Man, what a let down as far as the Surface Book 3 goes. A four core processor in 2020?
I actually like the Surface Book design; had the 13 and now have the 15 SB2 at work. No major changes, but a nice update to bring it current. Honestly, I’m not sure what I’d change on the physical design. (A holder for the pen instead of a magnet, but otherwise…)
The processor choice, I’m sure, is due to the need to fit everything in the screen. Not the fastest, but a good boost over the previous generation.
They want like $3400 for the 32 GB 2 TB model. That is almost as much as the 8 core i9 32 GB 2 TB MacBook Pro 16. My $2500 i9 Thinkpad P53 with 32 GB and 1 TB SSD that’s been out for many months (and with a Quadro RTX 3000) is a better deal. Maybe the SB3 is for writers and game players. Can’t see data people using this.
I use my Surface Book for drawing as well as for general computer work.
The Surface Book spends most of its time with the screen reversed so I can get easy access to the screen and I have a Bluetooth keyboard on the side for keyboard shortcuts.
I assume a Wacom Cintiq would provide a better drawing experience, but then I’d still need to get a computer to actually power it. The Surface Book gives me more flexibility and portability.
If I got a MacBook, I’d still need a separate Pen Display for drawing. I still don’t understand why Apple insists that no one would want a touch sensitive screen. Their own iPads say that’s bull.
Different tools for different needs. The Thinkpad weighs two pounds more and doesn’t have a touchscreen, pen, or a tablet mode. They’re not competitors. If you just want the fastest portable for the buck, the Thinkpad’s a better choice. If you have a use for the large tablet mode, the MacBook and Thinkpad aren’t under consideration.
Artists, media consumers, creative types are the market for this, not data people or coders.
As someone who loves big tablets, with a kid who’s an artist, I’m the target market here.
Well then why do they market a “professional” version and throw a Quadro RTX in with a gimped CPU? Maybe I am missing something, but nobody wants a Quadro RTX with a 4 core CPU in 2020. There are so many better options than a SB3 for somebody that needs Quadro graphics cards.
Artists weren’t necessarily the market intended by MS, but they are the only actual market. I think it’s cool that neat devices like the Surface Book and Surface Go exist, but like I said earlier they are all deeply compromised. Some peoples’ workflow may negate or minimize those compromises, and for them they make sense.
The Microsoft website is horrible at briefly stating the comparisons between the Surface Pro (6, 7, and X), Surface Go, Surface Book, and Surface Laptop.
Rather bizarrely, also (some) UK teachers apparently. My brother got issued a Surface Book (gen 1) by his school.
When teaching in a large lecture hall, being able to write on your computer screen is actually super useful. We’ve got some lecture halls, where even with giant-sized chalk or giant whiteboard pen, students in the upper seats aren’t going to be able to read the board very well at all. But if you’re projecting your computer onto a projection screen if your laptop has a touch screen you can turn it into a giant super-size whiteboard.
For my work / teaching laptop, I can’t imagine going back to something without a touch sensitive screen, just because that ability to draw on the screen is so useful.
My brother’s not teaching in lecture halls though. His classes are 20 or so students.
Touch sensitive screen and a stylus is phenomenal for teaching if you have a good way to project (wireless or a good podium with connection to the projector). With a small group a smartboard can be better because it is easier to have more people interacting with it at once but I’d love to try out a set up where everyone had good tablet capability and a shared document.
My wife has a Surface Book 2 for work which she uses in a docking station with a large secondary monitor. She also uses it for note-taking during meetings, She has many open windows. When she has to undock and re-dock, which she has to do several times throughout the day, her screen workspace is reshuffled as all open windows get rearranged and shoved back to the Surface screen.
Her idea is to get a second device which she can take to meetings for note-taking, vastly reducing the undocking issue. She likes the Surface Pro and already has the pen, so she is looking at getting this new Surface Go 2. Her primary concern is that it has good battery life and is quick (not laggy when taking notes with the pen).
Does this sound like a good option for her?
Edit to correct: she currently has a Surface Book, not a Surface Pro.
I would get an iPad and use the OneNote app, personally. Surfaces are pretty good laptops (although the lowest-model Go with MMC storage is slow) but suck for tablet use.
Check your DM.
She has become familiar and comfortable with using the Surface Book in tablet mode and thought it would be easier all the way around if the secondary device was as similar as possible. But maybe remaining on the same platform shouldn’t be weighed so heavily when the main purpose is simply note-taking.
Right, the tablet is just something to run OneNote on.
But iPads don’t have a kickstand, and therefore are inferior devices.
The cases work fine for propping them up, although of course the kickstand is better.