Why would I sell my IPAD Air 2 and my Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro... The Surface 4 Pro, and it really has the best of both worlds. While not a perfect substitute for both, it has enough to really make it a single device for when I travel.
My System: Surface Pro 4 Core I7 8GB Ram 256GB HDD w/keyboard attachment
Price Paid: $1399.00 ($200.00 off list at Micro Center) + 129 for keyboard
Initial Impression: "THIS DEVICE SUCKS!!!". ---why would I say this
- Unit 1 had light bleed a dead pixel, WiFi problems and sensor problems for brightness which caused constant flicker in low light. About everything that could go wrong did.
- My first thought was that this is the "red ring of death" for the PC portable world.
Take 2: Second unit "Almost Perfect"
What's Included:
- Very simple rectangular box
- Minimal instructions
- Power cable, with magnetic attachment
- Surface pen
Packing is very minimalistic
Part 1: Setup
- Plenty of connectivity for a device this small. USB 3.0, mini display port 1.2, memory card reader, built in front and rear facing cameras, dual band Wireless AC, Bluetooth: why can't Apple learn from this?
- Easy to use, turn it on, follow instructions, and you are set up in about 10 minutes
- IMPORTANT: When you set up for the first time, make sure you have a WiFi connection & it is plugged into a power source. It will do the initial patch/updates before you start windows and it is much easier to do it this way
- Screen LED Bleed, Unfortunately I had it on both units, What is strange is that it is only prevalent when you first boot up, I had multiple spots top and bottom edges. When you boot into windows, they disappear even with black screens in low light. I am as picky as they come, but even I can live with this. There is 0 LED Bleed when I am Windows, black screen theme. Even when brightness is turned up to 100% (Which is really, really bright.)
- Surface pen you just hold down the clicker for 5 seconds and its synced
- I am a fan of windows 10, and it is so nice to have a full fledged PC version of Windows 10 Pro.
- ADDITIONAL NOTE: I had to use a WiFi Logitech keyboard because my Surface keyboard did not arrive to today. I used a Logitech K400 Plus which worked like a champ and was easy to set up thanks to its built in USB 3.0 port
Pros:
- Easy setup, quick and painless
- Works correctly the first time
- Surface Pen is amazing, very sensitive and feels more like a pen than any similar device I have used
Cons:
- Still looking for the eye retina scanner it talks about, don't even see it in the docs
- Documentation could be better
Part 2: Initial Impressions
What I liked about it:
- Very polished device, though not perfect
- Screen colors are very good, brightness is excellent, though way to bright at 100%
- Excellent black levels, solid contrast. Usable in bright rooms and low light
- Very, very fast, the 256GB SSD is speedy, quick boot UPS
- WiFi connection is excellent and speed tested at the 120Mb/s which is the same as my high end desktop
- Surface keyboard is rock solid, it has two positions Flat and Slightly elevated, I prefer the later, but both work equally well. A step above the ones I have used with Apple. The glass touchpad is responsive
- Resolution and DPI are excellent you will not see anything but clear text and graphics
- Nice to have a full fledged Office 2016 on a device so small
- Synced up to my home network like a snap and all my printers and network storage work
- Built in kick stand is excellent and very functional. You will not have problems finding an angle that works for you
Points of Concern:
- The LED Bleed at boot up, though as I stated, I don't see it al all once in Windows
- Expensive even with the 200 off, though it is a full fledged PC
- Keyboard will set you back another 129-179 if you want built in fingerprint reader
- Battery life is not as good as they spec out, but I should managed to get a full day with normal use
- App store not as big as Apple
I will update when I have had a chance to play around with this device more, but the bottom line for me it's a perfect substitute for and iPad and notebook. I sold my IPAD because for me it was mostly a glorified e-reader, movie watcher and email. With the Yoga 2 Pro, it was an excellent 2 in one, but even with it's slim form factor, it is too bulky for both. I know have a full fledged laptop in a slightly larger form factor that my ipad Air and I can pull up my power points and excel spreadsheets in all their full blown PC Glory. This is truly a remarkable device so far. In my opinion Apple made a big mistake in releasing the IPad Pro, as a faster IOS 9.0 with a big screen. It is still really a toy compared to this.
LED BLEED @ Login:
LED bleed After boot up. Both are done with a pictch black room Screen set 75% Brightness which is really bright. Minimal and only noticeable in a completely dark room. I may exchange for another, but to be honest I didn't see it unless I took a picture with the phone.
Normal Screen