tried using excel or powerpoint on the surface go? Would love to hear your views on how practical surface go is for those. Thank you
Hi TheTrigga, Thanks for the feedback! Overall, a palm rejection is great (not excellent) and wiggly actions do appear time-to-time (1/100). For me, I haven't had issues with both while taking real notes. Hopefully this helps!
Really like you share how to use surface properly, and I wondered what don't you concern surface book ? I should you can afford that product line, and what is your job related with that you need take so many notes
Thanks for sharing jino, I'm looking to pick one of these device (pro or go) but I've heard that the pen performance on the pro is not that great , how does it perform in your opinion and in comparising to the go? Is the go any better being newer?
Interesting video, I purchased the Surface Go to us for work and well as some shop stuff. I like the idea of taking notes with one note going to give it a try. Look forward to some other production type videos
Hi KC5CYC, Thanks for the feedback. You definitely should give it a go. Natural note taking gives me some freedom to jot down ideas and highlights on the go!
I was hoping to find a video about One Note on this. That's all I would use it for besides some minor MS office stuff. I think the less expensive one would work fine for that. Thanks for the demo! By the way... you should tag one note somewhere in the video info, I just stumbled upon this by accident looking for one note stuff.
Hi Jeff, Thanks for the tip! I think the lower version would work just fine for notetaking. I picked-up 8GB RAM due to emergency usage while traveling. Time-to-time, I had to use it for editing some works. Hopefully, this helps!
Thank you for the great video. I really need something like this, but cant afford/justify the higher cost versions at the moment. Do you think the lower cost version would work? I just need it for taking notes. I just wouldn't want to buy the 4GB ram / 64GM storage version, and later wish that I would have waited and bought the more expensive one. Thanks for any feedback I get.
Thanks for letting us in on your work flow. Solid case for the Go as a digital work notebook. Even the base model should be great for that. Wondering how you distinguish the other categories which are not date based. Would love to see your use of Evernote as a contrast and your other tools. (ps, apologies for being a grammar nut, think you misspelled 'Performance') Again, helpful vid. Thank you.
Hi Joesph! Ahh... thanks for catching the typo. It's fixed! I guess I went trigger-happy on my Surface Go floating keyboard. ;) For other categories (i.e., IMPORTANT NOTES), I would keep my original note under the existing month and copy page(s) to categories (sorted by date) as needed. For Evernote ("EN"), it's strictly used for personal memos/notes. As the organizational structure is very different on EN, I usually dump everything under "Jino's Brain," and organize them with tags as I go. If EN had an annotation/scribble feature (i.e., scribble on graphs or images) like OneNote, I would have stayed with EN. Hopefully, this helps!
Thank you! Been looking for days for a review like this. I'm looking to get a surface go 2 but can I just get the 4gb version? I have a surface pro 7 and plan to use the go only for one note as you are. Thank you
Nice view of a bit of “real world” use on the Surface Go. I’m contemplating getting one myself to go with the Surface Pro 4 and my ‘home office setup” with the Pro 4. That being said would also like to wait and see what the iPad Pro has to offer this fall too (not an Apple guy though, but it’s nice to see the different toys available). Anyway, I liked seeing your OneNote setup... perhaps some future video(s) could get more into how you use OneNote too. I’m heavily invested in Evernote (over 40,000 notes), but contemplate OneNote just for it’s drawing abilities.
Hi, Thanks for the feedback! I normally use EverNote for my personal stuff and OneNote for work. As far as using OneNote, it usually takes a lot of practice to get used to the system (i.e., handwriting, building categories, etc...). I think this is the reason why many people are walking away from OneNote due to clustered/bombarded information on multiple categories and notebooks; however, once a disciplined system/flow/standardization is established, it is truly rewarding. I am hoping to make more videos once I find myself at home. Cheers!
I think this is my first reply to a video! And I saw several videos :)... first thanks for sharing, your workplace is very similar to mine, currently use my devices same as you do, it’s just that instead of a surface go, I’m using and iPad Pro for now, until i receive my surface go in one or two weeks, I also like to take notes in OneNote, but I´m not happy with the iPad because one note is good there but not perfect, I was using for some time two surface pro but it was two heavy, now I’m curious about the 10 inches screen and weight, looks promising. I don’t use the device for gaming and that kind of things like you, therefore i feel identified with it... On top of word, excel and PowerPoint, i use most of the time, Outlook, OneNote and Todoist, looking forward to see what are your apps and how you use them... Congrats for the video!
I have been debating on getting a surface go vs a iPad to use at work. I am trying to go away from using notepads all the time. I have played around with a buddies surface pro 3 and thought it was a little dicey with only 4gb of ram. It works yes but only could have a few apps open etc... I also am researching OneNote as well. I believe it is a platform I plan on using. I was wondering if you could do a simple but more in-depth review of your Go tablet and primarily as you use OneNote. Thanks for the review.
Thanks for making a video about note taking with the Surface Go. I'm a bit late to your video, but I'm thinking of getting a Go. Do you have any comments on the battery life for when you are note taking with the pen. Would it work for a conference that had about 6 hours of pen note taking in a day?
Nice video. Would like to see more of how you handle your workflow. I'm a big fan of OneNote, though less so of Microsoft's OS. I use Notability on an iPad primarily, but I've always thought that OneNote on a Windows device remains the best software for note taking. I wish OneNote in iOS was half as good as it is on Windows. It's not even close. To put in in perspective, I was using OneNote on UMPCs years ago. You'd have to look up what a UMPC was these days! Anyway, really nice work. Look forward to seeing more of your review on the Surface Go as well. How is it at handling audio recording in OneNote? Are the microphones good? I always considered that feature fantastic in OneNote (searchable audio).
Hello there! Yes, I do use them for backup emergencies to quickly edit PowerPoints (re-order slides, typoes, etc...) or write E-mails on the go. In terms of the usage ratio, I could hand write (notes) for 2 ~ 3+ hours straight, whereas I would use 5 min ~ 15 min usage for editing or writing e-mails. Again, I use my New Surface Pro and PC to run some serious work actions, while Surface Go (notes) supplements details, highlighted notes, and infos on the side. Hope this helps!
Thanks. I'm a fan of the Surface range. I have owned a Pro 3 (until the battery failed) and now have a Surface Laptop. I also own a MacBook Pro and have an iPhone and iPad. I am considering replacing my iPad and admit to being tempted by a Surface Go, though being connected to my other Apple devices is handy for sure.
I just bought my Go today. I am doing to same thing. I am college student and I want to ditch the papers. I got mines from best buy. The only expensive thing I had to pay for beside the Go was the protection for two years ($159) besides having to pay for that price I think for a small laptop in your hand that you can take any where is great to use plus the use of word and PowerPoint for school. I will be using this for my classes next semester.
@@joseurrutia1877 I don't know if it matters by now but if you are planning to put pictures in your notes too i would suggest you go for the 8gb version
Thank for sharing your experience. I just wonder if you only use the Go for taking note, wouldn't the iPad be a better choice. Or why do you choose Go instead of iPad.
Hi kkPencilcase, That is a wonderful question!! I have only used Surface Go for about 3 weeks, but in my case, I use it mostly for notetaking, and time-to-time, I use it for E-mails and making PowerPoints... It really depends on where I am at, but I like the fact that Surface Go has my working applications (i.e., PowerPoint, Word, Excel, etc...) on standby when I need them urgently. In terms of the selections between Surface Go and iPad, I was already accustomed to Surface Pro ecosystem for years (since Surface Pro 3), and I was not ready to shift to other devices. iPad would have been a wonderful choice as I've heard many great things, but iPad Pen option was not available when I first purchased Surface Pro. I think either iPad or Surface Go, I would have made some serious damage with notes on both devices -- at the end, notes are just my digital memory bank to store and restore. Hopefully, this helps!!
I have the 9.7 iPad pro that I bought for this exact reason. That and the pencil may have cost me more than with going with this setup. I'd say either device would be great. I had a surface pro 1 for taking notes and it was great too, but the screen size bothered me, plus it was heavy and got hot after a while.
OneNote has a great feature that allows you to sync your notes to an audio recording. If you are a student listening to a lecture, or a participant on a conference call you can simultaneously record audio and take notes. Later, the audio is synced to the location of the note you took and vice versa. It's a great way to proof and clean up your notes to make sure they are accurate and complete. I don't think this feature is enabled in any version of OneNote except for hardware running Windows. Android devices allow for recording audio, but not syncing with notes.
Great video. Just curious, any issues with using the Chrome browser on either Surface Pro or Go? I've read on-line that you may have issues with the stylus and also lag time when using Chrome browser. Thanks!
Hi Edward, Surface Pro has no issues with Chrome. With Surface Go, I haven't really noticed with stylus, but it definitely gave some laggy issues with Chrome browser, which forced me to use MS Edge. Overall, Edge was smooth and has improved over the years.
Pls make more for this topics.. since im about to buy cheaper new ipad which i believe the best tablet everyone should go.. The surface go sweet spot model is just too expensive, at least for me
hey man great video but i have a quick tip, the 8 GB of ram isnt memory where u store data in , it focuses on speed where u save data is in the 125 GB disk :)
The biggest problem I have with taking notes on a Surface or tablet is the scaling. With a normal paper, you know how far to go and how big your "font" should be. I struggle fitting it on a page and being consistent with my writing. I have my surface for about 3y and I usually give up on the writing and just start typing. Being completely honest, my handwriting is awful and becomes worse over time, probably because I write less and less. How do you tackle this problem of "scaling?". Anyway thanks for the video!
Snakedoc The problem with OneNote is the absence of a good page formatting scheme. I love the way OneNote saves the files but the page formatting is complete garbage. I’m amazed that Microsoft can’t understand this. Inking in Windows is a robust feature that should have the best note taking application in Office.
Under page options you can set your page to be a Standaed A4 page and then also select ruled lines , that makes it same as the A4 paper in real life and printout looks the same . The only challenge is you should be thinking of it as a A4 paper and not zoom in while making notes
In my experience, the whole point of OneNote is that I don't worry about "paging" and "margins" and stuff like that. At first I did, using the standard portrait 8.5X11 page size way back many years ago when I first started using OneNote (those notes from back then are odd-looking to me now LOL). As I used OneNote over time to organize everything, I found that the "continuous" page idea took hold and I stopped worrying about scaling and page size and margins and all that. What would be the point? I don't print these out to paper anyway; if I need to share something that I would have printed out and distributed, I share the notebook. Oh, and as to scaling, I type on the page zoomed to 100%. When I write on the page, I zoom up twice using the + button under the View menu. When I zoom back to 100%, everything looks fine. This works well on my Surface Go with OneNote app and my Surface Pro 3 with OneNote desktop.
Hey, I'm thinking of getting the Surface Go but I wonder if I can use it to run Quick and edit video footage from my GoPro. Is this possible at all and how smooth does it run ?
How is your experience in searching for something in your handwritten notes in OneNote? Mine is very bad. Please share some tips to make searching thru handwritten notes more effective. Thanks!
Hi, i need the device mainly for class, lets say pdf annotation(books or notes), youtube, web browsing, watching and studying from lectures (video or audio) that would be around 80% of my daily use, you think the surface go would be appropriate for that? Any ram issues or so?
How long on average in a day does the Surface Go battery last if for mostly note taking + googling info + emails use? I know it has been advertised as 9 hours, but several other Surface Go RU-vid videos commented less than 9 hours. I'm just trying to gather more info before investing in a tablet.
Hi Brenda, Thanks so much for the comment!! In my experience, the battery lasted about 5 to 6 hours in average with emails + googling + note taking, but as I use Surface Go strictly for note taking with light email usage, it lasted me all day on my daily usage. As an organizational factor was one of my core valued-add assets, Surface Go has replaced and resolved clutterness with instant clarity. This single component was worth it for me. IMO, Surface Go was never designed to replace a full-blown laptop or PC. Hopefully, this was helpful!
You made mention that OneNote doesn't have tagging and actually it does. I use OneNote in my sermon prep and I use tags all the time. I even have customized mine.
Hi Pastor James, Thanks for sharing thoughts! I use OneNote to take sermon notes. I literally have 20+ years of digital (hand-written) sermon notes on my OneNote. Old sermon notes (before surface) were all scanned (OCR) and stored with OneNote. I think OneNote 2016 (desktop version) has the tag feature, but not available on OneNote app. For now, as long as I can search and retrieve, I'm okay with typing tags under the title. God Bless!
Cheers for making this video, Hi Jino Im, I was wondering if you could split the screen in half in portrait mode. So like have the top half open a pdf and bottom half open one note, so you can take notes from pdf. Is that possible?
Thanks, Vincent! I'm glad that it helped. Regarding with your question, the split screen feature only works in landscape mode, and I think this makes sense due to the limited real estate. Hope this helps!
Thanks Jino for this video! You mentioned drawing on images/diagrams 9:07 BUT what I've noticed is that the drawing on a image does not follow with it if you move around text above the image/diagram. Do you also have this problem or do you have a good solution?
Hi Swe! Yes, I have the same issues. Hopefully, OneNote pushes some updates in the future. To remedy this situation, I just don't touch/move the diagram when I'm drawing on top of my diagrams/images. ;)
One solution a redditer wrote to me yesterday was to make the diagram/insertet image "as background" by right-clicking and selecting that option. Haven't tried it yet, but might work well :)
There're endless complainings about the hardware malfunion of surface pro 4 such as phantom touch or flickergate. May I ask what model of surface pro you're using and does it have any problem so far? I'm considering to purchase a 2017 surface pro but with all of its previous models' malfuntions (about 50% of users have problems), and with its price, should I or should I not buy it? I'm in need of a very portable device and surface pro it's on top of my list. Thank you.
I haven't had problems yet. Fingers crossed!. Previously, I've owned over 20 laptops (Sony, HP, Lenovo, MS, etc...), and so far I've gone through Surface 3, 4, new surface, and surface go. So far, going strong while traveling! I still use my desktop PC for intensive apps and programs.
I got a surface pro about a month ago, the only "problems" I had are: 1. the screen changes brightness when you change the overall color from dark to bright and vice versa (it is intel's power saving-something, cannot be turned off the easy way and the only thing that I have readed that may actually works is re-installing intel's drivers manually, wich I did not yet and I'm not sure if it's even worth it, so can't confirm). 2. the touchpad sometimes (1/20 maybe?) dosn't actually click when you tap on it (but still not sure if is because I move the finger a little so it changes from click to move cursor so it may not be a real problem, I'm not used to touchpads tbh). 3. and the third one is that the keyboard is not anti-ghosting, so you can't press more than 3 keys at once. And it have the little up/down arrow keys wich I don't like, aside from that it is amazing for typing, feels better than my mechanical one. P.D. if you want to use the pen presizely make sure to actualize everything on windows update or it may not align correctly. P.D.2. I'm using it daily and after 6 hours of usage the battery stills arown 40% (using 30% brightness), must try to use it for more intense things and see how it handles it after some hours, overall, first month impresions are really good.
Hey Andy,.. I hope u see this msg. I am looking for a good reliable tablet. Im in a medical program at my local community college and take 5 classes per Semester. There are lots of powerpoints and and loooong lectures as well as essays. I most def. neeed the office programs. U think surface go will be enough to meet those needs? If so,.. which surface go would you recommend? I was looking at surface pro 6 ig5(because it doesn't have a fan= very quiet),.. but noticed there is no headphone and although I REALLY want it,... I just can't afford it,... and I'm trying to make myself stay focused on what will ACTUALLY meet my needs and not get excited about all the other features I really don't need.
