Surface Laptop reviews

[frankgrimes]

Update: I went with the much maligned title laptop because B&H had a sale on them that made it cheaper than the Surface Pro. Given my iPad blehs and that I own an iPad Pro, I was super hesitant to get the Surface Pro even though it runs a desktop OS unlike . I was also skittish of the Asus, HPs and Lenovos...

The "Platinum" 8gb/256 will be here tomorrow night. I will be glad to answer any questions to best of my knowledge. This is my first laptop since testing an MBA several years ago.

While this was not the most cost efficient thing to do, I did it.

I know I won't be eating or drinking around my Surface Laptop that's for sure.

I already have a few:
1. How is the typing experience? I really loved typing on the Surface Book and Surface Pro
2. How long does the real battery last under Win 10 Pro. Amusing you won't be using Win 10 s right?
3. Hopefully you aren't having any backlight bleeding

 

[Queen6]

Thanks for the reply.

Matebook X: It is a beautiful looking machine and I am sure it would have been wonderful. I liked the feel of the keys, I did not get to test drive it, but resting my hands on the keyboard, it felt great (More travel than the current keyboards.) Once I am more comfortable with Windows and working again, I'll definitely take another look especially if Huawei release a 15" version. Even though mine was D.O.A., I think it would make a solid replacement for a MacBook or MBA.

Earlier this year, I circled MS, Lenovo and HP.

No Dell for me. Asus, I have yet to read consistently good reviews for many of their laptops.

And if I do go 2-in-1, MS is a lock on that.

Just a bit bummed I have to waste time researching again.

It happens with all mass produced items so personally I would give the MateBook X another shot. I own one and it's really a superb Ultrabook just off a business trip with mine it's performance as ever flawless. I also picked up another Windows notebook as I need something very different to the MB-X

Huawei do produce a 15" the MateBook D, however it's more a budget business focused notebook, represents good value, however the display is somewhat lacklustre.

Q-6

 

[kazmac]

It happens with all mass produced items so personally I would give the MateBook X another shot. I own one and it's really a superb Ultrabook just off a business trip with mine it's performance as ever flawless. I also picked up another Windows notebook as I need something very different to the MB-X

Huawei do produce a 15" the MateBook D, however it's more a budget business focused notebook, represents good value, however the display is somewhat lacklustre.

Q-6

So glad to hear that. Your wonderful review was one of the reasons why I felt compelled to try it.

If I desire to move beyond the Surface Laptop, I will certainly give the Huawei another shot. As you mentioned, it will probably be an even better machine in a generation or two. The keyboard felt very nice and it was a solidly built machine.

With my decades of using Apple everything at home, using one brand's laptop, mouse and software felt like the best thing for me at the moment.

Thanks for the info on the Matebook D, on that information I'd go with the X.

 

[Queen6]

So glad to hear that. Your wonderful review was one of the reasons why I felt compelled to try it.

If I desire to move beyond the Surface Laptop, I will certainly give the Huawei another shot. As you mentioned, it will probably be an even better machine in a generation or two. The keyboard felt very nice and it was a solidly built machine.

With my decades of using Apple everything at home, using one brand's laptop, mouse and software felt like the best thing for me at the moment.

Thanks for the info on the Matebook D, on that information I'd go with the X.

Surface versus MateBook X, personally I'd opt for the MB-X as I don't feel the Surface Laptop's touch/pen features are useful, better to go for the Surface Book which can take full advantage of W10 touch & pen features.

Been a professorial user of Apple and the Mac for many a year, sadly Apple's primary focus is the iPhone, services and accessories of which the Mac has become one W10 is a stable and effective platform for those of us that need to get things done. Apple IMHO has allowed the Mac & the desktop OS to fall to be little more than a stylised showcase, offering tricks & bells versus real world productivity. What a shame as the Mac should have been so much more than an expensive toy...

Q-6

 

[kazmac]

Surface versus MateBok X, personally I'd opt for the MB-X as I donjon feel the Surface Laptop's touch/pen features are useful, better to go for the Surface Book which can take full advantage of W10 touch & pen features.

Been a professorial user of Apple and the Mac for many a year, sadly Apple's primary focus is the iPhone, services and accessories of which the Mac has become one W10 is a stable and effective platform for those of us that need to get things done. Apple IMHO has allowed the Mac & the desktop OS to fall to be little more than a stylised showcase, offering tricks & bells versus real world productivity. What a shame as the Mac should have been so much more than an expensive toy...

Q-6

The Surface Laptop is on its way. Once I am more acclimated to Windows 10 and laptops in general, I will definitely keep Huawei in mind as the build quality and keyboard were quite impressive (just laying my hands on the keyboard felt very conformable.) I have no doubt that many more will join you and others here as time goes on.

I wanted a seamless transition to Windows. From my Mac brain (and familiarity/loathing of Dell and Lenovo from the now former job), I chose the SL because it's all one company.

I will continue to absorb your posts and recommendations as I have especially in the past year. You balance the positives with the negatives with your business experiences. I love this forum because in between the negativity and the hilarious sarcasm, there are folks like you who generally take the time to help others like myself. I am grateful for that.

 

[kazmac]

LOL...I think this was a sign. The Surface Laptop had unacceptable amounts of backlight bleed and the cloth material had a really strange smell.



This is two PC laptops in a row that were duds. I'll go with something cheaper then.

 

[frankgrimes]

LOL...I think this was a sign. The Surface Laptop had unacceptable amounts of backlight bleed and the cloth material had a really strange smell.



This is two PC laptops in a row that were duds. I'll go with something cheaper then.

That's just bad maybe buy from another company? Or else exchange the Laptop till Microsoft is able to supply a Surface Laptop without Lightbleed

 

[kazmac]

That's just bad maybe buy from another company? Or else exchange the Laptop till Microsoft is able to supply a Surface Laptop without Lightbleed

The solution was right in front of me but I was too stubborn to accept it over the past week and the waste of time, stress and everything else was just ridiculous: I'll just use Bootcamp and install W10 on this aging iMac.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[kazmac]

This has been the most ridiculous tech week I've had in a long time: Mac install never happened (iMac is acting up something fierce, and I never received the hardware/software I needed to do this yesterday),

so I went with an Acer Swift 3 (with the 8th gen chip.) For my immediate needs, I do not need an ultrabook or a Surface; but I will certainly keep an eye on non-Dell Windows hardware going forward.

 

[GoldfishRT]

I feel like I'm real close to pulling the trigger on one of these. With my student discount the i7/8/256 is just shy of $1500 after tax. I think I'll keep my MacBook too for the record. I want a little more beef and I'm unimpressed with the 13" MBP. The nTB with similar specs is about $300 more I think in my case, and I don't think it carries the same value in a lot of ways.

There are a lot of things I like and dislike about Apple's current trends. I think there's a nice sweet spot in the middle and the Surface Laptop seems like it kind of hits that in the way the old MacBook Air did. Screen size, resolution, port selection, ergonomics, battery life, keyboard, power, etc. Love the feel of the keyboard deck, but I have sweaty hands so if it's prone to wear I figure I'll know pretty quickly.

 

[kazmac]

I feel like I'm real close to pulling the trigger on one of these. With my student discount the i7/8/256 is just shy of $1500 after tax. I think I'll keep my MacBook too for the record. I want a little more beef and I'm unimpressed with the 13" MBP. The nTB with similar specs is about $300 more I think in my case, and I don't think it carries the same value in a lot of ways.

There are a lot of things I like and dislike about Apple's current trends. I think there's a nice sweet spot in the middle and the Surface Laptop seems like it kind of hits that in the way the old MacBook Air did. Screen size, resolution, port selection, ergonomics, battery life, keyboard, power, etc. Love the feel of the keyboard deck, but I have sweaty hands so if it's prone to wear I figure I'll know pretty quickly.

Politely asking: As you get a student discount, why not wait for the Surface Book 2? Seems like you'll get more bang for your buck if you intend to keep for it awhile? Those are due in mid-November. You wouldn't have to worry abut wear on the keyboard deck too. Unless you'd rather have a laptop and not a 2-in-1?

 

[Hater]

This has been the most ridiculous tech week I've had in a long time: Mac install never happened (iMac is acting up something fierce, and I never received the hardware/software I needed to do this yesterday),

so I went with an Acer Swift 3 (with the 8th gen chip.) For my immediate needs, I do not need an ultrabook or a Surface; but I will certainly keep an eye on non-Dell Windows hardware going forward.

If you're anything like me, build quality and robustness is king. Half the reason I started using Apple laptops way back when, and stopped when the stupid soldered Retina laptops came into being.

The only laptops I am happy with are Lenovo ThinkPads and HP Pro/Elite/ZBooks. They are business machines, built for business use. They're robust, they're solid and they're completely fixable!

I went through so many crap consumer based devices that were flimsy before I realised that a heavier, more robust laptop suits my needs better than something that looks pretty but is built poorly and not upgradable.

If I were stuck with a Dell, it would be an Inspiron. All of their stuff catered towards home-users is crap, same with HP.

 

[GoldfishRT]

Politely asking: As you get a student discount, why not wait for the Surface Book 2? Seems like you'll get more bang for your buck if you intend to keep for it awhile? Those are due in mid-November. You wouldn't have to worry abut wear on the keyboard deck too. Unless you'd rather have a laptop and not a 2-in-1?

While I haven't played with the SB2 (obviously), I was at one time fascinated by the 2 in 1 form factor and so I took a look at the previous one and it just didn't impress me quite as much. I didn't quite like the hinge or overall design and I thought that its use as a tablet was a bit limited for my case. I don't draw or anything so while a lot of what that thing could do was cool, it just wasn't for me. I do rather like the Surface Pro however but, that has it's own share of compromises when it comes to working as just a straight up laptop to use as my main machine.

 

[kazmac]

If you're anything like me, build quality and robustness is king. Half the reason I started using Apple laptops way back when, and stopped when the stupid soldered Retina laptops came into being.

The only laptops I am happy with are Lenovo ThinkPads and HP Pro/Elite/ZBooks. They are business machines, built for business use. They're robust, they're solid and they're completely fixable!

I went through so many crap consumer based devices that were flimsy before I realised that a heavier, more robust laptop suits my needs better than something that looks pretty but is built poorly and not upgradable.

If I were stuck with a Dell, it would be an Inspiron. All of their stuff catered towards home-users is crap, same with HP.

Generally, I am like you. Ultimately, I needed a cheaper Windows laptop to learn office 365 since my iMac was protesting with Bootcamp. If I was okay with Windows and not unemployed, I would have purchased at a better machine. The Acer is fine for my needs (very minimal.) I am not a tinkerer, however, so doing anything beyond changing RAM is a bit out of my conform zone.

I am not a fan of Windows myself, but will use it for Work and to learn what I have to.

Three weeks later, I will say, probably won't buy another Windows laptop but I appreciate what some OEMs are doing in the design department and hope these translate over to Apple without more price gouging.

While I haven't played with the SB2 (obviously), I was at one time fascinated by the 2 in 1 form factor and so I took a look at the previous one and it just didn't impress me quite as much. I didn't quite like the hinge or overall design and I thought that its use as a tablet was a bit limited for my case. I don't draw or anything so while a lot of what that thing could do was cool, it just wasn't for me. I do rather like the Surface Pro however but, that has it's own share of compromises when it comes to working as just a straight up laptop to use as my main machine.

Understood. I hope you get a nice Surface Laptop and hopefully more off the price.

 

[Hater]

Generally, I am like you. Ultimately, I needed a cheaper Windows laptop to learn office 365 since my iMac was protesting with Bootcamp. If I was okay with Windows and not unemployed, I looked at a better machine. The Acer is fine for my needs (very minimal.) I am not a tinkerer, however, so doing anything beyond changing RAM is a bit out of my conform zone.

I am not a fan of Windows myself, but will use it for Work and to learn what I have to.

Ah, fair enough.

Yeah, I exclusively use MacOS, I just do it on HP hardware. I'm a programmer by trade though so the little niggles in initial set up with some things I have no issues solving.