Surface Go - A new low cost Surface Pro - Starts at only 399$

[mynameisjuan]

13 minutes ago, maartendc said:

We have a surface pro at my office, and I think it is a TERRIBLE device.

 

- The kick stand principle is just flimsy and the thing falls over all the time

- The keyboard and trackpad are just terrible to use for more than 30 seconds.

- The battery life is not very good even on light workloads.

- The screen is so reflective and a fingerprint magnet.

- I hate the way Windows 10 operates in this device, with their "tablet like" interface.

- The fabric on the keyboard side wears poorly, not durable, and just kind of gross on a shared device.

 

In my opinion, you are better off with a tablet, and if you really need to be productive, get a real laptop. These kinds of things don't do anything particularly well. It is too heavy and cumbersome to be a tablet, and too flimsy and awkward to be a laptop replacement.

 

Next to every review is the polar opposite of every point you made. But I still think the surfacebook is a better option. 

[maartendc]

8 minutes ago, Teddy07 said:

I am confused.

Can I use the surface go like an iPad with a pencil?

 

Because I wanted to buy an iPad with the pencil for school (taking notes, homework....)

I know the regular Surface Pro comes with a stylus / pencil. Not sure about this model.

 

[maartendc]

4 minutes ago, mynameisjuan said:

Next to every review is the polar opposite of every point you made. But I still think the surfacebook is a better option. 

Yes I know this device is well loved by reviewers.

 

Having used it myself, I have no idea why everyone is so positive about it. It is just not very good in my opinion, and definitely NOT a good laptop replacement.

 

Maybe if you compare it to an iPad with a bluetooth keyboard, you might get some more productivity out of this. But in that respect, the iPad is more user friendly, as this Windows 10 tablet interface just sucks. In my opinion this device tries to do 2 things at once, and fails at both. It is not a user friendly tablet, and it is not a good laptop.

[rawrdaysgoby]

Hmm free upgrade to windows 10 pro? from S atleast S isn't perma

 

This is actually a nice web browsing/ drawing device made with HQ construction. Not bad at all.  For this pricing

[79wjd]

3 hours ago, maartendc said:

We have a surface pro at my office, and I think it is a TERRIBLE device.

 

- The kick stand principle is just flimsy and the thing falls over all the time

- The keyboard and trackpad are just terrible to use for more than 30 seconds.

- The battery life is not very good even on light workloads.

- The screen is so reflective and a fingerprint magnet.

- I hate the way Windows 10 operates in this device, with their "tablet like" interface.

- The fabric on the keyboard side wears poorly, not durable, and just kind of gross on a shared device.

 

In my opinion, you are better off with a tablet, and if you really need to be productive, get a real laptop. These kinds of things don't do anything particularly well. It is too heavy and cumbersome to be a tablet, and too flimsy and awkward to be a laptop replacement.

 

For the most part, I agree. I had a SP3 that I used as a secondary device for the purpose of hand writing notes, and overall I preferred the iPad pro. The SP3 had the advantage of being a more powerful/versatile OS, but for my use case it was no better than iOS (obviously this isn't the case for everyone). But I can safely say that I absolutely hated using it as a laptop -- using it on my lap was a horrible experience, and the trackpad/keyboard were such utter garbage (the newer typecovers improved or significantly, but still not enough to where I would be even remotely satisfied with it).

[Ganz]

I really really wish it had a GPS module.  I would really like a windows solution for my flight EFB (electronic flight bag).  If it had one, I would buy it in a heart beat.  To me it fits my need of a tablet that can do slightly more than a normal tablet.

[GoodBytes]

5 hours ago, maartendc said:

We have a surface pro at my office, and I think it is a TERRIBLE device.

 

- The kick stand principle is just flimsy and the thing falls over all the time

- The keyboard and trackpad are just terrible to use for more than 30 seconds.

- The battery life is not very good even on light workloads.

- The screen is so reflective and a fingerprint magnet.

- I hate the way Windows 10 operates in this device, with their "tablet like" interface.

- The fabric on the keyboard side wears poorly, not durable, and just kind of gross on a shared device.

 

In my opinion, you are better off with a tablet, and if you really need to be productive, get a real laptop. These kinds of things don't do anything particularly well. It is too heavy and cumbersome to be a tablet, and too flimsy and awkward to be a laptop replacement.

 

I cannot agree at all, beside the screen reflection, which is sadly the reality of consumer products, and Windows 10 Tablet Mode (I just use the desktop mode)

- Kickstand is very solid for me.  It hold properly, it is solid, closes fine.

- Keyboard and trackpad is highly well regarded. Said to be one of the best in the PC market.

- battery life is a solid 7h, with 5h under load on my SP3

- Fabric is easy to clean with a cleaner and a micro fiber cloth. It is just rubber textured sheet (unless you get the keyboard with a fabric, then you need to use a fabric cleaner). My keyboard cover of my SP3 looks brand new, despite years being in used at school and now at work, daily.

[vanished]

7 hours ago, maartendc said:

 

1 hour ago, GoodBytes said:

 

 

With regard to the kickstand, (and admittedly I have never used a Surface device) that's one of my biggest complaints about the Surface line up - the "form factor".

 

With a traditional laptop, you have a (relatively speaking) heavy base and light display, and a rigid hinge between the two.  This means the necessary base of support is relatively small compared to the whole machine.

 

 

Additionally, you can fold it nearly flat and stand it up on the edge to elevate the display nearer your eye level while not having to hold it in the air

 

 

This is great for watching videos when sitting or laying down when use of the keyboard is not necessary and you want a more natural eye and head position.

 

However, due to the design of a Surface device (all the weight is in the "display" and the keyboard just hangs off of it), neither of these use cases are possible.  When using it as a laptop, it needs much more supported area, and the second scenario is simply not possible.

 

 

This fact, combined with the often small tables found in university unfortunately makes it unsuitable for what would otherwise be one of the best uses - note taking in class.  Yes, you could fold it down and write on it, but that's all you can do, where as with a 2 in 1, it can function like that, or as a normal laptop.

 

[GoodBytes]

35 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

 

With regard to the kickstand, (and admittedly I have never used a Surface device) that's one of my biggest complaints about the Surface line up - the "form factor".

 

With a traditional laptop, you have a (relatively speaking) heavy base and light display, and a rigid hinge between the two.  This means the necessary base of support is relatively small compared to the whole machine.

 

 

Additionally, you can fold it nearly flat and stand it up on the edge to elevate the display nearer your eye level while not having to hold it in the air

 

 

This is great for watching videos when sitting or laying down when use of the keyboard is not necessary and you want a more natural eye and head position.

 

However, due to the design of a Surface device (all the weight is in the "display" and the keyboard just hangs off of it), neither of these use cases are possible.  When using it as a laptop, it needs much more supported area, and the second scenario is simply not possible.

 

 

This fact, combined with the often small tables found in university unfortunately makes it unsuitable for what would otherwise be one of the best uses - note taking in class.  Yes, you could fold it down and write on it, but that's all you can do, where as with a 2 in 1, it can function like that, or as a normal laptop.

 

The only issue with the Surface design is that, as the keyboard is a cover attached to the device, it takes a lot more room than a laptop.

So if you have a very very short table, the device will not hold, either the kick-stand will be outside of the table, and fall over, or the keyboard will be partially or fully out and you can't type on it, while a laptop, with it's stiff hinge, you have no problem unless the table is more like a pole, where it might hold, but typing will probably add the pressure to make it flip where pressure it applied.

 

The above applies to lap usage, and yes, the Surface Pro is more difficult to use on a lap than a laptop... then again, you have 0 problem using a Surface pro while standing up, but difficult to do with a laptop.

[maartendc]

15 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

 

14 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

 

 

I'd say it is impossible to use on a lap. The kickstand and screen have to be in just the right angle not to topple over. When the kickstand is engaged, the screen is still "top-heavy" and not balanced, so it is still very easy to knock over, even when on an "optimal" surface such as a table.

 

Also, when I have a bunch of folders and documents on my desk, you cannot just put this thing on top of it, because the smallest uneven-ness will topple it over, it has to be an absolutely flat unobstructed surface. Not so with laptops, which you can lay down on pretty much any surface.

 

 

[sof006]

On 10/07/2018 at 2:52 AM, captain_to_fire said:

I want to know how much free space is left on that 64GB model? Windows 10 is quite bloated and Windows 10S simply disables stuff like Power Shell and running programs outside of the Windows Store so I don’t think there’s a big difference when it comes to storage space consumption. 

Not much I imagine. Windows takes up roughly 20GB after updates. I work in a computer based store and we have people complain about running out of space on 64GB/32GB nand flash based laptops.

[79wjd]

1 hour ago, sof006 said:

Not much I imagine. Windows takes up roughly 20GB after updates. I work in a computer based store and we have people complain about running out of space on 64GB/32GB nand flash based laptops.

Iirc, I had like 30gb free on my 64gb SP3, which was perfectly fine given my use case.

[captain_to_fire]

2 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

Iirc, I had like 30gb free on my 64gb SP3, which was perfectly fine given my use case.

If that was an iPad people would be complaining that more than half was consumed by the OS. Thankfully iOS 11 only takes up roughly 5-6GB.

[captain_to_fire]

17 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

-snip-

Makes me wonder why can't just Microsoft sell a clamshell keyboard attachment that also doubles the battery life. Asus used to sell those with their Transformer Pad Infinity tablets.

 

What's worse is that PC OEMs are also following Microsoft's kickstand tablet like HP, Acer, and Asus. I bet that Surface Pro owners can't use it comfortably in an airport while sitting unlike a traditional clamshell laptop.

[GoodBytes]

2 minutes ago, captain_to_fire said:

Makes me wonder why can't just Microsoft sell a clamshell keyboard attachment that also doubles the battery life. Asus used to sell those with their Transformer Pad Infinity tablets.

 

 

What's worse is that PC OEMs are also following Microsoft's kickstand tablet like HP, Acer, and Asus.

It's called the Surface Book

They hard keyboard defeats the purpose of the Surface Pro/Go.

[captain_to_fire]

2 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

It's called the Surface Book

They hard keyboard defeats the purpose of the Surface Pro/Go.

That one is expensive. If I were Microsoft, I'd ax the type cover and just make a thin clamshell keyboard and do what Asus did in 2012 with their Android tablet. 

[79wjd]

21 minutes ago, captain_to_fire said:

If that was an iPad people would be complaining that more than half was consumed by the OS. Thankfully iOS 11 only takes up roughly 5-6GB.

I mean, yes, and I would also have complained if it was my primary device and not a secondary device that was used almost exclusively as paper. But then again, I would never own it as a primary device, nor recommend it as one (most of the time) as there are just far too many compromises and problems with it.

 

But it's also worth pointing out that the surface at least has a micro-sd card slot, so you can easily add some cheap/slow mass storage.

[GoodBytes]

9 minutes ago, captain_to_fire said:

That one is expensive. If I were Microsoft, I'd ax the type cover and just make a thin clamshell keyboard and do what Asus did in 2012 with their Android tablet. 

But again, you are breaking the point of the Surface Pro. It needs to quickly flip from laptop to tablet and back to laptop. It needs to lay down into a drawing position.

[vanished]

5 hours ago, sof006 said:

Not much I imagine. Windows takes up roughly 20GB after updates. I work in a computer based store and we have people complain about running out of space on 64GB/32GB nand flash based laptops.

I'm not surprised people complain.  Truth is, and I'm sure you've noticed this and will agree, that the vast majority have little or no clue about computes, what they want/need, or how to use them.  As a result, they'll grab the cheapest thing, try to fill it up with videos, and wonder why they're getting "out of space" errors.  Certainly no one can argue that 32 or 64 GB is a lot of space, but in my experience, if you know what you're getting into and manage it properly, it's completely and perfectly usable.  All just a matter of expectations.

[GoodBytes]

Update:

 

Costco will have a special configuration of the Surface Go, that, so far, doesn't exists anywhere else:

• 4GB of RAM
• 128GB SSD
• Includes the black Type Cover (value: $99. This is not the Alcantara colored one, which cost more)

This configuration cost: $549 all together, which is the same price the 8GB of RAM, 128GB SSD, but NO type cover.

 

So, if you really think you don't need more than 4GB of RAM now or later, and want a Type Cover included, that is an option.

In other words, basically you are putting 100$ toward the keyboard cover instead of the RAM, which can be interesting if you are on a budget, need more storage and want a  more "complete" (still no pen) solution that is ready to go

 

Keep in mind that if your order the Surface Go from Microsoft Store (online or physical location), you have 10% discount off on your orders if you are a student (this include more than the system. It includes: accessories too and most other stuff as well you can get from the MS Store).

 

https://www.neowin.net/news/costco-is-selling-a-variant-of-the-surface-go-with-4gb-ram-and-a-128gb-ssd

 

 

[GoodBytes]

1 hour ago, valdyrgramr said:

Was actually thinking of getting a surface pro 3 with an undervolted haswell era i5, bigger ssd, and more ram.  You can get them with the keyboard and pen too for 300-350 off ebay.

If you do that, I would see what is the cost to service the system to have your battery replaced, as you don't know its state for sure. You can't rely on undervolting as if you end up with a crappy chip, it might be unstable at the minor drop. And I would replace the pen with the newer one. It won't improve the pen tracking, but the pen feel on the surface of the.. heuu,,, Surface, and the pen feels higher quality than the original Pro 3 pen, which is flimsy feeling in today's standard, and you'll get to enjoy the eraser, while the Pro 3 original pen the eraser is just a button to open OneNote by default, and to erase you have to press one of the 2 buttons on the side of the pen, which was never great to press.

 

Of course the pen tracking technology is improved further with the newer Surface Pro as you go. There is a nice offset with the Pro 3, and needs to be calibrated with an offset to compensate. But if you do calibrate it, then it will only work right with the device orientation you calibrated the device with. So if you plan to use the device in both landscape and portrait mode, it might be an issue.

 

If you don't care about the pen, well, that is is one thing that you don't need to worry about. The touchpad of the newer Surface Pro is better, and some say that the keyboard is better as well, luckily the device size hasn't changed between the Pro 3, Pro 4, and the Pro (2017), so you can replace the keyboard with the newer one. Yes it is compatible. But, the Pro3 touchpad/keyboard isn't bad by any means, at least, not to me. It was well rated at the time, also.

[ZacoAttaco]

It's a really intriguing prospect, although the Costco deal doesn't seem to be very appealing, it should be $499.

 

Also @GoodBytes it's not running something like Windows 10 S is it? This seems like the kind of product they would dump that OS onto, if it's full fledged Windows 10 Home than it's a really good proposition, almost like half the price of a similar Macbook so it's huge for Microsoft. I would have got something like this if I was in School now and if I need it for study down the track, still might consider it. Obviously we need hands on impressions first, bench marking, real world use etc. but on paper it's very appealing.

[GoodBytes]

53 minutes ago, ZacoAttaco said:

Also @GoodBytes it's not running something like Windows 10 S is it?

Yes. But 2 things:

1. The store now has all (beside web browsers) apps that that you typical user need and more. Office, iTunes, Spotify, Whatsapp, Amazon Music, VLC, Fitbit, Kodi, Slack, Telegram, Evernote, Paint.net, and more, not to mention apps for instead of websites (Facebook, Messenger, Netflic, Hulu, Crunchyroll, Instagram). I already cross music sheet programs with pen support, like Staffpad.
    
2. Free upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. So, in a way, you can see that the device comes with Windows 10 Pro instead of Home.
    

Quote

Obviously we need hands on impressions first, bench marking, real world use etc. but on paper it's very appealing.

Yup, for sure!

[captain_to_fire]

3 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

• 4GB of RAM
• 128GB SSD

Say no to 4GB of RAM. Browsers alone will chew on that easily not to mention Windows 10 background tasks 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

3 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

Update:

 

Costco will have a special configuration of the Surface Go, that, so far, doesn't exists anywhere else:

• 4GB of RAM
• 128GB SSD
• Includes the black Type Cover (value: $99. This is not the Alcantara colored one, which cost more)

This configuration cost: $549 all together, which is the same price the 8GB of RAM, 128GB SSD, but NO type cover.

 

So, if you really think you don't need more than 4GB of RAM now or later, and want a Type Cover included, that is an option.

In other words, basically you are putting 100$ toward the keyboard cover instead of the RAM, which can be interesting if you are on a budget, need more storage and want a  more "complete" (still no pen) solution that is ready to go

 

Keep in mind that if your order the Surface Go from Microsoft Store (online or physical location), you have 10% discount off on your orders if you are a student (this include more than the system. It includes: accessories too and most other stuff as well you can get from the MS Store).

 

https://www.neowin.net/news/costco-is-selling-a-variant-of-the-surface-go-with-4gb-ram-and-a-128gb-ssd

 

 

Is that USD? If it is...eh still a large sum for me to swallow for a 4GB (which I would consider barely usable) machine with a Pentium. Even if it would be great for the occasional power point presentations I do.