Surface Book Review Roundup: What Microsoft's First Laptop Thinks of The Verge, Mashable and Gizmodo

On October 21, Microsoft lifted the ban on publishing reviews of the Surface Book, the company's first full-fledged laptop with a premium price (starting at $1,499) and specifications. TJ picked out the highlights from device reviews from The Verge , Gizmodo and Mashable .

The Verge

The Verge columnist Tom Warren liked the Microsoft laptop. He noted that the device has a truly comfortable keyboard, a large touchpad that is not inferior in convenience to that of a MacBook, and a high-quality 13.5-inch display with good color rendition and viewing angles.

According to Warren, the screen's unusual aspect ratio (3:2 instead of 16:9 or 16:10) makes it ideal for web browsing, but for movies you'll have to put up with large black bars at the top and bottom.

The main drawback of the device, according to Warren, was Microsoft's attempt to add to the Surface Book the ability to detach the display and use it as a tablet. The columnist believes that the company should have made a classic laptop, but it ruined it for the sake of an advertising feature, and Windows 10 does not take full advantage of the capabilities of touchscreen devices.

The screen mounting is the main weakness of the Surface Book. When you close the device, the display doesn't sit flush against the keyboard, leaving an unsightly gap. It also makes the laptop bulky. Dust, hair, and other dirt from my bag constantly ended up on the Surface Book's keyboard because of this gap.

Tom Warren, The Verge

Gizmodo

Gizmodo's Mario Aguilar liked the laptop so much that he even began to consider abandoning the MacBook as his main work tool.

Aguilar praised the device's battery life (6-7 hours with daily workload) and called its display one of the best on the market. Like Warren, the Gizmodo reviewer barely used the Surface Book in tablet mode, relying on the keyboard most of the time.

Aguilar complained about the “unevenness” of the trackpad: it was sometimes too sensitive, sometimes too tight. It got to the point that the journalist began to sometimes connect the mouse. Microsoft explained to him that this was a software bug and promised to fix it in one of the upcoming firmwares.

Although Aguilar was delighted with the design and materials of the device, he found it unbalanced: since the keyboard only contains an additional battery, connectors and (optional) dedicated graphics card, in many situations the screen begins to weigh down.

It's a pleasure to use this laptop while sitting at your desk or resting it flat on your lap. However, most of the time people use such devices differently. If you're sitting hunched over in an airport or lying in bed, you may have trouble distributing weight in your laptop. In situations where the MacBook confidently rests on its keyboard, the Surface Book’s screen “pulls the blanket” over itself.

Mario Aguilar, Gizmodo

Mashable

Mashable's Lance Ulanoff tested the laptop's gaming performance and noted that it was good enough to run modern titles at medium settings. This works best with the more expensive version with integrated Nvidia graphics.

However, Microsoft expects its device to be used to run programs like AutoCAD 360 or Adobe Premiere. In them, according to Ulanoff, it shows itself flawlessly. The reviewer advised not to spend extra money on an additional video card and go for a device with integrated Intel graphics.

Like other journalists, Ulanoff was confused by the gap that appears when the laptop is closed. However, he noted that the slight bevel makes the process of drawing on a computer with a stylus quite convenient. In addition, the journalist performed a stress test by standing with almost all his weight on the screen mount, and it did not flinch.

Ulanoff praised the Surface Pen stylus that comes with the computer, but noted that it does not work smoothly in all applications.

Fresh Paint doesn't work quite well with the Surface Pen: the drawn line sometimes lags noticeably behind the touch point. The OneNote experience, on the other hand, was perfect. Microsoft promised recognition of 1024 pressure levels, but I have no way to verify this. However, I tried drawing by pressing hard and lightly and the results were impressive.

Lance Ulanoff, Mashable

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