Surface Pro 4 - wishlists!
- Thread starter TheCudder
- Start date
Michael Goff
New Member
For SP4, please bring back native 16:9 1920x1080 resolution - whatever size the screen. As a very happy original Surface Pro 128 user, I was disappointed to see the new Surface Pro 3 3:2 screen ratio 2160 x 1440 res. Although this may be "higher" res, we live in a 16x9 world, every HDTV, PC, movies, etc are designed for this. For photographers, Surface is great for full screen 1080 pics and video, and why change to anything else until we reach 4K (which really isn't necessary for screens of this size yet)? I would love a slightly bigger screen, but within the 11 and 13" range and 16:9 only please! If they can do this and keep the keyboards backwards compatible, that would be great. But those accessories can be improved and one day the old ones won't exist anymore. Of course, the usual processor, cooler, thinner, latest wifi/bluetooth, etc upgrades are to be expected. I agree with whoever said 128GB should be minimum for Pro. IF possible, a second USB port would really help. This is one of the only things keeping my Surface from being a complete desktop replacement (and just a little better GPU/games performance but that is getting closer). I could add more to the wish list, but screen size, more GPU/processor, and 2nd USB port are my top 3 requests. Other things like fingerprint scanner and waterproofing, while awesome, I think those costs might outweigh the demand.
I still stand by the original Surface keyboard 'touch' version - it has the best mouse/touchpad of any model since and does not suffer the two-handed/right clicking issues. MS needs to research this, I would buy a newer keyboard but the "both hands" mouse right clicking still has problems, I believe even with the Surface Pro 3 era keyboards.
Wish lists aside, MS knocked it out of the park with Surface Pro, possibly the best computer I've owned. I attached a pic of Diablo 3 running on Surface Pro, into the Xbox One, using Bluetooth Logitech devices on the couch. I was technically playing D3 on Xbox One before it was releasedNo other tablets can do this that I know of.
Aside from watching things, 3:2 is a much better ratio. It is definitely better for surfing the web. And 16:9 definitely doesn't work for portrait.
callihan_44
Member
make the pen optional, throw in the type cover keyboard and or offer an optional premium keyboard made out of the same material that the tablet is made out of for a solid typing experience. DOCK the pen in the tablet! Get the processor throttling under control , I want max power at all times. Add and additional usb, 2 should be the minimum, move the windows button on the tablet as to not cause problems while holding in landscape or portrait. We need more spec options, have a configurator on the Microsoft store to configure ram-processor-storage options for a custom tablet.
No, not with any current or near future Core-M, nor will it be more powerful than a SP3 with i5 based on the current entries in the market. No vendor has yet produced a Core-M system that's come close to the Intel Reference Tablet. If someone does it might have a chance of edging an i5 but it would not likely be a tablet in order to accommodate the required cooling to deliver top package performance.
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After a lot of digging through google, my conclusion is the same. Main benefits are significantly reduced power consumption but weaker CPU. Same goes for the GPU. Looks like my wallet is safe!
BTW: http://wccftech.com/microsoft-surface-pro-4/
I cant agree with you on the GPU, that's one area where the extra execution units should pay off even at lower power consumption but that balance has to be getting close, id think, so they should start paying attention to the CPU as well. Still, dropping the power to 1/4 - 1/2 of the 15w Haswell part and coming in with anywhere near the same performance is a significant feat. Which might indicate a low end SP4 with Core-M and the upper end SP4 with a 15w Boradwell part (which should handily best the performance of its Haswell counterparts) to be the logical play.
I'm basing my opinion having seen this of HD 4200 vs HD 4400 vs HD 5300. The Sp2 4400 outperforms the 5300 and the Sp3 i3 4200
The Intel HD 5000 is supposedly faster than the 4400. so by relation 5000 > 5300. But the difference is probably not as significant as I made it sound in my previous post.
My research has shown that Intel's graphics lineup goes as follows:
HD 2000 < HD GT2 < HD 3000 <= HD 2500 < HD GT3 <<< HD 4000 << HD 4200 = HD 5300 < HD 4400 = HD 5000 < HD 4600 << HD 5100 (aka Iris) < HD 5200 (aka Iris Pro).
GT2 and GT3 on an architecture level refer to the 4xxx and 5xxx series respectively, but when HD is listed without a number, such as with Baytrail Atom tablets, they are used to refer to specific GPUs; usually they will simply be listed as "Intel HD Graphics" so you have to do your research to tell which one you're getting. The 4200 and 4400 are usually slightly faster than the 5300 and 5000 respectively, but the 5xxx series supports features that the 4xxx series doesn't so I list them as equal. Generally I'd prefer the newer ones despite them being slower for those new features, it's better to be slow than not work. The 3000 and 2500 are in a similar relationship, but the 2500 is decidedly faster. Despite being the newest, HD 5300 is relatively slow because it only appears in Broadwell Core-M processors, therefore operating at extremely low frequencies to fit within the thermal envelope. I use "<<" and "<<<" to denote a larger performance step.
I haven't been able to find benchmarks for the 3000 and 2xxx that use the same versions of the software used for the rest of the GPUs (all of the rest are current) so their placements are an estimation.
I would love to see a SP4 with Iris graphics or an iteration of that. Solid performance in the Surface Pro is more important to me than being fanless or extremely thin. If they want to keep making a standard Surface line, use the lower powered 5300 or an iteration of it and make that fanless. I say Iris instead of Iris Pro because the Pro has embedded DRAM which drastically increases power usage (and lowers battery life) with a very disproportionate increase in performance.
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