Just thought I'd share my early impressions and thoughts on the Surface Book and each of the issues in the forums. I've had the Book since launch day, almost a week now. I have the i7, 256 GB, graphics card model. The first thing I did when I got it was go to windows update, so that may have fixed some problems found in the forums before they started. I also don't have the dock, so I can't comment on if the dock works or doesn't work.
Hinge: In the store, I thought this might bother me the most. It seemed wobbly on the display model. It's still wobbly if I push on it while in laptop mode. But in real world use, it doesn't wobble for me. Or it doesn't wobble enough for me to notice. And if the hinge allowed them to include taller keys on the keyboard, then it was worth it. I have an old HP Envy with a touchscreen, and I stopped using the touchscreen because it gets keyboard key smudges all over it when you close the lid of the laptop. I'm constantly cleaning the HP's screen. I don't have that problem with the Surface Book. The hinge also seems sturdy to me, it doesn't flex enough for me to worry. I'm not sure if Microsoft thought about keyboard smudges and taller keyboard keys when designing the hinge; they might have only thought about increasing the moment arm to balance the display heavy weight. Either way, I like the hinge.
Keyboard: Works great for me. Big plus. Feels good, and I can type fast on it. Makes me glad I chose the Book over the surface tablet.
Touchpad: The touchpad is currently working great for me other than 2 finger scrolling. But it seems like 2 finger scrolling got significantly better in some update, or maybe I just got used to how it works. I turned off the touchpad delay setting on the touchpad; maybe that helped. And when I say I have 2 finger scrolling issues, I really mean with Chrome. It seems to work fine with everything else. In Chrome, it seems like there is sometimes a delay before 2 finger scrolling works. Someone mentioned in a different post there might be an update for Chrome that will help this soon.
Edge Browser: This sucks. I stopped using it. It had color shifting issues when scrolling. I think those were corrected when I turned off the auto dimming, but still. It receives links and then just stalls on them without opening the link. That hasn't been fixed. It also doesn't work with Lastpass, which is a deal breaker for me. If it corrects those deficiencies, I'll try it again. Because it is really fast when it is working.
Chrome Browser: I'm told this kills my battery. It might, I'm not sure. It works great on this laptop, except sometimes I have problems where if the laptop goes to sleep, when it wakes up, 2 finger scrolling no longer works in Chrome windows that are still open. If I close Chrome then open it back up 2 finger scrolling works again. And if it's a Chrome problem for 2 finger scrolling delays, then hopefully there is an update coming.
Removing the screen: Works great and easily. No issues on detaching mine. The tablet portion is absurdly light.
Pen: Works better than any pen device I've used before. I love the eraser feature on the back of the pen. I tried replicating the pen jitter thing, but I'm apparently not good enough of an artist to care about this deficiency. My lines have jitter with a real life pen and paper if I draw slow enough... It might have slightly more jitter when I draw slowly on this screen, but if I use it normally it works surprisingly well. The screen seems so thin and sharp for drawing. But again, I suck as an artist.
Screen: awesome. One of the best displays I've ever seen, if not the best. I love the 3:2 format. I thought that might bother me, but it's way better for internet browsing than 16:9. If I want to watch 16:9 format movies , I'll use my TV anyway.
Speakers: They seem good for a small laptop. I have home theater speakers when I watch movies, so for me the speakers are just great for a laptop. I've never really cared about laptop speakers.
Battery life: It works better than anything other than maybe my Chromebook for battery life. But again, I use Chrome browser and OneDrive backups so maybe that hurts my battery life. It's also a little hard for me to tell about battery life since there are 2 different batteries. The time remaining never seems to be right. I'm not sure that value is calculated knowing there are 2 batteries. Either way, in real world use for me it lasts all day. It just drains faster when asleep than my Chromebook does. But battery life appears better than my other Windows laptops. If you want an impression other than "it lasts all day for my use", read one of the tech reviews.
Windows Hello: I love this feature. I was considering the new Dell XPS 15, but I would really miss Windows Hello on the XPS 15. I think it's a feature that once you have, you won't want to live without.
Overall: I'm glad I purchased it. It's exactly what I wanted. A great laptop that can turn into a toy tablet when desired. If 2 finger scrolling works better with Chrome in some update, that'll correct my only real complaint.
Hinge: In the store, I thought this might bother me the most. It seemed wobbly on the display model. It's still wobbly if I push on it while in laptop mode. But in real world use, it doesn't wobble for me. Or it doesn't wobble enough for me to notice. And if the hinge allowed them to include taller keys on the keyboard, then it was worth it. I have an old HP Envy with a touchscreen, and I stopped using the touchscreen because it gets keyboard key smudges all over it when you close the lid of the laptop. I'm constantly cleaning the HP's screen. I don't have that problem with the Surface Book. The hinge also seems sturdy to me, it doesn't flex enough for me to worry. I'm not sure if Microsoft thought about keyboard smudges and taller keyboard keys when designing the hinge; they might have only thought about increasing the moment arm to balance the display heavy weight. Either way, I like the hinge.
Keyboard: Works great for me. Big plus. Feels good, and I can type fast on it. Makes me glad I chose the Book over the surface tablet.
Touchpad: The touchpad is currently working great for me other than 2 finger scrolling. But it seems like 2 finger scrolling got significantly better in some update, or maybe I just got used to how it works. I turned off the touchpad delay setting on the touchpad; maybe that helped. And when I say I have 2 finger scrolling issues, I really mean with Chrome. It seems to work fine with everything else. In Chrome, it seems like there is sometimes a delay before 2 finger scrolling works. Someone mentioned in a different post there might be an update for Chrome that will help this soon.
Edge Browser: This sucks. I stopped using it. It had color shifting issues when scrolling. I think those were corrected when I turned off the auto dimming, but still. It receives links and then just stalls on them without opening the link. That hasn't been fixed. It also doesn't work with Lastpass, which is a deal breaker for me. If it corrects those deficiencies, I'll try it again. Because it is really fast when it is working.
Chrome Browser: I'm told this kills my battery. It might, I'm not sure. It works great on this laptop, except sometimes I have problems where if the laptop goes to sleep, when it wakes up, 2 finger scrolling no longer works in Chrome windows that are still open. If I close Chrome then open it back up 2 finger scrolling works again. And if it's a Chrome problem for 2 finger scrolling delays, then hopefully there is an update coming.
Removing the screen: Works great and easily. No issues on detaching mine. The tablet portion is absurdly light.
Pen: Works better than any pen device I've used before. I love the eraser feature on the back of the pen. I tried replicating the pen jitter thing, but I'm apparently not good enough of an artist to care about this deficiency. My lines have jitter with a real life pen and paper if I draw slow enough... It might have slightly more jitter when I draw slowly on this screen, but if I use it normally it works surprisingly well. The screen seems so thin and sharp for drawing. But again, I suck as an artist.
Screen: awesome. One of the best displays I've ever seen, if not the best. I love the 3:2 format. I thought that might bother me, but it's way better for internet browsing than 16:9. If I want to watch 16:9 format movies , I'll use my TV anyway.
Speakers: They seem good for a small laptop. I have home theater speakers when I watch movies, so for me the speakers are just great for a laptop. I've never really cared about laptop speakers.
Battery life: It works better than anything other than maybe my Chromebook for battery life. But again, I use Chrome browser and OneDrive backups so maybe that hurts my battery life. It's also a little hard for me to tell about battery life since there are 2 different batteries. The time remaining never seems to be right. I'm not sure that value is calculated knowing there are 2 batteries. Either way, in real world use for me it lasts all day. It just drains faster when asleep than my Chromebook does. But battery life appears better than my other Windows laptops. If you want an impression other than "it lasts all day for my use", read one of the tech reviews.
Windows Hello: I love this feature. I was considering the new Dell XPS 15, but I would really miss Windows Hello on the XPS 15. I think it's a feature that once you have, you won't want to live without.
Overall: I'm glad I purchased it. It's exactly what I wanted. A great laptop that can turn into a toy tablet when desired. If 2 finger scrolling works better with Chrome in some update, that'll correct my only real complaint.
