iPad pro and MacBook vs SurfaceBook

[TriApple]

I use my devices almost exclusively for working on office documents, emailing, and texting.

Due to our work environment I am very invested in the office 365 ecosystem.

I have all the devices listed above and trying to find the best mix. I love the MacBook and iPad due to iMessage, easy syncing via airdrop, etc. but the SurfaceBook has such a better office experience, though the recent iOS update is good, it still lacks slide over for Skype for Business and OneDrive is not as good an app as a real file system.

Of course the the SurfaceBook can't sync texts with my iPhone but the pen is way better for office documents due to the eraser and length.

Anyone else in a similar conundrum? What pushed you one way or the other?

 

[sevoman]

I use my devices almost exclusively for working on office documents, emailing, and texting.

Due to our work environment I am very invested in the office 365 ecosystem.

I have all the devices listed above and trying to find the best mix. I love the MacBook and iPad due to iMessage, easy syncing via airdrop, etc. but the SurfaceBook has such a better office experience, though the recent iOS update is good, it still lacks slide over for Skype for Business and OneDrive is not as good an app as a real file system.

Of course the the SurfaceBook can't sync texts with my iPhone but the pen is way better for office documents due to the eraser and length.

Anyone else in a similar conundrum? What pushed you one way or the other?

iMessage does seem to be a sticking point for many when it comes to considering buying a non mac/ios device when you use an iphone. All I can say is that I have a gmail account and i have a google voice number. I have hangouts installed on my iphone and whenever I'm on my PC or Chromebook and I want to text, I just use my hangouts number. Yes it's a different number but most people I text have that number entered into their address books as well. Essentially I have two numbers. Hangouts is universal, works on windows, osx, android, ios, chromebook... You can even port your cell number to hangouts and use BOTH imessage and hangouts for text messaging from any machine. iMessage is great but being dependent on it unfortunately locks you into Apple products. Windows 10 will roll out their text messaging integration soon, but that will only work with windows phones. Google voice is the only phone number associated app that is platform agnostic. OR, you can use what's app for all your communications, as you can use whatsapp web from any browser and just type from there.

 

[Pakaku]

iMessages on the desktop is a nice to me, not a selling point.

Since you don't sound like you're that heavily dedicated to the touch screen, your priorities might be different from mine, and you might actually end up liking the Surfacebook concept. I can't stand the idea of a Book because it looks very clunky to draw on, which is why I personally would get interested in a touchscreen. In my case I'd need an iPad Pro or a Surface Pro for drawing, and a standard desktop for the rest of the stuff.

 

[TriApple]

iMessage does seem to be a sticking point for many when it comes to considering buying a non mac/ios device when you use an iphone. All I can say is that I have a gmail account and i have a google voice number. I have hangouts installed on my iphone and whenever I'm on my PC or Chromebook and I want to text, I just use my hangouts number. Yes it's a different number but most people I text have that number entered into their address books as well. Essentially I have two numbers. Hangouts is universal, works on windows, osx, android, ios, chromebook... You can even port your cell number to hangouts and use BOTH imessage and hangouts for text messaging from any machine. iMessage is great but being dependent on it unfortunately locks you into Apple products. Windows 10 will roll out their text messaging integration soon, but that will only work with windows phones. Google voice is the only phone number associated app that is platform agnostic. OR, you can use what's app for all your communications, as you can use whatsapp web from any browser and just type from there.

That's a good alternative, google voice, the biggest problem is then I'd need to let a bunch of people that I'm in iMessage group threads with know to delete the thread so I get the group messages.

I really like apple but their ignorance to fixing the captivity of group iMessages should honestly be illegal.
[doublepost=1453671201][/doublepost]

iMessage does seem to be a sticking point for many when it comes to considering buying a non mac/ios device when you use an iphone. All I can say is that I have a gmail account and i have a google voice number. I have hangouts installed on my iphone and whenever I'm on my PC or Chromebook and I want to text, I just use my hangouts number. Yes it's a different number but most people I text have that number entered into their address books as well. Essentially I have two numbers. Hangouts is universal, works on windows, osx, android, ios, chromebook... You can even port your cell number to hangouts and use BOTH imessage and hangouts for text messaging from any machine. iMessage is great but being dependent on it unfortunately locks you into Apple products. Windows 10 will roll out their text messaging integration soon, but that will only work with windows phones. Google voice is the only phone number associated app that is platform agnostic. OR, you can use what's app for all your communications, as you can use whatsapp web from any browser and just type from there.

I use the pen heavily. I take all my client notes in it using OneNote. On an average day I probably spend 2 hours using the pen and OneNote.

 

[sevoman]

That's a good alternative, google voice, the biggest problem is then I'd need to let a bunch of people that I'm in iMessage group threads with know to delete the thread so I get the group messages.

I really like apple but their ignorance to fixing the captivity of group iMessages should honestly be illegal.
[doublepost=1453671201][/doublepost]

I use the pen heavily. I take all my client notes in it using OneNote. On an average day I probably spend 2 hours using the pen and OneNote.

As you mentioned, the MS Office suite is far better when on Windows than when on Android or iOS or even Mac. Having access to a file system and organizational structure is also pretty much a must if you are actually working. Honestly, I'd say stick with the Surface and keep your iphone next to you for messaging.

 

[mikewired]

My 2 cents. I primarily use my rmbp for all my computing needs and it works flawlessly. I do have an occasional need for windows to program home theater remotes and did rely on bootcamp which increasingly became unreliable with usb ports. Recently I purchased a surface pro 4 and a surface book to evaluate. They both are nice machines but I felt the surface pro 4 did not live up to its battery life claims of 9 hrs. I was lucky to get 4.5 to 5.5 hrs. The surface book got great battery life except when in clipboard mode which was 3ish hours. I am really wanting to use one note for lots of note taking and marking on blueprints. I felt that I wanted to use the tablet mode more for note taking so I thought sp4 would be the ticket but the battery life like I stated seemed like it couldn't make it through a work day. Surface book's battery can make it through a work day but is 3.2 lbs which is too heavy to carry around for notes. So I returned both surface units and got a ipad pro and an open box yoga 3 pro for my occasional windows needs. The ipad pro is a great device but... one note is lacking compared to the surface version. I am currently testing notability for ios but it is also lacking in features. The beauty of one note is it's syncing ability and access from many devices and the onenote website. I would hate to be locked out of my notes in case of a device failure. Tonight I feel like after all of the device evaluations the Surface book remains the top device on my list for note taking and serving my windows needs. What is not so great about windows 10 is the lousy mail app, touch interface doesn't work properly on all websites, and high resolution scaling issues with some programs. If I go back to the surface book I will mainly leave clipboard detached and charge it in the car between jobsites with an inverter and have the keyboard base as a battery backup and for computer mode. One thing I have also noticed while using the ipad pro is back and neck pain. There is no kickstand or base to attach it to while sitting on the couch. The ipad pro is a big tablet to hold up so you end up sitting it in your lap with you neck bent over looking at it. If the yoga 3 pro had stylus input I could live with the terrible trackpad. Decisions!!!

 

[sevoman]

My 2 cents. I primarily use my rmbp for all my computing needs and it works flawlessly. I do have an occasional need for windows to program home theater remotes and did rely on bootcamp which increasingly became unreliable with usb ports. Recently I purchased a surface pro 4 and a surface book to evaluate. They both are nice machines but I felt the surface pro 4 did not live up to its battery life claims of 9 hrs. I was lucky to get 4.5 to 5.5 hrs. The surface book got great battery life except when in clipboard mode which was 3ish hours. I am really wanting to use one note for lots of note taking and marking on blueprints. I felt that I wanted to use the tablet mode more for note taking so I thought sp4 would be the ticket but the battery life like I stated seemed like it couldn't make it through a work day. Surface book's battery can make it through a work day but is 3.2 lbs which is too heavy to carry around for notes. So I returned both surface units and got a ipad pro and an open box yoga 3 pro for my occasional windows needs. The ipad pro is a great device but... one note is lacking compared to the surface version. I am currently testing notability for ios but it is also lacking in features. The beauty of one note is it's syncing ability and access from many devices and the onenote website. I would hate to be locked out of my notes in case of a device failure. Tonight I feel like after all of the device evaluations the Surface book remains the top device on my list for note taking and serving my windows needs. What is not so great about windows 10 is the lousy mail app, touch interface doesn't work properly on all websites, and high resolution scaling issues with some programs. If I go back to the surface book I will mainly leave clipboard detached and charge it in the car between jobsites with an inverter and have the keyboard base as a battery backup and for computer mode. One thing I have also noticed while using the ipad pro is back and neck pain. There is no kickstand or base to attach it to while sitting on the couch. The ipad pro is a big tablet to hold up so you end up sitting it in your lap with you neck bent over looking at it. If the yoga 3 pro had stylus input I could live with the terrible trackpad. Decisions!!!

Totally agree about the Windows 10 mail app. It's not full featured, and if you are using gmail, flags don't sync and when you delete something on either the app or the gmail webpage, it takes hours to sync either way. It's flawed and many people are complaining. The other option is to use Outlook 2016, which is clunky, has way too many features, and as of now does not use oauth 2, so if you want to use it with gmail, you have to go to your gmail account and either get an app specific password or actually select to decrease security by opting for 'allow applications with low security to access gmail'. Oh, and Outlook 2016 does not offer gmail calender or contact sync at the moment. You can only view your calendar but it won't allow you to make modifications from the app. So basically MS on BOTH their main email apps, offer incomplete products -- for gmail access anyway. OSX's email app is great and it uses oauth 2 (the small google log in screen when you enter your account info during setup). The sync with the google server and the osx email app is also instant. By the way, windows 10 also does not offer any PDF editing software. Just rinky-kink app called "preview" which opens pdf's but that's it. Can't rearrange, modify, sign... nothing. OSX's preview allow for full PDF management. It may sound silly, but I switched from my long trusted and used windows desktop computer (i7, 16 gigs ram, 1 terobyte HDD + 256 SSD, dedicated ATI graphics, top of the line Japanese made gigabyte motherboard, running windows 10... to a fully loaded iMac. I was so disgusted by MS offering totally incomplete stock software. I don't want to download Thunderbird (which is no longer supported) and all other 3rd party email apps seem to be a sercurty risk as NONE support oauth 2. With 4 gmail accounts, I'm not about to access all my email from a web-broswer and need a full featured email/calendar app. Anyhow, that's my take on email.

As far as OneNote and surface vs ipad pro... quick question, what are the features on OneNote that make it that much better than the Notes app on osx? You can draw with a pen on the notes app on an ipad and it syncs across all devices almost instantly. It is also web accessible via any browser. You can also regularly back up your osx notes by copying a file in the directory and keeping it safe somewhere.

Agreed with MS hardware... battery life is usually not what is stated.

 

[lchlch]

As you mentioned, the MS Office suite is far better when on Windows than when on Android or iOS or even Mac. Having access to a file system and organizational structure is also pretty much a must if you are actually working. Honestly, I'd say stick with the Surface and keep your iphone next to you for messaging.

Personally I use word a lot as my work pretty much revolves around it.

I don't really miss a local filesystem as one drive is a sufficient filesystem for my needs. You can organize the documents in the ways your use to but importantly I don't need to worry about versioning of documents. As changes are made to all my devices.

 

[ZombiePete]

The iPP may not be for you, but everything I've read about the newest Surface devices would lead me to recommend either waiting or finding something else. Aside from the fact that Microsoft apparently sent reviewers different hardware configurations than would be available to consumers to make sure they got good reviews, driver and software issues have really made them problematic for a lot of users. The one I got for a week and then returned drained battery constantly, and I have heard some people saying that even turning their Surface devices off doesn't stop the power drain.

There are lots of folks who say they don't have issues too, but the complaints are numerous and loud enough to make anyone step back and re-evaluate whether the Surface is a good buy right now.

 

[easystickerco]

I bought both knowing I would only keep one. Main purpose is to edit pics/graphics in Procreate app or PhotoShop & Illustrator using Astropad.

The ipad works great for this, it's lighter & doesn't heat up. & fast! Pencil is great too.

Surface is awesome cause you can install full versions of Adobe Products, Pen works great too. I almost chose it over the iPad Pro. But, then it began to get hot, fans blowing all the time to cool it. Then it's battery died in less 4hrs.

The more I played with both, the more I realized the iPad was the way to go. Surface is going back..