My experience is the KabyLake SoC is far superior to all previous Core SoC put out by Intel. My concern would be the RAM, the i7 may be a better choice depending on usage.
Surface Pro (2017) as desktop replacement?
- Thread starter wpcoe
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Russ
Active Member
Bubba --
Absolutely! I have her on a regular backup routine and, especially, when she returns from a China trip. I maintain a full backup of her system here. With a few tweaks, I can boot her system on a spare desktop here in my shop. Between those backups and cloud data storage, I could fully restore her system in an afternoon, with time out for iced tea. I even have an arrangement with with an IT guy in Shanghai to restore her system if disaster strikes there. Lest you think I am being overly protective, I did a lot of international travel in a previous life well know that weird stuff can happen when you're far from home.
Take care,
Russ
@Russ: Thanks for that "real life" scenario.
Still battling with which Surface Pro model to buy. I wish I had the deep pockets of your lady friend!
In addition to continually synching my desktop and notebook computers, I do keep a separate back-up of data files on a USB hard drive. Programs and the o/s I don't worry about so much. It may be time-consuming to re-load and reinstall, but as a retiree I should be able to find the time. The nice thing about being single and retired is that I don't have to do anything today, I can always do it "tomorrow."
Still battling with which Surface Pro model to buy. I wish I had the deep pockets of your lady friend!
In addition to continually synching my desktop and notebook computers, I do keep a separate back-up of data files on a USB hard drive. Programs and the o/s I don't worry about so much. It may be time-consuming to re-load and reinstall, but as a retiree I should be able to find the time. The nice thing about being single and retired is that I don't have to do anything today, I can always do it "tomorrow."
convergent
Active Member
And you'd lose the fanless design, so that kept me at i5.
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I really wish I could have a unit for a test run for say, a week, and then be able to return it if not satisfied. It sounds like the i5/8GB/256GB is the way to go, but what if the i7/8GB/256GB for $300 more would actually be the one for me?
Yeah, I know: First World Problem.
Yeah, I know: First World Problem.
convergent
Active Member
I really wish I could have a unit for a test run for say, a week, and then be able to return it if not satisfied. It sounds like the i5/8GB/256GB is the way to go, but what if the i7/8GB/256GB for $300 more would actually be the one for me?
Yeah, I know: First World Problem.
I'm guessing no brick and mortar store near you? I kind of did what you said. If I wasn't happy with the performance I could have upgraded within 30 days.
Also the fan is a mechanical part and given the inability to repair the thing, I see it as a risk.
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theveterans
Member
I really wish I could have a unit for a test run for say, a week, and then be able to return it if not satisfied. It sounds like the i5/8GB/256GB is the way to go, but what if the i7/8GB/256GB for $300 more would actually be the one for me?
Yeah, I know: First World Problem.
If you're near a micrsoft store, that's an easy thing to do. To me, I could've gone with the i5, but that 4.0 GHz on a Surface device which I verified to the CPU-Z database is nice to have lol.
The Microsoft Store in Thailand is only an online shop and only sells software. Over here there generally is no risk-free option to return merchandise unless there is a defect, and even then a replacement is given, not a refund.
Josh Tench
New Member
I know this post is a little old now but for what it is worth I've been using a SP (2017) with 3x external HD displays using one of these MST adapters....
DisplayPort 1.2 MST Hub | Video Splitters | StarTech.com
It works pretty well but with 3x displays attached I can't use the SP built in display. On a client's site with a different setup I was able to use 3x external monitors plus the SP display. It was impressive and highly effective from such a small footprint.
I don't generally find that the machine is slowed by having the additional displays. I just about live in MS Excel and PowerPoint, I wouldn't expect to try and use it for gaming.
Josh
DisplayPort 1.2 MST Hub | Video Splitters | StarTech.com
It works pretty well but with 3x displays attached I can't use the SP built in display. On a client's site with a different setup I was able to use 3x external monitors plus the SP display. It was impressive and highly effective from such a small footprint.
I don't generally find that the machine is slowed by having the additional displays. I just about live in MS Excel and PowerPoint, I wouldn't expect to try and use it for gaming.
Josh
