Microsoft's Surface

[Intrinion]

Sp4 got fan right?

Except for the Core m3 variant,
the others have fans!

 

[RAYRAY1]

Thank you for the information.

My game are those very light like puzzle game, not those racing or FPG games.

But, not sure to wait for Surface Pro (learned better battery life) or go for the discounted Surface Pro 4

Anyone can recommend which shop is having the best deal on the current Surface Pro 4 model? Thanks

A surface tablet is excellent for the other things that you listed but is really not designed for gaming.

It can game, but it depends on what games you would be gaming on, how many frames you are looking at as well as what gaming settings they are on.

Being a fanless, passively cooled system in a very thin frame, do expect certain thermal trottle - which is the reduction in your CPU speeds - to reduce heat.

Hope this helps you out.

 

[Intrinion]

Thank you for the information.

My game are those very light like puzzle game, not those racing or FPG games.

But, not sure to wait for Surface Pro (learned better battery life) or go for the discounted Surface Pro 4

Anyone can recommend which shop is having the best deal on the current Surface Pro 4 model? Thanks

Ah! Then it should be alright then.
Can't really advise on that - it depends on your needs as well as the savings you would make.

The pro 4 m3 should be pretty frugal when it comes to sipping juice

Microsoft's online store should have the best price..

 

[jace88]

IMO sounds like you're not a heavy user so if you want to save, may as well... unless you want the fanless i5 with better battery?

 

[RAYRAY1]

I thought Intel i5 CPU required cooling fan inside Surface Pro 4?
Please correct me if I am wrong.

IMO sounds like you're not a heavy user so if you want to save, may as well... unless you want the fanless i5 with better battery?

 

[knightshaz]

In the new Kaby Lake Surface Pro only the i7 models have fans

 

[Intrinion]

Jace was referring to the New Surface Pro ( let's just call it the "Pro 5" for now to prevent confusion)

Pro 5 is passively cooled for their i5 variants .. pretty innovative

I thought Intel i5 CPU required cooling fan inside Surface Pro 4?
Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[watzup_ken]

Jace was referring to the New Surface Pro ( let's just call it the "Pro 5" for now to prevent confusion)

Pro 5 is passively cooled for their i5 variants .. pretty innovative

Acer was already passively cooling their Switch 12 series, and they did so very well it seems. The implementation by the SP don't seem to handle the heat as well. I just read this morning that there seems to be severe throttling as a result.

 

[watzup_ken]

Looking for a tablet PC, should I wait for new Surface Pro or go for the current Surface Pro 4 with price reduction.
General usage like office productivity and note taking plus small light gaming and watching movies during traveling. I am looking at the lower end series the m3 CPU.

Personally, I think you can just safely go for SP4. Performance and feature wise, there is no significant improvement from the older SP4 to 5. Light gaming should not be a problem, but do keep in mind that depending what kind of games you play, it will drain battery life significantly faster.

Also, I do recommend getting an i5 series SP4 because,
1) The m3 version is actually very pricey considering that it don't come with the active pen. Sometimes when there is a promotion with free Surface Keyboard, the m3 version is typically not eligible for the promo. So you need to buy the keyboard separately,
2) Very restrictive specs, i.e. 4GB ram, 128GB SSD. Personally, I feel 128GB of hard disk space is very limited, especially when Windows take a big chunk of it.

The only benefit I can think of for the m3 version is battery life, but at the expense of poor performance.

 

[Intrinion]

Add on another, the m3 doesn't come with a Surface pen!

Approx a $94 add on

 

[watzup_ken]

This is what I read about the throttling.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Micro...-facing-heavy-throttling-issues.232538.0.html

 

[Chee_Hian]

All Surface Pro throttles and most Windows Core Tablets throttle as well. My Surface Pro 4 i5 throttles as well, so the only way to stop throttling is either use a USB fan or create a power plan to curb the turbo boost. This is to get a more consistent framerate in games.

As for the new surface pro 2017, if you look at the benchmarks, even after throttling the base performance is still better than the Pro 4. Throttle will only occur if you push the CPU and iGFx during gaming. Most of the time it does not happen.

That's my observation in my SP4

In my experience, the surface pro will only give out the freebies later in the lifecycle, like now during shows may give keyboard. So not really worth to get the latest now. Also wait for MS to iron-out the bugs like the SP4 during its release. If you can, wait for the new 2017 SP to mature then buy, if not get the Miix 720 for better value and less throttling.

 

[watzup_ken]

Throttling happens when,
1) Chip is hitting a critical temp, and/or,
2) Chip is hitting the power cap. 15W does not allow the processor & GPU to run at full speed concurrently over an extended period of time.

For a hybrid device, it usually means both the above happens. I do not own a Surface Pro to draw a conclusion, but it is just a precaution for those planning to get a passively cooled SP with i5 especially with hot and humid weather in Singapore.

Also from a value standpoint, I feel the SP is probably one of the worst. SP4 is probably a good pick now for those that are firm in Microsoft's brand. Between the 2, the new SP don't seem to stand out much from the old SP4.

 

[Intrinion]

Still using Pro 1 and Pro 3
To be honest, I personally find that wacom digitizer is much better to write (though with lesser pressure sensitivity levels)

 

[Fallingrain]

anyone has or play with surface laptop before. How is it?

I using SP4 now but realised I don't really use the pen much actually and the form factor of traditional laptop seems to be more convenient. Not sure should go back to laptop like surface laptop or xps13 anot.

 

[watzup_ken]

anyone has or play with surface laptop before. How is it?

I using SP4 now but realised I don't really use the pen much actually and the form factor of traditional laptop seems to be more convenient. Not sure should go back to laptop like surface laptop or xps13 anot.

If you don't use the pen/ touchscreen, I recommend just going for a conventional laptop going forward. There is no need to pay a premium for a Surface device. In the meantime, you should just stick on to your SP4 since its working fine now.

 

[silencer22]

any one faces the problem of the sp4 type cover not working after windows update?

Tried googling, most solution is to press power + volume up for 30 secs. That doesnt help in kicking start my type cover

 

[Apparatus]

Re

any one faces the problem of the sp4 type cover not working after windows update?

Tried googling, most solution is to press power + volume up for 30 secs. That doesnt help in kicking start my type cover

No problem here

 

[evq]

No issue with me too

 

[jace88]

any one faces the problem of the sp4 type cover not working after windows update?

Tried googling, most solution is to press power + volume up for 30 secs. That doesnt help in kicking start my type cover

Happened to me every now and then in the past particularly when resuming from sleep but not lately (ie. creators update had no effect).