Review and Specs — Microsoft Surface Book

With each iteration, Microsoft has improved on the Surface, and the Surface Pro 4 is certainly no exception. But these are minor grumbles-the keyboard feels better and let us type faster than the Type Cover of Microsoft’s Surface tablets. This basically means that it’s a tablet with a really good keyboard, which uses magnets to secure the tablet, either for use in laptop form, and also when it’s closed like a laptop. Consequently, it has felt like typing on cardboard over my lap. One setback about the Surface Pro 4 though is its price: at $899, the price can be steep for those who might want it. Microsoft keeps the cover’s weight and thickness about the same as before by turning to different materials. This permits the keyboard to fit flush with the deck, the keycaps slightly above it, rather than being in a recessed tray. I made it my primary computer for two weeks, including travels through upstate NY and Ontario, Canada. We have hundreds of satisfied Surface Pro users in my day job, and the Surface name has become synonymous with quality – it’s even become a bit of a status symbol amongst the “always in meetings” set. The cardboard-like keyboard wasn’t my only gripe. However, this pen is not one that you can recharge in the same way as the Apple Pencil. Microsoft’s free Windows 10 update in July addresses the bulk of my frustrations. The stylus still came off a few times during my travels, so I stowed it in my backpack after a few days and didn’t have it handy when needed.

The device, as a whole, lasts 12 hours with the two batteries which are integrated into the clipboard (4 hours) and keyboard (8 hours).

In my own use, I saw the benefit of jotting down notes in a meeting with the stylus, or adding quick scribbles to a PowerPoint presentation. The Surface is pressure-sensitive and responds differently whether you press hard or lightly. Even though the Surface Pen Stylus is an intuitive tool for advanced operations, it seems that the iPad Pro’s Apple Pencil has beaten it on the first try.

In essence, the Surface Pro 4 follows the same footprint of the Surface Pro 3. The feature wasn’t available for testing yet, however.

The base model of Dell XPS 12 comes with a 12.5-inch 1080p resolution display and 128 GB of flash storage. That model also costs $500 less than its 1 TB counterpart. The premium, fingerprint keyboard cover is $30 more.

But the only laptops the Surface Book will be replacing are other vendors’ flagship models. With Microsoft’s official Surface Book out, how do gadgets from other competitors fare?

In the laptop configuration, I easily got a full work day’s use from the battery.

Ipad Pro has been put to benchmark tests. In addition to smoothly running all of the typical day-to-day applications, the Core i5 Surface Pro 4 is beefy enough to tackle a hefty workload in Photoshop and edit high definition video in Premiere.