Microsoft Surface Book (Core i5, Nvidia GPU) Notebook Review

[unicorn64]

Well, I really like the detailed reviews at notebookcheck.com and I'm fan of Surface Book as well. And it seems to be a problem for me ... as I've read about "Surface Book with missing pages", "can feel so barebones", "vital features missing" etc. As SB is quite expensive device, I did a deeper analysis and I was surprised with several missing issues or misunderstandings in this review as follows:

1. Incomplete Pro List:
   + PixelSense touchscreen display with Surface Pen (1024 levels)
   + RealSense infrared camera (Windows Hello login)
   + large 69 Wh battery
   + available Surface Dock (small, 2xDP, 4xUSB, Ethernet, Audio)

2. Some Irrelevant Cons:
no SmartCard/fingerprint reader (-> Windows Hello login), no HDMI (-> DisplayPort), no TrackPoint (-> Touch Display with Surface Pen), no RJ-45 (available Surface Dock), etc.

3. Controversial Battery Life Test (web 6:42)
Other reviewers reached almost double, e.g., arstechnica.com (web 12,5 h), engadget.com (video 11,5 h), mobiletechreview.com (mix 10h), so, the best results in their laptop list.

4. Controversial SB Evaluation (compared to Dell XPS 13-9350)
Many users compare 2-in-1 SB to ultrabook XPS 13, see link with detailed comparison at notebookcheck.com
http://www.notebookcheck.net/index.php?id=127065&specs[]=28123&specs[]=28216
4.1 Connectivity is almost identical (2xUSB, DisplayPort/Thunderbolt, Card Reader, Audio + more sensors for SB), but evaluation is completely different (SB-46% vs XPS-75%)
4.2 Display is much better in SB (higher resolution, cca 50% better brightness and color space, etc.), but evaluation is same (SB-88% vs XPS-88%)
4.3 Temperature is slightly higher for XPS, but evaluation is better for XPS (SB-90% vs XPS-97%)
4.4 Pointing Device - SB has almost all what's possible (keyboard, touchpad, touch screen, pen, three sensors, two cams), but evaluation is better for XPS with keyboard and touchpad (SB-86% vs XPS-94%). Note that XPS is in ultrabook category.
4.5 Battery - SB web test is controversial.
I understand different categories and reviewers, but still I'm not satisfied.

So, if you like Microsoft, then Surface Book can be a great "package", of course, quite expensive, mainly aimed to professionals and creators.

[Francesco1]

Again, I agree with the reviewer:

PixelSense touchscreen display with Surface Pen (1024 levels)

He mentions it in "accurate colors and high contrast; 96 percent sRGB coverage".

no SmartCard/fingerprint reader

Yeah, you have Windows Hello but it is pretty different, a fingerprint reader would have been better in my opinion.

large 69 Wh battery

Actually you can even have a 100Wh battery, but what matters most is battery life.

available Surface Dock

It would have been a pro if it was included, but it's not.

no HDMI

It's actually a cons, since HDMI is the easiest way to connect displays.

no TrackPoint

Maybe you don't understand this point, but having the touchscreen has nothing to do with the fact that you have no dedicated mouse buttons or a trackpoint, which someone finds useful.

[Arhip]

Does someone from Apple did bite Microsoft designers? Why did they copy this awful pseudo-design of macbookrro? Is there ergonomics mean something now days? I think it doesn't, because if it does, nobody would ever put those ugly sharp edges on the device which is meant to be used by humans. Yeah, it looks glamorous on the picture, but you have to be very  patient to actually use it.

[Lolofly]

Hi!

Is there anywhere i can find the difference in battery life between a i5 w/o dpu and an i5 w/ gpu surface book?

Thank you

[HanWang]

I am wondering if the latest release of firmware solves some of the mentioned bugs and battery related issues（optimus disable）