Microsoft Surface

Ooo.

I've been using my Dell XPS-12 for nearly 2 years now. It works great, but I realize that I only use it for lightweight apps. Add it's weight to a dead line of pixels and it'll be ready for replacement soon (next year, maybe).

I was looking at the Lenova Yogas, but this may be a better replacement. Not sure about the detachable keyboard - I'm happy with a flip mechanism - but will definitely give these a closer look next year.

I saw the hefty price on the MBook, but did they announce any price for the Pro 4?

All the pre-order pages are up (with prices).

groan wrote:

I saw the hefty price on the MBook, but did they announce any price for the Pro 4?

$899 and up, can pre-order now.

Have zero need for a new tablet or a new laptop and the gadget lust for the Surface Book had me staring hard at the preorder page anyway.

One thing to note is that the Surface Book doesn't seem to have the adjustable kickstand that the Surfaces 3/4 have, so it wont be as functional as a standalone tablet. That kickstand is very sweet.

Tyops wrote:

One thing to note is that the Surface Book doesn't seem to have the adjustable kickstand that the Surfaces 3/4 have, so it wont be as functional as a standalone tablet. That kickstand is very sweet.

Doesn't need it as it is a laptop ... that also detaches as a tablet. The kickstand for the Surface is what turned it into the laptop. Was saving for the Surface 4 but the Book is calling me.

No kickstand at all? Wow.

Apparently the Book weighs less than the SP4? How can that be...

PissedYeti wrote:

Doesn't need it as it is a laptop ... that also detaches as a tablet. The kickstand for the Surface is what turned it into the laptop. Was saving for the Surface 4 but the Book is calling me.

Think again. When using the surface as "just a tablet" the kickstand is immensely useful. The kickcstand helps make the surface into a faux laptop, but it also gives the tablet some really sweet utility around the house (I have a Surface Pro 3 with type cover).

It does look like you could fold the Surface Book's keyboard all the way back and use it as some sort of base though... not 100%. That might be a good compromise.

Tyops wrote:
PissedYeti wrote:

Doesn't need it as it is a laptop ... that also detaches as a tablet. The kickstand for the Surface is what turned it into the laptop. Was saving for the Surface 4 but the Book is calling me.

Think again. When using the surface as "just a tablet" the kickstand is immensely useful. The kickcstand helps make the surface into a faux laptop, but it also gives the tablet some really sweet utility around the house (I have a Surface Pro 3 with type cover).

It does look like you could fold the Surface Book's keyboard all the way back and use it as some sort of base though... not 100%. That might be a good compromise.

Gotta save something for the inevitable ver 2 next year.. but I did notice that omission and immediately thought that MS pulled an Apple and left out the obvious addition for next year.

That being said this show was a slam dunk all around.. every product they showed looked like a best in class product (The only negatives I can see was the band is $100 to expensive and the Surface 4 Pro increase in price).

Ended up pre-ordering everything shown lol (Surface Book, Surface 4 Pro, Band 2)

The Lumia 950XL with continuum looks really cool just wish the app ecosystem was as strong as Apple and Android.. kinda wish MS did some sort of deal where you could run Android apps in emulation.

Tyops wrote:
PissedYeti wrote:

Doesn't need it as it is a laptop ... that also detaches as a tablet. The kickstand for the Surface is what turned it into the laptop. Was saving for the Surface 4 but the Book is calling me.

Think again. When using the surface as "just a tablet" the kickstand is immensely useful. The kickcstand helps make the surface into a faux laptop, but it also gives the tablet some really sweet utility around the house (I have a Surface Pro 3 with type cover).

It does look like you could fold the Surface Book's keyboard all the way back and use it as some sort of base though... not 100%. That might be a good compromise.

Guess I hadn't thought of it that way as I literally have never used my kickstand without the keyboard attached. For me tablets are for lounging (and I love them for it) but when I need to do work I sit at my desk and need the kickstand.

TheGameguru wrote:

Gotta save something for the inevitable ver 2 next year.. but I did notice that omission and immediately thought that MS pulled an Apple and left out the obvious addition for next year.

Yeah, I looked at some of the video and it seems like you can detatch the tablet, flip the connection and fold it back. I think you may be able to use that much as you would use the tilt Kickstand for the surface.

Bought all that stuff impressive. I am thinking of getting the Pro 4 and "donating" my Pro 3 to the GF.

Edits...

PissedYeti wrote:

Guess I hadn't thought of it that way as I literally have never used my kickstand without the keyboard attached. For me tablets are for lounging (and I love them for it) but when I need to do work I sit at my desk and need the kickstand.

Depending on how you lounge, you can really use the kickstand to augment your lounging. It can serve to support the tablet at odd angles, help it tilt the right way so you can free up a hand (get your mind out of the gutter!), etc.

I'm seeing reports that the undocked Book has a three hour battery.

The Lumia 950 was, for me, the killer product of the day. Not so interested in the XL version, but I liked what they showed.

When Panos Panay detached the tablet from the keyboard on the Surface Book, well I haven't gasped like that during a tech keynote in years now.

I want this laptop so badly.

Man that book is a sexy piece of tech. It sounds perfect for me. My only question is if you have to buy the keyboard separate. I don't think you do in this one. Also what kind of value would my trade in get me. Cause really the biggest issue is price. Especially since I would love to have the one with a GPU on there. If with my trade in I can get it under a 1000. Well then it sounds real good.

edit: the magnetic pen instead of that silly loop on the keyboard is also really nice.

master0 wrote:

Man that book is a sexy piece of tech. It sounds perfect for me. My only question is if you have to buy the keyboard separate. I don't think you do in this one. Also what kind of value would my trade in get me. Cause really the biggest issue is price. Especially since I would love to have the one with a GPU on there. If with my trade in I can get it under a 1000. Well then it sounds real good.

edit: the magnetic pen instead of that silly loop on the keyboard is also really nice.

It's being sold as a laptop, so the keyboard is definitely included in the price. My question is what GPU are they putting in there--interesting that they are using proper GDDR5 RAM, so it's not your typical entry level processor.

Is there a site were I can watch the keynote? I'm very intrigued by your comments.

Any benchmarks for the Intel video chips? I'm not looking for a gaming laptop, but it would be nice to run a few games on it.

Rezzy wrote:

I'm seeing reports that the undocked Book has a three hour battery.

I can't imagine how. That's a huge step down from a Surface tablet.

Tyops wrote:
PissedYeti wrote:

Doesn't need it as it is a laptop ... that also detaches as a tablet. The kickstand for the Surface is what turned it into the laptop. Was saving for the Surface 4 but the Book is calling me.

Think again. When using the surface as "just a tablet" the kickstand is immensely useful. The kickcstand helps make the surface into a faux laptop, but it also gives the tablet some really sweet utility around the house (I have a Surface Pro 3 with type cover).

It does look like you could fold the Surface Book's keyboard all the way back and use it as some sort of base though... not 100%. That might be a good compromise.

While bigger, it will go either in what Lenovo calls tent mode or stand mode. Both work perfectly fine for what you're talking about. Probably better, because it's infinitely adjustable angle. And I think you can flip the screen backwards in the base from what I've read, which gets rid of the Yoga "keys down" situation in table or stand modes.

IMAGE(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9v_eF2Dw9G8/UFzw9NmgOHI/AAAAAAAAGEw/4aSyNvDSBMA/s1600/PIB+-+Lenovo+IdeaPad+Yoga+13+Modes+Laptop+Stand+Tent+Tablet+-+00.PNG)

Stand mode is great for media consumption on planes, btw. Just set it on the tray, and it's hands free/lap free, yet still has the screen close to you.

PaladinTom wrote:
Rezzy wrote:

I'm seeing reports that the undocked Book has a three hour battery.

I can't imagine how. That's a huge step down from a Surface tablet.

It's thinner than the Surface 4 Pro so it will have a smaller battery.. one assumes there is a primary battery in the keyboard base which gives it the 12 hour battery life.

This really seems like a version of the Surface for those that really want a laptop that they can occasionally undock for whatever reason.

It does make the products different which is a good thing as my initial impression was that the Surface Book was so impressive why even bother with a Surface 4 Pro announcement at all.

I had the opposite reaction: the Surface Book is weird and a cool-once party trick, but the Surface Pro 4 is really neat. Then again, I'm after a tablet that can occasionally be a laptop, not a laptop that can occasionally be a tablet.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I had the opposite reaction: the Surface Book is weird and a cool-once party trick, but the Surface Pro 4 is really neat. Then again, I'm after a tablet that can occasionally be a laptop, not a laptop that can occasionally be a tablet.

Which is why they make both

Actually solves the complaints about the Surface Pro's of the past without having to back off the Surface Pro's design philosophy.

Only negative I see after watching videos of the Surface Book is that just using it like a laptop, the screen seems to move around a bit more freely than I'd like. I'd just hope it doesn't move when you type fast, because that could drive me crazy.

Given that the book is lighter than the pro 4, I'm not sure I'd ever take the keyboard off.

Edit: eh not surprisingly that's for the tablet portion only, never mind!

Did some googling and so far they thing the GPU will be the GeForce GTX 960M. Which is a fairly decent. On a decent rig can run most games on medium. Also saw that it was 3 hours only for tablet mode. Basically one battery in keyboard and one in tablet. Honestly though I cant see a reason of disconnecting the tablet as opposed to just folding the keyboard back. When it's folded back it gets elevated which looks great for drawing.

All my drooling aside it's really hard to justify getting one. I have a surface 3 and would love a more powerful version with the hinge. That said 1.5k is steep. Really hoping for a good trade in deal at some point.

Loved what they showed, but the Surface Book maxed out - boy howdy that's pricey. Doesn't mean I wont get it, but it's a lot of ducats for a laplet.

SpyNavy wrote:

Loved what they showed, but the Surface Book maxed out - boy howdy that's pricey. Doesn't mean I wont get it, but it's a lot of ducats for a laplet.

Think this is designed as a halo product.* I bet they don't even really expect to sell tons.

*I really went there.

Yeah, as a Surface Pro 3 owner, I'm not compelled to upgrade to the SP4. The Book looks great, but to make it a real noticeable "upgrade" from the SP3 I would need to buy the high end $2700 model that includes the NVIDIA GPU. You guys all caught that right? The $1500 entry level Surface Book is the same Intel GPU that the Surface Pro uses. To get to the NVIDIA 960M GPU you're up at $2700 (Endgadget post of press-release).

At that price point it's simply to hard to justify.

ThatGuy42 wrote:

Yeah, as a Surface Pro 3 owner, I'm not compelled to upgrade to the SP4. The Book looks great, but to make it a real noticeable "upgrade" from the SP3 I would need to buy the high end $2700 model that includes the NVIDIA GPU. You guys all caught that right? The $1500 entry level Surface Book is the same Intel GPU that the Surface Pro uses. To get to the NVIDIA 960M GPU you're up at $2700 (Endgadget post of press-release).

At that price point it's simply to hard to justify.

Not what I'm seeing actually going to the store. I see the dGPU in the $1900 i5 version.

I don't think you read the Engadget piece properly. It just gives the high and low priced models. There are multiple models in between with increasing specs along the way.