Surface Pro 4

shuffles03 · 04-11-2015 9:39am #1

Couldn't find a thread for this so created a new one (mods: feel free to merge if I missed an existing thread).

Anyone getting the Pro 4? I've never owned a Surface device but I'm seriously tempted. I currently own an iPad Air but now that I use an iPhone 6 Plus, my Air rarely gets any hands on time. The idea of a full powered laptop in tablet form is quite appealing. In reality, my Air is just a glorified consumption device. If I want to do any work whatsoever I need a secondary machine. The Microsoft app store worries me but then I remember the Surface runs full Windows 10. Kind of in two minds about it.

Alanstrainor · 04-11-2015 10:33am

I wouldn't worry about the app store, you most likely wont use any apps there. There's a couple I use, but beyond that I just use normal Windows applications. I've been thinking about a Surface of late, I have a Windows tablet which is good, but I'm just deciding if a Surface would really replace both the tablet and my laptop, or would the form factor end up annoying me sitting on a couch with it.

The_Chap · 04-11-2015 3:39pm

Have been swaying between this and the Surface book for a few weeks now. I think the SP4 will win due to portability and the fact I don't "need" another laptop, but I do want something more functional then the ipad

Alanstrainor · 04-11-2015 3:50pm

Still waiting on pricing for the Surface Book. I know it'll make my eyes water though. 2k+ I reckon.

The_Chap · 04-11-2015 3:58pm

Price aside, the other thing that puts me off the SB is the fact it is first gen - it will only improve, whereas the SP4 is now a refined proven product.

shuffles03 · 04-11-2015 4:10pm

Either way, Id say I'll wait a little bit until enough software fixes have been sent out by Microsoft. Currently, users are experiencing problems with low battery life, unresponsive trackpad, Windows Hello not working etc. Thankfully these are all software related and Microsoft have already sent out two updates for fixes.

I think if the iPad Pro had been just that........a 'Pro' machine that offered more functionality I would have gotten it. Another potential gripe with the SP4 is it's usability in desktop mode with touch. Could be very finnicky.

Still loving the idea of a SP4 though. Man, that bright blue keyboard is awesome!

Skittle · 04-11-2015 6:18pm

I've a Surface Pro 3 if you want to ask any questions about it?

@shuffles03: There is a "Tablet" mode which converts the screen into the traditional Windows 8.1 touch style interface. I would recommend getting the keyboard if you are going to be doing any serious amount of typing.

The pen is very good (I've the Pro 3 pen), the only issue is that there's no where to attach it to the Surface itself. This is rectified in the Surface Pro 4 as there's a magnetic side where the pen can attach to.

Nabidana · 04-11-2015 10:27pm

Hi folks,

It looks like I will be getting a Surface Pro 4 through work which I don't need and am planning on selling it.

It's the 2nd highest model with the 256GB/Intel i7, 16GB RAM.

On Microsoft Ireland it's currently retailing at just over 2K.

How much do you guys think I'd get for it?

Cheers,
NBD

shuffles03 · 05-11-2015 12:09am

Nabidana wrote: »

Hi folks,

It looks like I will be getting a Surface Pro 4 through work which I don't need and am planning on selling it.

It's the 2nd highest model with the 256GB/Intel i7, 16GB RAM.

On Microsoft Ireland it's currently retailing at just over 2K.

How much do you guys think I'd get for it?

Cheers,
NBD

As its not out yet, you'll effectively get full price. Best bet would be to use Adverts, drop the price a little bit and sell it there if you wish.......or keep it because it's awesome!

shuffles03 · 05-11-2015 12:13am

Skittle wrote: »

I've a Surface Pro 3 if you want to ask any questions about it?

@shuffles03: There is a "Tablet" mode which converts the screen into the traditional Windows 8.1 touch style interface. I would recommend getting the keyboard if you are going to be doing any serious amount of typing.

The pen is very good (I've the Pro 3 pen), the only issue is that there's no where to attach it to the Surface itself. This is rectified in the Surface Pro 4 as there's a magnetic side where the pen can attach to.

Hey Skittle,

Do you currently find that the lack of apps in the store hinders the device or do you not notice due to it being full Windows 10 allowing you to view desktop versions of everything? As the App Store is quite sparse, I figured I wouldn't really be using the device in tablet mode - desktop mode would probably be my choice.

How do you find navigating desktop mode with multitouch as well as the pen?

I'd definitely get the keyboard - bright blue to be precise.

irishgrover · 05-11-2015 12:18am

Skittle wrote:

The pen is very good (I've the Pro 3 pen), the only issue is that there's no where to attach it to the Surface itself. This is rectified in the Surface Pro 4 as there's a magnetic side where the pen can attach to.

There is a magnetic connection on the pro 3 also?

Nabidana · 05-11-2015 12:23am

shuffles03 wrote: »

As its not out yet, you'll effectively get full price. Best bet would be to use Adverts, drop the price a little bit and sell it there if you wish.......or keep it because it's awesome!

Will I? That'd be great.

I will be getting two so plan on selling one and buying the Lumia 950xl and the MS band 2 with the profits.

shuffles03 · 05-11-2015 9:10am

Now for the all important question.....which configuration.

The idea would be to maximise power with battery life. I've read that the i7 is overkill for battery. The sweet spot might be the i5 with 8GB Ram and 256GB storage.

Skittle · 05-11-2015 11:16am

@irishgrover

There is a magnetic connection on the pro 3 also?

The Surface Pro 3 pen doesn't have any magnetic metal in it except for the pocket clip so there's no proper way for it to attach securely to the Pro 3. When you get the keyboard, they give you a little cloth loop that you can slide the pen into and the loop is stuck then to the keyboard or to the base unit itself.

@shuffles03
The lack of apps isn't really that big a deal, it only becomes a problem when you find yourself using a desktop app that isn't optimised for touch. Then you can fall back to the pen (which has a button for right click, dunno if the new pen SP4 has that) or just use the touchpad if you have the keyboard attached.

The only issue you might run into is the scaling as the screen is very high resolution so certain text and controls might end up being a bit small. But more apps are coming with scaling options (Photoshop & Lightroom for example).

I use Office 2013 regularly on it with out issue (Word will detect the pen and will enable the inking menu). OneNote 2013 was made for the Surface, a dream to use.

I've used Visual Studio 2012 on it too without issue, but I haven't gone as far as running Virtual Machines or anything like that on it.

The_Chap · 06-11-2015 11:17am

this is probably more of a general Surface Pro query, but as I'm looking at getting the SP4 I'll stick it here

I currently use a Toshiba Dynadock USB docking station connected to my laptop via USB to give me up to 3 screens and host other USB ports.

Can I assume this will work with the SP also?

wrt40 · 09-11-2015 3:08pm

shuffles03 wrote: »

Hey Skittle,

Do you currently find that the lack of apps in the store hinders the device or do you not notice due to it being full Windows 10 allowing you to view desktop versions of everything? As the App Store is quite sparse, I figured I wouldn't really be using the device in tablet mode - desktop mode would probably be my choice.

How do you find navigating desktop mode with multitouch as well as the pen?

I'd definitely get the keyboard - bright blue to be precise.

Everyone has different requirements when it comes to apps. Some cannot live without snap chat for example, which is not available on windows platforms and never will because the CEO has a vendetta against Microsoft. I would suggest if you do not plan on using it as a tablet then you should go for a laptop instead. The sp4 is primarily a tablet, that can act as a laptop.

I have ordered an sp4 to replace my aging original surface rt and laptop. The original surface cannot run desktop applications, so I've been restricted to store apps and the situation is not as bad as people make it out to be. The main thing is with what is called local apps. So partbytext or Irish banking apps for example. But the whole app argument is nonsense if you ask me. Just use the website. An app doesn't give you anything the website does not, in fact apps usually have less functionality than the website.

But if you really have to have a particular app you can install Android on the surface pro. Either in dual boot or as a virtual machine. The android iso is freely and legally available to use. Look for Android x86 iso. There are also other free android virtualisations for windows such as Bluestacks.

So you get a windows tablet, windows laptop and an android tablet all in one.

Moogyariane · 14-11-2015 10:08pm

Hi All, I'm trying to find out what is the max memory card that the machine can handle, I plan to get the I5/8Gb/256Gb, and need storage, and other question, does someone has experience with Photoshop on the previous model SP3?

shuffles03 · 18-11-2015 10:25pm

Had a quick go of a Surface Pro 4 in Dixons in Dublin airport this morning. Don't know what the configuration was but it was bloody brilliant! That's the first time I've said that about a Windows device.

I've never used the previous generation of Surface keyboards so can't compare but I absolutely loved the new one. Great key travel, great trackpad (which says something coming from someone that has been spoilt over the years by Apple's offering), everything seemed lightning fast.

I genuinely felt that I was using a laptop, a really really portable laptop.

Also tried out the pen quickly. Onenote wouldn't setup as I wasn't connected to the Internet but I opened up the stock paint app to give it a quick whirl and see what the lag factor was like. Honestly, I couldn't really see any. The eraser works great too. Having watched several online videos, I previously thought that the eraser had quite a bit of lag but there was none today when I gave it a go.

All in all, a great machine!

godtabh · 19-11-2015 9:47pm

shuffles03 wrote: »

Had a quick go of a Surface Pro 4 in Dixons in Dublin airport this morning. Don't know what the configuration was but it was bloody brilliant! That's the first time I've said that about a Windows device.

I've never used the previous generation of Surface keyboards so can't compare but I absolutely loved the new one. Great key travel, great trackpad (which says something coming from someone that has been spoilt over the years by Apple's offering), everything seemed lightning fast.

I genuinely felt that I was using a laptop, a really really portable laptop.

Also tried out the pen quickly. Onenote wouldn't setup as I wasn't connected to the Internet but I opened up the stock paint app to give it a quick whirl and see what the lag factor was like. Honestly, I couldn't really see any. The eraser works great too. Having watched several online videos, I previously thought that the eraser had quite a bit of lag but there was none today when I gave it a go.

All in all, a great machine!

Any good deals there?

shuffles03 · 20-11-2015 1:37pm

godtabh wrote: »

Any good deals there?

Only one on display. Can't remember the pricing unfortunately. There was no spec info either. It seemed lightning fast and I doubt it would have been the i7 with high ram.

It begs the question. In terms of spec, what is considered to be overkill? I'd be using it for normal laptop productivity use with general browsing and Xbox One streaming. I've no idea if the i7, 16GB RAM config is too much or too little. The price tag is over €2K

godtabh · 24-11-2015 2:19pm

shuffles03 wrote: »

Only one on display. Can't remember the pricing unfortunately. There was no spec info either. It seemed lightning fast and I doubt it would have been the i7 with high ram.

It begs the question. In terms of spec, what is considered to be overkill? I'd be using it for normal laptop productivity use with general browsing and Xbox One streaming. I've no idea if the i7, 16GB RAM config is too much or too little. The price tag is over €2K

The cheapest I saw was €550 for the Surface 3.

Was considering it but then I got an email saying my Teclast has shipped so I will stick with that.

Moogyariane · 29-12-2015 2:49pm

Hi All, got my surface pro a month ago now, with the docking station.
I got ride of my my pc add a 128gb sd card and on the docking station are connected 4 tb of hd, 27 inch monitor, Ethernet cable, harman/kardon speakers, keyboard and mouse, and now i have the most useful machine, in the morning in my bag and evening connected to the docking station.
that's my story.

fret_wimp2 · 31-12-2015 7:32pm

Got the SP4, 256GB i5, 8GB configuration about 2 months ago.
Overall its a great device, but it has a few niggles, particularly surrounding power management:

Pros:
-Amazing Screen.
-Does a good job of tying together functionality of laptop and tablet.
-size/shape/design is very nice.
-keyboard is great.
-battery is good when in use. hopefully it will be good and have a lot of standby time once the sleep issues are fixed.
-pen is great, especially when paired with OneNote in portrait mode. just like writing in a notepad. use it a lot more than i thought i would.
-Its quick. boot up time is a few seconds.
-windows hello is great. no logging in anymore.

Cons:
-bugs and niggles, particularly surrounding power. Examples are:
-doesnt actually sleep when asleep. GPU & CPU are still highly active so it consumes a lot of power while "Asleep".MS are aware of the issue, have apologized so i expect a fix in the comming weeks.
-Problems with display port monitors . Cant power a Display port monitor without an "active" cable. this is a big disappointment.
-when docked to display port monitor, wifi only works if dock cable is plugged in a specific way. quite annoying.
-doesnt work with HyperV, wifi gets screwy if HyperV is installed. This could yet cause me to return the device. Its due to the device being obsessed with saving power by turning off wifi when not in use, but hyperV needing network to be operating on full power all the time. It causes a lot of little bugs.
-expensive for what feels like a 1st gen product, a lot of the bugs should be ironed out at this point.
-app store still very lacking.

cichlid child · 10-01-2016 1:35am

Hi I got a surface pro 4 with windows 10 installed.
Does your start button have an 'ALL APPS' option?

senordingdong · 27-01-2016 8:57pm

Can anyone recommend/justify the cost of the type cover?
When compared with other third party Bluetooth keyboards it seems over prices and restrictive.

I was planning on getting the docking station so I figured the MS folding keyboard would have been better as it's universal and could be used for continuum too.

fret_wimp2 · 27-01-2016 10:21pm

senordingdong wrote: »

Can anyone recommend/justify the cost of the type cover?
When compared with other third party Bluetooth keyboards it seems over prices and restrictive.

I was planning on getting the docking station so I figured the MS folding keyboard would have been better as it's universal and could be used for continuum too.

Yes, its almost essential. I wouldnt buy the surface without it. The surface is a laptop trying to be a tablet not the opposite. A laptop needs a keyboard.

senordingdong · 27-01-2016 10:24pm

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

Yes, its almost essential. I wouldnt buy the surface without it. The surface is a laptop trying to be a tablet not the opposite. A laptop needs a keyboard.

I concur, but surely a universal Bluetooth keyboard would be better?

fret_wimp2 · 27-01-2016 11:05pm

Nope, the typecover is designed for the surface. It fits it perfectly, the touchpad is very very good, the typing experience wont be bettered IMO, its also really light and thin, while adding protection to the screen when carrying the device around. even the way it clicks on feels solid. Its much better than any 3rd party accessory you will buy.

My experience is based on using the surface since the end of October last year, but Its up to you, its your money after all.

Trampas · 28-03-2016 7:43am

I'm on the look out for a sp4.

Main use will be visual studio 2013 professional and sql server just express of sql. Might stick on 2015

I think 8gb 256.

Thing is i5 or i7

Won't be playing games or doing graphics and all that.

What would people suggest?

Trampas · 29-03-2016 3:38pm

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Since your not needing graphical horsepower i'd go for the i5. Unless your SQL databases are huge and you need a lot of CPU power I don't think you need the i7.

Thanks. Sql would be small databases.

Saves a few quid

Tom Dunne · 30-03-2016 11:14am

How's the keyboard for typing? (the Microsoft one, that is)

I do a lot of typing (PhD thesis and stuff), but the portability is really appealing to me.

Surface Pro 4

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