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Surface Devices

Do you own a Surface device

  • Yes I own a Surface Pro or Surfacebook - it’s great

    Votes: 161 52.6%

  • Yes I own a Surface laptop - it’s great

    Votes: 35 11.4%

  • No - i’m not a fan

    Votes: 61 19.9%

  • Not anymore I had a bad experience

    Votes: 49 16.0%
  • Total voters
    306
maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,566
43,547
Dave245 said:
compared to MacOS it didn’t feel as polished, or as good to use. Maybe it’s because I’ve been spoilt with MacOS over the last 8 or so years.
Click to expand...
I will say that there's an amazingly lack of consistency with windows. I do love the improvements that MS has brought on, but I would really like to see a september/april update be rolled out that is only cleaning up the UI, making it more polished. We have the settings app, that has some configuration items, we also have the control panel where we control many aspects of windows.
 
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SomeSoftwareGuy

SomeSoftwareGuy

macrumors regular
Mar 8, 2019
111
113
I am super excited and impressed by the surface lineup. My requirements are a little different than your average software dev. I don't live in the browser. I live in an OpenGL and Vulkan world and metal is not something I want to dig into all by itself. So to see premium laptops that I know will allow me to install any 3D graphics driver I want is a huge sell for me. I was hoping for an improved surface book (3) but maybe the spring will have a refresh... but, I do really like that new surface laptop. Combine that with an eGpu and I'm sold.

The poll is missing a criteria, those of us who don't have a surface device but are >50% sure they will get one soon.
 
kazmac

kazmac

macrumors G4
Mar 24, 2010
10,092
8,629
Any place but here or there....
SomeSoftwareGuy said:
I am super excited and impressed by the surface lineup. My requirements are a little different than your average software dev. I don't live in the browser. I live in an OpenGL and Vulkan world and metal is not something I want to dig into all by itself. So to see premium laptops that I know will allow me to install any 3D graphics driver I want is a huge sell for me. I was hoping for an improved surface book (3) but maybe the spring will have a refresh... but, I do really like that new surface laptop. Combine that with an eGpu and I'm sold.

The poll is missing a criteria, those of us who don't have a surface device but are >50% sure they will get one soon.
Click to expand...
Thunderbolt 3 is missing from the Surface Laptop 3's, maybe they're still working on that for the Surface Book 3?

My impatience is yelling at me to jump already, but I need to know how to troubleshoot and fix some things before I commit.
 
Last edited:
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kazmac

kazmac

macrumors G4
Mar 24, 2010
10,092
8,629
Any place but here or there....
SomeSoftwareGuy said:
Well crap, there goes the eGPU speed. Might have to re-evaluate what my use case looks like.
Click to expand...

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I am there too with Fresco being a typical Adobe rip off and the uncertainty of the Surface Pro X ARM chip. Not to mention that Concepts is much more advanced for iOS than it is for Windows.

As far as Surface Pro 7, I think the anandtech article mentioned 10.5 hours battery life.
 
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J

jrichards1408

macrumors 6502a
Nov 4, 2016
615
194
maflynn said:
Its true that the device is not people's hands yet, but the latest chip set seems to consume less power so it very well could provide better battery life, but we'll have to wait until the reviews start rolling in
Click to expand...
What was the surface pro 6 like for battery life?
 
raqball

raqball

macrumors 68020
Sep 11, 2016
2,323
9,573
I might actually snarf up a Surface Laptop 3 (black - i7 / 16 / 512) when it releases as in stock at the local MS store. By purchasing at the local'ish MS store (20 min drive) I'll save on sales tax....

No problems with my Dell and if I snag the 3, I'll toss the Dell up for sale...

I keep looking at it and I keep wanting it.. LOL
 
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kazmac

kazmac

macrumors G4
Mar 24, 2010
10,092
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Any place but here or there....
raqball said:
I might actually snarf up a Surface Laptop 3 (black - i7 / 16 / 512) when it releases as in stock at the local MS store. By purchasing at the local'ish MS store (20 min drive) I'll save on sales tax....

No problems with my Dell and if I snag the 3, I'll toss the Dell up for sale...

I keep looking at it and I keep wanting it.. LOL
Click to expand...

I know the feeling.

As a basic laptop, the Surface are among the best. They generally are worth the price point. I am going to wait a bit, but I wouldn't be surprised if I walk out with one during sale. The SL2 was so comfortable and beautiful. I expect the 15" to be the same if not better than the 13" SL2.
 
raqball

raqball

macrumors 68020
Sep 11, 2016
2,323
9,573
I was in Best Buy today and they have the new machines set up on display... The black metal is sexy looking but after a few minutes of handling it, it was a hot fingerprint mess! Dare I say even worse than the Lenovo X1C's... YIKES! No way my OCD would allow this to stand...

I might just snag the 13" in Platinum fabric once they land in the local MS store. They are also making a platinum metal but not sure how that will look and feel and they did not have that option displayed.

For you 15" peeps, they had 2 on display at the store I went to...
 
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kazmac

kazmac

macrumors G4
Mar 24, 2010
10,092
8,629
Any place but here or there....
raqball said:
I was in Best Buy today and they have the new machines set up on display... The black metal is sexy looking but after a few minutes of handling it, it was a hot fingerprint mess! Dare I say even worse than the Lenovo X1C's... YIKES! No way my OCD would allow this to stand...

I might just snag the 13" in Platinum fabric once they land in the local MS store. They are also making a platinum metal but not sure how that will look and feel and they did not have that option displayed.

For you 15" peeps, they had 2 on display at the store I went to...
Click to expand...
I love the black one, fingerprint magnet that it is. The two Best Buys I hit are woefully behind in stocking new laptops. I might go to the MS store shortly after release to see.

Thanks for the update.
 
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LeeW

LeeW

macrumors 601
Feb 5, 2017
4,245
9,237
Over here
Quote:

Microsoft tells us it’s an M.2 2230 SSD, which is smaller than most M.2 SSDs, and not super easy to come by — we couldn’t find a single one on Amazon or Newegg, for example.
 
C

csurfr

macrumors 68020
Dec 7, 2016
2,310
1,748
Seattle, WA
After playing around with the 15" SL3 yesterday I have to say that the build quality is great and the keyboard is top tier. Also just opening the lid feels really smooth. Unfortunately the display model was the Ryzen 5. I'd like to poke around on the 7 for a bit and see how the Vega 11 GPU handles some tasks.
 
Bodie CI5

Bodie CI5

macrumors 6502
Apr 22, 2014
255
144
Not sure if anyone is aware review embargoes lifted on a couple of the new machines:

(Win Central)

Surface Laptop 3 review

Surface Pro 7

(AnandTech)
Surface Laptop 3 (AMD)

This part of the Windows Central reviews concern me from the SP7 review (?:oops:)

The SSD for Surfaces has always been just OK, and that is the case here. The 256GB model yields 2,000MB/s for read, while writes were only at 800MB/s, far below the industry average. However, most people experience read performance, and there the Surface Pro 7 is closer to typical laptops. It's also an improvement over the Surface Pro 5 (847MB/s) and Surface Pro 6 (1,600 MB/s). It should be noted that due to the parallel nature of SSD storage, the 512GB and 1TB options are likely to improve those speeds too.​
Click to expand...
 
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raqball

raqball

macrumors 68020
Sep 11, 2016
2,323
9,573
Bodie CI5 said:
Not sure if anyone is aware review embargoes lifted on a couple of the new machines:

(Win Central)

Surface Laptop 3 review

Surface Pro 7

(AnandTech)
Surface Laptop 3 (AMD)

This part of the Windows Central reviews concern me from the SP7 review (?:oops:)
Click to expand...
MS always uses slowish SSD for some odd reason.. My OG Surface Laptop had a woeful 200'ish read write if I remember correctly. My Surface Laptop 2 was better but nowhere even close to Mac speeds...

My Surface Laptop 3 should be here tomorrow so I'll run some tests and report back. I got the i7 / 16 / 512 in platinum fabric...
 
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Mythos99

Mythos99

macrumors regular
May 24, 2016
140
429
Not sure what to think about the Surface Laptop 3. I was really excited about it, but after watching some review videos, and they were not so fascinated about it.
 
J

jrichards1408

macrumors 6502a
Nov 4, 2016
615
194
Mythos99 said:
Not sure what to think about the Surface Laptop 3. I was really excited about it, but after watching some review videos, and they were not so fascinated about it.
Click to expand...
Likewise it seems like a bit of a let down. Honestly for a similar price and better specs and ports the razer blade stealth is better.

This laptop should be sub 1k max. Yes the build quality is great but so is the razer and X1 carbon
 
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KarmaRocket

KarmaRocket

macrumors 6502
Jan 4, 2009
292
244
Brooklyn, NY
This is one of the minor issues I have with Microsoft. They want to be like Apple, but for some reason they copy the "apple tax" part as well. The surface lines are surely innovative for the PC market, but these designs are pretty old now. And putting in slow SSD's and iffy WiFi chips has been an issue for years now.

Nonetheless, I am waiting to see reviews on the Surface Pro X. Just wish they would also release a model with Ice Lake as well.
 
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