time for me to upgrade from my SP2 with power cover

[toaf]

so, its time for me to upgrade. i know the i5 SP4 is better for battery life but the i7 i hear is a bear.
i would say 1 time a month i come home with 20/40% battery life with my SP2 and power cover.
do any of you surface gurus have any ideas to help me chose.

a part of me thinks the best option is almost NOT to upgrade.

also, has anyone noticed battery usage differences between 8 gig or 16 gig?

right now the best bet seems to be an I5 with 8 or 16 gigs of ram. but i fear i will run low on power semi often.

p.s. surface book is not realy an option, no usb on the tablet/notepad what ever the hell it is.

 

[hughlle]

What do you use it for? That'll be the biggest determinant of battery life.

 

[toaf]

all sorts of stuff from, 3d max to games, hooking up to continuous run printers. abit of everything. im still shocked they havent made a power cover for any surface past 2.. .. seems a shame

 

[hughlle]

Initially I was certainly surprised, but it seems that they are not doing it as a means of getting people to go for the surface book.

Given your use case, if it is continual, I'd be surprised if you'll last the day without plugging in. I can get an average of about 8 hours from mine (sp4 i5 128/4gb), but that's nothing but office and generally with flight mode on and power saver on with a low screen brightness.