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iPad Air vs. Microsoft's Surface Go: Which Is a Better Laptop Replacement?

I quite like my Go, and it's being anything but slow, never mind crippled. Bizarrely, I've started carrying my iPad & my Go when travelling about, but for slightly different reasons! I consume stuff on the iPad, and 'do' more stuff on the Go. I use it for transferring camera (pics & video) stuff for example, and for some work stuff that doesn't work properly on the iPad.

If they could fix that file transfer stuff on the iPad I'd have one fewer use case for the Go.

Tbh I don't really get the hate on the Go, it's actually a fairly decent device. Would I use it for video processing and the like? Of course not. Same way I wouldn't use my i7 Macbook for that either.
[doublepost=1567762053][/doublepost]For what it's worth, I have a far happier experience with the Go than the Surface Book 2, mostly down to expectations. People kept telling me the SB2 was an awesome & fast device. It simply wasn't. U series processor for example. My expectations were way too high.

They weren't with the Go. I wanted something small and ultraportable that enabled me to easily manage my media from my camera(s). It met that easily - my iPad couldn't. I then realised it was more capable than that, so started using it for other things. It's my meeting buddy now pretty much.
 
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0989382 said:
I used to consider the Go at times, thinking it was a really great compromise/proposition. I used one in-store and the lag from hitting the start button to seeing it on screen was what put me off. It's cripplingly slow. ...
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Did you check which spec of GO you tried in the store? Sounds like the base model with an eMMC drive and 4GB RAM.

The higher spec has an SSD drive and 8GB RAM. It is still no speed king but plenty fast enough for my modest and portable needs. I wouldn’t consider the much larger, heavier and more expensive PRO.
 
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Geek bench 4's at about 2k single core 5k multi-core if I remember rightly. Compared to this for a 2018 Air:

2018 Macbook Air 4252 7832
 
MacRS4 said:
Geek bench 4's at about 2k single core 5k multi-core if I remember rightly. Compared to this for a 2018 Air:

2018 Macbook Air 4252 7832
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At those lower levels of performance that higher geekbench score probably wouldnt mean much.

Its not like compared to the go, the macbook air would be a much better 4k video editing tool or anything.

For the typical uses of the Air and the Go, that difference in geekbench score would be pretty much inperceptable.
 
Interesting you'd say that - I sent back the 2018 Air as I found it unusable....But it's because I expected the Air to be way more capable than it was. My expectations of the Go are far lower, hence I actually quite like the thing.
 
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the Surface Go is expandable were one can use a sd card, usb c and runs all windows apps compared to the ipad which runs only selected apps and transfers files through cloud or email services.
My concern would be using 4gbs compared to the 8gb ram since tablets (i think) do not need that much memory as a laptop would.
 
Don't mean to be a hater of the Go. I posted a while back about potentially using it as a sole device (even without a smartphone) had there been a way to hack the 4G modem into making calls, but that idea blew over.. I do like the device though I never decided on one. But a session in-store trying one (Yes, likely the 64GB flash model) did put me off the notion. Just my experience and I'm glad to hear actual owners having a much better time of it. I'd obviously advise anybody considering one to listen to what they say over my short interaction with one. Hope that clears it up
 
eltoslightfoot said:
No developer would use the Go anyway. They would get a Surface Pro. Or a Macbook Pro and an iPad as a companion device. For me, I use a Mac desktop and a Surface Pro for my companion device. iPad OS looks promising though. We will see.
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It's ironic, really, but our software stack is massive, we only use AWS. Even a maxed out Macbook Pro (2018 model) doesn't have enough power to run our stack properly, let alone having an IDE open at the same time. We work locally, but the deploy/debug loop is done in the cloud. This makes the Go a perfect little device. Enough power to run an IDE and an always-on mobile data connection. One of my coworkers swears by it.
 
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thejadedmonkey said:
It's ironic, really, but our software stack is massive, we only use AWS. Even a maxed out Macbook Pro (2018 model) doesn't have enough power to run our stack properly, let alone having an IDE open at the same time. We work locally, but the deploy/debug loop is done in the cloud. This makes the Go a perfect little device. Enough power to run an IDE and an always-on mobile data connection. One of my coworkers swears by it.
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I find it hard to believe the Surface Go can do anything a maxed out MBP cannot. Can you please explain how?
 
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I use the GO for drawing/coloring for work recently, I think that could replace a laptop better than an Ipad would
 
I dont use either, we have another 3rd party 0ne and my finger gets quicker and better results
 
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MacRS4 said:
Interesting you'd say that - I sent back the 2018 Air as I found it unusable.
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Yea that was my point, that the marginally higher geekbench score of the air compared to the GO is virtually irrelevent at that generally low level of performance.
 
0989382 said:
Yeah, I wondered that, but then again as said above the MBP could also do it remotely with far more screen real estate and built in trackpad / keyboard to control it ?
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Exactly. Of course if we could get some macbooks with better thermals and a return to the old keyboard, that would help... :)
 
eltoslightfoot said:
Exactly. Of course if we could get some macbooks with better thermals and a return to the old keyboard, that would help... :)
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Apart from portability and form factor preference, the MacBook Pro is in a league of its own versus the Surface Go. It’s not really comparable to be honest, and if you try to it would make the Surface Go look a lot worse than it is. And it’s still good, just too slow in my opinion.
 
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thejadedmonkey said:
It's ironic, really, but our software stack is massive, we only use AWS. Even a maxed out Macbook Pro (2018 model) doesn't have enough power to run our stack properly, let alone having an IDE open at the same time. We work locally, but the deploy/debug loop is done in the cloud. This makes the Go a perfect little device. Enough power to run an IDE and an always-on mobile data connection. One of my coworkers swears by it.
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err what ide u used? how massive is massive . If something like me 400 file.. i would said it was massive (blame those new thing mvc era)
 
0989382 said:
The Surface Pro / Book has no bearing on the point I'm making about the Go, they have proper processors so that doesn't surprise me. The Store Demo wasn't a demanding application at all, and i3 £300 HP crapbooks were able to run noticeably better than the Go running it.

That's all fair and valid about the iPad / iOS, it's workflow dependent. But nobody with a serious workflow can seriously use a Surface Go. Absolutely not, I challenge you to try it, actually. It's that slow. Perhaps it's the 64GB eMMC model, but still.

Can Windows be any more productive than iOS on such a tiny display? With crippling speed / hardware holding it back? I doubt it. Try any kind of gaming on the Go... video editing... processing tasks, and suddenly, the iPad and iOS are ahead.

What is the Go any good for, anyway? ...
[doublepost=1567755608][/doublepost]

That was exactly Jobs persuasion to people... most people can drive a car without knowing how it works inside and out. It's so true!
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You need to rethink your definition of serious workflow. It doesn't mean 3d, video, photo editing exclusively. A serious work flow can be managing excel worksheets, email, word, which is what most peoples workflows actually involve, and with that the Surface destroys the iPad. When I am choosing a laptop I think which is the better one spec wise. When it comes to tablets, I don't think better, I think which one is more versatile and when thinking versatility the Surface is way more than any iPad.
 
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derekamoss said:
You need to rethink your definition of serious workflow. It doesn't mean 3d, video, photo editing exclusively. A serious work flow can be managing excel worksheets, email, word, which is what most peoples workflows actually involve, and with that the Surface destroys the iPad. When I am choosing a laptop I think which is the better one spec wise. When it comes to tablets, I don't think better, I think which one is more versatile and when thinking versatility the Surface is way more than any iPad.
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Of course the same argument about serious workflow could be used to say an iPad would work better (or more versatile). I have a surface pro, but I also could use my OG iPad Pro 12.9" for spreadsheets (Office 365), word (again, Office 365), email (lots of options including Outlook). Add in Procreate, wordpress, scrivener, etc., etc., and it really becomes more a matter of whether one wants a superior tablet with ok laptop capability or a superior laptop (with a slow proc in the Go) and poor tablet. I still don't know the answer, which is why I have both as companion devices.

Well, I did, until my daughter stole my iPad Pro. :)
 
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eltoslightfoot said:
Of course the same argument about serious workflow could be used to say an iPad would work better (or more versatile). I have a surface pro, but I also could use my OG iPad Pro 12.9" for spreadsheets (Office 365), word (again, Office 365), email (lots of options including Outlook). Add in Procreate, wordpress, scrivener, etc., etc., and it really becomes more a matter of whether one wants a superior tablet with ok laptop capability or a superior laptop (with a slow proc in the Go) and poor tablet. I still don't know the answer, which is why I have both as companion devices.

Well, I did, until my daughter stole my iPad Pro. :)
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My father i give him laptop win 10 he totally confuse so i give choice take my ipad mini 2019. He take it instead of the laptop ..
 
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eltoslightfoot said:
Of course the same argument about serious workflow could be used to say an iPad would work better (or more versatile). I have a surface pro, but I also could use my OG iPad Pro 12.9" for spreadsheets (Office 365), word (again, Office 365), email (lots of options including Outlook). Add in Procreate, wordpress, scrivener, etc., etc., and it really becomes more a matter of whether one wants a superior tablet with ok laptop capability or a superior laptop (with a slow proc in the Go) and poor tablet. I still don't know the answer, which is why I have both as companion devices.

Well, I did, until my daughter stole my iPad Pro. :)
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When it comes to office and workflow most of it is mouse and keyboard based. Until apple actually implements real mouse support which they don't in iPAD OS while using office applications any Surface is superior and faster and much more versatile.
 
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derekamoss said:
You need to rethink your definition of serious workflow. It doesn't mean 3d, video, photo editing exclusively. A serious work flow can be managing excel worksheets, email, word, which is what most peoples workflows actually involve, and with that the Surface destroys the iPad. When I am choosing a laptop I think which is the better one spec wise. When it comes to tablets, I don't think better, I think which one is more versatile and when thinking versatility the Surface is way more than any iPad.
Click to expand...

^^^THIS
 
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