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Surface Book Reviews

Kif

Active Member
It's sort of what I was expecting. It's a really good device which is unfortunately flawed. I personally would have liked to seen Microsoft just make a pure laptop/ultrabook and skip the hybrid approach. There's always going to be compromise with an hybrid approach and I'm not sure the cost outweighs the benefits. The Surface line should be for people looking for hybrid machines and the SurfaceBook could have been a pure laptop. I guess there's not reason to go on further what could have been.
 

BearFlag

Member
This is not looking too good. The verge review confirms that "the display wobble can be irritating, and the weird gap when it’s closed means I have to clean the Surface Book every day", and the Arstechnica review found poor results for the dGPU.

I mean MS had to make compromises when designing this device, which is understandable, but I think the main issue all these reviews have is the high price charged for this device given these compromises.
 
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GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
This is not looking too good. The verge review confirms that "the display wobble can be irritating, and the weird gap when it’s closed means I have to clean the Surface Book every day", and the Arstechnica review found poor results for the dGPU.

I mean MS had to make compromises when designing this device, which is understandable, but I think the main issue all these reviews have is the high price charged for this device given these compromises.
So you look thru and cherry pick the worst comments from a batch of early reviews to use as the basis of your opinion, gotcha. Not everyone held the same opinion. However, there are some issues not surprisingly. The dust will settle, issues will get worked out... and maybe some reviewers will clean out their bags so it not a dirt bag full of dust bunnies and hair balls that clings to their computers. :)
 

BearFlag

Member
So you look thru and cherry pick the worst comments from a batch of early reviews to use as the basis of your opinion, gotcha. Not everyone held the same opinion. However, there are some issues not surprisingly. The dust will settle, issues will get worked out... and maybe some reviewers will clean out their bags so it not a dirt bag full of dust bunnies and hair balls that clings to their computers. :)

Yes, I was highlighting the negative comments, but I think the point I was trying to make is that virtually all the reviews are stating that the price is really high for what you get. There are always going to be compromises and no laptop is perfect, but paying over $2000 (tax incl) for the lowest model with subpar dGPU is a lot of money.

Everyone has the same complaint about Microsoft’s new laptop
 
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DanielHolzer

New Member
The reviews mainly seemed positive. A few major caveats (some early problems with trackpads and no one seems to like that the screen cannot be removed without power).

The dGPU issue does not seem to be settled. It seems first that MS needs to fix their drivers (the performance issues must be driver related). But after that, we still need more benchmarks compared to SP4's Iris 540 (most seem to be against the i5 520). Yes, the SP4 and SB are designed for different tasks. But it definitely will be disappointing if MS could have gotten equivalent performance by going with the i7-6650 rather than the i7-6600 and dGPU (and could have probably gotten longer battery life too, although maybe the SB tablet couldn't have dealt with the heat without throttling).

I definitely will get a sleeve for the laptop though. Between the gap, the pen and that the screen is exposed if you don't close it before it runs out of battery, this is not something that should be thrown into your bag.
 
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Cobalt Wraith

New Member
I would agree that most reviews seem downright positive. I was actually surprised by how gushing the PCWorld review was compared to their usual slant.
 
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mva5580

Member
I think the point I was trying to make is that virtually all the reviews are stating that the price is really high for what you get.

There is no question that the price is high for what you get, but no one should have needed a review to point that out. Just look at the specs.

This is a status-symbol device, and not much else really, outside of a person who absolutely must have the pen functionality. Frankly if you're someone who REALLY wants both a quality tablet and a quality laptop you're better off spending ~$1,500 on a laptop and ~$500 on a tablet. Same price and you'll get a better spec'd laptop, and a device that works much better as a tablet with a hell of a longer than 3 hour battery life.
 
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kundas1

Well-Known Member
I honestly don't know why everyone is complaining about the high prices, because no one seems to complain about apples high prices as they see it as a premium device...well so is the Surface Book! just to give you an example of how better MS's tablets are compared to the others, my father in law has a ASUS tablet and an Acer and a Surface 2, and without a doubt he can tell that the Surface 2 is better quality and now his ASUS tablet is starting to have troubles and now he only uses the S2... honestly at first I felt that my SP3 was too much but after using it all this time I wouldn't buy any other tablet because my SP3 is so well made and has served me so well! I think MS needs to do is get windows 10 OS completed and working better! theres too many flaws and problems with win 10 at the moment!
 
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