Tablets Surface Go DOA?

[Shanghaichica]

A few questions about the pen.

Can it be used anywhere or is it just for specific apps? For example on the galaxy note phones and tablets you can use it anywhere in any app and can take clippings and annotate any screen.

Can you use any surface pen or is it a specific one for the go?
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My personal opinion is that this is only a travel device, can be short term such as going to work every day. If I'm home I'd much rather have my larger, more powerful and longer battery life Pro as my go to couch surfer. The Go becomes a nice option for travel due to the small size and also the small size of a USB-C charger. But you have the HUGE caveat of the terrible battery life, so hopefully you aren't far from an outlet. If I get one (still not decided) it would most likely collect dust until I traveled.
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Give it 3 months on Swappa and you should be able to get those extras like keyboard/pen for a low price or even free, and still have it under warranty. In my years of using swappa I've found that accessories (like chrome wheels on cars) tend to lose all of their value when sold 2nd hand. Plenty of surface Pro listings where the keyboard and pen and included in the price, sometimes even more like screen savers, covers, etc.

I think MS should have met the consumer somewhere in the middle and offered a bundle with keyboard and pen for maybe $499, that way you could still buy them unbundled, but if you wanted everything you would save some for your loyalty. At $499 I think I'd go ahead and buy 3 of them as I'm thinking about, but otherwise I'm starting to balk a bit because these seem expensive once you start adding all the accessories and taxes of course.

My daily commute is 2 hours each way. So I’d think the Go would just about stand up to that.

 

[spinedoc77]

A few questions about the pen.

Can it be used anywhere or is it just for specific apps? For example on the galaxy note phones and tablets you can use it anywhere in any app and can take clippings and annotate any screen.

Can you use any surface pen or is it a specific one for the go?
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My daily commute is 2 hours each way. So I’d think the Go would just about stand up to that.

You can use the pen anywhere if you want to navigate the UI, think of it pretty much like your finger or a mouse cursor. It's neat also because windows recognizes it, so you can set it to handwriting recognition instead of keyboard when you click on a text box, for example. The text recognition is amazing, much better than it used to be. You also have many clipping/annotation options. In the Edge browser, for example, you can go into annotation mode where you can mark up and save anything on your page. OneNote is also VERY powerful, if you have the one note clipping program open in the background you can clip all sorts of things from your pc like graphics, web links, etc. right to your one note.

You can use the same exact pen the surface pro has, the Go pen is the same exact piece of hardware. I'm not sure if you can pair a pen to 2 devices, I doubt it, but I'm not sure. As I considered just using my Pro pen with the Go if I get one, but I really don't want to be constantly re-pairing it.

Yeah this would be perfect for a 2 hour commute I'd say, especially if you were able to recharge it before your return trip. If reviews are stating 6 hours web browsing or so at 150nits, I'd say real world use might be closer to 4-5 hours.

 

[Shanghaichica]

You can use the pen anywhere if you want to navigate the UI, think of it pretty much like your finger or a mouse cursor. It's neat also because windows recognizes it, so you can set it to handwriting recognition instead of keyboard when you click on a text box, for example. The text recognition is amazing, much better than it used to be. You also have many clipping/annotation options. In the Edge browser, for example, you can go into annotation mode where you can mark up and save anything on your page. OneNote is also VERY powerful, if you have the one note clipping program open in the background you can clip all sorts of things from your pc like graphics, web links, etc. right to your one note.

You can use the same exact pen the surface pro has, the Go pen is the same exact piece of hardware. I'm not sure if you can pair a pen to 2 devices, I doubt it, but I'm not sure. As I considered just using my Pro pen with the Go if I get one, but I really don't want to be constantly re-pairing it.

Yeah this would be perfect for a 2 hour commute I'd say, especially if you were able to recharge it before your return trip. If reviews are stating 6 hours web browsing or so at 150nits, I'd say real world use might be closer to 4-5 hours.

Thanks. I’m actually looking for a stylus just like the surface pen or S pen. The Apple Pencil is quite limited in that it only works within applications and to annotate a web page you would have to manually take a screen shot and then do it. I’m not an artist so I don’t use any specialised apps.

So for me this seems a better buy than the tab S4 because it’s a fully fledged computer. I like small computers better because they don’t feel like a chore to use. Even at home I prefer a smaller computer as I do most computing on my sofa rather than at a table or a desk.

I will continue to watch the reviews as they come in but I’m leaning towards the 8GB model. I don’t think 64GB would be enough especially as I’m going to have to put some antiviral software on there. Also it might get bogged down with 4GB of ram and I would prefer SSD as the minute it starts getting slow like my windows machines in the past is when I’ll stop using it.

 

[spinedoc77]

Thanks. I’m actually looking for a stylus just like the surface pen or S pen. The Apple Pencil is quite limited in that it only works within applications and to annotate a web page you would have to manually take a screen shot and then do it. I’m not an artist so I don’t use any specialised apps.

So for me this seems a better buy than the tab S4 because it’s a fully fledged computer. I like small computers better because they don’t feel like a chore to use. Even at home I prefer a smaller computer as I do most computing on my sofa rather than at a table or a desk.

I will continue to watch the reviews as they come in but I’m leaning towards the 8GB model. I don’t think 64GB would be enough especially as I’m going to have to put some antiviral software on there. Also it might get bogged down with 4GB of ram and I would prefer SSD as the minute it starts getting slow like my windows machines in the past is when I’ll stop using it.

I think any Android tablet is at the bottom of the heap these days, even a Samsung one. Samsung does a great job with their in house apps, but the issue arises if you want to use anything else. Google has abandoned tablets and apps on an android tablet are usually just stretched out phone versions. Plus there are a lot of Android emulators out there that run well on my SP at least and allow you to have any app from google's marketplace on windows.

I think the 8gb model is money well spent. Even if the RAM doesn't make much of a difference, the SSD is much faster, and of course larger. Antivirus you will be ok with just using windows defender/security, it's very robust and gets great reviews next to any of the other AV companies and has very low overhead. I usually just add some type of malware protection and something like Adguard which blocks tracking and stuff like that and I'm set.

 

[sracer]

Has anyone who is buying a Surface Go considered the Asus Transformer Mini? If so, what tipped you over to the Go?

 

[Michael Goff]

If your primary use is browsing having an actual desktop browser over a souped up mobile one is definitely a boon. Slightly different story if you want to use tablet optimised apps so far, but in most cases the web version (of say Facebook or YouTube) is equal or better than the app version and in a lot of cases app versions of traditional desktop programmes (Word, Photoshop for e.g.) are still playing catch-up. Really it’s just the things like games built ground-up around a touch interface that are lacking on windows.

Why aren't you using the touch version of Office? It's more than enough for most people, and editing is free on the Go.

 

[spinedoc77]

Has anyone who is buying a Surface Go considered the Asus Transformer Mini? If so, what tipped you over to the Go?

That looks like a nice device, $399 including keyboard/pen wow. Some caveats, it's micro-USB charging (bleh), has an Atom processor, screen is only 1280x800. It is compelling though at that price, although I don't know what the performance is like. If I was trying to break a tie between this and the Go I'd look up benchmarks for both devices and compare that to what you intend to do with it. The existence of this kind of makes me feel like MS is gouging us with the keyboard/pen, which together are more than half the price of the tablet itself.

 

[Jacoblee23]

Apple user over here. Looking into getting a Surface go or pro so I can have a windows device for some programs not on Apple. I am not a power user by any means. I dabble in photoshop and do a lot of word processing and paperwork for my job. Would I notice the weak pentium processor and should I opt for the pro or would the go still be snappy for what I do?

 

[Falhófnir]

Apple user over here. Looking into getting a Surface go or pro so I can have a windows device for some programs not on Apple. I am not a power user by any means. I dabble in photoshop and do a lot of word processing and paperwork for my job. Would I notice the weak pentium processor and should I opt for the pro or would the go still be snappy for what I do?

For photoshop the pro would probably be better - look at the mobiletechreview review of the go and pro on YouTube, Lisa does quite a lot of the digital drawing and photo manipulation stuff so she usually covers that - seems the go does struggle a bit

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

Apple user over here. Looking into getting a Surface go or pro so I can have a windows device for some programs not on Apple. I am not a power user by any means. I dabble in photoshop and do a lot of word processing and paperwork for my job. Would I notice the weak pentium processor and should I opt for the pro or would the go still be snappy for what I do?

I just saw a YouTube video testing Photoshop on the Surface Go. It runs ok for normal/light tasks. I would advise the 8 GB model if you want to work on large pictures.
Office (including Word) runs fine on any Surface device. I have a Surface 3 which is a less powerful machine than the Go and it has no problems at all running office.
The Pentium processor in the Go is from the newest generation and not as weak as you might think.
It probably is going to struggle a bit if you run to many programs at once or if you use Chrome with to many tabs open. Edge runs much smoother on most Windows devices than Chrome.
If you search YouTube you will find a lot of tests already, also by artists. Not only Photoshop but a lot of other drawing programs as well.

 

[Jacoblee23]

I just saw a YouTube video testing Photoshop on the Surface Go. It runs ok for normal/light tasks. I would advise the 8 GB model if you want to work on large pictures.
Office (including Word) runs fine on any Surface device. I have a Surface 3 which is a less powerful machine than the Go and it has no problems at all running office.
The Pentium processor in the Go is from the newest generation and not as weak as you might think.
It probably is going to struggle a bit if you run to many programs at once or if you use Chrome with to many tabs open. Edge runs much smoother on most Windows devices than Chrome.
If you search YouTube you will find a lot of tests already, also by artists. Not only Photoshop but a lot of other drawing programs as well.

Thank you if I did get one it would be the 8gb version for sure.

 

[spinedoc77]

Apple user over here. Looking into getting a Surface go or pro so I can have a windows device for some programs not on Apple. I am not a power user by any means. I dabble in photoshop and do a lot of word processing and paperwork for my job. Would I notice the weak pentium processor and should I opt for the pro or would the go still be snappy for what I do?

Screen/device size should also be an important factor, especially if you will be traveling with it. That extra couple of inches of screen makes a huge difference, but it also means a larger, bulkier device to transport. Plus the larger keyboard would certainly make typing easier. It's not as easy as when it was the Pro versus the regular surface because they were much closer in size.

 

[SteveJUAE]

As the form-factor matures, some are looking beyond the cold, hard specs and to what the device is capable of in day-to-day life. (there will always be those "gearheads" for whom specs are everything)



You assume that Apple can't do that now. They most likely can but have no financial incentive to do so. As long as sales meet or exceed their internal targets, things will continue on. I also think it will also depend upon the success of the GO. If the Go becomes the hit that it looks like it will, that will bode well for everyone. GO fans have a solid device, iPad fans can look forward to Apple responding to the competition.



Good plan. Did you order a TypeCover? If so, which one...the standard or Alcantara? Should I pull the trigger on a GO, it'll be with an Alcantara keyboard.

Ohh I agree

Apple could of upgraded the 2012 bits in the IPad at anytime but the perception and sales point of lowering the price was far more important I presume sales wise . To have the same current spec or better then the Go with the newer IPad with Apple premium I suspect will be more expensive and all you may get is better battery endurance thanks to the IOS and A10/11 chip

Alacantara in Platinum is the KB I opted for, 1 to match my SB2, 2 I had enough black KB's that show greasy mits stains and the Alacantara is not cold to the touch in heavily AC'd rooms
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My personal opinion is that this is only a travel device, can be short term such as going to work every day. If I'm home I'd much rather have my larger, more powerful and longer battery life Pro as my go to couch surfer. The Go becomes a nice option for travel due to the small size and also the small size of a USB-C charger. But you have the HUGE caveat of the terrible battery life, so hopefully you aren't far from an outlet. If I get one (still not decided) it would most likely collect dust until I traveled.
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Give it 3 months on Swappa and you should be able to get those extras like keyboard/pen for a low price or even free, and still have it under warranty. In my years of using swappa I've found that accessories (like chrome wheels on cars) tend to lose all of their value when sold 2nd hand. Plenty of surface Pro listings where the keyboard and pen and included in the price, sometimes even more like screen savers, covers, etc.

I think MS should have met the consumer somewhere in the middle and offered a bundle with keyboard and pen for maybe $499, that way you could still buy them unbundled, but if you wanted everything you would save some for your loyalty. At $499 I think I'd go ahead and buy 3 of them as I'm thinking about, but otherwise I'm starting to balk a bit because these seem expensive once you start adding all the accessories and taxes of course.

I think it's easy for you and if you are like myself I often gift on my laptops to family

ie Simply buy 2 low spec ones, one for your daughter, play with the other whilst you sell your wife's laptop and if you like it get a nice new higher spec one for yourself, but give her the low spec but with a new KB

 

[SteveJUAE]

Apple user over here. Looking into getting a Surface go or pro so I can have a windows device for some programs not on Apple. I am not a power user by any means. I dabble in photoshop and do a lot of word processing and paperwork for my job. Would I notice the weak pentium processor and should I opt for the pro or would the go still be snappy for what I do?

The Pro is a far better value device. The Go is all about footprint if you do not really need this measure of portability etc then the Pro is more suitable however if you want a W10 laptop and replace an IPad at the same time the Go makes more sense ie 2 birds with one stone

 

[spinedoc77]

I think it's easy for you and if you are like myself I often gift on my laptops to family

ie Simply buy 2 low spec ones, one for your daughter, play with the other whilst you sell your wife's laptop and if you like it get a nice new higher spec one for yourself, but give her the low spec but with a new KB

Why do you have to be an enabler?!??

 

[SteveJUAE]

Why do you have to be an enabler?!??

Lol, years of practice with my wife explaining why I have come home with another new gadget

 

[Michael Goff]

I can tell you this, using the Surface Go is fun.

 

[SteveJUAE]

Has anyone who is buying a Surface Go considered the Asus Transformer Mini? If so, what tipped you over to the Go?

Was not on my radar as I tried 3 Atom powered W10 tablets (2 Yoga,s 8" and 10" plus Lonovo book) GB4 CPU results are around half of the GO plus micro USB charging takes almost as long as battery endurance

With the Go it may be circa 6hr battery endurance but stick it on charge over lunch and you should be good for rest of day

I ran in to an issue with my Tab S3 thought the USB out was OK for HDMI but seems not I only really have it for one app that streams TV internationally, though I could just plug it in to the hotel TV so the Mrs could watch her favorite series

However if the Android app will work with an emulator on the GO and with mirror cast or HDMI out via USB-C then th S3 will soon be gone. Not sure if S4 has similar issues.

 

[Macalicious2011]

Surprisingly The Verge who are heavily Apple biased like it. However their review unit was the version with 8GB RAM and a 128GB SSD.

 

[SDColorado]

Surprisingly The Verge who are heavily Apple biased like it. However their review unit was the version with 8GB RAM and a 128GB SSD.

That's the model my wife *really* wants. Birthday is in November. Will have to read The Verge review

 

[tbayrgs]

Surprisingly The Verge who are heavily Apple biased like it. However their review unit was the version with 8GB RAM and a 128GB SSD.

The Verge ‘Apple bias’ cliche is pretty old news. I’ve been listening to their podcasts for years now and they really are quite critical of Apple. Nilay, Deiter, and Casey Newton all are pretty hard on them and actually prefer Android phones, though Nilay admits iMessage is the last feature that makes switching problematic.

Regarding the reviews—it’s nice to see that in general they’ve been quite favorable. This segment (tablets) needs some worthwhile alternatives to iPads so having some viable choices is only good for all of us—will keep Apple, Microsoft, and hopefully Google focused on really pushing to improve their devices.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Talking about the base model but it's in windows S mode.

I want to pre-order it today but I'm still trying to figure out which model to go for.

 

[SteveJUAE]

Talking about the base model but it's in windows S mode.

I want to pre-order it today but I'm still trying to figure out which model to go for.

Look at it simply the 128/8GB model will have around 90GB of actual storage where the 64/4GB version will be high 30GB storage available for apps/progs/music etc

Therefore its almost a dead cert that you will need a minimum 64GB micro SD card or bigger, these cost say at John Lewis around 80UKP and they are not the fast ones

So if you take that there is 130 UKP difference between the 2 models less 80 for the SD card ( that is inferior to the SSD) you have a delta of just 50 Ukp for the extra 8GB ram and a better overall experience

Not worth the worry for less than 50 quid, get the higher spec with no regrets

PS I think resume will also be faster from SSD this seems not to be tested/mentioned in reviews

 

[Shanghaichica]

Look at it simply the 128/8GB model will have around 90GB of actual storage where the 64/4GB version will be high 30GB storage available for apps/progs/music etc

Therefore its almost a dead cert that you will need a minimum 64GB micro SD card or bigger, these cost say at John Lewis around 80UKP and they are not the fast ones

So if you take that there is 130 UKP difference between the 2 models less 80 for the SD card ( that is inferior to the SSD) you have a delta of just 50 Ukp for the extra 8GB ram and a better overall experience

Not worth the worry for less than 50 quid, get the higher spec with no regrets

PS I think resume will also be faster from SSD this seems not to be tested/mentioned in reviews

You are right. 30GB will be painful. I do already have a 200GB micro SD card but 30GB is not enough.

 

[SteveJUAE]

You are right. 30GB will be painful. I do already have a 200GB micro SD card but 30GB is not enough.

It will be nearer 40GB than 30GB but not after you loaded office and synched emails

90GB and cloud storage works without overly worrying. SD card is nice say for pre downloading Netflix or other offline content