Congrats on 7 thousand subscribers. You videos are entertaining. Concerning this laptop, it looks like MS is trying to nickel and dime the consumer. An alternative is the Lenovo Flex 14...if you can, please review this one for us that don't have $2,500 to spend.
Thanks Michael. Yes indeed, they are following in the footsteps of Apple. Pure greed, what they need is someone else doing a competing design. I have the asus transformer book T303 to review.
Just what i liked to see, tinkering to get the most juice out of the box. I want to get one however 5 months on its still full price everywhere.. hopes MS put a discount soon.
Cheers ! Yes, I like to push as much out of my laptops as possible :) MS will probably only discount when the next gen comes out.. I wish they would though !
This is the exact review I was looking for, Very professional and to the point review, keep it up! Can you tell me how does this laptop do in terms of video editing and photo editing compared to other laptops? And do you think not having a thunderbolt 3 makes it less future proof? because I will be having this laptop for the next 4 years atleast..
Ryan Tahlilkar Thanks Ryan! I think it will just fine for video editing. The 3:2 aspect ratio may even help if you have lots of layers on the timeline. Yes, I think the omission of a thunderbolt port is crazy at this price point. Still, it games well and should be good for 4 years. Thanks for watching 😀
Thank you for your very in-depth reviews! I wish more TH-camrs could review tech like you have. I'm considering getting a SB2 for college and I'm still on the fence about buying this or the XPS 2 in 1. Is the SB2 worth it?
Thanks ! Appreciate that :) I have always been a fan of the SB line. I had the original 13.5" and loved it. I also liked this SB2 but it is very overpriced, only has a 102W PSU which is under powered (5W for the USB A and 97 W for the laptop) and no thunderbolt 3. I am sure their next refresh will have TB3. I have a friend who has been meeting Microsoft to discuss, what seems to be a common issue, of throttling when connected to an external monitor. I will be interviewing him in the near future. I did a brief test on that but it only happened to me when closing the laptop lid if I recall. I am using the Dell XPS 15 2-1 and I think that is better value. Battery life is good, it games well and has TB3. Downside is no USB A.
Thanks for your comment! I appreciate you taking your time to give me an answer to this! =D I'm still a bit unsure on what to get though. I'm currently a college student going into an engineering major. My classes all will heavily rely on a touchscreen for notes, sketches and assignments. Do you think the Dell XPS 15 2 in 1 is still worth it? The SB2 currently has a small discount available for students. The 15" i7 16GB 256 GB version costs $2249 without the stylus pen. (10% off) This is likely the laptop I will use for all my years in college. The price may be a bit steep but the features it provides seem very useful for me! What would you recommend I get? Thank you so much for your time!
@@Cscuile you are welcome 😀 The Dell XPS 15 2-1 for same specs is $1999 with an additional 17% discount with code SAVE17. The CPU in the Dell is on par with an i7 7700hq so is more powerful than the 15w CPU in the SB2. You can also upgrade the ssd if you wish as you can open it up. The BIG negative would be if you are going to use any applications that can be accelerated using CUDA then with an AMD GPU you won't get that. There are other options available like the yoga 720 or 730 which are just as compelling . The Asus Zenbook Flip 14 with an mx150 us very portable. The fingerprint reader is terrible though and pen responsiveness not as good as the Dell. Remember, you cant open that SB to do any upgrades on storage so you will have to use the microSD for lots of stuff and that will be slower. It's amazing how fast that 256 GB SSD fills up...
Do you think the entry level 13.5 inch 256ssd/8gbram/8th gen i5 would be suitable for 2d animation, running software for recording music and general use (youtube, mulitiple tabs) all hobbyist stuff, in australia there is a 700 dollar jump just to get the i7 which also comes with a gtx 1050 so i am hoping i5 will be okay.
I don't even think Microsoft intended to get that many sales with this thing. They want Dell/HP/Lenuvo continue their business and sell as many Windows 10 copies as possible. They just want to build a Master piece to show case their product and shove that up to Apple's face.
Howard Lam you are probably right. I remember when the fist Surafce Pro came out and all the OEMs were freaking out , LoL. They certainly helped pushed what was becoming a stagnant product.
Waleed Alzuabi I’m a designer, and sorry - first hand experience, the surface pen is crap. It feels like a biro. When you start to use thunderbolt, with the associated hard SSD’s you are done with other methods. Honestly. The surface pen is crap.
Anyone else getting image retention issues with SB2 15"? Seems it is a common issue and I am experiencing issue myself its like a temporary burn in on screen.
Anytime! I am always happy to support channels especially if there similar to my own interests. I am looking to get one of these to replace my surface pro 4 they look incredible!
I know this is an old review of the Surface Book 2, but this review contributed to my decision to give the Surface Book 3 1660ti max q a try. It was the only review I could find so far that talked in depth about the fans and stopped me from buying a cooling pad for my couch because I think that would be a waste of money :-). Anyway, I already subscribed to you before, so even older reviews reinforced why I did that :-).
@@benita4150 I ended up returning it. To many software glitches and anomalies and temperatures that I was not comfortable with led to the return. I just didn't feel like it was worth the money. I ended up returning it for two devices...an Asus G14 Gaming laptop and a Samsung Book Flex 2&1...both of which I love...especially the Asus.
Solid review. Just with the colour accuracy - did you have RGB setting enabled in the graphics settings? That is meant to make it more colour accurate.
Couldn't justify the $400 jump for the 512. Seems obscene to me. Did get the 256 for $2350, though, so that's nice. This will be my 4th Surface between personal and work - they keep getting better!
Made business sense there is no TB3 port, sneaky, no eGPU. But subsequently not many people upgraded to the SB3. The SB's niche had become the discrete GPU in the base of a convertible. The price is high, but considering the engineering, artist/design feature set and the quality - its not surprising its twice the price of an acer.
I really like the way that you interact with your audience. I have two questions which I really want the answer (not easy to get the answer from google). First, could I attach the tablet (screen) to the keyboard and keep using it without charging *IF so unfortunately* I have fully or mostly drained the power of the tablet itself on train (coz it probably only lasts for 3-5 hours from what I've read)? In any event, I guess the battery inside the keyboard wont charge the tablet up right? Secondly, Does the power drain issue (i.e. draining even keep it charging) still exist if you are running heavy gaming or other high performance job? Coz I might consider running some virtual machine in Surface Book 2 (not sure if this is a good idea, but yeah, this question still bothers me after I read some reviews)
xwolverinewong hi , thanks! The batteries take turn to discharge in normal use if I recall correctly. So if you use all the battery up in tablet mode to zero (which is hard to do as at 6% it will go to sleep) the keyboard will not charge up the tablet. But with normal use, at 6%, you would connect the base and it would use that battery. The second question I think you are asking if the battery discharges during heavy use and indeed it can do.
The 13 inch with the 1050 gets no love and no reviews!! I have it and think it’s amazing. Same processor as the 15 inch. The 1050 is not a bad graphics card at all.
How portable is the 15" ? Will I be able to carry it easily to school? The difference in weight isn't that much (and basically the same as the MBP 15") but I still wonder and I haven't seen one live (EU). It probably won't fit into the smallest backpacks out there but I would like to know is it comfortable enough take it with you everyday. I'm craving for the performance boost so want the 15" :) Thanks!
Thought 15 inch might be too big to fit in my backpack and too heavy to carry around on campus all the time, so I just ordered the 13 inch today , but I do really want the 1060 GPU for some machine learning research I'm doing. Ah, wish they could make 13 inch with 1060 or even better GPU.
Hey! Thanks for the cool review. I bought my SB2 last week and love it. Quick question - Do I need to run that turbo-boost tweek software every time I want improved performance? i.e. can it load with windows and run in the background?
With XTU it should run at start up but Throttlestop you can either manually start it or create an event to have it load automatically. I prefer to start it as and when I need it. I did an undervolt tutorial here and show how to start Throttlestop automatically: th-cam.com/video/XC74mW9R5gw/w-d-xo.html
Sky Walkies It doesn't throttle when you choose Best Performance. This is where you may see battery depletion when plugged in with a demanding game with max graphics.
Great review! True, the prices are outrageous, but they are kind of justified IMO. 15" 3:2 did not exist before this and MS has had to pay a ton of money for these custom screens, precisely as they did for surface pro 3 (after mass production everyone and their dogs stated copying it, as the prices came down..) and surface book 1st gen. The Lenovo is unusable in portrait mode, people tend to forget this and just say it's overpriced... It takes balls to spend that kind of money and then sell the product at a very high price. Personally I love this form factor, and I could even spend the money, but the dealbreaker for me is the keyboard. There are not even dedicate home, end page down etc and there is no numeric pad. Also the port selection is relatively limited. As a portable workstation with great battery life I think I'll go with the aero 15x (better battery life than the aero 15 according to tests and more powerful GPU), with all the ports, upgradable RAM and a spare m.2 bay.
Digitalguy hi, thanks. Glad you liked it. Good point about the screen. You brought up another good point which I forgot to mention and was upgradability . It’s lock down time, no adding more ram or more importantly a bigger ssd. Good idea on the Aero 15x 👍
I suspect that the maximum wattage the port can deliver is 100w, so the current psu is the maximum that can be used without a change to the connector design. You can charge through the USB C as well as the surface connect port, so I've been wondering if, while gaming, you could plug in through a USB C charger as well to prevent battery discharge?
Was wondering what you do to the laptops you bought after reviewing them? I bet if you sell it using your channel you could easily get rid of it and at the same time get most of your money back towards a new laptop to review. Saying this cause Id be glad to purchase off a laptop from a youtube reviewer(atleast i am guaranteed laptop is in pristine/mint condition as you basically just reviewed it) if only i lived in the united states lol. Anyway lovely video as always! Keep those reviews coming! We love your videos over at (Gaming Laptop Pinas) Filipino Laptop group that has like 73k members over at facebook.
Jason Mak Hi Jason, I try and return most of them but do sell a lot. I’m going to sell my MSI GP72MVR , Aorus x3 v 7 and Sager Np 9873. I see there is a TH-cam channel with the same name. I’ll check out your FB page 👍
Hi, great video just one question tho, I am thinking to buy this laptop, but I am kinda worry about the battery. I bought the first gen surface book, but sometimes the battery usage just go crazy when it`s on sleep.
Thanks Wei ! I didn't have any issues whilst it was asleep. I was hoping to have longer battery life than it did though, considering it has two batteries..
I did aloooot of research on this. Great honest, thorough review. Sad cause otherwise I'd be the absolute ideal demographic for the SB2. Not many manufacturers attempting things for my high end niche market. X Needs Thunderbolt X Needs to ditch the surface dock which is restricting the power brick wattage and causing power/performance issues. Or just sell cheaper with a CPU and GPU that the rest of the components can actually handle. X Microsoft Complete max 2 yrs shows how long they expect the product to actually last X Needs bluetooth in keyboard so serious artists can use hotkeys while drawing on tablet portion. Other manufacturers have done this. X disappointing color accuracy X SD card needs to be flush with chassis X super awkward headphone jack location X why is the trackpad not bigger on the 15"? waste of real estate Gullible people buy a i7 etc. with turbo 4.2Ghz, but get 4.2Ghz for maybe a minute then a dive down to 1.9Ghz for the majority of rendering. Actual, functional performance is so much lower than advertised. The fan location makes clipboard mode useless for drawing apps that might otherwise take advantage of the graphics card as well. Might as well just pay for a cheaper 1.9Ghz that is fully and properly utilized. Power issue is bigger than most people make of it. Constant draining and charging damages the battery, reducing long term battery life, which then requires even more draining and charging. Sure it won't die, but only because it is programmed to cripple performance so it won't reach 0% battery.
Thanks, appreciate it ! Thank you also for taking the time to post your views, will definitely help people considering this. Hopefully Microsoft will listen for SB3...
Hey! So I actually just spent $1999 for the Surface Book 2 because I was in dire need of replacement laptop for college! The laptop shipped super quickly and arrived yesterday afternoon. I endes up going with the 15 inch 256GB, 16GB RAM with Intel i7! After I got the laptop fully updated I powered it off and shut the laptop. I noticed that there was a reasonably subtle sort of crackling/crinkling sound from the hinge when ever I shut or open the laptop screen. Is this normal for the computer and is it something I should worry about while my 90 day warranty from microsoft is still in effect? I just need to figure out if this is a normal thing and if I have to worry about the noise causing damage to the hinge over time? I'd totally appreciate any advice or similar experiences from you guys! Thanks for all your content!!
Hey Ryan ! Glad you like my videos :) The Surface book hinge is different to other laptop hinges, it has more of a folding action doesn't it? I don't recall hearing anything untoward though. I would keep an eye on it and if it worsens then send it back, but it is probably OK.
Hey @@OWNORDISOWN! I just wanted to say thanks again for your help and advice! I wanted to just give you a quick update regarding this whole situation! I was able to exchange my Surface Book 2 for a brand new unit, which was delivered just this friday! Like you had mentioned the hinge noise is totally normal and that the hinge noise won't pose any major structural or manufacturing defects in the future! My new Surface Book 2 does still have some hinge noise when opening and closing the laptop, but I'm both happy and pleased to report that the hinge noise on this new laptop is noticeably quieter and less pronounced than with the laptop I sent back in 😁👍🏻! I'm happy I decided to exchange the laptop for a new one, and I hope that what little hinge noise that still remains will dissipate or go away with age as the laptop hinge gets more "broken in" and loosens up! Thanks again for your help! Cheers!
@@rchallender2493 that's great news Ryan ! That was the best thing to do, I am pleased it has worked out for you and thanks for keeping me updated! Hope to see you again on my channel 😀
I have an Suffice pro 2 and i had to disable turbo boost because it CPU would get 80c watching you tube . After disabling turbo boost with Intel extreme tool it would get to 65c lot better .
Great review just one suggestion, use light music when you change your frame or jump onto the next aspect of the review ans also use some transitioning effects which would make the video a lot more digestible.
ShuckFace Plays!! Thanks for the feedback. Would you prefer background music for the whole video or just parts ? Must admit I don't like background music as it's distracting but if that is what everyone wants I'll give it a go...
OWNorDISOWN Tech Decisions Made Easy i think what you should do is when you are showing your B footage of the products or just images just let everyone grasp those footage or images (by staying silent and showing them longer) and turn the volume of the music a bit up and tone it down when you start speaking again.
Nice video. Any chance you could take a look at Windows Mixed Reality performance on the Surface Book? I've been reading conflicting reports about people having issues with it not working on the 15" model.
Hey! I'm looking forward to buying a Surface Book 2 to use it in high school and university. Which ("13'5" or "15" also the Core i5 or i7) do you think will be the best option for me? I might also be editing some pictures/videos. Thank you!
I think the 13.5" is fine, you can get it with the GTX 1050 so can use the GPU for helping with rendering. The i5 is fine, really no difference as the u-series don't sustain a high turbo anyway. Do my turbo tweak and you will be close to an i7 7700hq performance. Good luck !
I have a question which is critical for me to make a decision. If I am a VR developer for Vive and oculus. Is the performance enough for me? I am sure it is enough for Microsoft MR headsets but what about Vive? The only concern is on the CPU. Is 8650u acceptable for Vive?
OWNorDISOWN Tech Decisions Made Easy Thanks a lot. It is really helpful. So SB2 should be fine for me. And I was thinking of replacing Vive with MR headset. Now it looks not a good idea...
Mao Lin yes, I wouldn't switch the Vive with MR. Controller tracking on MR is not great. The Vive wireless kit will also be out soon so no longer Cable plus there is that performance hit you get running steamVR through it. Glad I was able to help 😀
Now that the CPU settings are locked since updates, does this mean it got fixed by Microsoft itself or am I now missing out the fun of extra performace?
@@OWNORDISOWN that is ridiculous, I bought the device so I have legal right to have full access over this device. Anyway did you happen to have found a way around?
@Dedecayed I agree with you. I'm afraid I ended up selling it to fund other laptops to review. Did you try Thottlestop or XTU? Intel locked down most of the tweaking options unless it is an HK or HX processor. It was supposed to stop a hack called the Plundervolt, I think it was called. Even then, it was down to the manufacturer to allow it and many don't. MSI is still good in that regard but you still need an HK or HX processor I'm afraid.
I am sure mine had the i5. There is basically no difference between the 15w i7 and i5, they both throttle down to the same level. Save money and go for the i5, it should have the GTX 1060 option.
@@OWNORDISOWN thank you :) but i think i might settle for a cheaper option as the razer edge 15 has the same card at half the price and i dont even need all the things in the book thank you so much either way :)
Hey man, sorry to nag you, just want to post this question on both vids since this one is newer :) "Thank you for this video! I am debating between the 15" Surface Book 2 (8650u, gtx 1060) and Razer Blade 14. Do you think I could reliably game Triple-A titles on medium/high settings and achieve around 30-60 FPS on the Surface Book 2, or should I go w/ the Razer Blade? The SB2 would be more idea for my school/work, but I am hoping to use whichever laptop I get as my consistent gaming PC as well as for work/school. Thanks man!" BTW, you got my sub, great reviews IMO.
Last question man, do you know what the ballpark FPS stats would be when comparing the Razer Blade and the SB2 with games such as PUBG, Witcher 3, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and Ark? Again, thank you.
Cheers mate, I try and compare them to other laptops that I tested . Its the only way to make a good judgement call in my opinion. Appreciate the sub mate. I'm going to do a smackdown between the AW13 R3 and Aorus x v7 soon too.
The only GTX 1060 laptop I ran with any of these games was the Razer Blade 14" , in Ark I got 35 fps at 1080p at High settings and 45 fps when I overclocked it. I'll do PUBG, Witcher 3 and Ark when I do my AW13 R3 and Aorus x3 video then :)
The Surface Connector can't take a lot more current than the 102W brick can supply, although 7W is reserved for the USB port. Probably 120W tops including the USB..
OwnOrDisown Yes on the TB3, but as only an amateur photographer I’m happy with a single SD card slot. I’d love to see the SB3 rocking a 4k OLED screen.
That would be nice, I agree. The UHS 2 is nice, its a single slot but you get speeds of 300-400MB/s. I tested it on the Aero 15w v8 and its perfect for large 4k video files.
I wonder when the first NVMe USB-C drives will come out. It might make sense to copy raw files over to such a device from the low-speed SD card slot, and do the editing and rendering from the NVMe. You should be able to get blisteringly fast data transmission that way.
Own, I want to start a TH-cam gaming channel,should I use the Surface Book 2 or a MacBook Air ( I want to live stream and on ps4 and play some pc games)What should I get
Perhaps it was driver related, although my Aorus x3 was from a similar time period. The main point to focus on is that it performs on par, gaming wise, to other GTX 1060 notebooks. There were no glaring slow downs (unless you close the lid of course) .
The CPU will turbo to 4.2 but it not for long. As its temperature increases it reduces its frequency so initially I set the Turbo Boost Power Max to 45W and not a lot happened. As you saw, the wattage was pretty similar. I believe changing the turbo time limit helps keep it at the higher frequency for longer. and you could see the average CPU frequency was higher.
Usually you can just use Throttlestop but some times I have had to use a combination of Throttlestop and XTU. You have to allow more power to the CPU and decrease the time it takes to boost. You also should limit the CPU multipliers using Throttlestop - I find having all 4 cores set to any where between 3 Ghz and 3.2 Ghz is best. I have shown my settings in quite a few of my recent videos. Check out my Asus Zenbook Flip 14 one - I had to use both XTU and Throttlestop there.
exklim Tech News wouldn't that increase the heat and decrease the life of the computer? Is throttlestop an app or how do you actually do this process? I'm not that tech savy.
Eduardo Pedroza you also apply an undervolt to the CPU which reduces the power consumption and temperatures. Would it help if I did a tutorial video ? You install Throttlestop from Techspot. I did do an undervolt guide but perhaps this would be a good idea. I can do a video for you
If I remember it right, the CPU is 8650u, still with 'u', which is worse than 7700HQ on most of them gaming laptop. Is it good enough to run VR (Vive)?
Yes, it is still OK to run games on the Vive and also Windows Mixed Reality but I wouldn't recommend running Steam VR through Mixed Reality - that takes more umph in my testing.
@@OWNORDISOWN thank you for your response sir. I'm looking to buy a flagship laptop and divided between surface book 2, Dell xps 15 and razer blade 15. Which computer do you recommend me that is powerful, gaming, video editing
@@LinuxAndroid86 Do you need pen support? That's the only reason why I would consider the Surface Book really, and even then I would add the Dell XPS 15 2;-1 to your list. I have that and it's a solid laptop with Thunderbolt 3. If you don't need pen support the Razer 15 is very nice. I have that and edited all my CES coverage on it and it worked great. It has excellent build quality, good speakers and games very well. That would be my choice.
Do you know when the surface book 2 came out? is Microsoft going to introduce surface pro 3 soon? I don't want to buy surface book 2 then a couple of months later surface book 3 comes out.
Thank you for replying, do you recommend purchasing the basic one for $1200, I don't play games, it will be for personal use only, word, excel, surfing the net, streaming movies, etc.... The one with the high specs is very expensive.
MC yes, they are crazy expensive. You can upgrade storage with a micro sd card. Storage is the main limiting factor, but yes, the min spec model will be just fine 😀
Thanks for the tips, it really helped me to make a decision, i purchased one and so far it's really amazing. I'm an Apple person but i wanted to try Surface Book 2.
I understand, and that will be my next laptop review. I've already done a bunch of tests but please understand that I have 4 cells phones and 3 other laptops to do - all I purchased , and all with return deadline dates. I work full time too. I can just do a quick video giving my thoughts but feel that would give a disservice to my subscribers and my channel....
I did try but I had issues with the hdmi dongle if I recall, not being able to detect the headset. Its been some time now and I don't have the SB2 anymore. I am sure that is what happened.
PS: I live in Sri Lanka. Hi Steven , I need some help. I recently got my hands on an Asus GL502VMK and even after a repaste in BF4 after about an hour, my cpu ( I7-7700hq) will sit right around 95c and gpu (GTX1060) at 85c ( cpu is undervolted by 0.113mv and gpu is @ 1708Mhz @ 0.8250Vcore) . I just need to know which one of the possibilities is what im dealing with: 1. my room temp during the day is around 33c but with humidity in +80%, it feels closer to 38c ( room is too warm for my laptop? ) 2. there is a problem with my cooler. even though the vents are blisteringly hot after my session. ( heatsinks are heat-soaked and fans cant remove heat fast enough? ) if i turn my Intel turbo boost off ( cpu locked at 2.8Ghz) temps are much more reasonable. cpu 80c, gpu 79c. ( im just upset at this point ) @ uni in my lecturing hall ( A/C is set to 18c but room temp is around 22c ). with the turbo boost still off, my cpu settles at 69c and gpu at 72c.... with the turbo boost enabled in the ac hall, cpu is upper 70s and gpu is mid 70s now... so I dont know what to think about all this. im really upset i cant use my Intel turbo boost without feeling nervous about it ( a tad too high must i say? ). although i cant really harness that computer power in games. the only times i notice im sacrificing anything is when im editing and rendering my videos and it just takes forever to get done. what do you think?
rannon welikala Hi Rannon, it does sound like the ambient room temperature is too high for the system to cope. Sounds like you have done most things to solve the issue. You can under volt the GPU using msi afterburner , I did a video on that. You can try a different paste. I found GELID GC Extreme to be pretty comparable to say Conductonaut. The other option is to use a cooling pad and see what if that helps. Also , how about reenabling turbo boost but restrict it say 3.4 or less ?
the gpu is already undervolted Steven, from the factory the Vcore was 1.1025 @ 1547Mhz. now i undervolted it to 1708Mhz with a Vcore of 0.8250. The thermal paste ive used in AS5, I am almost at the "200" hr cure mark. this is the third time I have applied it ( mind you, I have tried 3 different ways of applications, the dot, line and hand spread. funny enough, the hand spread has given me the greatest improvement and is what I am currently using ). I tried using a cooling pad but to no use ( it did jack shit steven! ) . so I quickly gave up on that. next thing i did was take the bottom panel off all together and oh what a massive difference that made!, at home and the Intel turbo boost enabled, gpu doesn't exceed 76c and cpu 83c. but i quickly found out that it is rather impractical. i read some where online that the bottom panel is a bit to close to the fan intakes and thus restricts airflow. but until i cut holes into the darn thing i wont be completely sure. ( i treasure my warranty! ). maybe il update this comment section when i do get around to cutting holes into it. I did try limiting my cpu to 3.1Ghz which is where the I7-6700hq would be at for a 4 core load. but gpu temp climbed to 83c and cpu 88-89c. so i backed off since its not even a noticeable improvement when im gaming. I guess the largest problem i have to address first is the ambient room temp. ( as you said ) and then when i can i will cut some vent grills under the fan intakes to aid in airflow (but only when my warranty expires!) have I tried everything i possibly could? if I missed anything please do let me know.
the only reason im waiting on trying some thermal grizzly is if my cooler is hampered my room temp and not the ability to remove heat from the cpu and gpu into the heatsink. i dont think its going to make that much a difference ( maybe a degree or 2 ) since the bottle neck is the heatsinks/ fans and general heat-soak... does that make sense? www.google.lk/search?biw=1920&bih=974&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=0aElWoziBZecvQSzqrv4DA&q=asus+gl502vmk+cooling+system&oq=asus+gl502vmk+cooling+system&gs_l=psy-ab.3...59856.61080.0.61311.5.5.0.0.0.0.121.506.3j2.5.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.0.0....0.Gm7O7kfHsZI if you scroll down, you can see what heatpipe configs im dealing with... :P
rannon welikala the only other thing I can think of is selling the laptop and buy one with more robust cooling. Perhaps the MSI GT73 or GT72. All the Asus models, apart from the Zephyrus, I tried were fairly hot
That crossed my mind. but due to personal reasons i cant exactly sell this and get a new one. end of the day its like you said. if you want portability and attractiveness, its going to run a tad hot. if you want a machine that can keep its cool. its going to be bulky and heavy. Thanks so much for your advice Steven, appreciate it a lot. i will be keeping a close eye on this channel to see how far you take it. you've earned yet another subscriber. Cheers!. :). PS:- you make awesome videos, keep it up.
Graphs like at 10:10 and 11:33 are very misleading... what's even the point of showing a bar graph when presenting it like that? just stick to the numbers then
You are kidding me right ? You picked the two most easy graphs. I thought at first you meant the ones where I included the clock rate of the CPU. Heck, one graph you mention only has two bars on it. Put it this way, out of 1500 views you are the only one to be confused by a 2 bar graph...
The first one you mentioned I am comparing times across two systems - with one of the systems overclocked. Having three separate bars makes sense. On the second I have two bars with a clearly labeled axis. I appreciate the feedback but I honestly cannot see how they are misleading like you say?
Dude XD the whole point of the giveaway is to make people Comment, that's how you get more comments and get your vids boosted. so when you do give-away best way is to ask for people to comment and not email you, You-tubing 101 :D Just a tip :) Good VId btw :)
Thanks, glad you like the video and thanks for the tip. I know what you are saying but commenting the time frame will only serve to tell others. Not as if I have that many entrants anyway. It does generate a few extra comments with people complaining they cannot find him etc
Seems microsoft is learning from apple, jacking prices, not including the pen, no proper power brick. Also I don't get why they don't just put RGB on the keyboard, you may say, o well colored is not professional, but that is the beauty of RGB you want it plain white, you can do it, you want a rainbow, you can do that to. Either way I find it far to expensive I'll stick to my Sager, might be more heavy, not as many features, and worse battery life but it's 1400 $ or less :)). Still not bad for a 2 in 1 i guess.
Nicholas Williams I would have thought the GTX 1050 13.5" or the GTX 1060 surface book would be fine as Photoshop makes use of Nvidia graphics cards www.nvidia.com/object/adobe-photoshop-cc.html There is no difference between an i5 and i7 15w CPU, so don't waste your money thinking it will. The Lenovo Yoga 720 or 730 is also worth considering but not as portable but perhaps the Asus Zenbook flip 14 as that has an mx 150 GPU . I reviewed that too and it is my daily driver.
observandisplay I really liked the Zephyrus . I would only consider this if you want a 2 in 1 with pen support otherwise there are definitely better options.
Certainly Overpriced!!! As I'm 12, I don't need that Microsoft FanBoy Stuff!!!!!! I'm happy with my HP Omen 15 which has a 1080p 17.3 inch IPS Screen and Amazing GTX 1050ti😊
Stop bitching about the pen not being included in the box. Some people don't use the pen and they don't need it! The ones that do need it, will order the laptop with the pen, choosing the one they like. If it would be included in the pack, the price would go up by 100$, that's it. So, I don't see it as a bad think, rather a logical step. + If you are surface line user or digital artist, there is a 99% chance that you already got a pen and don't really need an upgrade.
I am entitled to complain about that if I so wish and I already have 3 pens. Even the basic Asus Transformer Book T303 has a pen included. How would you feel if the Galaxy Note 8 came with no pen ? I am sure you will hear ALOT of complaints. I also think it is important for me to tell people that there is no pen so they can factor that in their purchasing decision. People may also just have a Wacom pen, perhaps coming from the Yoga line. Did you think of that ? Thank you and have a nice day.
Tzak just won the Find The Geek ! 12.38-12.39
yay!
all because u persuaded me to buy the 720!
lol , hopefully you don't regret the purchase !
Hope it can run it....... can it?
Yes, Ultra at 32 FPS or Medium at 59 FPS . 1080p
It's weird that some random and unknown TH-camr made the best, honest and comprehensive review. You got yourself a new subscriber!
Faust Rah Thanks Faust, glad you found my video and thanks for the sub !
You deserve way more subscribers. Your reviews are really detailed and honest. Keep up the good work!
Ömer Eren Thanks Omer 😀 hopefully in time TH-cam will push my videos more up the viewing stack..
Congrats on 7 thousand subscribers. You videos are entertaining. Concerning this laptop, it looks like MS is trying to nickel and dime the consumer. An alternative is the Lenovo Flex 14...if you can, please review this one for us that don't have $2,500 to spend.
Thanks Michael. Yes indeed, they are following in the footsteps of Apple. Pure greed, what they need is someone else doing a competing design.
I have the asus transformer book T303 to review.
You deserve many more subscriptions. Very good reviews. I am on the fence between the Razer Blade 15 and this one.
Thanks! I really like my razer 15. If you go for the surface book I would be tempted to wait till next gen comes out as they will have thunderbolt 3.
You just earned a subscriber and Microsoft just got my whole paycheck. I appreciate this production.
Thanks John ! Yes, I really like the SB2 - Hopefully their next one will have Thunderbolt 3 :) Thanks for the sub !
This review was one of the best i've ever seen you covered basically everything. 11 out of 10 stars.
wow, thanks ! Really appreciate that Jacob . Made my day :)
Great review. Thank you for sharing! I appreciate your well balance review. Keep up the great work!
Thanks Mike! Appreciate you watching it 👍
Good tip on forcing turbo speeds, completely forgot about that when undervolting!
Luis Garbinski yes, it makes quite a difference 😀
Exactly the in depth review I was looking for! Thanks so much!
You are welcome Glenn :) Glad you found my video !
Just what i liked to see, tinkering to get the most juice out of the box. I want to get one however 5 months on its still full price everywhere.. hopes MS put a discount soon.
Cheers ! Yes, I like to push as much out of my laptops as possible :) MS will probably only discount when the next gen comes out.. I wish they would though !
What if they stop selling it? I'm ordering tomorrow, if you can get it, get it now.
This is the exact review I was looking for, Very professional and to the point review, keep it up!
Can you tell me how does this laptop do in terms of video editing and photo editing compared to other laptops? And do you think not having a thunderbolt 3 makes it less future proof? because I will be having this laptop for the next 4 years atleast..
Ryan Tahlilkar Thanks Ryan! I think it will just fine for video editing. The 3:2 aspect ratio may even help if you have lots of layers on the timeline.
Yes, I think the omission of a thunderbolt port is crazy at this price point. Still, it games well and should be good for 4 years. Thanks for watching 😀
Thank you for your very in-depth reviews! I wish more TH-camrs could review tech like you have.
I'm considering getting a SB2 for college and I'm still on the fence about buying this or the XPS 2 in 1. Is the SB2 worth it?
Thanks ! Appreciate that :) I have always been a fan of the SB line. I had the original 13.5" and loved it. I also liked this SB2 but it is very overpriced, only has a 102W PSU which is under powered (5W for the USB A and 97 W for the laptop) and no thunderbolt 3. I am sure their next refresh will have TB3. I have a friend who has been meeting Microsoft to discuss, what seems to be a common issue, of throttling when connected to an external monitor. I will be interviewing him in the near future. I did a brief test on that but it only happened to me when closing the laptop lid if I recall.
I am using the Dell XPS 15 2-1 and I think that is better value. Battery life is good, it games well and has TB3. Downside is no USB A.
Thanks for your comment! I appreciate you taking your time to give me an answer to this! =D I'm still a bit unsure on what to get though. I'm currently a college student going into an engineering major. My classes all will heavily rely on a touchscreen for notes, sketches and assignments. Do you think the Dell XPS 15 2 in 1 is still worth it? The SB2 currently has a small discount available for students. The 15" i7 16GB 256 GB version costs $2249 without the stylus pen. (10% off)
This is likely the laptop I will use for all my years in college. The price may be a bit steep but the features it provides seem very useful for me! What would you recommend I get? Thank you so much for your time!
@@Cscuile you are welcome 😀 The Dell XPS 15 2-1 for same specs is $1999 with an additional 17% discount with code SAVE17.
The CPU in the Dell is on par with an i7 7700hq so is more powerful than the 15w CPU in the SB2. You can also upgrade the ssd if you wish as you can open it up. The BIG negative would be if you are going to use any applications that can be accelerated using CUDA then with an AMD GPU you won't get that. There are other options available like the yoga 720 or 730 which are just as compelling .
The Asus Zenbook Flip 14 with an mx150 us very portable. The fingerprint reader is terrible though and pen responsiveness not as good as the Dell. Remember, you cant open that SB to do any upgrades on storage so you will have to use the microSD for lots of stuff and that will be slower. It's amazing how fast that 256 GB SSD fills up...
Do you think the entry level 13.5 inch 256ssd/8gbram/8th gen i5 would be suitable for 2d animation, running software for recording music and general use (youtube, mulitiple tabs) all hobbyist stuff, in australia there is a 700 dollar jump just to get the i7 which also comes with a gtx 1050 so i am hoping i5 will be okay.
What an excellent detailed review thx mate.
Cheers Chris, thanks for watching :)
i say it more for drawing on with the pin and some light movie play back
Best review seen so far! Congrats
Gonzalo Pantoja thanks Gonzalo ! Thanks for watching 😀
thanks for such a comprehensive review!
Thanks for watching, appreciate it !
I don't even think Microsoft intended to get that many sales with this thing. They want Dell/HP/Lenuvo continue their business and sell as many Windows 10 copies as possible. They just want to build a Master piece to show case their product and shove that up to Apple's face.
Howard Lam you are probably right. I remember when the fist Surafce Pro came out and all the OEMs were freaking out , LoL. They certainly helped pushed what was becoming a stagnant product.
-serious? would they lose money then since they have produced these laptops and yet less people buy them?-
_too expensive to justify such price, i can afford it but i dont see why its worth it to spend this much on a laptop, what u think?_
Masterpiece is a bit of a stretch- average pen performance, no tb3, and a battery drain issue..
Waleed Alzuabi I’m a designer, and sorry - first hand experience, the surface pen is crap. It feels like a biro. When you start to use thunderbolt, with the associated hard SSD’s you are done with other methods. Honestly. The surface pen is crap.
You are a great reviewer.
Tim Osmin cheers Tim, really appreciate you say that !
OWNorDISOWN Tech Decisions Made Easy saying as it is =) still waiting for the OmenX VS Sager.
Anyone else getting image retention issues with SB2 15"? Seems it is a common issue and I am experiencing issue myself its like a temporary burn in on screen.
not the review i was waiting for (waited about 5 days for hp omen x 17t), but overall this was pretty good review for new surface book 2.
Ken Jeong Thanks Ken. The Omen will be my next laptop review.
This review was quite comprehensive and seems honest. 👍
Johnny Webb thanks! I tried to be as honest as possible 😀
From one tech lover to another I think your reviews are good :) keep it up dude and I subbed
Gary A Cheers Gary ! Thanks for your support 👍
Anytime! I am always happy to support channels especially if there similar to my own interests. I am looking to get one of these to replace my surface pro 4 they look incredible!
Gary A they look and feel great, as if they are sculpted out of one block of magnesium. I’m sure you will like it Gary 😀
Thanks for the recommendation. Do you know when these will be available for sale in the uk? As of now you can only get them in the US right?
Gary A ah, ok. I’m sure it will not be far behind.
I know this is an old review of the Surface Book 2, but this review contributed to my decision to give the Surface Book 3 1660ti max q a try. It was the only review I could find so far that talked in depth about the fans and stopped me from buying a cooling pad for my couch because I think that would be a waste of money :-). Anyway, I already subscribed to you before, so even older reviews reinforced why I did that :-).
How is it...
im still deciding if i should get one..
@@benita4150 I ended up returning it. To many software glitches and anomalies and temperatures that I was not comfortable with led to the return. I just didn't feel like it was worth the money. I ended up returning it for two devices...an Asus G14 Gaming laptop and a Samsung Book Flex 2&1...both of which I love...especially the Asus.
Nice thorough review. Don't mind the price since I like having the ability to remove the base which the yoga can't do.
Rico Alexander thanks. And the tablet portion is amazingly light.
Solid review. Just with the colour accuracy - did you have RGB setting enabled in the graphics settings? That is meant to make it more colour accurate.
Thanks Tim. If I recall I used out if the box settings, I agree, I should have tested sRGB mode as well. Sorry !
Great review! Keep up the quality content :)
Ben thanks Ben !
Great review. Sub'd. Keep it up! Purchased this same model today - take delivery Wednesday. Can't wait.
Thanks for the sub Andrew ! I am sure you will love it, very solid machine. I'm a big fan of it, if only it was a bit cheaper.
Couldn't justify the $400 jump for the 512. Seems obscene to me. Did get the 256 for $2350, though, so that's nice. This will be my 4th Surface between personal and work - they keep getting better!
I did a video showing that you can game just as well (albeit 52% slower load times) using a class 10 micro SD card :)
exklim Tech News Yes that’s more than likely what I’ll end up doing. A 256gb card that does 95mb/s for $99 isn’t too bad!
Made business sense there is no TB3 port, sneaky, no eGPU. But subsequently not many people upgraded to the SB3. The SB's niche had become the discrete GPU in the base of a convertible. The price is high, but considering the engineering, artist/design feature set and the quality - its not surprising its twice the price of an acer.
How could i get the Surface book 2 15" 256GB Cheap (EU)?
Ebay ?
I really like the way that you interact with your audience. I have two questions which I really want the answer (not easy to get the answer from google).
First, could I attach the tablet (screen) to the keyboard and keep using it without charging *IF so unfortunately* I have fully or mostly drained the power of the tablet itself on train (coz it probably only lasts for 3-5 hours from what I've read)? In any event, I guess the battery inside the keyboard wont charge the tablet up right?
Secondly, Does the power drain issue (i.e. draining even keep it charging) still exist if you are running heavy gaming or other high performance job? Coz I might consider running some virtual machine in Surface Book 2 (not sure if this is a good idea, but yeah, this question still bothers me after I read some reviews)
xwolverinewong hi , thanks! The batteries take turn to discharge in normal use if I recall correctly. So if you use all the battery up in tablet mode to zero (which is hard to do as at 6% it will go to sleep) the keyboard will not charge up the tablet. But with normal use, at 6%, you would connect the base and it would use that battery.
The second question I think you are asking if the battery discharges during heavy use and indeed it can do.
Great review!
Jordan Nguyen thanks Jordan!
hey can I have that 1080ti? :D great review by the way!
Jabrils lol, I have been thinking about selling it and making a profit, lol.
Everybody is unknown until, they are known. I like the way you're a bit of a punk and include a modest overclock benchmark in your reviews.
The 13 inch with the 1050 gets no love and no reviews!! I have it and think it’s amazing. Same processor as the 15 inch. The 1050 is not a bad graphics card at all.
I actually wanted that one really as I had the 13.5" previously but I have the same GPU in my yoga 720. I really loved how portable it was.
How portable is the 15" ? Will I be able to carry it easily to school? The difference in weight isn't that much (and basically the same as the MBP 15") but I still wonder and I haven't seen one live (EU). It probably won't fit into the smallest backpacks out there but I would like to know is it comfortable enough take it with you everyday. I'm craving for the performance boost so want the 15" :) Thanks!
herrasnelmann hi , the 15” is more portable than the yoga 720 since it’s not as long. It’s perfectly fine 👍
Thought 15 inch might be too big to fit in my backpack and too heavy to carry around on campus all the time, so I just ordered the 13 inch today , but I do really want the 1060 GPU for some machine learning research I'm doing. Ah, wish they could make 13 inch with 1060 or even better GPU.
Xinle Zhang the 1050 is good enough. I don’t see anyone really gaming on these hard core anyway as they are not gaming rigs.
Hey! Thanks for the cool review. I bought my SB2 last week and love it. Quick question - Do I need to run that turbo-boost tweek software every time I want improved performance? i.e. can it load with windows and run in the background?
With XTU it should run at start up but Throttlestop you can either manually start it or create an event to have it load automatically. I prefer to start it as and when I need it. I did an undervolt tutorial here and show how to start Throttlestop automatically: th-cam.com/video/XC74mW9R5gw/w-d-xo.html
Sky Walkies It doesn't throttle when you choose Best Performance. This is where you may see battery depletion when plugged in with a demanding game with max graphics.
Great review! True, the prices are outrageous, but they are kind of justified IMO. 15" 3:2 did not exist before this and MS has had to pay a ton of money for these custom screens, precisely as they did for surface pro 3 (after mass production everyone and their dogs stated copying it, as the prices came down..) and surface book 1st gen. The Lenovo is unusable in portrait mode, people tend to forget this and just say it's overpriced... It takes balls to spend that kind of money and then sell the product at a very high price. Personally I love this form factor, and I could even spend the money, but the dealbreaker for me is the keyboard. There are not even dedicate home, end page down etc and there is no numeric pad. Also the port selection is relatively limited. As a portable workstation with great battery life I think I'll go with the aero 15x (better battery life than the aero 15 according to tests and more powerful GPU), with all the ports, upgradable RAM and a spare m.2 bay.
Digitalguy hi, thanks. Glad you liked it. Good point about the screen. You brought up another good point which I forgot to mention and was upgradability . It’s lock down time, no adding more ram or more importantly a bigger ssd. Good idea on the Aero 15x 👍
I suspect that the maximum wattage the port can deliver is 100w, so the current psu is the maximum that can be used without a change to the connector design. You can charge through the USB C as well as the surface connect port, so I've been wondering if, while gaming, you could plug in through a USB C charger as well to prevent battery discharge?
possibly, interesting idea but I suspect Microsoft won't allow that. I sent mine back so I can't test it unfortunately.
Nice Review
Thanks!
Was wondering what you do to the laptops you bought after reviewing them? I bet if you sell it using your channel you could easily get rid of it and at the same time get most of your money back towards a new laptop to review. Saying this cause Id be glad to purchase off a laptop from a youtube reviewer(atleast i am guaranteed laptop is in pristine/mint condition as you basically just reviewed it) if only i lived in the united states lol. Anyway lovely video as always! Keep those reviews coming! We love your videos over at (Gaming Laptop Pinas) Filipino Laptop group that has like 73k members over at facebook.
Jason Mak Hi Jason, I try and return most of them but do sell a lot. I’m going to sell my MSI GP72MVR , Aorus x3 v 7 and Sager Np 9873.
I see there is a TH-cam channel with the same name. I’ll check out your FB page 👍
Hi, great video just one question tho, I am thinking to buy this laptop, but I am kinda worry about the battery. I bought the first gen surface book, but sometimes the battery usage just go crazy when it`s on sleep.
Thanks Wei ! I didn't have any issues whilst it was asleep. I was hoping to have longer battery life than it did though, considering it has two batteries..
wei tuo The battery life is phenomenal. 11 Hours of mixed tasks such as videos and web browsing. 2.5 hours of Gaming on battery!
good to know thx.
That is great, that is much better than the macbook pro
Great vid Stephan :)
Thanks Jocose ! Glad you liked it :) Thanks for watching !
I did aloooot of research on this. Great honest, thorough review. Sad cause otherwise I'd be the absolute ideal demographic for the SB2. Not many manufacturers attempting things for my high end niche market.
X Needs Thunderbolt
X Needs to ditch the surface dock which is restricting the power brick wattage and causing power/performance issues. Or just sell cheaper with a CPU and GPU that the rest of the components can actually handle.
X Microsoft Complete max 2 yrs shows how long they expect the product to actually last
X Needs bluetooth in keyboard so serious artists can use hotkeys while drawing on tablet portion. Other manufacturers have done this.
X disappointing color accuracy
X SD card needs to be flush with chassis
X super awkward headphone jack location
X why is the trackpad not bigger on the 15"? waste of real estate
Gullible people buy a i7 etc. with turbo 4.2Ghz, but get 4.2Ghz for maybe a minute then a dive down to 1.9Ghz for the majority of rendering. Actual, functional performance is so much lower than advertised. The fan location makes clipboard mode useless for drawing apps that might otherwise take advantage of the graphics card as well. Might as well just pay for a cheaper 1.9Ghz that is fully and properly utilized.
Power issue is bigger than most people make of it. Constant draining and charging damages the battery, reducing long term battery life, which then requires even more draining and charging. Sure it won't die, but only because it is programmed to cripple performance so it won't reach 0% battery.
Thanks, appreciate it ! Thank you also for taking the time to post your views, will definitely help people considering this. Hopefully Microsoft will listen for SB3...
Hey! So I actually just spent $1999 for the Surface Book 2 because I was in dire need of replacement laptop for college! The laptop shipped super quickly and arrived yesterday afternoon. I endes up going with the 15 inch 256GB, 16GB RAM with Intel i7!
After I got the laptop fully updated I powered it off and shut the laptop. I noticed that there was a reasonably subtle sort of crackling/crinkling sound from the hinge when ever I shut or open the laptop screen. Is this normal for the computer and is it something I should worry about while my 90 day warranty from microsoft is still in effect? I just need to figure out if this is a normal thing and if I have to worry about the noise causing damage to the hinge over time? I'd totally appreciate any advice or similar experiences from you guys! Thanks for all your content!!
Hey Ryan ! Glad you like my videos :) The Surface book hinge is different to other laptop hinges, it has more of a folding action doesn't it? I don't recall hearing anything untoward though. I would keep an eye on it and if it worsens then send it back, but it is probably OK.
@@OWNORDISOWNthanks so much for the suggestion 😁!!
Hey @@OWNORDISOWN! I just wanted to say thanks again for your help and advice! I wanted to just give you a quick update regarding this whole situation!
I was able to exchange my Surface Book 2 for a brand new unit, which was delivered just this friday! Like you had mentioned the hinge noise is totally normal and that the hinge noise won't pose any major structural or manufacturing defects in the future! My new Surface Book 2 does still have some hinge noise when opening and closing the laptop, but I'm both happy and pleased to report that the hinge noise on this new laptop is noticeably quieter and less pronounced than with the laptop I sent back in 😁👍🏻! I'm happy I decided to exchange the laptop for a new one, and I hope that what little hinge noise that still remains will dissipate or go away with age as the laptop hinge gets more "broken in" and loosens up! Thanks again for your help! Cheers!
@@rchallender2493 that's great news Ryan ! That was the best thing to do, I am pleased it has worked out for you and thanks for keeping me updated! Hope to see you again on my channel 😀
I have an Suffice pro 2 and i had to disable turbo boost because it CPU would get 80c watching you tube . After disabling turbo boost with Intel extreme tool it would get to 65c lot better .
Geek --- 12:38
Well spotted ! I'm thinking about bringing this competition back
Great review! Subscribed!
Hey mate, thanks for the sub! Appreciate your support :)
Great review just one suggestion, use light music when you change your frame or jump onto the next aspect of the review ans also use some transitioning effects which would make the video a lot more digestible.
ShuckFace Plays!! Thanks for the feedback. Would you prefer background music for the whole video or just parts ? Must admit I don't like background music as it's distracting but if that is what everyone wants I'll give it a go...
OWNorDISOWN Tech Decisions Made Easy i think what you should do is when you are showing your B footage of the products or just images just let everyone grasp those footage or images (by staying silent and showing them longer) and turn the volume of the music a bit up and tone it down when you start speaking again.
ShuckFace Plays!! Ok, I will give it a try 😀 thanks !
OWNorDISOWN Tech Decisions Made Easy Great glad to help.
It is refreshing to see a video that doesn't have unnecessary music. Its a review, not a light entertainment show.
Nice video. Any chance you could take a look at Windows Mixed Reality performance on the Surface Book? I've been reading conflicting reports about people having issues with it not working on the 15" model.
I can give it a quick go before I pack it up..
I thought they recently released an update to support mixed reality.
I didn't hear backsound music.. ,but thanks For Reviews :)
Bagus Pratama thanks. Do you prefer background music in reviews ?
Excellent review....
Thanks Carlos, appreciate it !
Hey! I'm looking forward to buying a Surface Book 2 to use it in high school and university. Which ("13'5" or "15" also the Core i5 or i7) do you think will be the best option for me? I might also be editing some pictures/videos. Thank you!
I think the 13.5" is fine, you can get it with the GTX 1050 so can use the GPU for helping with rendering. The i5 is fine, really no difference as the u-series don't sustain a high turbo anyway. Do my turbo tweak and you will be close to an i7 7700hq performance. Good luck !
Thank you!
Great content here. Subscribed
Cheers Abram ! Appreciate your support :)
Best reviewer on youtube guys!! Lets support and share his channel!!
Thanks Brandon ! Really appreciate it :) Merry Christmas lets hope for some good tech stuff next year !
Thanks for making this review, best I've seen on TH-cam on the sb2.
Bit put off by the price seeing as poor port selection, no pen etc.
Thanks ! Really appreciate that :) Yes, I am at a loss why they don't have a thunderbolt 3 port. Rumour is that they will on the next one...
Really nice review my friend :)
Thanks Alejandro :) Really appreciate your continued support !
OWNorDISOWN Tech Decisions Made Easy thank YOU for your good advices and your nice work :D
did I get it?
yeah I got it to work
DId
Did I get the prize?
Tzak L yes, I just emailed you. Congratulations!
I have a question which is critical for me to make a decision. If I am a VR developer for Vive and oculus. Is the performance enough for me? I am sure it is enough for Microsoft MR headsets but what about Vive? The only concern is on the CPU. Is 8650u acceptable for Vive?
Yes, it will be fine. I suspect playing Steam VR games via MR is a no go. Check out this video: th-cam.com/video/d-o_U7rZtPI/w-d-xo.html
OWNorDISOWN Tech Decisions Made Easy Thanks a lot. It is really helpful. So SB2 should be fine for me. And I was thinking of replacing Vive with MR headset. Now it looks not a good idea...
Mao Lin yes, I wouldn't switch the Vive with MR. Controller tracking on MR is not great. The Vive wireless kit will also be out soon so no longer Cable plus there is that performance hit you get running steamVR through it. Glad I was able to help 😀
Now that the CPU settings are locked since updates, does this mean it got fixed by Microsoft itself or am I now missing out the fun of extra performace?
Probably. Manufacturers like to lock users out from tweaking these days...
@@OWNORDISOWN that is ridiculous, I bought the device so I have legal right to have full access over this device.
Anyway did you happen to have found a way around?
@Dedecayed I agree with you. I'm afraid I ended up selling it to fund other laptops to review. Did you try Thottlestop or XTU? Intel locked down most of the tweaking options unless it is an HK or HX processor. It was supposed to stop a hack called the Plundervolt, I think it was called. Even then, it was down to the manufacturer to allow it and many don't. MSI is still good in that regard but you still need an HK or HX processor I'm afraid.
I know this is a year late but does the 15 inch i5 model come with a 1060? And is there a major difference between the i5 or i7 in the book
I am sure mine had the i5. There is basically no difference between the 15w i7 and i5, they both throttle down to the same level. Save money and go for the i5, it should have the GTX 1060 option.
@@OWNORDISOWN thank you :) but i think i might settle for a cheaper option as the razer edge 15 has the same card at half the price and i dont even need all the things in the book thank you so much either way :)
Hey man, sorry to nag you, just want to post this question on both vids since this one is newer :)
"Thank you for this video! I am debating between the 15" Surface Book 2 (8650u, gtx 1060) and Razer Blade 14.
Do you think I could reliably game Triple-A titles on medium/high settings and achieve around 30-60 FPS on the Surface Book 2, or should I go w/ the Razer Blade?
The SB2 would be more idea for my school/work, but I am hoping to use whichever laptop I get as my consistent gaming PC as well as for work/school.
Thanks man!"
BTW, you got my sub, great reviews IMO.
Also, the benchmarks and comparisons you do end-video's are amazingly helpful for me trying to make this decision. Solid channel man.
Last question man, do you know what the ballpark FPS stats would be when comparing the Razer Blade and the SB2 with games such as PUBG, Witcher 3, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and Ark?
Again, thank you.
Cheers mate, I try and compare them to other laptops that I tested . Its the only way to make a good judgement call in my opinion. Appreciate the sub mate. I'm going to do a smackdown between the AW13 R3 and Aorus x v7 soon too.
The only GTX 1060 laptop I ran with any of these games was the Razer Blade 14" , in Ark I got 35 fps at 1080p at High settings and 45 fps when I overclocked it. I'll do PUBG, Witcher 3 and Ark when I do my AW13 R3 and Aorus x3 video then :)
Awesome, thank you! Given the specs, do you think the SB2 could also run those babies, or is that rather unlikely with the 8650u?
Best
huge hell no . they thermal throttle they get way too hot
The Surface Connector can't take a lot more current than the 102W brick can supply, although 7W is reserved for the USB port. Probably 120W tops including the USB..
That's good to know. My biggest wishes are an UHS 2 SD card reader, more storage at a reasonable price and a TB3 port. Surface Book 3 perhaps?
OwnOrDisown Yes on the TB3, but as only an amateur photographer I’m happy with a single SD card slot.
I’d love to see the SB3 rocking a 4k OLED screen.
That would be nice, I agree. The UHS 2 is nice, its a single slot but you get speeds of 300-400MB/s. I tested it on the Aero 15w v8 and its perfect for large 4k video files.
I wonder when the first NVMe USB-C drives will come out. It might make sense to copy raw files over to such a device from the low-speed SD card slot, and do the editing and rendering from the NVMe. You should be able to get blisteringly fast data transmission that way.
Own, I want to start a TH-cam gaming channel,should I use the Surface Book 2 or a MacBook Air ( I want to live stream and on ps4 and play some pc games)What should I get
Retros I would get the Surface Book 2 , it's a more capable machine. There are less expensive options available though...
Thank you
Wait, what are some other alternatives
What are some alternatives
Sorry forgot to add I also need it for school use so is it worth it
How can it beat an Aero, which has great cooling?
Perhaps it was driver related, although my Aorus x3 was from a similar time period. The main point to focus on is that it performs on par, gaming wise, to other GTX 1060 notebooks. There were no glaring slow downs (unless you close the lid of course) .
Nice video once again.
KoreanBritish cheers mate 😀
Why is turbo boost disabled by default?
The CPU will turbo to 4.2 but it not for long. As its temperature increases it reduces its frequency so initially I set the Turbo Boost Power Max to 45W and not a lot happened. As you saw, the wattage was pretty similar. I believe changing the turbo time limit helps keep it at the higher frequency for longer. and you could see the average CPU frequency was higher.
hi the fan in the tablet work in light tasks like onenote?
if so did it's loud?
No, its is very quiet. You have to push the CPU and/or GPU quite hard to get any real noise out of it..so video rendering, gaming etc
Thanks for the quick response.
Are you aware of problems with the tablet fan because I've seen some videos claiming to be causing weird noises.
How do you tweak the turbo boost? I recently purchased the SB2.
Usually you can just use Throttlestop but some times I have had to use a combination of Throttlestop and XTU. You have to allow more power to the CPU and decrease the time it takes to boost. You also should limit the CPU multipliers using Throttlestop - I find having all 4 cores set to any where between 3 Ghz and 3.2 Ghz is best. I have shown my settings in quite a few of my recent videos. Check out my Asus Zenbook Flip 14 one - I had to use both XTU and Throttlestop there.
exklim Tech News wouldn't that increase the heat and decrease the life of the computer? Is throttlestop an app or how do you actually do this process? I'm not that tech savy.
Eduardo Pedroza you also apply an undervolt to the CPU which reduces the power consumption and temperatures. Would it help if I did a tutorial video ?
You install Throttlestop from Techspot. I did do an undervolt guide but perhaps this would be a good idea. I can do a video for you
If I remember it right, the CPU is 8650u, still with 'u', which is worse than 7700HQ on most of them gaming laptop. Is it good enough to run VR (Vive)?
Yes, it is still OK to run games on the Vive and also Windows Mixed Reality but I wouldn't recommend running Steam VR through Mixed Reality - that takes more umph in my testing.
@@OWNORDISOWN what about Oculus rift. Does it work well with this computer
@@LinuxAndroid86 I don't know, I've never had the Rift
@@OWNORDISOWN thank you for your response sir. I'm looking to buy a flagship laptop and divided between surface book 2, Dell xps 15 and razer blade 15. Which computer do you recommend me that is powerful, gaming, video editing
@@LinuxAndroid86 Do you need pen support? That's the only reason why I would consider the Surface Book really, and even then I would add the Dell XPS 15 2;-1 to your list. I have that and it's a solid laptop with Thunderbolt 3.
If you don't need pen support the Razer 15 is very nice. I have that and edited all my CES coverage on it and it worked great. It has excellent build quality, good speakers and games very well. That would be my choice.
Still don't understand why MS didn't bring Thunderbolt 3, which is a huge drawback of surface book!
I agree, makes no sense ! I heard that the 3rd Gen will have it. It would have made it an ideal laptop too :(
Great content
Thanks Bharat ! That's very nice of you to say so :)
Do you know when the surface book 2 came out? is Microsoft going to introduce surface pro 3 soon? I don't want to buy surface book 2 then a couple of months later surface book 3 comes out.
I di this video Dec 3rd and it just came out then. They will probably do a refresh in time for Christmas 2018 is my guess
Thank you for replying, do you recommend purchasing the basic one for $1200, I don't play games, it will be for personal use only, word, excel, surfing the net, streaming movies, etc.... The one with the high specs is very expensive.
MC yes, they are crazy expensive. You can upgrade storage with a micro sd card. Storage is the main limiting factor, but yes, the min spec model will be just fine 😀
Thanks for the tips, it really helped me to make a decision, i purchased one and so far it's really amazing. I'm an Apple person but i wanted to try Surface Book 2.
Are these game tests ran at best performance?
Yes
im experiencing fps drops drastically at better performance as setting it to best performance is very loud to me, is there any solution to it?
Congrat for ur work but iam waiting the rewie of ho omen x
I understand, and that will be my next laptop review. I've already done a bunch of tests but please understand that I have 4 cells phones and 3 other laptops to do - all I purchased , and all with return deadline dates. I work full time too. I can just do a quick video giving my thoughts but feel that would give a disservice to my subscribers and my channel....
Can that surface run htc Vive?
I did try but I had issues with the hdmi dongle if I recall, not being able to detect the headset. Its been some time now and I don't have the SB2 anymore. I am sure that is what happened.
Earned yourself another sub
Jayy Zee thanks mate !
PS: I live in Sri Lanka.
Hi Steven , I need some help. I recently got my hands on an Asus GL502VMK and even after a repaste in BF4 after about an hour, my cpu ( I7-7700hq) will sit right around 95c and gpu (GTX1060) at 85c ( cpu is undervolted by 0.113mv and gpu is @ 1708Mhz @ 0.8250Vcore) . I just need to know which one of the possibilities is what im dealing with:
1. my room temp during the day is around 33c but with humidity in +80%, it feels closer to 38c ( room is too warm for my laptop? )
2. there is a problem with my cooler. even though the vents are blisteringly hot after my session. ( heatsinks are heat-soaked and fans cant remove heat fast enough? )
if i turn my Intel turbo boost off ( cpu locked at 2.8Ghz) temps are much more reasonable. cpu 80c, gpu 79c. ( im just upset at this point )
@ uni in my lecturing hall ( A/C is set to 18c but room temp is around 22c ). with the turbo boost still off, my cpu settles at 69c and gpu at 72c....
with the turbo boost enabled in the ac hall, cpu is upper 70s and gpu is mid 70s now... so I dont know what to think about all this.
im really upset i cant use my Intel turbo boost without feeling nervous about it ( a tad too high must i say? ). although i cant really harness that computer power in games. the only times i notice im sacrificing anything is when im editing and rendering my videos and it just takes forever to get done. what do you think?
rannon welikala Hi Rannon, it does sound like the ambient room temperature is too high for the system to cope. Sounds like you have done most things to solve the issue. You can under volt the GPU using msi afterburner , I did a video on that.
You can try a different paste. I found GELID GC Extreme to be pretty comparable to say Conductonaut.
The other option is to use a cooling pad and see what if that helps.
Also , how about reenabling turbo boost but restrict it say 3.4 or less ?
the gpu is already undervolted Steven, from the factory the Vcore was 1.1025 @ 1547Mhz. now i undervolted it to 1708Mhz with a Vcore of 0.8250.
The thermal paste ive used in AS5, I am almost at the "200" hr cure mark. this is the third time I have applied it ( mind you, I have tried 3 different ways of applications, the dot, line and hand spread. funny enough, the hand spread has given me the greatest improvement and is what I am currently using ).
I tried using a cooling pad but to no use ( it did jack shit steven! ) . so I quickly gave up on that. next thing i did was take the bottom panel off all together and oh what a massive difference that made!, at home and the Intel turbo boost enabled, gpu doesn't exceed 76c and cpu 83c. but i quickly found out that it is rather impractical. i read some where online that the bottom panel is a bit to close to the fan intakes and thus restricts airflow. but until i cut holes into the darn thing i wont be completely sure. ( i treasure my warranty! ). maybe il update this comment section when i do get around to cutting holes into it.
I did try limiting my cpu to 3.1Ghz which is where the I7-6700hq would be at for a 4 core load. but gpu temp climbed to 83c and cpu 88-89c. so i backed off since its not even a noticeable improvement when im gaming.
I guess the largest problem i have to address first is the ambient room temp. ( as you said )
and then when i can i will cut some vent grills under the fan intakes to aid in airflow (but only when my warranty expires!)
have I tried everything i possibly could? if I missed anything please do let me know.
the only reason im waiting on trying some thermal grizzly is if my cooler is hampered my room temp and not the ability to remove heat from the cpu and gpu into the heatsink. i dont think its going to make that much a difference ( maybe a degree or 2 ) since the bottle neck is the heatsinks/ fans and general heat-soak... does that make sense?
www.google.lk/search?biw=1920&bih=974&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=0aElWoziBZecvQSzqrv4DA&q=asus+gl502vmk+cooling+system&oq=asus+gl502vmk+cooling+system&gs_l=psy-ab.3...59856.61080.0.61311.5.5.0.0.0.0.121.506.3j2.5.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.0.0....0.Gm7O7kfHsZI
if you scroll down, you can see what heatpipe configs im dealing with... :P
rannon welikala the only other thing I can think of is selling the laptop and buy one with more robust cooling. Perhaps the MSI GT73 or GT72. All the Asus models, apart from the Zephyrus, I tried were fairly hot
That crossed my mind. but due to personal reasons i cant exactly sell this and get a new one. end of the day its like you said. if you want portability and attractiveness, its going to run a tad hot. if you want a machine that can keep its cool. its going to be bulky and heavy. Thanks so much for your advice Steven, appreciate it a lot. i will be keeping a close eye on this channel to see how far you take it. you've earned yet another subscriber. Cheers!. :). PS:- you make awesome videos, keep it up.
it is very glossy display right?
Its glossy for sure, I show it outside and you can see the reflections pretty easily. All these 2-1 ones are I'm afraid
um u think the dell xps 15 2-in-1 with amv vega , is less glossy right than this one right?
because on description of dell says have anti-reflective
Souloox just watching a movie. I'll do a quick test with the xps and the envy after it...
It is definitely less glossy than the HP Envy 360 but you can still reflections.
That price for 256 storage and those port options is just dickish. I would've really considered it for 512 with better port selection at that price.
I agree totally, after 3 games I have 19 GB left..
Graphs like at 10:10 and 11:33 are very misleading... what's even the point of showing a bar graph when presenting it like that? just stick to the numbers then
You are kidding me right ? You picked the two most easy graphs. I thought at first you meant the ones where I included the clock rate of the CPU. Heck, one graph you mention only has two bars on it. Put it this way, out of 1500 views you are the only one to be confused by a 2 bar graph...
not saying that i was confused, just skipped through your video and noticed that. Thought i'd let you know
The first one you mentioned I am comparing times across two systems - with one of the systems overclocked. Having three separate bars makes sense. On the second I have two bars with a clearly labeled axis. I appreciate the feedback but I honestly cannot see how they are misleading like you say?
Dude XD the whole point of the giveaway is to make people Comment, that's how you get more comments and get your vids boosted. so when you do give-away best way is to ask for people to comment and not email you, You-tubing 101 :D Just a tip :) Good VId btw :)
Thanks, glad you like the video and thanks for the tip. I know what you are saying but commenting the time frame will only serve to tell others. Not as if I have that many entrants anyway. It does generate a few extra comments with people complaining they cannot find him etc
Seems microsoft is learning from apple, jacking prices, not including the pen, no proper power brick. Also I don't get why they don't just put RGB on the keyboard, you may say, o well colored is not professional, but that is the beauty of RGB you want it plain white, you can do it, you want a rainbow, you can do that to. Either way I find it far to expensive I'll stick to my Sager, might be more heavy, not as many features, and worse battery life but it's 1400 $ or less :)). Still not bad for a 2 in 1 i guess.
Yes, I agree mate. I'm packing it up today. Need that $2500 back !
DFox there were only enough PCIE lanes for either the dGPU or TB3, not both. It wasn't a decision to shortchange the user.
Cause RGB lighting is hideous
Finally my dream laptop came true... for just 2.5k$. Gonna sell my last kidney.
lol, I know right? Shame, because it is really nice.
Gaming on the sb2 is better than my ps4 lol
lol, and more portable too !
I'm looking for a laptop that can run Photoshop smoothly. Im a comic book artist
Nicholas Williams I would have thought the GTX 1050 13.5" or the GTX 1060 surface book would be fine as Photoshop makes use of Nvidia graphics cards
www.nvidia.com/object/adobe-photoshop-cc.html
There is no difference between an i5 and i7 15w CPU, so don't waste your money thinking it will.
The Lenovo Yoga 720 or 730 is also worth considering but not as portable but perhaps the Asus Zenbook flip 14 as that has an mx 150 GPU . I reviewed that too and it is my daily driver.
OWNorDisown alright cool thanks I appreciate your time
"Caveet"?
Willi Hansen the price , limited storage and no Thunderbolt 3 mainly
I would rather get the Zephyrus smh
observandisplay I really liked the Zephyrus . I would only consider this if you want a 2 in 1 with pen support otherwise there are definitely better options.
first
Certainly Overpriced!!! As I'm 12, I don't need that Microsoft FanBoy Stuff!!!!!! I'm happy with my HP Omen 15 which has a 1080p 17.3 inch IPS Screen and Amazing GTX 1050ti😊
Stop bitching about the pen not being included in the box. Some people don't use the pen and they don't need it! The ones that do need it, will order the laptop with the pen, choosing the one they like. If it would be included in the pack, the price would go up by 100$, that's it. So, I don't see it as a bad think, rather a logical step. + If you are surface line user or digital artist, there is a 99% chance that you already got a pen and don't really need an upgrade.
I am entitled to complain about that if I so wish and I already have 3 pens. Even the basic Asus Transformer Book T303 has a pen included. How would you feel if the Galaxy Note 8 came with no pen ? I am sure you will hear ALOT of complaints. I also think it is important for me to tell people that there is no pen so they can factor that in their purchasing decision. People may also just have a Wacom pen, perhaps coming from the Yoga line. Did you think of that ? Thank you and have a nice day.
If you chose SB and you don't need the pen (for writing, drawing) you're dumb.. You can get a better laptop for less cost...
Don't be a ride punk