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What I want in a Surface 4 (non Pro)

GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
In a nutshell: faster, lighter, thinner in that order.


Operating system Windows 10.1 64-bit (maybe 10.2)
(Fixed w major enhancements to tablet mode that actually work intuitively)

Skylake Core-M processor. 4-8GB LPDDR4 RAM, 128-256GB SSD storage. possibly an Atom option also.
Biometric sensors: Fingerprint, retina scanner, pulse detection.
5MP Front Camera w facial recognition.
12-16MP rear main camera + Real Sense 3d camera array.
Built-in Imaging and measurement system.

Authentication sequence Windows Hello or any or combinations of
finger + retina + pulse + pin ie. Not only finger and eye present but must be alive (pulse) and conscious (pin/pw). J some politicians will naturally fail this test.

Display 10.8 inches (27 cm): (9 inches (23 cm) by 6 inches (15 cm))
1920x1280 (214 ppi) ClearType screen with 3:2 aspect ratio

Graphics Intel HD Graphics 3 displays 2k@60 Atom 4K@60 core-m

Sound Dual front facing speakers, rear woofer.

Input Multi-touch touchscreen Bluetooth active pen, with underlying N-trig technology (sold separately $25)

Type Cover detachable keyboard with touchpad (sold separately $75)

Connectivity Wireless:
802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ad*** Wi-Fi WiGig***
Bluetooth 4.2*** LE

Ports:

Full size USB 3.1 10 gb/s*** & USBC***
Mini DisplayPort 1.3***
3.5 mm audio socket
Cover port (proprietary)
Charging/Docking port (USBC)***
Wireless Docking w WiGig ***

4G LTE (with cellular model)

Dimensions
10.51 inches (26.7 cm) (width)
7.36 inches (18.7 cm) (height)
*** 0.29 inches (7.6 mm) (depth)

*** Weight 1.12 pounds (508 g)
*** 0.48 pounds (218 g) (add for Type Cover)


BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME. :)
 
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hughlle

Super Moderator
Staff member
I don't care what they go with, but please please forget all about the micro usb charging. I can understand the idea of it being appealing given that we all have spare cables and plugs and batteries, but the charge time is pathetic (that is one of the fantastic things about the SP3) and it is flimsy and risks damaging the tablet. Nothing wrong with the current magnetic charger if you ask me :)

USB-c really should be a must on future releases. Just not a one-port-fits-all implementation..
 

Telstar1948

Active Member
Like your thinking, Greyfox7!! ...but, sadly, I expect your dream device will only weigh 1.12 lbs on the moon! :D
 
OP
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GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
Like your thinking, Greyfox7!! ...but, sadly, I expect your dream device will only weigh 1.12 lbs on the moon! :D
Meh, it's only a quarter pound reduction. :)
However the full weight of a Surface 3 @ 1.37 pounds would only be o.2 pounds on the moon without any weight reduction as the moons gravity yields a weight of only 16.7% of that on earth. :D
 

macmee

Active Member
If they could build this, with the pen, good battery and more stability for W10 then I'd buy it right now.
 
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GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
more stability for W10
I don't know if MS appreciates how much this hurts them. The philosophy of old... good enough ... is not good enough anymore and hasn't been for the last decade or so. The whole "1.0" release mentality is not acceptable and even worse I think the continuous update idea actually made it worse which is the absolute wrong direction.

There's nothing wrong with continuous updates per se as long as it's not used as an excuse to lower the bar when in fact the quality bar should be raised. Faster doesn't need to mean worse but without discipline it will.
 
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jnjroach

Administrator
Staff member
TH2 is looking really good.... these last two builds are really stable and performance is excellent. Without changing the video driver I'm pushing the SP3 and a 4K and 2K from mine using the Dock.
 

macmee

Active Member
I don't know if MS appreciates how much this hurts them. The philosophy of old... good enough ... is not good enough anymore and hasn't been for the last decade or so. The whole "1.0" release mentality is not acceptable and even worse I think the continuous update idea actually made it worse which is the absolute wrong direction.

There's nothing wrong with continuous updates per se as long as it's not used as an excuse to lower the bar when in fact the quality bar should be raised. Faster doesn't need to mean worse but without discipline it will.

The big W10 problems I want/need addressed if I'm going to continue using these devices in a productive student environment:

* They need to fix the battery life problem.

* They need to fix the right click problem.

* They need to fix OneNote palm recognition. An iPad 1 and a free app from the App Store has better user experience then OneNote on the SP3 right now. It just doesn't work.
 
First, let me state I'm really, really hoping they make a Surface 4, because I felt left out of this week's news about the Surface Pro 4 and the Surface Book. I could buy the Pro 4 if I wanted, but that size remains TOO HUGE to operate as a handheld tablet. I love my Surface 3, but would appreciate similar upgrades that the Pro line is getting: 1) I'd like them to keep the same physical dimensions of the screen while increasing the display size by shrinking the bezel. Get it up to about 11 inches display area. 2) I'd like the new Surface Pen, with the eraser and changeable tips, and magnetically attracted to the tablet side, to come to the S4. 3) And of course, a bit faster processor.
 
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GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
I don't remember which device it was that I recently saw but it had a button you can press to disable touch while using the Pen. Awesomeness!
 
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