I've had a Surface Go since August 2018. Aside from the small size, I hate it. I can't think of a time when I bought a new computer (including phones and tablets) and was immediately underwhelmed by its performance. It is so slow.
The other issue is the keyboard. Unless you have it on a solid surface, you have to be very careful about putting any weight on it. The keyboard will flex, which causes it to think the trackpad has been pressed. You can imagine the issues that come from that.
A Microsoft Store exchanged my keyboard for a new one, thinking it must have been a defect. After using it for a while and having the same experience, Microsoft support told me that's how the keyboard is designed and I need to be more careful when using it. OK...
If you don’t travel much I always recommend used thinkpads coming off lease on eBay. Higher end models used by business people who probably used them as PowerPoint display devices. They aren’t usually light or fancy, but they are cheap and powerful. Every 3-5 I spend ~$400 on one as my personal device and never disappointed. I like them more than my work macbook pros but they are not as portable.
I have the 8GB / 128GB SSD variant and I haven't had issues with its performance, though I came at it from the angle of replacing an Android tablet as that market has dried up.
I've found it pretty pleasant for that use case, and even some light coding on it during the holidays at my parents. Compile times are not great and I've been meaning to set it up so I can use VS Code's remote feature to use it as a frontend to my home server, but actual interaction in VS code and completion etc. is totally acceptable for Rust and JS.
Keep in mind there's an important difference between the 64 and 128 GB models: 64 GB ones use an eMMC for storage, while the 128 GB model uses a NVMe SSD
Feels like we're talking about 2 totally different machines - I'm using one right now, and always use it or a Surface Pro 7, and I couldn't be happier. I use one of them on my lap 95% of the time (I generally work from a recliner). I love the keyboard in this situation. I guess I've never tried putting weight on it - maybe that's a different keyboarding approach; I think the ergonomic recommendation is to not rest your hands on the keyboard, IIRC.
I'm entirely satisfied with the performance. Although mainly I'm coding in a terminal through ssh, so I don't push it much. But for videos, browsing, etc I've never had any issues.
Along with the very pleasant WSL Linux experience, I also wouldn't want to go back to a computer without a touchscreen and excellent stylus support. Of course, I could get that with an iPad Pro, but then I don't have a real computer - so I'd need 2 devices (which I used to do, and hated it). Being able to read and annotate papers with a pen (including in portrait mode) is very nice, as is presenting from a computer I can draw on directly.
I'm surprised at how long the battery lasts, and like the magnetic connection to power or docking station. The dock is really nice too, although I don't use it as much as I used to, since I'm mainly using it on my lap nowadays.
> Aside from the small size, I hate it. I can't think of a time when I bought a new computer (including phones and tablets) and was immediately underwhelmed by its performance. It is so slow.
Put Linux on it and it's not so slow anymore. With 4GB of RAM you can even run the GNOME desktop (for its touch friendliness) with few or no memory issues, without ever hitting swap. The 'tablet' experience is vastly better on recent versions of GNOME than it ever was on Windows 10, and easily on a par with the new iPadOS. It actually turns tablet computers into a form factor you can use professionally.
I have had endless keyboard hardware issues; MS refuses to anything even though it is inside warranty. Tells me I have to be more careful and it is my fault. Absolute opposite of my experience with Apple and the iPad Pro. So I just use a bluetooth keyboard and a mouse with it now as the keyboard cover (2nd one) just completely stopped working. I have not had the thing for 6 months...
Besides that, the performance but especially the battery life is just depressing to work with. I could live with the performance if the battery life would be anything like my iPad, but for a device so slow having battery life this bad seems weird.
I have 8GB variant and performance on Win10 was abysmal. But i bought it to install Linux on it - and it's perfect. Best small-form Linux tab on market.
If we're making this a little bit of a surface line conversation: I'm absolutely amazed at how bad the latest Microsoft Surface Pro 7 is. I bought it for OneNote and as a second computer to my main laptop.
The pen regularly is not recognized, the entire computer freezes for 2 seconds when rotating including stuttering video and audio. The entire computer freezes for 1s when opening the keyboard which happens for me two or three times every five minutes of active work in OneNote. I've done about 20 hours of work in OneNote now and couldn't recommend it to anyone for any workflow, not formal design work, not annotating PDFs, not drawing, not storyboarding or wireframing or writing by hand. I only keep using it hoping I'll stop hitting it's fail cases by learning it all and that has yet to happen. I plan to try out the iPad next week. Any other recommendations for a thinking workspace with digital pen?
I have a list of 10-15 OneNote peculiarities that seem insane to have made it into production, and that OneNote is almost unusably laggy on Microsoft's latest device is wild to me. They center around the virtual keyboard and non-ink object selection and manipulation, of which there are zero official Microsoft tutorials or manuals. There is no way in OneNote on the surface to "exit" an action, selection or keyboard. Any tap will open the keyboard, cycling the 2x 1s freeze for opening and closing the keyboard. It's maddening.
Interesting. I received an SP7 for christmas from my wife after I made one too many comments about the crummy battery on my XPS 13. I didnt expect to like it as much as I do. Your issues with 1N are not thinks I encounter regularly myself but for my use it's an amazing machine.
I have the 4GB Surface Go. I have mixed feelings about the device. I misjudged it. I expected a lightweight laptop that can work as a tablet, but Surface Go is primarily a tablet that can do some desktop work.
The performance is OK for my needs. The screen bezels are too thick for my taste, but I guess that's the tablet part coming into play.
The device is a bit too thick for my taste, it's matching a Macbook Pro in thickness. The weight isn't special either, sure, the tablet alone is light, but add the keyboard and it's not that light anymore.
The keyboard is the best and worst part. I enjoy using it, but the way it's designed, it's completely unusable on a lap. You need a flat, solid surface to use the keyboard, full stop.
I thought it'd be more usable as a laptop. Next time, I'll look for something like Asus Transformer, they have a rigid keyboard that holds the screen, or a used Macbook 12 (I love the form factor of that one).
I am not sold on the kickstand. I don't really see many benefits of it. I guess it's useful if you want to watch a movie on your tablet and want to put it standing up? I don't know.
My primary computing device at home, for leisure, side project coding and sometimes work, has been a surface pro 6 (13” i5) for almost a year. It replaced my MBP 2018 edition that I resold for almost its purchase value around this time last year.
It was my first move to Windows after a decade of Mac at home, though we use Windows at my place of work so it’s not unfamiliar territory to me, and I have to say that I really enjoy the machine. The combination of VSC and WSL is just so great a way to box away your development parts, without contaminating the OS you use to watch movies. I know some of you are probably good at running setups that never bricks, but I’m not, and having it in a container you can easily replace with a new Linux image has been so nice.
I use the tablet part quite a bit. The keyboard is nice, and I don’t really mind that it’s slow. The only real downside about from the privacy issues with Windows, is that it’s not as good as a laptop when you’re lying down with it on your stomach.
Not the OP but I've also had a Surface Go for a while. I use it to fill the following niche:
A device that is light, small, fanless, has a usable keyboard and touchpad, runs a real OS, can be used to write and debug code, has built-in LTE, runs a Kindle app.
Other than a tendency to hang on reboot (shared with previous LTE Surfacen I've used), I've liked using it. I stopped carrying a tablet (iPad or Samsung Tab) with me when traveling since the Suface Go does pretty much everything a tablet does and is not much larger/heavier, and also replaces a laptop on short trips. Since phones are now so large (I use a Note 10+), I typically read books on my phone anyway, reducing the need for a tablet sized device for that purpose. On longer trips I carry both the Go and a regular laptop.
I adore the Surface Go form factor, but I'm baffled by its hardware choices, especially the CPU. To be frank, the 4415Y is godawful. Microsoft's last small tablet the Surface 3 used the Z8700. Let's compare them for illustrative purposes. The 4415Y is two years newer than the Z8700, but has twice as high an SDP, and has a Recommended Customer Price 4.35 times as high. The 4415Y Geekbenches at 2,000 and 4,000 for single and multi-threaded performance. The Z8700 comes in at 1,100 and 2,800. A two year newer CPU that costs over four times as much is just barely matching the Z8700 on per-watt performance.
I don't know what kind of fuckery has been going on at Intel with regards to their low-power chips but it isn't good.
I don't understand Microsoft's logic with the Surface line.
- The Surface Go didn't get updated in 2019, despite having as a main issue its performances.
- The Surface Pro X is the future hardware-wise but has a ton of issue software-wise.
- The Surface Pro 7 is an iterative change and it's been like that since a few years already.
- The Surface Book 2 (the only one I used extensively) is still a mess hardware-wise. The weight and angles feel atrociously weird.
- The Surface Laptop is good but too expensive compared to the competition.
Apple has fixed a few things last year with a MacBook Pro 16" that is nearly perfect and a MacBook Air that gives a lot, I was expecting Microsoft to answer to that with a spec bump of the Go and a reduction in price of the Laptop but it didn't happen.
My guess would be that the "Surface" product line doesn't have one deciding visionary that knows and decides what to deploy in the market, that the teams building these things follow.
So instead of having a product line that hits each section with a device that makes sense, there is bunch of different devices that are OK, but doesn't make 100% sense for any of the segments, and the devices are overlapping a bunch.
I had the choice of going with a Surface, or with an iPad Pro + a macbook air.
I chose the latter option because:
1. programming sounded better on the macbook air. Maybe it is different now with WSL? But I didn't know enough at the time.
2. airdrop, and all the cool stuff you get when you stay within Apple's ecosystem (I already had an iPhone).
I'm not too happy about 2, because honestly I'd rather have devices that can all work well with each other no matter the brand, and I would have rather had one device like the surface that could be both a great tablet and a great laptop.
I'm super satisfied with the iPad pro though. So I'm wondering how this compares.
This post spurred me to learn that linux, specifically Ubuntu runs nearly perfect on the surface go. Only cameras don't seem to work which is an accomplishment. Would be curious to see if the power usage improvements of Ubuntu 19 could give 9 hours of actual battery life on this compared to the 6 it usually has provided in windows.
Semi related; I've wanted to run MacOS with full update support on a surface pro for some time. Hackintosh can provide one working snapshot, but I want a device I have to hack to keep running. In case this has changed would love to know. I love the form factor of the Surface.
I have a new Surface Go with a Verizon LTE SIM card. Being online all the time is great, and the portability of it is also great. But the keyboard is really painful as the keys are all about 30% smaller and scrunched together. I've even contemplated using a regular Surface keyboard on my Go, but it looks ridiculous. So I've been traveling with both my Surface Go and new Surface Laptop- and I'll probably roll down the Go to someone else at the office who can use it.
I have a surface pro that I have been very happy with, but it has a couple of issues that make me still use other computers many times. I got it thinking it could replace both my laptop and my tablet, since it can be both.
One, it is a bit too heavy to use as my primary tablet. It gets heavy to hold for a long time, especially laying down. Also, the on screen keyboard is not great; the iPad keyboard works much better.
Second, the fact that the keyboard is detachable means it can't really be used on your lap. I often like to lean back in a chair and use the keyboard on my lap; the flexible keyboard makes this not work. You need a table to set it on.
It is a pretty powerful laptop for its size, though, and I like being able to take only it when I am traveling. It even plays games fairly well (at least as well as can be expected with onboard graphics)
It's worth mentioning that you can get third-party keyboards made for Surface Go, that are wireless. It makes the form factor even more interesting when you can separate the keyboard from the screen if you want.
I like light machines too. My favourite right now is the Pixel (book) slate. It's light, battery life is fine, screen is great and can run Android and Linux apps.
I spend most time in chrome, but often switch to Emacs and SSH into other machines. The keyboard is the weakest part, but I got used to it and started to even like it. The key movement is pleasant and it's very quiet.
I've had the (4GB) Surface Go since launch and always thought it was too slow to be usable. Finally did a full reinstall a month back and it's somehow been great since, it's not a powerful machine but feels very snappy in daily use now. Basically wasted a year.
Must be something going on that's fixed in a later Windows version because the difference is night and day.
I have an Acer Spin 1 that is a slightly larger form factor (11", .65? thick) and quite snappy and delightfully portable. The laptop form factor (convertible to tablet) and keyboard are great.
Only downside is the 1366x768 screen, which I find just tolerable for the 11" display.
I have the 8gb model running Arch Linux with sway wm. Instead of the default keyboard I have a split ergonomic mechanical keyboard. A bit unconventional, but it's my favorite dev machine! Helps me keep my shoulders and neck happy.
So... Are these reviews paid for? I've known a few people who got stuck with a surface, usually because their work forced it on them, and they invariably hated it. The thing is barely a computer. They've sacrificed physical usability for the sake of some form factor pissing contest with Apple. Why are all the "best laptop of 20xx" reviews led by the surface and Dell's equally awful XPS? I don't want an eight ounce conversation piece. I want a brick I can drop down the stairs with a bunch of RAM in it. I can't be the only one.
[+] [-] pottertheotter|6 years ago|reply
The other issue is the keyboard. Unless you have it on a solid surface, you have to be very careful about putting any weight on it. The keyboard will flex, which causes it to think the trackpad has been pressed. You can imagine the issues that come from that.
A Microsoft Store exchanged my keyboard for a new one, thinking it must have been a defect. After using it for a while and having the same experience, Microsoft support told me that's how the keyboard is designed and I need to be more careful when using it. OK...
[+] [-] userbinator|6 years ago|reply
I think it says more about the state of software today than anything else, when 4GB of RAM and a CPU that's faster than the laptop I was using 10 years ago (compare https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+Duo+T240... and https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Pentium+4415Y...) is still considered "slow" for those everyday tasks that haven't changed in 10 years.
[+] [-] flatiron|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Macha|6 years ago|reply
I've found it pretty pleasant for that use case, and even some light coding on it during the holidays at my parents. Compile times are not great and I've been meaning to set it up so I can use VS Code's remote feature to use it as a frontend to my home server, but actual interaction in VS code and completion etc. is totally acceptable for Rust and JS.
[+] [-] Kipters|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jph00|6 years ago|reply
I'm entirely satisfied with the performance. Although mainly I'm coding in a terminal through ssh, so I don't push it much. But for videos, browsing, etc I've never had any issues.
Along with the very pleasant WSL Linux experience, I also wouldn't want to go back to a computer without a touchscreen and excellent stylus support. Of course, I could get that with an iPad Pro, but then I don't have a real computer - so I'd need 2 devices (which I used to do, and hated it). Being able to read and annotate papers with a pen (including in portrait mode) is very nice, as is presenting from a computer I can draw on directly.
I'm surprised at how long the battery lasts, and like the magnetic connection to power or docking station. The dock is really nice too, although I don't use it as much as I used to, since I'm mainly using it on my lap nowadays.
[+] [-] zozbot234|6 years ago|reply
Put Linux on it and it's not so slow anymore. With 4GB of RAM you can even run the GNOME desktop (for its touch friendliness) with few or no memory issues, without ever hitting swap. The 'tablet' experience is vastly better on recent versions of GNOME than it ever was on Windows 10, and easily on a par with the new iPadOS. It actually turns tablet computers into a form factor you can use professionally.
[+] [-] tluyben2|6 years ago|reply
Besides that, the performance but especially the battery life is just depressing to work with. I could live with the performance if the battery life would be anything like my iPad, but for a device so slow having battery life this bad seems weird.
[+] [-] naikrovek|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hatch_q|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] angleofrepose|6 years ago|reply
The pen regularly is not recognized, the entire computer freezes for 2 seconds when rotating including stuttering video and audio. The entire computer freezes for 1s when opening the keyboard which happens for me two or three times every five minutes of active work in OneNote. I've done about 20 hours of work in OneNote now and couldn't recommend it to anyone for any workflow, not formal design work, not annotating PDFs, not drawing, not storyboarding or wireframing or writing by hand. I only keep using it hoping I'll stop hitting it's fail cases by learning it all and that has yet to happen. I plan to try out the iPad next week. Any other recommendations for a thinking workspace with digital pen?
I have a list of 10-15 OneNote peculiarities that seem insane to have made it into production, and that OneNote is almost unusably laggy on Microsoft's latest device is wild to me. They center around the virtual keyboard and non-ink object selection and manipulation, of which there are zero official Microsoft tutorials or manuals. There is no way in OneNote on the surface to "exit" an action, selection or keyboard. Any tap will open the keyboard, cycling the 2x 1s freeze for opening and closing the keyboard. It's maddening.
[+] [-] goatherders|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DenisM|6 years ago|reply
Make sure to get the matte screen protector for the tablet for additional pen-to-surface friction.
[+] [-] skocznymroczny|6 years ago|reply
The performance is OK for my needs. The screen bezels are too thick for my taste, but I guess that's the tablet part coming into play.
The device is a bit too thick for my taste, it's matching a Macbook Pro in thickness. The weight isn't special either, sure, the tablet alone is light, but add the keyboard and it's not that light anymore.
The keyboard is the best and worst part. I enjoy using it, but the way it's designed, it's completely unusable on a lap. You need a flat, solid surface to use the keyboard, full stop.
I thought it'd be more usable as a laptop. Next time, I'll look for something like Asus Transformer, they have a rigid keyboard that holds the screen, or a used Macbook 12 (I love the form factor of that one).
I am not sold on the kickstand. I don't really see many benefits of it. I guess it's useful if you want to watch a movie on your tablet and want to put it standing up? I don't know.
[+] [-] moksly|6 years ago|reply
It was my first move to Windows after a decade of Mac at home, though we use Windows at my place of work so it’s not unfamiliar territory to me, and I have to say that I really enjoy the machine. The combination of VSC and WSL is just so great a way to box away your development parts, without contaminating the OS you use to watch movies. I know some of you are probably good at running setups that never bricks, but I’m not, and having it in a container you can easily replace with a new Linux image has been so nice.
I use the tablet part quite a bit. The keyboard is nice, and I don’t really mind that it’s slow. The only real downside about from the privacy issues with Windows, is that it’s not as good as a laptop when you’re lying down with it on your stomach.
[+] [-] dboreham|6 years ago|reply
A device that is light, small, fanless, has a usable keyboard and touchpad, runs a real OS, can be used to write and debug code, has built-in LTE, runs a Kindle app.
Other than a tendency to hang on reboot (shared with previous LTE Surfacen I've used), I've liked using it. I stopped carrying a tablet (iPad or Samsung Tab) with me when traveling since the Suface Go does pretty much everything a tablet does and is not much larger/heavier, and also replaces a laptop on short trips. Since phones are now so large (I use a Note 10+), I typically read books on my phone anyway, reducing the need for a tablet sized device for that purpose. On longer trips I carry both the Go and a regular laptop.
[+] [-] cwyers|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Causality1|6 years ago|reply
I don't know what kind of fuckery has been going on at Intel with regards to their low-power chips but it isn't good.
[+] [-] dboreham|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] my123|6 years ago|reply
1 big core (from the regular Core architecture lineup) + 4 little cores (Atom), how the hell did they even want to make that?
[+] [-] kristianp|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ArmandGrillet|6 years ago|reply
- The Surface Go didn't get updated in 2019, despite having as a main issue its performances.
- The Surface Pro X is the future hardware-wise but has a ton of issue software-wise.
- The Surface Pro 7 is an iterative change and it's been like that since a few years already.
- The Surface Book 2 (the only one I used extensively) is still a mess hardware-wise. The weight and angles feel atrociously weird.
- The Surface Laptop is good but too expensive compared to the competition.
Apple has fixed a few things last year with a MacBook Pro 16" that is nearly perfect and a MacBook Air that gives a lot, I was expecting Microsoft to answer to that with a spec bump of the Go and a reduction in price of the Laptop but it didn't happen.
[+] [-] capableweb|6 years ago|reply
So instead of having a product line that hits each section with a device that makes sense, there is bunch of different devices that are OK, but doesn't make 100% sense for any of the segments, and the devices are overlapping a bunch.
[+] [-] baby|6 years ago|reply
I had the choice of going with a Surface, or with an iPad Pro + a macbook air.
I chose the latter option because:
1. programming sounded better on the macbook air. Maybe it is different now with WSL? But I didn't know enough at the time.
2. airdrop, and all the cool stuff you get when you stay within Apple's ecosystem (I already had an iPhone).
I'm not too happy about 2, because honestly I'd rather have devices that can all work well with each other no matter the brand, and I would have rather had one device like the surface that could be both a great tablet and a great laptop.
I'm super satisfied with the iPad pro though. So I'm wondering how this compares.
[+] [-] j45|6 years ago|reply
Semi related; I've wanted to run MacOS with full update support on a surface pro for some time. Hackintosh can provide one working snapshot, but I want a device I have to hack to keep running. In case this has changed would love to know. I love the form factor of the Surface.
[+] [-] _nickwhite|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 1996|6 years ago|reply
Best device I ever got, period. I've the business version with 256 NVMe SSD, Win10 Pro, 8Gb of RAM, and the dock hooked to a large screen.
I've lost quite a few pen. I now purchase the cheaper ones on Amazon. I wish the pen went into a hole like on the thinkpads
[+] [-] lostmsu|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] benjiweber|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cortesoft|6 years ago|reply
One, it is a bit too heavy to use as my primary tablet. It gets heavy to hold for a long time, especially laying down. Also, the on screen keyboard is not great; the iPad keyboard works much better.
Second, the fact that the keyboard is detachable means it can't really be used on your lap. I often like to lean back in a chair and use the keyboard on my lap; the flexible keyboard makes this not work. You need a table to set it on.
It is a pretty powerful laptop for its size, though, and I like being able to take only it when I am traveling. It even plays games fairly well (at least as well as can be expected with onboard graphics)
[+] [-] Flimm|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fwipsy|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] muro|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jessevl|6 years ago|reply
Must be something going on that's fixed in a later Windows version because the difference is night and day.
[+] [-] kbutler|6 years ago|reply
Only downside is the 1366x768 screen, which I find just tolerable for the 11" display.
[+] [-] connorgutman|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] KitDuncan|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mighty_bander|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tyzerdak|6 years ago|reply
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