Surface Book Discussion Thread

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Microsoft+Surface+Book+Teardown/51972

1 out of 10 points for Surface Book.
It's a disaster! So much glue, glue everywhere! Surface Book has an abyssal bad reparability and maintainability.

 

So does the Retina MacBook 2015 (1 out of 10)

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Retina+Macbook+2015+Teardown/39841

and the (early 2015) 13in Retina MacBook Pro (1 out of 10)

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Retina+Display+Early+2015+Teardown/38300

 

Where's the teardown of the Vaio Z Canvas?

 

Face it, most of the ultrabooks/ultraportables/2 in 1s in the marketplace now will score from 1 or 2 out of 10 for DIY repairs.

It was a nice time when you could buy the high end CPU with low end drives/memory and do it yourself.

 

This is one place I guess I'd still side with Microsoft - these things are all too small, too thin, and too fragile to make them user accessible (sigh)...the good old days...

 

The Vaio Z Canvas is a saint among tablets- you can actually open it up for service and SSD upgrades without struggling with gobs of glue and screen pullers.

 

<<...The Vaio Z Canvas is a saint among tablets- you can actually open it up for service...>>

...Then you need to post about that in the ZC thread, Lisa. There's a member who is asking about this...!

 

Yes. Yours is a slightly different configuration, but why this is a problem I've not got a clue (i7/512/16GB). I've had 2 video driver crashes in less than 5 minutes just now. Somewhere else I've mentioned that it happens predominately on this website - as odd as it is.

 

yeah - now that I'm one whole day into the 11/2 firmware... its still pretty broken for me too, although it is better in a few ways.

1. No BSODs, and fewer display-driver crash/recovery events.
2. No color temperature shifts while browsing.
3. Connected standby sometimes works, but most of the time it uses just as much power as when turned on.

Are any other SB owners seeing very poor sleep/connected standby power drain (around 25% power drain for 1hr sleep)? I also get somewhat disappointing battery life when in use, closer to 5 hours, as opposed to 10.

 

I've not been watching the drain cycle as closely as I should. I've noticed that the unit gets warm when it's supposed to be in sleep mode - so what processing is going on?

I'm also getting a lot of tablet swapping mode notifications that are becoming annoying. I simply cancel out of it, but it's simply sitting on a desk without any jiggling going on - another weird issue.

I'm not so sure I'm impressed with the stylus yet. I've been fine tuning it, but this is the first device I've had to change the stylus settings to be able to write and not have my handwriting look like I'm writing out a script for a patient (sorry, no, I'm not a doctor).

Still unhappy with the trackpad as well. Responsiveness is slow at best. Better after the updates, but still hit and miss mostly.

Camera is much improved over the updates. Initially I was getting a lot of image break down if the focal point was moving.

I figure I've got about another week with this and then make a final decision. I'm on the fence as I think my old 12" ThinkPad Yoga (first gen) is better, but am awaiting for the new Yogas to come out which won't be full-spec'd until January at the earliest.

Pros for SB: Nicer stylus (if it's functionality improves a bit), large detachable screen that I think works well on it's own (although I wish they at least included a couple of USB connectors). Feather weight screen. Good wifi performance. It's unclear whether MS Hello will work with the Lenovo - a nice easy and quick way to logon. I'm finding I'm actually faster on this keyboard than the Lenovo, although I cannot say the feel is great. Far superior camera, especially the one on the back.
Cons for the SB: Hate the silver color (makes the keyboard harder to see at times than a white-on-black) and gives it a really plastic look. I also really hate the grainy feel of the trackpad and sharper edges of the unit. Virtually unable to repair or upgrade.

Pros for the TPY: Keyboard (along with the disabling/locking feature when used as a tablet), It's layout is better as well, with the page up/down buttons in the lower corner for easier browsing without having to reach over the keyboard all the time, handier design for the most part (that hinge is a true gift). More ports, better trackpad (with dedicated left and right click buttons), SD card reader, onboard stylus that also gets charged onboard (although it's too small for my hands). The new one will still have a slightly lower resolution than the SB - QHD I believe as an option. Better dock and a more adequate length of cord on the charger. Very sturdy and can spill drinks on it with less concern (I think - I've never tested it to confirm) - I've dropped mine a couple of times with only minor scratches. I also believe the 14 is easier to upgrade components.
Cons for the TPY: Vaporware - the last 15" never came with a stylus (although it was supposed to). Hopefully, lesson learned on their part. Also it's still not available yet - January is speculated. The big failure is to include a more user-friendly stylus, although there may be a better option albeit without an eraser function.

If Lenovo had a marriage of the ThinkPad Yoga and the Helix, in a 14" screen, I think they would win.

First world problems...