Probably, I can't imagine it would not. The 2012 Asus T300 does that so the technology for it has been around for a long time. I haven't seen anything about separately powering/charging the Clipboard either so you may not be able to charge it unless its attached to the keyboard. which incidentally is the way the Asus T300 works.
Pro 4 vs. Surface Book vs. iPad Pro...
- Thread starter quadtronix
- Start date
Another bit of hearsay from Reddit - but someone there is saying that Microsoft people at the event he is at are saying that the tablet will NOT charge from the battery in the keyboard. It does, however, allow you to connect it to the power brick separately - and in the hands-on videos you can see the same charging pins as used in the SP3.
CrippsCorner
Well-Known Member
Okay well that's good, although they could have also just made sure it actually charged the screen to maximum before going towards the base...
Foreverseeking
Member
I was thinking about getting the book, foolishly thinking it was a slightly bigger Surface Pro, with special connections allowing it to connect to a GPU based keyboard. It is not.
- Only 1/4 of the batteries are in the Tablet part
(12/4 = 3 hours battery life)
- No stand on the back of the tablet
- No ports (other then headphones) in the tablet part
So it's really really tethered to the base, and therefore for me is a laptop with a gimmick, rather then a really amazing useful 2 in 1 device.
I was blown away when I first saw the presentation, and it was on my to buy list. But the drawbacks are huge, this is clearly like the surface pro 1. I'll wait until they get it right on the third iteration...
Or better yet, lose the crappy name, and make the surface pro 5 have the ability to dock into the keyboard part. That way you don't have devices from the same company competing against each other.
So, that's why instead I ordered a Surface Pro 4. Yay!
- Only 1/4 of the batteries are in the Tablet part
(12/4 = 3 hours battery life)
- No stand on the back of the tablet
- No ports (other then headphones) in the tablet part
So it's really really tethered to the base, and therefore for me is a laptop with a gimmick, rather then a really amazing useful 2 in 1 device.
I was blown away when I first saw the presentation, and it was on my to buy list. But the drawbacks are huge, this is clearly like the surface pro 1. I'll wait until they get it right on the third iteration...
Or better yet, lose the crappy name, and make the surface pro 5 have the ability to dock into the keyboard part. That way you don't have devices from the same company competing against each other.
So, that's why instead I ordered a Surface Pro 4. Yay!
I dunno - I think they made the sacrifices that were necessary in order to make the Surface Book work at all. Lots of people seem to be wondering why they didn't just make the full keyboard base for the SP4, but the answer is pretty simple - the full SP4 is just too bulky to function well as the 'screen' half of a laptop, without making the entire thing excessively heavy and unstable. Microsoft had to build that fancy hinge on the Surface Book to compensate for this imbalance, even on the 'stripped-down' clipboard half - and hands on reports already claim that there is still a fair bit of slop in the hinge. If they were to have put 9 hours worth of batteries, plus all the ports in that half, it would have added significant weight and bulk to the device that is already on the upper limits of what people find acceptable for a mobile computer today.
The Surface Book is pretty clearly a laptop that can double for light-duty tablet tasks. If you want a tablet that can perform double duty as a laptop, the SP4 is for you!
The Surface Book is pretty clearly a laptop that can double for light-duty tablet tasks. If you want a tablet that can perform double duty as a laptop, the SP4 is for you!
Foreverseeking
Member
I don't disagree with you at all, the tech guys did an amazing job, and for sure they have their good reasons for doing things as they did, but for me it's like the surface pro 1 which was also ahead of its time. It's got too many tradeoffs due to tech limitations to make it the sure fire winner I first thought it was.
I'm sure these limitations will be overcome on the second or third iteration, but with these limitations I do not see the appeal or real market for this product. It's a terrible tablet, and a so so gaming laptop (judging by what we know of the gpu).
The surface pro 3 is, imo, a great tablet, great desktop (with dock) and great netbook for my needs. Being a mature product is why it's finally starting to pick up strong sales.
Anyway, really looking forward to the s4.
I'm sure these limitations will be overcome on the second or third iteration, but with these limitations I do not see the appeal or real market for this product. It's a terrible tablet, and a so so gaming laptop (judging by what we know of the gpu).
The surface pro 3 is, imo, a great tablet, great desktop (with dock) and great netbook for my needs. Being a mature product is why it's finally starting to pick up strong sales.
Anyway, really looking forward to the s4.
Well Panos did say it was the device to play LoL but from what I hear that's not saying much so it was probably a tongue in cheek comment, he does seem like a guy who would have a very dry sense of humor which might be lost on some. I believe he did say it was not targeted as a "gaming laptop" but as a device for professionals/professional applications. I guess that never really stops anyone from going off the deep end trying to use it for gaming, hey it has a GPU. 
However we need to take our cues and not expect more than LoL capabilities.
However we need to take our cues and not expect more than LoL capabilities.
daniielrp
Active Member
Well Panos did say it was the device to play LoL but from what I hear that's not saying much so it was probably a tongue in cheek comment, he does seem like a guy who would have a very dry sense of humor which might be lost on some. I believe he did say it was not targeted as a "gaming laptop" but as a device for professionals/professional applications. I guess that never really stops anyone from going off the deep end trying to use it for gaming, hey it has a GPU.
I still struggle too see how any professional applications can run at 3000x2000 on a 1GB GPU.
I'm a strong Microsoft supporter so I hope the Book & 4 sell well. I did note that a few times he called the tablet part of the book a clipboard. I thought that was an odd title for it. Maybe it is to be used mostly for a few notes, etc. I also think they could have come up with a better name than the Surface Book. What would some of you think would be a cool name for it. I'm sure in time will know a lot more about it and it's capabilities. In the meantime, I'll stick with my Surface Pro 3 and or possibly a Surface Pro 4. In the meantime, as most of you, I will purchase a new keyboard and pen when they have them in the Microsoft stores.
Just got back from the MS store. They don't have any Surface Books on display, but they had plenty of SP4s. Man, the SP4 is awesome. My biggest complaint with the SP3 was the keyboard and touchpad. The SP4 type cover is so much better.
Even though I'm the ideal customer for the Surface Book (as I'm sure I'll use the Surface in laptop mode most of the time), I think I will wind up pre-ordering the SP4. It will be much better for traveling. I just wish the i7 was available this month... The i5/16GB may be better for my use (software dev). I may wait until I can try out the Book.
On another note... Every time I go into the Microsoft Store I hit some software/hardware bug within 5 minutes of use of a Surface product. Today the SP4 touchpad stopped working two times (while detaching and reattaching the type cover). I think it had to do with the system going into sleep state when closed the type cover into book form. Reboot fixed it the first time. Putting it to sleep and waking it fixed it the second time. Went over to the SP3's to compare the old type cover. The keyboard was not working on the SP3 (but the touchpad worked fine). Makes me a little uneasy to pre-order.
Even though I'm the ideal customer for the Surface Book (as I'm sure I'll use the Surface in laptop mode most of the time), I think I will wind up pre-ordering the SP4. It will be much better for traveling. I just wish the i7 was available this month... The i5/16GB may be better for my use (software dev). I may wait until I can try out the Book.
On another note... Every time I go into the Microsoft Store I hit some software/hardware bug within 5 minutes of use of a Surface product. Today the SP4 touchpad stopped working two times (while detaching and reattaching the type cover). I think it had to do with the system going into sleep state when closed the type cover into book form. Reboot fixed it the first time. Putting it to sleep and waking it fixed it the second time. Went over to the SP3's to compare the old type cover. The keyboard was not working on the SP3 (but the touchpad worked fine). Makes me a little uneasy to pre-order.
