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I really like the Surface Go

Michael Goff

Michael Goff

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I know there's another topic on it, one that is a couple months without a post, but the title felt overly negative to me. So I decided to make one that is a little more positive, mainly because there is a lot to be positive about with this device.

Windows 10 is pretty good on a tablet. It isn't as good as the iPad for a pure tablet experience, but only because the app situation, but I would say it is leagues above the ChromeOS situation. I say that having made a topic about how I really like the Pixelbook.

Microsoft seems to understand the UI of a tablet, and they seem to be executing on it pretty well as time goes on. And the Go is really good for that, even with Intel being less than amazing at making chips for tablets.
 
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SteveJUAE

SteveJUAE

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I also have a GO and find it a good companion device and whilst I understand the decision they have taken with CPU selection I think there are 2 areas that could of been improved on:

Firstly the bezels could of been a little smaller, but it's not a deal breaker IMO

Secondly the KB could of had an optional variant that includes a sheet battery for prolonged endurance. Whilst doing simple browsing, media and kindle like usage 10 hours is possible on higher usage it soon drops down to 6 hours. A sheet battery could of easily added 4 hours more for little cost/weight/thickness if part of the KB
 
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Michael Goff

Michael Goff

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SteveJUAE said:
I also have a GO and find it a good companion device and whilst I understand the decision they have taken with CPU selection I think there are 2 areas that could of been improved on:

Firstly the bezels could of been a little smaller, but it's not a deal breaker IMO

Secondly the KB could of had an optional variant that includes a sheet battery for prolonged endurance. Whilst doing simple browsing, media and kindle like usage 10 hours is possible on higher usage it soon drops down to 6 hours. A sheet battery could of easily added 4 hours more for little cost/weight/thickness if part of the KB
Click to expand...

I feel the bezel was chosen to give people a device that could get the “free Office” while giving people a big enough size to use a good sized keyboard. I could be wrong.
 
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Macalicious2011

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A few questions.

  • What's the battery drain during standby.
  • Is it quick to boot up.
  • How fluid or responsive is it to tab/drags and how quickly do apps open.
 
SteveJUAE

SteveJUAE

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Michael Goff said:
I feel the bezel was chosen to give people a device that could get the “free Office” while giving people a big enough size to use a good sized keyboard. I could be wrong.
Click to expand...
Possibly :) also quite few winced at the price (but maybe not now with new IPP prices esp the gouge on their KB) and that little extra to the edge would of altered screen and battery costs

Are the IPP's not eligible for free Office ?
[doublepost=1541866793][/doublepost]
Macalicious2011 said:
A few questions.

  • What's the battery drain during standby.
  • Is it quick to boot up.
  • How fluid or responsive is it to tab/drags and how quickly do apps open.
Click to expand...

To Face unlock (Hello):
From Sleep almost instant
From Hibernate 13 Elephants
From Cold Boot 25 Elephants

I only switched my GO on today after a week from closing the KB and it was at 97%

Don't use apps only full progs :) so to open a blank excel or word doc 6 Elephants

Not sure what you mean by tab drags :)
 
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Michael Goff

Michael Goff

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SteveJUAE said:
Possibly :) also quite few winced at the price (but maybe not now with new IPP prices esp the gouge on their KB) and that little extra to the edge would of altered screen and battery costs

Are the IPP's not eligible for free Office ?
[doublepost=1541866793][/doublepost]

To Face unlock (Hello):
From Sleep almost instant
From Hibernate 13 elephants
From Cold Boot 25 Elephants

I only switched my GO on today after a week after closing the KB and it was at 97%

Don't use apps only full progs :) so to open a blank excel or word doc 6 elephants

Not sure what you mean by tab drags :)
Click to expand...

Only the 9.7 Pro is.
 
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LIVEFRMNYC

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Was just playing with the Surface Go at Microcenter. Was impressed. It's much smaller in person than it looks from pics and video, and the display is crisp.

Playing with the Surface Pro right next to it. The size put me off. I think the Go's size is perfect.
 
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Michael Goff

Michael Goff

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LIVEFRMNYC said:
Was just playing with the Surface Go at Microcenter. Was impressed. It's much smaller in person than it looks from pics and video, and the display is crisp.

Playing with the Surface Pro right next to it. The size put me off. I think the Go's size is perfect.
Click to expand...

Pretty much the only problem with it is the giant bezels. Imagine a slightly bigger screen there.
 
SteveJUAE

SteveJUAE

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LIVEFRMNYC said:
Was just playing with the Surface Go at Microcenter. Was impressed. It's much smaller in person than it looks from pics and video, and the display is crisp.

Playing with the Surface Pro right next to it. The size put me off. I think the Go's size is perfect.
Click to expand...
I got the GO as a companion device to my 15" SB2 simply for travelling. Many hotel safes cant take a 13" laptop let alone a 15" :rolleyes:

I found it has worked extremely well as having a full OS has meant there are none of the restrictions and hang-ups associated with Android TABs or IOS IPP mobile platforms.

Anything the office has thrown at me the GO has been fine including complex excel sheets with macros and powerpivot tables etc

Couple it with cloud storage (Icloud/onedrive) plus a little Samsung SSD and you are good to GO

( From a Pool Villa in Phuket currently :D)

pool.jpg
 
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LIVEFRMNYC

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SteveJUAE said:
I got the GO as a companion device to my 15" SB2 simply for travelling. Many hotel safes cant take a 13" laptop let alone a 15" :rolleyes:

I found it has worked extremely well as having a full OS has meant there are none of the restrictions and hang-ups associated with Android TABs or IOS IPP mobile platforms.

Anything the office has thrown at me the GO has been fine including complex excel sheets with macros and powerpivot tables etc

Couple it with cloud storage (Icloud/onedrive) plus a little Samsung SSD and you are good to GO

( From a Pool Villa in Phuket currently :D)

View attachment 806179
Click to expand...

How's the battery life?
 
SteveJUAE

SteveJUAE

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LIVEFRMNYC said:
How's the battery life?
Click to expand...
Using best battery setting 6 hours doing dailies etc is easy to achieve.

Just in Kindle type usage 10 hours is also easily achieved

But you will not be doing this in bright sunshine and even though some laptops and tablets can be used at >500nits battery life would be severely compromised.

The GO also has backlit KB which is more useful in many scenarios

Apart from next gen maybe having smaller bezels even now a KB with a sheet battery would be a plus

All devices have compromises but the GO with a full OS and input/interface options is universally useful

You hear many say they do not need a laptop and a mobile OS is enough but it does not hinder them if they use a full OS where the reverse would be true for many more

There is always something with a little more punch out there but they too come with compromises, least of all cost

We have seen geekbench scores of IPP as good as some MBP but to do what ? It's the smartest dumb thing out there at over a $1k and even the gifted artist have to finish on thier laptops.

At its price point the GO is a considerable flexible portable device and to spec it a little more would push you in to SP6 territory which is another league again in laptop/2 in 1 devices with even greater potential over any tablet and most laptops
 
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Michael Goff

Michael Goff

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sracer said:
Are you just experiencing this now? That type of erratic responsiveness has been around since day-1 of the Surface line.
Click to expand...

It wasn’t always this bad. It was never good, or maybe I’m just noticing it more now.
 
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