Surface Book 2 - will you buy/upgrade?

[starstreak]

Oh you are right. Intel made the hardware. Microsoft should be more buddy-buddy to them. And integrate features from them. I mean, at first, MS did make the surface for graphic artist. And Realsense 3D would've really helped with the 3D Printing. Heck, for the longest time, the MS store in Hawaii had a 3D Printer connected to a Surface to print things.

AFAIK Realsense 3D is an Intel thing and requires Realsense 3D (back) cameras which are different than the Hello technology (front) cameras. I whish they would include this but I suspect it may not work as well in the real world as the Intel marketing glossy might imply. So, yeah they developed some cameras and demo software in the lab... but if this was the killer app it sounds like, vendors would be allover it like stink on a skunk.

 

[starstreak]

I don't remember the speed the reviewers got, but on my SP4 (not a SB), the speed for my SSD while on battery:
CrystalDiskMark(On Battery):

So it wasn't too bad.

Don't hold your breath on the reviews as far as the type of SSDs that are being deployed. When MS sent out the original SBs to reviewers, all the machines had high end Toshiba SSDs. When MS shipped actual units to consumers, they replaced the high end Toshiba SSDs with pedestrian Samsung SSDs.

Another chapter in the shameful disinformation campaign that was the release of the original Surface Book, IMHO.

 

[flar]

Don't hold your breath on the reviews as far as the type of SSDs that are being deployed. When MS sent out the original SBs to reviewers, all the machines had high end Toshiba SSDs. When MS shipped actual units to consumers, they replaced the high end Toshiba SSDs with pedestrian Samsung SSDs.

Another chapter in the shameful disinformation campaign that was the release of the original Surface Book, IMHO.

Correct, I'm not looking to rely on reviews based on samples, especially pre-release samples. A couple of years ago I created a poll for the first generation for people to report what SSD they received in their models and was waiting for that kind of feedback again:

Samsung vs Toshiba SSD (now with poll)

I don't think a poll would be helpful this time around, though, we just need some real data from the units actually shipping to customers.

To that end, I don't tend to trust demo units on store shelves because I've seen Toshiba drives in units on display at BB even though they are virtually non-existent in delivered units - but I stopped by the local MS store and both 15" units they had on display had a Samsung 256GB part. I didn't have much time so I didn't write it down, but it looked similar to the part numbers that they've used in the past. I'm hoping to get confirmation on the part used in the 512GB units, though, and all of their display models were 256GB.

 

[Cimmerian]

Not sure if you are still looking but here were my results on the 15" 512gb model:

 

[wynand32]

I haven't figured out yet how to correlate CrystalDiskMark 6.X scores to 5.X. To do a direct apples-apples comparison, could you download and run CDM 5.X (if it's still available on their site)?

Also, what drive is listed in Device Manager?

Not sure if you are still looking but here were my results on the 15" 512gb model:

 

[Cimmerian]

As requested:

 

[wynand32]

Interesting... It's a Samsung PM961, but that's not a great result for that drive. The 1TB version scored 2877 MB/s read and 1239 MB/s write in a test I've seen.

 

[Cimmerian]

Interesting... It's a Samsung PM961, but that's not a great result for that drive. The 1TB version scored 2877 MB/s read and 1239 MB/s write in a test I've seen.

May need some optimizing / updates, I saw a user on YouTube with the same drive get abysmal results with the same drive.

 

[hughlle]

Have to say I'm a bit put off Microsoft at this point. They've essentially done a "You're holding it wrong" and said that gamers not liking the throttling and battery drain just bought the wrong device.

 

[Adambomb13]

I bought the first generation Surface Book performance base (i7/8GB/256GB) model and I had so many problems. I felt I spent $2400 to be a beta tester and WILL NOT ever buy another Surface product, I actually was so disappointed I gave my laptop to a family member.

Good Luck