( I really hope this is not offensive ) But I love it when there are older people out there that keep up with technology such as you do. Added with tons of experience in the technical field, you get a really genuine examination of all products.
Holy cow. I'm only a minute in and whoever writes your script (or even better if it's just off the top of your head) is amazing. I have to finish the review but I'm blown away. Better commentary than Ars Technica or a whole swath of tech review e-rags.
I have two concerns with the m3 model. 1. can you text if the battery is really better than on the i5 model? 2. how much power is one giving up from the m3 to the i5 with 4gb ram model? 3. The Surface Pro line has proven, just like many Apple products, that it can last years without reducing its power or battery. I have heard so many people stating they have the Pro 1 and 2 and it still works like a charm. My concern is that all these Surfaces Pro have had Core i5 processors. Do you think the SP4 with m3 will last years, just like the i5?
+brian whittle Add both to your cart, complete the transaction, and bingo, the Surface comes with the keyboard...it's really not rocket science. If they had bundled it, they'd increase the price to compensate for it, making it less accessible to consumers. Plus, you'd then start seeing people crying that they don't need the keyboard and would rather save $130, or that Microsoft doesn't believe in the tablet aspect, so they included a keyboard. Heck, people are already saying they don't need the pen and would rather save an additional $50. People will always find something to whine about...keeping it separate has more advantages than disadvantages IMO. Besides it justifies it's price tag better than the competition. You're literally paying just $130 over the price of a MacBook Air for something that's a MacBook Air + iPad Pro ($1220 with keyboard and stylus)...
Hi Lisa! I'm not sure what to buy, I'm an engineer and want a machine that holds its ground with 3d modelling, video editing on premiere (only at 1080) and sketching with the stylus. For a moment I think maybe it would be best to give up the sketching feature and buy something like a macbook pro (which handles 3d modelling nd premiere very good, or so I've heard), but then I go back to thinking that maybe the surface's capacity is enough for my needs... and that way I gain the sketching back, which I would love (I frecuently do sketching on procreate with my ipad, and I have always dreamed about a wacom tablet). Please, what's your advice?
I'm glad you addressed the bugs. Having gone from Surface Pro 3 to 4 I was surprised by the frequency with which the screen color shifts and the display driver crashes. I have also had problems with the touch screen not always opening apps on the first press.
The facial recognition is based off of 3 different types of cameras. One is a infrared, another is normal RGB, and the third is a intel realsense camera. It does not focus on your eyes and even offers an additional "scan" of your face with glasses.
Great review Lisa. Your reviews are always the best. You actually invest the time to form a genuine opinion compared to other reviewers who look as if they just read the box.
Love your reviews ! Very comprehensive, I depend on them for my tech purchases. Last year, I was trying to decide on my first tablet and went with the Dell Venue 8 Pro 64G model after watching many of your 8 inch tablet reviews, and I'm VERY satisfied with it !! Thank You SO much !! :-)
Excellent review. I've been an Apple fanboy for 13 years and I can't see how anyone could prefer an iPad Pro over this. I've experimented with Windows 10 and I find it comparable to OS X El Capitan. I think now it's just a question of who has the best, most innovative hardware; and to my surprise that seems to be Microsoft. My only gripes with the SP4 is the headphone jack remains at the top of the device (how hard would it be to move to the bottom?) and the left side being optimized for pen storage - when 90% of the world is right-handed.
They put it on the left so that the pen is on the top when you hold it in portrait mode for reading. If it was on the right, then it would be on the bottom in portrait. Then that would impede putting it in your lap and reading and stuff. Also, all these surface devices are like clip boards, and pens are stored in the top of clip boards.
+MobileTechReview Do you review special edition laptops? I've been looking around for reviews on the new HP Star Wars Special Edition Laptop and I haven't found any.
+Andy1341000 You can find some good configurations for that Star Wars laptop for $750-850. They have them in Best Buy if you want to go take a look - the materials feel a bit cheap (plastic palm rest area, versus aluminum for more expensive/bigger HP laptops) but overall the specs are solid if you avoid the low-end configurations.
Hey Lisa, thanks for the video. I am still not sure, should I go with SP4? I'm preparing myself to get into college (school of music or computer science). My daily usage are watching youtube videos, opening social media, and playing games (dota 2, grand chase, black squad, and minecraft) if I still have time to spare. Taking notes is still unknown whether I'll be taking a lot of notes or not. If I do such tasks on SP4 will the fan (easily) get noisy? I'm also not sure the screen resolution will match some apps nicely. Or should I go with ultrabooks? (my current choice is new dell xps 13 or 15). Thank you :)
Hello I enjoyed the review and still hard to decide whether to upgrade from SP3 i7 or not. As a medical student was curious if you were ever diagnosed with livedo reticularis? I noticed the familiar patterning in your arms. Maybe the room was cold as well as you did the video. Hope everything is OK and take care!
+Cem FX If you're still happy with SP3 and you have that nice Core i7, I'd stick with it. And goodness, I had to Google livedo reticularis, and I definitely don't have it. Just pale skin made worse looking by florescent spotlights and I do have Raynaud's. Happily my arms don't look like that in person :)
+Aaron Trinh I think that when she talked about lower battery capacity, she was reffering to the fact that the SP4 had to reduce the battery to make it thinner. if they had left the battery as it was on the SP3 but improved the processor, probably we would get around 10-12 hours of battery life. But Lisa's complaint was that as they made the processor better, they reduced the battery as well, maintining it at 9 hours as the previous generation. As far as I am concerned the insides of the m3 and i5 are the same including the battery, and the only thing that changes is that it doesn't have a fan which makes it lighter. However, I would love if +MobileTechReview gave her opinion on this topic just to make sure I am not wrong lol.
How does it compare to the Surface Pro 2? I still have mine, and frankly, after an iPad 2, an iPad Air, a Transformer TF101, and a Transformer Infinity, the SP2 is the best tablet I've ever owned. The part of me that likes upgrading my gear wonder about moving up to the SP4......but that would mean upgrading my accessories, and I still have another 1.5 years of warranty on my SP2.
Lisa, video quality only avalaible at 360p ... EDIT: Never mind FULL HD avalaible after 40 mins.... I am really looking to get the SP4 core i5 8GB RAM and 256HD ...
@mobiletechreview why does everyone tend to mention the Dell XPS 13 when the battery life on it pales in comparison to the HP Spectre x360 that can get up to 12hrs of battery life?
Lisa, So I'm thinking of switching from a regular laptop to the SP4. I was just wondering your opinion on "lapability". Most of the time I'm going to be using it on the couch. Also, if you used this as your daily device, would you personally get a case or just use it with the type cover? Thanks
Hi Lisa. I never got clear answer from the review if the Core M is worth buying. I think you meant to say yes or no about it but you just missed to say it. I really don't use my computer that hard but a video edit once a while. therefore, is the Core M anything for me? Thanks!
would the M3 be able to easily (smoothly) multitask between office applications? Say, for example, multiple heavy Excel files, outlook and word at the same time? I'm particularly worried about the 4GB. I'm used to machines with 8GB and they fly without any slowdown.
Heya Lisa, always love watching your reviews. A question for you regarding the upgraded pen, does it have 2 buttons on the side? I have a SP2, I had to buy a separate pen that has two buttons so I can use more short cuts with my art and 3D programs. Just wondering if they upgrade the SP4 pen to 2 instead of the original 1 button at the side for the pen. And also the Intel core M chip that is inside the SP4, is it better than lets say my SP2 Haswell chip? Thanks.
+shindelion The new pen has one button on the side (hard to notice, it's under the magnetic strip) and the eraser is also a button that's pre-programmed to launch Cortana/take a screen shot/launch OneNote.
As always a great review. Would have loved to hear more information on the improved keyboard. Maybe you can mention it in the Surface Pro 4 vs. Surface Book video?
Can you comment on the standby battery life of the Core M and the i5 vs. Surface Pro 3 as well? This is something that I hope that they have improved on as is said to be great on the Surface Book.
Hi Lisa. Great review as usual! Very in-depth. Please try to do an equivalent level of testing on the iPad Pro when it comes out. I'm especially interested in how the iPad Pro holds up in comparison to the Surface Pro and Surface Book when doing those huge brush size tests in painting programs. The iPro's graphics prowess has been the most vaunted ever since Apple started to produce tablets and I want to know how it really compares in real world usage vs. benchmarks. Thanks!
Thanks Lisa, I love your reviews. I just got my $1,300 I5 for $899 on sale. Before I updated my screen drivers, the crash scared the s*** out of me. A lot of reviewers do not address this issue. Having actually own the devices you review on your chanel, I'm glad to be subscribed to you, and I can attest for its accuracy. lol, I don't buy a new Gadget unless I have seen your review on it.
It has small glitches and problems so far with the one I have. Like the pinkish screen color that switches when viewing anything on any browser. Dim lighting that can't be fixed even with the settings. Global problem? So far I've seen plenty complains on that online. I'll test it out some more this week before I return it.
I am really torn between this and the iPad Pro. I know the iPad pro will cost me more, and this has a full OS, but I have always used Apple machines, and the integration between all of them is just excellent, and I never had any problems with any of my Apple products. I've been reading about faulty Surface Pro 4's, and thats also making me want to wait on the iPad Pro and see. What do you guys think?
Hi Lisa, how would you compare the speed against the Cube i7? I want to do some drawing and illustrations, would the Cube i7 be good enough for it? or should I go for the Surface Pro 4? Thanks
I'm considering buying SP4's for our team and would love to hear feedback from people using the SP4 or SP specifically running Salesforce. Which would be better for Salesforce?
When you refer to a computer being quiet or loud, are you referring to fan noise or processing noise? Would the m3 have less processing noise than the i5?
Hello :) Want to buy this but need help! If I use inking to annotate a word document created on surface, if I open the word doc on my iMac, will the ink annotations disappear?
+Matthew Langley btw excellent review as usual (realized I left only a negative comment despite how good this review was). Been using your reviews to help me decide my mobile computer choices for two previous generations of devices... first a Touchsmart tm2t (which all this touch screen stylus digitizer mojo is giving me deja vu and a bit of amusement that it's becoming popular despite how niche it was considered then) and then an UX32VD. The mobile form factor of the SP4 is really appealing to me though.
+MobileTechReview Hi Lisa, can you tell me what's the absolute best 2in1 ultrabook convertable or can give list? I'm thinking of buying one this Christmas so I want best possible 2in1.
Lisa, I just love your reviews. Your professionalism, technical knowledge and attention to detail is so refreshing. I'm a late adopter of Microsoft's Surface Pro 4 i5. I'm literally picking it up tonight, which has allowed me to take advantage of some significant price discounts now that the Surface Pro 2017 is on the market. All the reviews I've seen indicate that the i5 module is a decent alternative to a laptop for casual users such as myself. Do you do any videos on setting up you Surface Pro 4 out of the box. I'm curious to know if there are any settings I should consider or which are the best apps for drawing, or using as an e-reader. Keep up the great work.
Hi, Lisa. Do you think that it's possible to use Photoshop and Premiere with a Surface Pro 4 i7 8gb? I'm talking about light use, nothing too intensive. Cheers!
Hi, i have a genneral question surface pro as a ultra book did have all things from a laptop or PC, i usual using laptop with screen reader suchas NVDA, are we can install the program too the surface pro? Thanks Okky.
Lisa. I am looking to buy the surface pro 4. But can't decide between the m3 model or the i5 with 4gb of RAM. I like the idea of the fables design but worried about the power and for only £100 more if it's worth it. My primary use would be just browsing and watching videos aswell as using lightroom on various jpegs and possible RAW images. What would you recommend?
I use a Chromebook for school, but handwriting in OneNote really drew my attention to the Surface (non-pro). The extra $150 (after adding the pen) isn't too far outside my budget, so would the Core M3 be overkill if I'm just using Office, Gmail, and Chrome? Also any word on LTE? Thanks!
I've been wanting a Surface since the first one, but the prices are too high. Should I get SP3 or SP4? Are there speed and quality differences? Mainly looking for speed, and storage. (11th grader)
Lisa pls tell me, why do so many people hate the Macbook 12 for its only 1 port but non of those say anything about the Surface? Even thou a usbc can do so muck more than what a regular usb 3.0 does.
+Levin Because the Surface has more than 1 port? Charging port, mini display, USB 3.0. USB-C is the future but we're not there yet, and even then I want to be able to charge my device as well as use additional ports without using a bunch of docks or hubs.
For the pro 4, i5 or i7 models, will the fan kick on if you're using OneNote with the pen and Word side by side? I'm looking at possibly getting one of these for taking notes in a quiet environment and would need to have OneNote and maybe Word open at the same time. But I'm afraid the fan will come on and make too much noise. Trying to find this out in a Best Buy doesn't work, and help from ya'll would be appreciated.
Lisa, I also did not exactly get it. Are the i5 and the m3 models close to the same in battery life? Is there no significant difference? Could you please tell what your experiences were?
+From a user to a user. As I mentioned, the Core m model doesn't have significantly better battery life. So far Core m laptops and tablets haven't done much better in terms of battery life despite the lower wattage CPU.
![KRK - ชนิสรา Ft.WanMai , N/A [Official MV] Prod. By Sakarin](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/C-WMwwYobcU/mqdefault.jpg)
you do the best reviews on youtube.
+Stefan Mischook Thanks!
I agree!!
This is legit a brilliant review. I wish other people did videos like this! Clear, informative, no fancy-music-and-slow-pans.
Will you be making a smackdown with the Surface Pro 3 and 4?
+evandarkfire i agree! just general benchmarks, cosmetic differences, maybe gaming performance comparing two of the same game on each platform.
( I really hope this is not offensive ) But I love it when there are older people out there that keep up with technology such as you do. Added with tons of experience in the technical field, you get a really genuine examination of all products.
you're an excellent reviewer👍
Always love your reviews. Concise, full featured, and unbiased.
Unlike some other major publications *cough*.
this is the ONLY place I come for honest, unbiased tech review. thank you!!!!!
I'm very happy with how you also review the lower end M3 and not only get the highest end i7 with 16gb ram and 1tb SSD.
Review the cameras. Do people keep forgetting it has cameras?
+lana delrey Do people actually use Tablet to take photos?
+Yu Cheng I do
+lana delrey It also has the new camera Hello feature to unlock with your face. You can read about that on AnandTech review including sample pictures.
+Yu Cheng you can use the camera to take pictures of paper and white boards in class and detect the text.
+lana delrey And allegedly the back camera does not work!
Is there a Microsoft band 2 review coming soon?
Holy cow. I'm only a minute in and whoever writes your script (or even better if it's just off the top of your head) is amazing. I have to finish the review but I'm blown away. Better commentary than Ars Technica or a whole swath of tech review e-rags.
I have two concerns with the m3 model.
1. can you text if the battery is really better than on the i5 model?
2. how much power is one giving up from the m3 to the i5 with 4gb ram model?
3. The Surface Pro line has proven, just like many Apple products, that it can last years without reducing its power or battery. I have heard so many people stating they have the Pro 1 and 2 and it still works like a charm. My concern is that all these Surfaces Pro have had Core i5 processors. Do you think the SP4 with m3 will last years, just like the i5?
They really should bundle the keyboard at those prices
agreed
+brian whittle
LOL people kept complaining about that until they saw iPad pro and google pixel :D:D
Aditya Ravishankar
same with them, there is no way there is more than $50 of product in any of them
+brian whittle Add both to your cart, complete the transaction, and bingo, the Surface comes with the keyboard...it's really not rocket science.
If they had bundled it, they'd increase the price to compensate for it, making it less accessible to consumers. Plus, you'd then start seeing people crying that they don't need the keyboard and would rather save $130, or that Microsoft doesn't believe in the tablet aspect, so they included a keyboard. Heck, people are already saying they don't need the pen and would rather save an additional $50. People will always find something to whine about...keeping it separate has more advantages than disadvantages IMO.
Besides it justifies it's price tag better than the competition. You're literally paying just $130 over the price of a MacBook Air for something that's a MacBook Air + iPad Pro ($1220 with keyboard and stylus)...
Hi Lisa! I'm not sure what to buy, I'm an engineer and want a machine that holds its ground with 3d modelling, video editing on premiere (only at 1080) and sketching with the stylus. For a moment I think maybe it would be best to give up the sketching feature and buy something like a macbook pro (which handles 3d modelling nd premiere very good, or so I've heard), but then I go back to thinking that maybe the surface's capacity is enough for my needs... and that way I gain the sketching back, which I would love (I frecuently do sketching on procreate with my ipad, and I have always dreamed about a wacom tablet).
Please, what's your advice?
+Juan Manuel Gómez Ramos The surface pro 4 s great for all of that :D
She takes so much time to go into detail about things and doesn't annoyingly hype up the product like other reviewers. :)
From what I've read the core m does not have the cooling fan built in. Only the i5 and i7 models have the cooling fan
I'm glad you addressed the bugs. Having gone from Surface Pro 3 to 4 I was surprised by the frequency with which the screen color shifts and the display driver crashes. I have also had problems with the touch screen not always opening apps on the first press.
The facial recognition is based off of 3 different types of cameras. One is a infrared, another is normal RGB, and the third is a intel realsense camera. It does not focus on your eyes and even offers an additional "scan" of your face with glasses.
Get noticed in a Starbucks with a MacBook Pro? Hahahahahaha
+CloakedCedric in a third world country, yes.
Great review Lisa. Your reviews are always the best. You actually invest the time to form a genuine opinion compared to other reviewers who look as if they just read the box.
Love your reviews ! Very comprehensive, I depend on them for my tech purchases. Last year, I was trying to decide on my first tablet and went with the Dell Venue 8 Pro 64G model after watching many of your 8 inch tablet reviews, and I'm VERY satisfied with it !!
Thank You SO much !!
:-)
thumbs up 30 seconds in for the core m comparison alone. finally one who answers the performance / fan question
Lisa another excellent review. Your reviews are the best I have found on TH-cam.
Love how you had the M core vs 8GB. Thank you for the review!!
Excellent review. I've been an Apple fanboy for 13 years and I can't see how anyone could prefer an iPad Pro over this. I've experimented with Windows 10 and I find it comparable to OS X El Capitan. I think now it's just a question of who has the best, most innovative hardware; and to my surprise that seems to be Microsoft. My only gripes with the SP4 is the headphone jack remains at the top of the device (how hard would it be to move to the bottom?) and the left side being optimized for pen storage - when 90% of the world is right-handed.
I never even thought of that
As a leftie I'm finally glad I get thrown a bone.
Kevin Dombrowski I am lefty too. But seeing your profile pic is a dog, saying you get thrown a bone is a really awkward phrase to use lmao
They put it on the left so that the pen is on the top when you hold it in portrait mode for reading. If it was on the right, then it would be on the bottom in portrait. Then that would impede putting it in your lap and reading and stuff.
Also, all these surface devices are like clip boards, and pens are stored in the top of clip boards.
+Ian Rasmussen but what makes the top and the bottom? there is no windows button anymore. you can position it any side you want when horizontally.
Great review! Are you guys in Dallas? I ask because of the wallpaper on the surface.
+Wizarte Yes. That's a photo I took for our Fuji XT-10 camera review.
+MobileTechReview Do you review special edition laptops? I've been looking around for reviews on the new HP Star Wars Special Edition Laptop and I haven't found any.
+Andy1341000 Haven't seen any, although I am familiar with the system and its specs, what do you need to know?
+MobileTechReview ,Hi Lisa are you going to review the new dell Xps 15 with the 4K infinity display?
+Andy1341000 You can find some good configurations for that Star Wars laptop for $750-850. They have them in Best Buy if you want to go take a look - the materials feel a bit cheap (plastic palm rest area, versus aluminum for more expensive/bigger HP laptops) but overall the specs are solid if you avoid the low-end configurations.
I'm probably going to buy this. I decided to wait for the fourth generation. It should be plenty for my needs. Quality review as usual.
A thorough review by Lisa again. Thank you
Hey Lisa, thanks for the video. I am still not sure, should I go with SP4? I'm preparing myself to get into college (school of music or computer science). My daily usage are watching youtube videos, opening social media, and playing games (dota 2, grand chase, black squad, and minecraft) if I still have time to spare. Taking notes is still unknown whether I'll be taking a lot of notes or not. If I do such tasks on SP4 will the fan (easily) get noisy? I'm also not sure the screen resolution will match some apps nicely. Or should I go with ultrabooks? (my current choice is new dell xps 13 or 15). Thank you :)
Whens the new Xps 15 video going up ?
Want this too.
Pressure sensitivity works in Photoshop CC so, I think it's great.
Again, you never disappoint me.
I was hoping to get a used MSPro 4
I hope you lived till you get 1M subs.
Hello I enjoyed the review and still hard to decide whether to upgrade from SP3 i7 or not. As a medical student was curious if you were ever diagnosed with livedo reticularis? I noticed the familiar patterning in your arms. Maybe the room was cold as well as you did the video. Hope everything is OK and take care!
+Cem FX If you're still happy with SP3 and you have that nice Core i7, I'd stick with it. And goodness, I had to Google livedo reticularis, and I definitely don't have it. Just pale skin made worse looking by florescent spotlights and I do have Raynaud's. Happily my arms don't look like that in person :)
+MobileTechReview Can you help me narrow down my decision: sp4 m3 or i5 or the discounted sp3 i5 considering I want the best battery life possible?
+Aaron Trinh if you want the best battery then get the m3 model.
+Spider Pig Even though lower battery capacity?
+Aaron Trinh I think that when she talked about lower battery capacity, she was reffering to the fact that the SP4 had to reduce the battery to make it thinner. if they had left the battery as it was on the SP3 but improved the processor, probably we would get around 10-12 hours of battery life. But Lisa's complaint was that as they made the processor better, they reduced the battery as well, maintining it at 9 hours as the previous generation. As far as I am concerned the insides of the m3 and i5 are the same including the battery, and the only thing that changes is that it doesn't have a fan which makes it lighter. However, I would love if +MobileTechReview gave her opinion on this topic just to make sure I am not wrong lol.
Does this have a port for SIM card? Would like to be able to go online while on the way.
No it does not have simcard slot
My surface Pro 4, with the I5, fan hasn't made any noise yet. I love it so far.
Great reviewing style and lovely voice as usual from Lisa, cool effort, thank you.
I was quite honestly surprised that you had an m3 model in this review. The usual review models MS sends out are the i5 256, so hat's off to you!
How does it compare to the Surface Pro 2? I still have mine, and frankly, after an iPad 2, an iPad Air, a Transformer TF101, and a Transformer Infinity, the SP2 is the best tablet I've ever owned. The part of me that likes upgrading my gear wonder about moving up to the SP4......but that would mean upgrading my accessories, and I still have another 1.5 years of warranty on my SP2.
Amazing, and now......where is the review for XPS 15?
Best tech reviews on the interwebs!
Do you have any word on when you will get your hands on the i7 model to review?
Hi there, thanks for taking the time to make a review. As a non English native speaker subtitles would be very much appreaciated!
My Lenovo tablet has those driver issues as well. The screen just randomly turns off, and throws tantrums when connected to an external monitor
Have you noticed any light bleed in the panel? Mine has at the bottom. Many people are complaining about that
Lisa, video quality only avalaible at 360p ...
EDIT: Never mind FULL HD avalaible after 40 mins.... I am really looking to get the SP4 core i5 8GB RAM and 256HD ...
@mobiletechreview why does everyone tend to mention the Dell XPS 13 when the battery life on it pales in comparison to the HP Spectre x360 that can get up to 12hrs of battery life?
Hey Lisa, will you make some gameplay videos? The m3 version will be great for me but I want to see how it does with some older games etc.
Hi when will you review the new xps 13 with skylake?
I've been waiting for this!
Now just the Book vs Pro 4 without price being the issue.
My first laptop/tablet. Never owned one before.
I've got a silly question. If I watch a 4K TH-cam video on it, will it be able to play the video without stuttering and lagging like my old PC?
+Timothy Gurguis That's just not true. Core M3 is somewhere inbetween a Haswell i3 and i5 (closer to i5).
I think it has to do with a graphic card....
+Sukhjit Shergill The Core m can play 4K TH-cam video just fine.
MobileTechReview Thank you!
Haha! You said "doodoo" at 5:03.
Even after 4 years no one has replied
Lisa,
So I'm thinking of switching from a regular laptop to the SP4. I was just wondering your opinion on "lapability". Most of the time I'm going to be using it on the couch.
Also, if you used this as your daily device, would you personally get a case or just use it with the type cover?
Thanks
Hi Lisa, there's an error in your video. The i7 version doesn't have the same GPU as the i5 SP4, it has a 540 ''Iris'' gpu.
Wish you displayed in more detail how does the Pro 4 keyboard stand-up to the Pro 3 version. As usual, thanks for these great reviews.
Hi Lisa. I never got clear answer from the review if the Core M is worth buying. I think you meant to say yes or no about it but you just missed to say it. I really don't use my computer that hard but a video edit once a while. therefore, is the Core M anything for me? Thanks!
I was think of getting this to use with external monitor, i do a lot of .net coding and occasionally use photoshop. Would this be ok for that? Thanks.
I wonder if the core M3 model is faster then the pro 3 i3 model. De pro 4 is more expencive ,but maybe slower then the pro 3 i3 ?
+markdwk dk The Core m benchmarks faster than the Core i3, and it does feel more responsive thanks to it's fluid Turbo Boost.
Sorry I didn't understand the difference in battery life between the M3 and the i5 model, you only mentioned 6.5 hours at the end.
would the M3 be able to easily (smoothly) multitask between office applications? Say, for example, multiple heavy Excel files, outlook and word at the same time? I'm particularly worried about the 4GB. I'm used to machines with 8GB and they fly without any slowdown.
Heya Lisa, always love watching your reviews. A question for you regarding the upgraded pen, does it have 2 buttons on the side? I have a SP2, I had to buy a separate pen that has two buttons so I can use more short cuts with my art and 3D programs. Just wondering if they upgrade the SP4 pen to 2 instead of the original 1 button at the side for the pen.
And also the Intel core M chip that is inside the SP4, is it better than lets say my SP2 Haswell chip? Thanks.
+shindelion The new pen has one button on the side (hard to notice, it's under the magnetic strip) and the eraser is also a button that's pre-programmed to launch Cortana/take a screen shot/launch OneNote.
As always a great review. Would have loved to hear more information on the improved keyboard. Maybe you can mention it in the Surface Pro 4 vs. Surface Book video?
Can you comment on the standby battery life of the Core M and the i5 vs. Surface Pro 3 as well? This is something that I hope that they have improved on as is said to be great on the Surface Book.
Hi Lisa. Great review as usual! Very in-depth. Please try to do an equivalent level of testing on the iPad Pro when it comes out. I'm especially interested in how the iPad Pro holds up in comparison to the Surface Pro and Surface Book when doing those huge brush size tests in painting programs. The iPro's graphics prowess has been the most vaunted ever since Apple started to produce tablets and I want to know how it really compares in real world usage vs. benchmarks. Thanks!
Amazing, comprehensive video review. The best out there by far! Thanks so much.
Hi Lisa, can the dock be powered by SP4 (to use the USB ports for instance) or it only works when plugged into a power point?
May I ask What the gorrilla glass type of the surface pro 4 is? I heard it was gorrila glass type 4 but not so sure...
This lady makes the best review.
Thanks Lisa, I love your reviews. I just got my $1,300 I5 for $899 on sale. Before I updated my screen drivers, the crash scared the s*** out of me. A lot of reviewers do not address this issue. Having actually own the devices you review on your chanel, I'm glad to be subscribed to you, and I can attest for its accuracy. lol, I don't buy a new Gadget unless I have seen your review on it.
It has small glitches and problems so far with the one I have. Like the pinkish screen color that switches when viewing anything on any browser. Dim lighting that can't be fixed even with the settings. Global problem? So far I've seen plenty complains on that online. I'll test it out some more this week before I return it.
I am really torn between this and the iPad Pro. I know the iPad pro will cost me more, and this has a full OS, but I have always used Apple machines, and the integration between all of them is just excellent, and I never had any problems with any of my Apple products. I've been reading about faulty Surface Pro 4's, and thats also making me want to wait on the iPad Pro and see. What do you guys think?
Hi Lisa, how would you compare the speed against the Cube i7? I want to do some drawing and illustrations, would the Cube i7 be good enough for it? or should I go for the Surface Pro 4? Thanks
MS pro should be able to redesign the kickstand able to pop out a bit...
did I miss the battery comparison between the core-m and i5, or is it the same for both?
I'm considering buying SP4's for our team and would love to hear feedback from people using the SP4 or SP specifically running Salesforce. Which would be better for Salesforce?
When you refer to a computer being quiet or loud, are you referring to fan noise or processing noise? Would the m3 have less processing noise than the i5?
Kathryn Gerber the i5 has a fan when the m3 doesn't;-)
Hello :) Want to buy this but need help!
If I use inking to annotate a word document created on surface, if I open the word doc on my iMac, will the ink annotations disappear?
Was hoping for more impressions on the battery life difference between the m5 and i5 SP4
+Matthew Langley btw excellent review as usual (realized I left only a negative comment despite how good this review was). Been using your reviews to help me decide my mobile computer choices for two previous generations of devices... first a Touchsmart tm2t (which all this touch screen stylus digitizer mojo is giving me deja vu and a bit of amusement that it's becoming popular despite how niche it was considered then) and then an UX32VD. The mobile form factor of the SP4 is really appealing to me though.
+Matthew Langley Also would love to see the FPS difference running Tomb Raider at the same settings and res between the m3 and i5.
When are they ever going to update this thing???
+MobileTechReview Hi Lisa, can you tell me what's the absolute best 2in1 ultrabook convertable or can give list? I'm thinking of buying one this Christmas so I want best possible 2in1.
Lisa, I just love your reviews. Your professionalism, technical knowledge and attention to detail is so refreshing. I'm a late adopter of Microsoft's Surface Pro 4 i5. I'm literally picking it up tonight, which has allowed me to take advantage of some significant price discounts now that the Surface Pro 2017 is on the market. All the reviews I've seen indicate that the i5 module is a decent alternative to a laptop for casual users such as myself. Do you do any videos on setting up you Surface Pro 4 out of the box. I'm curious to know if there are any settings I should consider or which are the best apps for drawing, or using as an e-reader. Keep up the great work.
Hi, Lisa. Do you think that it's possible to use Photoshop and Premiere with a Surface Pro 4 i7 8gb? I'm talking about light use, nothing too intensive. Cheers!
how does the i5 version work for videographers and adobe after effects users?
Hi, i have a genneral question surface pro as a ultra book did have all things from a laptop or PC, i usual using laptop with screen reader suchas NVDA, are we can install the program too the surface pro?
Thanks
Okky.
Thanks Lisa!
would there be a noticeable difference in gaming between the i5 model and the i7 model?
Lisa, can you please please review Samsung Ativ Spin?? I am curious about its palm rejection and sketching capabilities, etc.
when writing notes, will resting the palm on the screen effect it in any way?
Lisa. I am looking to buy the surface pro 4. But can't decide between the m3 model or the i5 with 4gb of RAM.
I like the idea of the fables design but worried about the power and for only £100 more if it's worth it.
My primary use would be just browsing and watching videos aswell as using lightroom on various jpegs and possible RAW images.
What would you recommend?
I use a Chromebook for school, but handwriting in OneNote really drew my attention to the Surface (non-pro). The extra $150 (after adding the pen) isn't too far outside my budget, so would the Core M3 be overkill if I'm just using Office, Gmail, and Chrome? Also any word on LTE? Thanks!
Thanks for reviewing the M core version.
Thank you for this review, Lisa!
Dose the i5 model charge faster given that it comes with larger charger?
I am in the dilemma to purchase either m3 or i5 version of surface pro 4. Can you provide any benchmark comparisons?
Could you tell me what lower resolution settings are possible?
I've been wanting a Surface since the first one, but the prices are too high. Should I get SP3 or SP4? Are there speed and quality differences? Mainly looking for speed, and storage. (11th grader)
Lisa pls tell me, why do so many people hate the Macbook 12 for its only 1 port but non of those say anything about the Surface? Even thou a usbc can do so muck more than what a regular usb 3.0 does.
The Surface is a tablet. The 12 inch macbook is a laptop. The macbook should have more ports. But it doesn't...
+Levin Because the Surface has more than 1 port? Charging port, mini display, USB 3.0.
USB-C is the future but we're not there yet, and even then I want to be able to charge my device as well as use additional ports without using a bunch of docks or hubs.
With the sp4 you can charge it and use the usb port at the same time, without the use of a dongle.
What a beautiful piece of hardware.
For the pro 4, i5 or i7 models, will the fan kick on if you're using OneNote with the pen and Word side by side? I'm looking at possibly getting one of these for taking notes in a quiet environment and would need to have OneNote and maybe Word open at the same time. But I'm afraid the fan will come on and make too much noise. Trying to find this out in a Best Buy doesn't work, and help from ya'll would be appreciated.
Lisa, I also did not exactly get it. Are the i5 and the m3 models close to the same in battery life? Is there no significant difference? Could you please tell what your experiences were?
+From a user to a user. As I mentioned, the Core m model doesn't have significantly better battery life. So far Core m laptops and tablets haven't done much better in terms of battery life despite the lower wattage CPU.
+MobileTechReview You mention much lower 1/3 TDP. Shouldn't that have an effect for some workloads?
+From a user to a user. I would recommend the i5 version personally.
Could you use this type of keyboard on the surface 3?
Daniel O. Covers Yes