Surface Book 2 Review: The Do Everything Laptop
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ค. 2024
- Microsoft released their surface book a few weeks ago. With updated quad core CPU's and an integrated GTX 1050 in the performance base. How does it perform? Is the Surface Book 2 right for you? Find out here.
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This laptop (and the 15'' w/ the 1060) are really on a different level. I've owned the Razer Blade Pro (w/ 1080), the Acer Triton 700 (w/ 1080), Macbook Pro 13'', and a few others and I just haven't been really happy with them. I've been buying them and trying them out for a month or two and if I don't like it I sell it off on eBay for a slight hit (luckily not very bad...these things hold their values fairly well). The Razer Blade Pro and the Triton 700 are pretty much dedicated gaming computers and the battery life is about 2-3 hours even for just streaming videos and light load stuff. It just doesn't make them really realistic to use if you plan on doing any work on them as well. Especially if you're on a plane or something. The Macbook Pro was nice, but I hate the IOS and even though you can add Windows there is still so much to be desired. The Surface Book 2 is the first laptop that I have found to be the both of best worlds so the speak. I'd recommend it to anyone who loves gaming (as long as they are not the absolute top notch games that require the most current GPU) and also uses it for work purposes. Obviously this is just one man's opinion, but I have had the luxury of owning and using many of the most popular laptops until I personally felt like I wanted something different. The Surface Book 2 is not going anywhere for me.
F U L L S I Z E M I C R O S D
Sometimes I do stuff like that just to see who comments about it.
hmm, not yet even if i don't use. its an important part of the IO why creators buy it.
I D O N ' T L I K E T H E S E S P A C E S
H A L F S I Z E S D
Jay I just bought the 13" Surface Book 2 and watched your video to understand it better. This is a great video, you present just beautifully, with only relevant information. So professional and helpful. Thank you!!
great review , Jay! The way went into details and your firsthand experience of the SB2 is simply superb
I got the 13 with the Gtx 1050 and it’s the greatest damn lap top. This destroys the MacBook Pro by such a long shot
Yes it does. I love this thing.
Your videos are a pleasure to watch, cheers.
Thanks Bob Ross, your show is a pleasure to watch as well.
Man, your content is just awesome! Thanks and keep up the good work
One of the best video reviews on this product. You hit all the important points. Nice job.!
I appreciate that, I tried to be thorough.
Great video man you deserve sooo many more subs !
Love from the uk👏
This time last year I had 3,625 subs. Its happening slowly over time, but it's happening.
Nice review. I'm looking to upgrade from a surface pro 3 in January. I have been looking at this as I loved the surface book 1 but, felt that it wasn't quite a mac beater just yet. I'm glad this one comes with the power base as standard and that the extra battery isn't an after thought as it was in the original SB. The discrete GPU and the great battery life, screen etc. etc. have finally convinced me this is the laptop I'm looking for. Roll on January!
Yea, I am in the same boat as you. The firs SB was a great concept, but lacked the power to justify it's price. The SB2 hits all the marks.
Great video. Not too long, yet pretty thorough. I like it. Best of luck with your channel! 👍
Nice thorough review, good job man! Picked one up and I'm pretty pleased with it for my uses.
Awesome, which model did you get?
Very good video man! Great detail! I'm wanting a surface book 2.
Subscribed 👌🏾 Great content! I'm saving up for the i7 one! 2 grand is pretty steep for a Student 😩
moevmoe yeaa it is but I'm also saving up dw
I know its expensive. You can get a 10% student discount though. Which on these actually saves you a lot.
Great review! First time watching your channel. Enjoyed it!
Thanks for the details... This is just the perfect device for me. I love it!
Loved your video,found it very helpful,subbed because of it,thanks
Thanks Ken, glad you enjoyed it.
Excellent review. Very clear and concise. Subscribed.
Great review video my man! Keep it up. I'm currently loving my 15 inch surface book 2. This baby really does it all.
Thanks man, glad the 15 is treating you well.
You rickrolled your self and kept a straight face. +1.
Excellent review of this laptop!
I really love the build of this laptop. Its keyboard is the best I’ve used from all the laptops I’ve owned. Haven’t experienced coil whine or thermal throttling too. Great review!
Yep, easily my favorite keyboard as well
great review well done.
I've been wanting one of these ever since it hit the market. God damn such an amazing laptop.
You explain the damn good man you are the best
Great review!
Great review best I've seen - I subscribed .🤔
Great job, Sir!
Great review bro.. I'm thinking about getting one, I like bigger screens but the 13.5 inc doesn't seem to small.
The 13.5" is perfect the perfect size, you won't be disappointed.
I was looking for a laptop for 4 months till I ended up to choose between surface book 2 15 and dell XPS 15.
I cant tell you how I m glad to buy the Microsoft surface book 2, really in love with it. And cant wait till I get the surface pen too. Would recommend it for those who wanna b able to do everything in one stylish light laptop.
Agreed, glad you are enjoying it.
Hey mate bit of a long shot but im going to buy this laptop just not sure about going i7 because of the price different between that and i5. Does i5 and 620 graphics have a downside? I want to edit 4k video and animate 2d also casual gaming here and there. Cheers :)
Good job :) Great review :)
Hey Tek, thanks for the review !!! :) May I ask, do you think the SB2 can handle Cubase? I want to compose orchestral film music and I've heard, at least 32 GB RAM are recommended. However, the SB2 "only" has 16 GB. Do you think it will be a problem? Should I wait until the SB3 will be released (whenever this will be)?
Great review. I’ve been enjoying the 15” SB 2, especially when using the dial and pen to edit in Resolve. Def Subbd
do you find the dial useful for video edits? Maybe I'll pick one up.
Tek Everything I do. It can jog or execute almost any keyboard shortcut you choose.
I’m considering this for Lightroom and Photoshop because of the touchscreen and GPU but the price is quite steep...
This device is on sale at my local Microsoft Store for 2699.00 for the 15” i7 1TB. Is this a great deal or should I wait for the new Surface Book?
dont you need a xbox controller adapter for the 13"
I really do like your videos, you explain things well and you talk at a very nice pace. I'm not tech savvy so can you tell me what is thunder bolt 3 and I'm looking for a 2 and 1 laptop. My husband is a graphic designer and sometimes he gets calls to make an adjustment on a design. I want to surprise him but what would you recommend?
What size laptop are you looking for?
Tek Everything I'm looking for something that is larger than a 13 inch and something that he can send and set up files for print
Very nice room.
Great Review......
It should have a second drive bay and the clipboard should include a kickstand and usb port so it can still do well as a stand alone tablet like the surface pros do.
No, I thought the same and I can see why Microsoft didn't do it. I'm happy with what it is now, a kickstand would've made it ugly and it won't be as convenient to use compared to the Surface Pro
Good Job!
I was really considering the 13 inch because of the portability, but if you do creative work I'd shoot for the 15. It's still really light for its size, especially in tablet mode. The GPU is also a significant jump.
yea i wanted the 13 but `15 has more power and it was the same price for what i was getting .. it not that heavy
Really nice, thorough review.
One question though, did you experience any coil-whine while using the device and mainly stressing the CPU while on AC power and recommended power level?
Also do you experience any throttling or slowdowns while using it unplugged?
If you don't mind, would you be able to run it through a CPU benchmark on battery and post the score?
Hopefully I'm not asking to much and would really appreciate your input, I'm a software developer and plan to use the device on the go a lot.
1. I haven't personally experienced the coil whine issue, although I have heard others complain about it.
2. I haven't see any performance dips when unplugged. I just ran Cinebench and the scores were within 4 points of each other.
However you will see thermal throttling if you hammer the CPU for extended periods of time. Remember there is no fan in the 13".
Nice, thanks. I'm pleasantly surprised by that score.
I was worried I'd be getting similarly worse experience while on battery as I do on my zbook that throttles ~25% on battery straight away.
That really makes compiling and overall workflow seemingly much slower.
Could you tell me on what power profile did you run the test on battery and also the score?
That would help me compare the scores and also compare it with my current machine.
For comparison on notebookcheck.net they've noticed that it throttled considerably while on battery.
www.notebookcheck.net/Microsoft-Surface-Book-2-13-5-i7-GTX-1050-Convertible-Review.263954.0.html#toc-performance
"The CPU performance is considerably lower running on battery, independent of the power settings. The CB Multi test is only executed with 4x 1.8 GHz, which results in just 317 points. It is even worse in the Single test, because 1.4 to 1.6 GHz scores just 62 points."
Thank you again for the review and your answers.
I ran all my tests in Best Performance Mode. When using the lower profiles you will see reduced scores and performance.
I just ran the test again and got an even higher score than I did originally.
Cinebench CPU - Battery: 683
Cinebench CPU - Original Test (plugged in): 674
Perhaps they are running their tests on an already hot and throttling SB2. I haven't seen any reduced performance in battery mode with synthetic or gaming benchmarks.
Maybe people experiencing coil wine was only in the earlier batch? Im seriously considering this coming from a MBP 2014 - seems like a really solid choice and your review helped. I am still super worried ill spend this money (3.7k Aus) and be left with irritating coil wine that i have to return. but i hope for the best!
You have 30 days to return it so it's worth a shot.
Hi,we had a surface laptop and loved the sound of the speakers in it,usually playing music on 17,we upgraded it to a surface book 2 13" 8GB 256 SSD yesterday,which we absolutely love BUT we find we have to turn the same music up to nearly 40 now,I know they are different speakers and in a different location but I didn't expect the sound to be so low,in Headphones they are find,are these tautly or how they sound? and is there a settings I can tweet that would help,any advice,thanks Ken ,
I am unaware of any setting that will raise the sound level, sorry.
I keep hearing people complaining about problems with it. I want to get one still
What type of problems
How about coil whine? I heard that many people have this issue as well as myself.
And for the battery life, I got half of what Microsoft claimed, that is 2.5 hrs on clipboard alone and 8.5 hrs with the base. I can probably squeeze out more juice if I turn on battery saver.
I haven't experienced coil whine with my unit "yet"... but I have heard other reviewers mention it. If it pops up I will add it to the written review. Battery life on the tablet alone isn't good, I am getting 3-4 hours though. What power settings are you using?
I've had the 15" model for several months now, and have gamed on it. No sign of coil whine, and if there's any throttling, it isn't intrusive at all.
when is the video of the gigabyte gtx 1080 mini coming? need to know whether to pick that or the zotac 1080 mini for my s4 mini?
Honestly I had forgotten all about that card. I seen t is finally available. I will pick one up soon.
you legit Rick rolled us - aha - amazing review btw! thank you
The only issues i have with thees machines are: The cost, the lack of thunderbolt, and the cost of the accessories (especially since the dock can't keep up with the power demands if you are pushing this thing). With that said it is still my favorite machine on the market. I am looking at getting a kitted out 15"... I'll have to do a payment plan but hey that thing is a beast!
The 13" doesn't have any power issues. The 15" you mentioned does. For me the only real issue is the slow storage speed, and lack of color options.
I bought the 15" with 512GB version. comes with 16GB RAM and the i7 cpu and gtx 1060. It'll arrive in 2 days =). So excited.
Hi Nexus, How has the SB2 been for you? Thanks
Hey man, nice review. Just a quick question: when comparing the first serious entry level surface pro, and adding the keyboard cost to the picture, it comes awfully close in price to the i5 13.5" surface book, thus I was considering buying this model, I wouldn't really be interested in gaming on it as I have a desktop PC that I built for that, what would you suggest?
What are you planning on using it for? The i7 Surface Pro 2017 would probably be a better option unless you need the larger screen.
thanks for the fast reply dude - nothing intensive but the i7 pro costs more once you add the £150 keyboard. it would be mostly for essays and annotations of anatomy/physiology/physics. I think the screen real estate might be beneficial and the longer battery life of the book
Then yea, if you don't think you will need the gpu or cpu horsepower it wouldn't be a terrible buy if you think you will use the tablet. If not I would just go with a regular laptop.
I compared the spex on that thing compared to what I could get for same prize in a custom stationary. The latter gave me TEN times the power for less money. It's a no brainer. I'll stick to stationary for all my creative work.
Great vid im surprised the other ones i watched havent told me about the slow write speeds? Maybe this is not on the 15 inch? Can you tell us more about the display versus a retina display and color gamut? I dont want apple but everywhere i read the colors for printing are better with apple.....i am a photoshop user primarily....and i hear this true tone display they are coming out with on the new versions might be worth putting up with the horrible macbook pro keyboard and stupidly huge trackpad.....ugh....i prefer windows 10 just out of habit i suppose since i have never had a mac.....maybe sb2 15 inch is my answer?
I don't have any apple devices on hand to compare the displays with. You could go to a site like notebook check which reviews both and does very detailed display comparisons to get a better idea of how both devices may fair for print.
Great review! Can you link the controller you used ?
Sure... amzn.to/2AT9jMP
Tek Everything I also wanted to ask is it possible to overclock the GTX 1050 ?
Yes, you have to download the intel utility. You could OC the CPU too, but with no active cooling it would just throttle.
Would you recommend this to a student who needs strong 3D performance, without the sacrifice of portability and good battery life?
I would, depending on what you mean by "strong" 3D performance. I think this will do a nice job with 3D applications, but the 15" model would definitely be better.
Great video Jay. I am really keen to get a SB2. I just have to decide whether to get the 15" or 13"... having a 1060 would be very nice, which is why I am considering the 15"... though I am in Australia, and for some reason we only have the 13" model available here at the moment. Mind you, I prefer the form factor of the 13" (and I agree with you - the 15" seems a bit large to be really comfortable in tablet mode).
I recently brought a fully specced out Macbook Pro 15 2017, which was a very nice machine, but I ended up taking it back for a refund... the Radeon 560 is a little underpowered (and I use Premiere, and don't really want to have to learn to use Final Cut just to get decent rendering speeds). I didn't really like the keyboard so much, and I realised that although the touch bar is kind of cool, for me I want to have physical function keys (I'm a developer, and I dunno, I want to have physical keys for function shortcuts! I didn't think it would bother me, but it did... and the touch bar crashed on me several times, requiring restarting of the touchbar agent, which was just inconvenient).
Plus, how can a touch strip compare to an entire touch screen? Anyway, I took it back within the two weeks, and shortly after Microsoft announced the Surface Book 2. I am so glad I took the MBP back... Apple are seriously looking pretty ordinary compared to the innovation that is coming from Microsoft at the moment!
Maybe I will just go with the SB 13"... you may have just sold me on it :-)
Cheers man, good review.
Hey Clayton thanks, glad you found the review helpful. A lot of people are in the same boat as you. It's really hard to justify buying a MBP with the SB2 on the market.
If you are looking for a more traditional laptop, check out the Xiaomi Mi Notebook Pro. That is as close to a MBP you can get with a windows machine, and will cost your significantly less money.
Tek Everything I grabbed an SB2 13" i7 512GB yesterday... I couldn't resist... So far so good!
Awesome man, enjoy it.
Congrats. How much did it cost you? I saw on Harvey Norman, i7, 16gb ram and 256gb storage for $3650 compared to $3500 HP Spectre x360 with i7 8705g, 16gb ram and 512gb storage. I'm having trouble deciding between the two.
The issue with the Surface book is the low storage as they get expensive and no thunderbolt. The Hp processor might be less powerful but the cpu is more powerful.
It's full-sized SD Card slot, not Micro SD.
So whether windows or mac now you can forget about upgrading your HD or RAM further down the line :(
There are plenty of Windows laptops that will let you upgrade the RAM or HD
How durable is the device and how long do you think it will last? 4+ years?
My SB2 has held up really well. I had a surface pro 3 before this and it held up great over 3 years. These devices are built to last. The battery would probably weaken before the actual PC.
I plan on getting this. Mostly for on-the-go-editing, note taking, and some light gaming. Also this is unrelated, I am now going to install my new ssd. Which means wiping this computer and installing Windows.
Awesome, that is pretty much exactly what I use it for. It is awesome.
You are installing your new SSD where?
In the computer I am currently using to reply to you.
After having the surface book 2 for a while now, do you still love it? Has it broken down at all or anything happened where it needed fixing - software/hardware issues and that kind of thing? I'm looking to get this exact version that you have but no one has done a long-term review on it yet after the return-back-to-store warranty has finished. I do a lot of research before I buy something and I keep seeing people reviewing about a coil noise screech, is this something you get at all? Also when closing the laptop you could possibly crack the screen because there is no/very little protection for pressure. I notice it's mostly to do with the 13" which is why I'm worried.
I still love it... I don't experience much coil whine on my unit, certainly nothing the impacts my experience. The hardware is holding up just fine, as one would expect from a premium device. The metal lip of the laptop screen is what hits the base, not the screen glass. So you shouldn't be worried about cracking the screen.
Thank you for getting back to me!
What the fuck is that wallpaper??!?! haha.
It's an Albert Bierstadt painting with an AT AT over the top.
That's hilarious but pretty awesome.
I looked into the artist and they seem chill. They're not trying to claim they painted such a famous painting.
Ha yea, just a really cool mashup. I had to use it. Especially with Star Wars coming out.
Hi, forgot to ask,can I use an Xbox one wireless controller on the surface book 2 13" like the 15" or does it need an adapter,I heard the 15" has it built in?
You are correct, the 15" does have it built in. You can use the controller but you have to connect either through Bluetooth (what I use) or the USB wireless adapter.
Tek Everything Thanks,can you use the bluetooth for the controller and a microsoft surface mouse?
Yep, absolutely
Tek Everything THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP,HOPE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY HAVE A VERY HAPPY AND SAFE NEW YEAR,THANK YOU
I have a Surface Book 2 and want to get a 4K TV to run it through. It appears the Surface Book 2 cannot do moor than 3000X2000.
Yes it can. It's actually better to get second display that's better than the Surface Book because the output can still be the same. I use a surface dock and a 4K HDR monitor and it works flawlessly.
liked, commented, subscribed :)
Thanks man, welcome to the channel
planning to get the 13 inch one. for gaming, lets say gta 5 is the 8gb adequate or should i get the 16 gb one
The 8GB model is fine for gaming as long as 256GB is enough storage.
+Tek Everything did u get the 8 gb one? storage shouldnt be a problem. i still dont get why microsoft doesnt provide the surface pen along with it tho
I got the 8GB but just exchanged it for the 16GB yesterday. I needed the extra RAM and storage for video editing etc. The 8GB model is great for gaming though.
+Tek Everything thanks for the response. good video btw. u just earned a new subscriber. :)
Do you think this will be enough for editing in 4K?
You Rick Rolled Us!!! LoL!
your welcome
RIP THAT GENJIS ULT
Doesn't work with the Oculus Rift. Beware
Hi, is the 8GB 256 SSD enough for a family of 2 for $2850 NZD or would you pay another $720.00 NZD to get the 16 GB 512 SSD? Last year i bought the surface laptop i5 8 GB 256 SSD for my daughter but returned it yesterday because it had really bad discolouring in the palm ares in just 6 months from the oil in her skin I think,anyway I now have a $2000.00 refund that I want to put towards the surface book 2 i7 8 256 SSD for only $2850,only another $850 than the i5 surface laptop ,so really looking forward to the upgrade,just need to know what will be enough,HAS THE WRITE SPEED CHANGE OR IS IT STILL REALLY LOW?
The 8GB model will be fine for most users. If you are a tab monster, do video editing, or 3D modeling the extra RAM will be helpful.
I upgraded from the 8GB to the 16GB because I needed the extra storage space for game installs, and the RAM for video editing.
The write speeds are the same, what are you planning on using it for.
Tek Everything THANK YOU,was just going to use it for normal use,average platform games,steam games,minecraft and for my 10 year old daughter who plays all day on online minecraft servers,do do some drawing and some writing that We are both into and just want something we think looks and feels nice and we enjoy if that doesn't sound silly
No, that makes perfect sense. The 8GB model sounds perfect for you. You can always add a beefy MicroSD card if you need more storage.
Did he just Rick Roll us?
why 13
Is this laptop is launch in India???
I'm not sure, sorry
Maybe if this video was shorter, it would be better I think. Nice video though.
That price wow
Yea it is costly... but there really is nothing else like it on the market.
But how are people affording the i7 model lol ?
With the coffee lake n gpu
TheKidJswizzY financing, my friend.
Lots of mowed lawns lol
Reality is. Not everyone is from a low socioeconomic background...😌 And even if they were people have jobs, save up, get it on loan etc.
Can it handles autocad?..
I don't personally use AutoCAD, so I can't answer that question. I would do some searching around I'm sure that data is out there.
Tek Everything highly appreciated..thanks..
What are the pros and con between the 13 inch to the 15 inch and which one do you suggest ?
The 15" has a larger screen, CPU fan, and better GPU. Personally I think the 15" is too large to be used as a tablet. The 13" is the sweet spot in my opinion. I would probably just buy a thin and light gaming laptop if I needed the additional screen size and power.
Tek Everything ok thanks!
AAAAAGH! Rick Ghastly!
does Fortnite run well on this
Absolutely
too expensive...
Poor Genji
Money is the problem 😂😂
For me no one could send lone of those device?
This is a nice laptop, but all really needed was the surface laptop, so thats what I ended up buying.
I wish the SB2 came in the same color options as the Surface Laptop.
I just wish these two made a hybrid somehow, imagine a SB that became lighter and thinner while still having all its specs, pressure sensitivity and detachable screen. Now that's a dream that's not coming true for a few years to come...😥
Give me 2 thunderbolts, two type As, an HDMI, and an Ethernet.
Isaac Lucero or just 2 Thunderbolts, 2 type A's, and an SD card.
And thats where the Microsoft Dock comes in and starts beckoning you to buy one. 😌
Lol rip genji
~R I C K~ ~ R O L L E D ~
in 2017 top kek
your welcome
*A T L E A S T H E ' S N O T A H A N Z O M A I N*
never that
9 5 W A T T H O U R B R I C K
"Power"
2nd!
Please don’t buy any surface products, software has many issues, they update it regularly, whenever new updates comes the system fails in many other hardware things...for me in last update and the keyboard and mouse stopped working...customer service is worst. Doesn’t worth the money we pay to those people!!
Nice, but I would expect a fucking 1080 not 1060 for the price of the highest end model. Absolute rip off. No thunderbolt, no upgradability, no colour options...
GTX 1080? Like a Max-Q version? Then you would be complaining about how they reduced the GPU's power by 30% from the normal 1080. 😂😂
Let's just appreciate they fact that they didn't go with a MX150 or something. 🤣
Nic Yeah, because a lack of colour options causes a severe lack of performance, doesn't it? And the MacBook Pro, just as expensive, Is just as un-upgradeable. Thunderbolt: well it's got a decent graphics card in it already, and who really plugs in an external graphics card when they could buy an actual gaming laptop for less? As for multiple 4k 60Hz monitors, what percentage of users really do that a lot?
rather have a magnesium alloy laptop compared to Aluminium. Only downside to coloured laptops. Magnesium is a lot better.