Day 144: Surface Book 2 - The Surface Pen (Do you need one?)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ก.ค. 2018
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Many people feel compelled to buy the Surface Pen for the complete Surface experience; but will you actually use it? Watch this video as I make a case for the Surface Pen with the Surface Book 2.
Looking for the product featured in this video? Always try to buy locally for the best deals, but if you cannot find one, you can try these Amazon links below. Purchases made through these links help support the channel.
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FINALLY someone who doesn’t shows the pen exclusively the artist’s perspective. I’ve been looking for a more productive-like review. Thank you so very much
Glad to be of service.
The pen works great for adding and checking off items in Microsoft To Do when you are on the go. Seems like a small thing but the app feels more fluid and immersive with the pen. That's just one example of where it can be useful. I use it on my Surface Go on the tram / train to quickly manage items in lists - Often I have to stand so the pen is faster than the on-screen keyboard and the physical keyboard isn't useful when standing without a desk
I need to give this app a try I think. Thanks for the info.
Been enjoying your videos. I enjoy hearing your opinions
Thanks. Glad you've enjoyed the content!
Awesome job man... Love your reviews
Thanks. Glad you liked it.
Top tip on the pen being off when attached to the side - I've been using Surface devices since Surface RT (Surface Pro 3 was my first with a pen - Have a Pro 2017 and Surface Go) and I never knew about that feature
You posed great reasons. I am look to use it for GIS work. Great video.
Thanks. GIS? Can't say I know that acronym.
Laptop Retrospective Geographic Information Systems. Essentially map making and data management.
Wow, very cool stuff! Thanks for sharing.
Hahahah the De-pens joke made me laugh hard. Despite how some reviewers attack the SB2, every time I watch your videos i feel the urge to get it. I will get it soon anyway for my architectural work, and I will let you know of my experience. Keep going, i am also on your twitter account. I support you big times!
Thanks ah Kin for your continued support and comments. It takes a pal to laugh at a pun like that. Looking forward to chatting with you again sometime. Drop me a line on Twitter too if you find a good pun!
Don't you think its a bit old? i kinda wanna get one too for college. but the fact that it was released back in 2017 scares me a little bit.
Back in 2017? Is that a joke? 😂
Laptop Retrospective haha not at all, I know I'm overreacting but I’m gonna need this laptop to last me up to 4 years.
Warranty is a must, if you can the Business warranty is the better one. 3 years vs 2 year consumer one. If not, you might want something more serviceable to get that lifespan without issue.
awesome video!
Thank you!
I originally bought the bamboo ink but the tip broke so i decided to get one. I am like you I am not an artist but i have enjoyed it.
necessary for me!
Stylus Labs Write is a great handwriting app and it works great with an active pen. Saves as SVG, so can be viewed / shared with others. It is even integrated in the power user information management app InfoQube !
Interesting. Might need to give that a try.
Details here: th-cam.com/video/eWyxTKa2tZ0/w-d-xo.html and here infoqubeim.com/drupal5/?q=node/3457. Enjoy !
Thanks!
Have you had any issues with the SB2 not detecting the Nvidia GPU when re-docking? Considering buying one myself, but worried about longevity issues other customers had.
Stay tuned for later today 😉
Hey, do u think taking some side notes on pdf is good on surface devices? I am planning to get one for university. Recently HP envy x360 and surface pro is catching my eyes.
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 the high end 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.
Agree with some of your points for sure, especially the BT keyboard.
What laptop would you suggest then
Is that question directed towards the OP or me?
I have the sb2 13" but I didn't get the pen. I handwrite and type notes. Love the keyboard. Great video
Thanks for the comment and sharing your experience. Do you write with your finger?
Laptop Retrospective I use a generic stylus. I'll eventually buy the surface pen
I ordered it yesterday. Thanks for the review
Awesome. I hope you enjoy it and it works hard for you.
do you think laptops with pens will replace the need to bring separate notebooks for each class for note taking? I plan on getting a spectre 360 and using a pen for note taking and just putting notes in different folders.Hoping this would save bag space used for notebooks/huge binders.
I'm not sure if it will completely replace paper and pen, those are just too useful. But it's still pretty good.
Hey retro I got the 15inch at Best Buy for 2500 total and I really enjoy but it’s kinda a lot i would only use it for school work and music daws, would the 8gb work just as fine or would I want to stick with the 15inch
The question was towards you
What about the surface book 2 compared to the origin nt-15
Can't really compare the two since they are designed for completely different use cases. I'd suggest you check out Psycho Tech Episode 3.
Can you talk about the durability of the sb2? I hear allot of issues around the screen being cracked and the built quality vs the MacBook. How's your holding up? How do you treat yours?
No issues to report and it is transported to and from work every day and is moved and handled several dozen times a day. Literally not a mark on it or screen cracks. You can see it was essentially pristine when I installed the Toast cover in my latest update. The finish holds up better than my MBPR 2013. Let me know if you have any other questions.
I got the warranty from Microsoft for 3 years so I know it will last at least that long. That being said, no problems to report so that's a good sign in my books.
Do you use some kind of display protection ?
I'm not sure, whether the pen can damage the glas over time, or not.
No display protection.
Happy holidays btw!
@@LaptopRetrospective
Happy holidays and thank you for your reply. Appreciate it!
Anytime for you my good friend.
Are you a programmer? I am looking at this laptop kind of specifically because of its aspect ratio, makes me think the 13inch will feel 'big enough' to work on.
Haven't done any programming work on this yet, but it is big enough to work on. I'm provided with a workstation I don't use because I can work faster and better on this.
Being a 3:2 aspect ratio you get pretty much the same vertical size as any usual 15 inch laptop would have.
Definitely feels that way. Never felt the screen was too small.
For the hybrid situation it really is perfect, yeah the gtx 1060 would be nice, but its just to big to go around in tablet mode.
My thoughts also.
Subscribed
Thanks! Welcome aboard.
Lol I don't think taking out the battery does make sense, it will only make your pen wear faster... I own a Surface Pro 4 since late 2016, I use it every week for a couple of hours, also for note taking in school and just changed the battery... I never did that and I don't attach it to my device (dirt makes the side look scratched ;))
Might be right. I offered it as a suggestion but I don't do it personally. Thanks for the comment.
I would not worry about the pen's battery life. I have used my Surface Pen daily for long periods of time (I use it for graphic design and illustration work) since I bought my SB2 back in February... battery is at 83%
I do snap it to the side of the device whenever I put it down though...
Hey just saw your videos about the sb2 and i have a couple of questions.
Would you say is a pretty durable machine? I do travel a lot, both for university and pleasure and i'm concerned abut not lasting enough for the amount of money i paid. (i'd like it to be my daily driver for my next 5 years of uni).
2. Did you ever try to actually take handwritten notes with it? How does that feel?
3. I've read that the cpu is only passively cooled, how is the perfomance? I'm neither a gamer or a graphic designer but i do occasionaly enjoy a light session of gaming or photo editing, i mean a bit of extra power may always come handy.
I've traveled with it as well and it's held up nicely. It's in and out of bags and desks multiple times a day. I mostly annotate diagrams but have taken notes and when I did it worked well. CPU on the 13 is passively cooled, 15 has a fan but it still works great for me.
Laptop Retrospective thanks for the quick response , I am more leaned toward the 13" model, the 15" one is way too large and pricey, the only thing that holds me back is the fact that it is passively cooled, and that really pose a limit on what that cpu can do. It ll run basically always near the base clock except when browsing or using office applications. That i7 in such a chassis is just wasted. And unfortunately there is not a "cheap" version of the 15",i don't need a 1060. I'm kinda conflicted, cause I do really like the device and the ability to use it as a tablet too.
Outside of benchmarks I haven't ran into too many situations where it was an actual issue that impacted the clock speed enough that I noticed. Really depends on how hard you think you're going to push it.
Laptop Retrospective for the most part I don't think I ll push it that hard, I am at uni 5 days a week, so I don't really have that much free time and I have always a decent quad-core desktop at home in case, but I do feel a bit scammed, it's more a question of principle, paying 2000 euro for a cpu that I won't entirely benefit from. So you either spend a further 500 euro to get the 15" or you're obliged to be stuck to a dual core i5 of the previous generation. That's a pretty cheeky move from Microsoft in my opinion.
Both will throttle under load regardless of cooling solution. Intel no longer required any manufacturers to provide ideal cooling to their CPUs and throttling is common on many machines now. Not an excuse, but more of a state of the industry. I talk about it in my Psycho Tech episodes.
I have this laptop and absolutely love it! Worth nothing, i bought the dock the pen and the travel mouse from microsoft, Lost the pen within 2 weeks because im an idiot! but the dock is worth every penny!!! charges the laptop and it never leaves my desk!
Have you seen the Vertical Dock kit for this?
@@LaptopRetrospective Ah no i have not! damn why did you tell me now i have to buy it
@@Meerios3 Haha, my bad. But its pretty cool and you have the most expensive part already.
My Surface Pen is not working on my SB2. The button on the top works but i cant draw. Do you have a solution?
Hey Christoph, have you paired the pen via Bluetooth as needed? If so, try removing it and re-pairing it to the system. Does regular touch input work?
Laptop Retrospective yes regular touch input works and the pen is connected via bluethooth. But i cannot use the Pen....
I found this support article, have you tried all the steps inside?
answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/surfaccesso-surfpen/surface-pen-buttons-work-not-writing-no-cursor/fbd044be-3371-4043-8f0f-956803a55e20
Laptop Retrospective i replaced my pen and now its working perfectly fine.
Glad you found a solution.
hey, my uni starts in october and i really want to get the SB2 13inch model. i will mainly use it for notetaking and for traveling home every other weekend, as i have a desktop too, thats will be sitting in my dorm. can you recommend it for notetaking?
Which model were you thinking? Also, do yourself using the detachable screen a lot?
was thinking about the i7 with 8gb of ram, as i dont really want to purchase a laptop with a 7th gen cpu for this amount money.
i will use the detachable screen for notetaking with the pen, thats the main thought behind my decision.
Smart move. Give it a try especially if you have a Microsoft store nearby. Extended warranty is recommended.
i do live nearby an electronics-store where they sell a sueface pro, so i could at least try writing... i could drive a little farther to buy a sb2, bit it costs about 400€ plus in store than on amazon, so i would proba ly order it.
Just make sure you have access to that warranty. It's an essential part of the purchase.
Does the battery come with it?
Yes
@@LaptopRetrospective also one more question. What does the button do on the side of the pen?
Functions as a right click with tap.
I am a future university student, is it better this or Hp Spectre x360? I am worried about the longevity of the SB2, with so much money to spend
Will you use all the features the SB2 has to offer?
Laptop Retrospective I think yes, because I would use the device to take notes, also with the pen for slides or maths lessons; I think also that the longer battery life could be useful
If you're committed to using all of the unique hardware features including the detaching screen, then the SB2 is the way to go. But if you can do the work with the other machines with no real drawbacks then strongly consider the HP.
Laptop Retrospective the problem is that the SB2 has not only unique hardware features compared to the Hp, but he has also a better battery life, that for lessons is important, and better temperatures
Then it sounds like you've got it figured out 😉.
En español
lol magic :D
...but if you don't need the pen, you really don't need a Surface Book 2.
Ignoring the pen display, there are better options for much less money.
I would argue that pen input is exactly what makes the SB2 worth the cost.
I'm not sure I 100% agree if you don't need the pen you don't need the whole unit. There are still a lot of unique features that are very useful.
What laptop would you recommend then
first
Nice. Now spread the word!
Hey, do u think taking some side notes on pdf is good on surface devices? I am planning to get one for university. Recently HP envy x360 and surface pro is catching my eyes.
OneNote and Microsoft Edge have some great pdf features for notes.
@@LaptopRetrospectiveI'm getting a surface so soon just for this reason uni kids around me are actually retardedly better at just just because of that