What's new

Just about to buy surface book questions

City_Guy

New Member
Greetings,

I'm considering purchasing a Surface Book this week at the local Microsoft store here in Palo Alto. And hoping the experienced users on here can answer a couple of questions.

Screen Wobble. I read the screen wobble threads on here and was wondering if anyone has updates on how this is affecting their use of the Surface Book. I only used one at the MS Store for a short time and could not decide if this will be a deal breaker for me.

Anybody care to share their experience having two windows open on the screen at the same time, say MS word for writing and Edge for research?

I really like he 3:2 screen and the very usable battery life is a big draw.

Thanks in advance.
 

sharpuser

Administrator
Staff member
Screen wobble should not be an issue. I use my Surface Book on my lap sometimes, or on a table. There is of course some wobble, but not to distraction. I know many Surface Book owners; Wobble was expected to be a problem, but fortunately, those expectations were not met.

I use multiple windows, such as Word and Edge as you suggest. Very handy. Also, screen swiping from the left with your finger is a handy way to pop those windows maximum and on top.

Good luck.
 

Wayne Orwig

Active Member
No screen wobble here.
I suppose someone could use it differently than I do, and might get some wobble.

Whenever I use multiple apps and need screen space, I used the new Win 10 multiple desktop feature.
 
Last edited:
OP
C

City_Guy

New Member
Screen wobble should not be an issue. I use my Surface Book on my lap sometimes, or on a table. There is of course some wobble, but not to distraction. I know many Surface Book owners; Wobble was expected to be a problem, but fortunately, those expectations were not met.

I use multiple windows, such as Word and Edge as you suggest. Very handy. Also, screen swiping from the left with your finger is a handy way to pop those windows maximum and on top.

Good luck.

Thanks, Appreciate the info
 
OP
C

City_Guy

New Member
Screen wobble should not be an issue. I use my Surface Book on my lap sometimes, or on a table. There is of course some wobble, but not to distraction. I know many Surface Book owners; Wobble was expected to be a problem, but fortunately, those expectations were not met.

I use multiple windows, such as Word and Edge as you suggest. Very handy. Also, screen swiping from the left with your finger is a handy way to pop those windows maximum and on top.

Good luck.

Screen wobble should not be an issue. I use my Surface Book on my lap sometimes, or on a table. There is of course some wobble, but not to distraction. I know many Surface Book owners; Wobble was expected to be a problem, but fortunately, those expectations were not met.

I use multiple windows, such as Word and Edge as you suggest. Very handy. Also, screen swiping from the left with your finger is a handy way to pop those windows maximum and on top.

Good luck.


Hi

One more thing, I'm leaning towards the least expensive model, 128 GB drive and 8 Mb ram, and not a unit with a dedicated processor. I really only plan to use for MS word, Internet and my beloved math program Maple 2015.
Any opinion on my choice for what I want to do?
 

leeshor

Well-Known Member
When people say "only" plan they rarely think about what they may be doing 3 years from now. Think about what you were doing 3-4 years ago vs. today. Best to purchase a system to grow into than out of.
 

sharpuser

Administrator
Staff member
Don't under-size your Surface Book. It cannot be upgraded. You are likely to have regrets later if undersized, and joy later if you have room to grow.
 

BearFlag

Member
Hi

One more thing, I'm leaning towards the least expensive model, 128 GB drive and 8 Mb ram, and not a unit with a dedicated processor. I really only plan to use for MS word, Internet and my beloved math program Maple 2015.
Any opinion on my choice for what I want to do?

If you don't play games or use specialized graphics intensive programs (Autocad, etc.), then the non-dGPU model should be fine (even in the long-run). However as others have said, you should give serious consideration to the 256GB model as space might be an issue in the future.
 

rubaxter

Member
Greetings,

I'm considering purchasing a Surface Book this week at the local Microsoft store here in Palo Alto. And hoping the experienced users on here can answer a couple of questions.

....

Overall, if you can live with your current machine for a little while longer I'd really wait for the SB2, probably 1Q17. From the rumors, the screen resolutions will make the 2 windows at once a lot more usable, and maybe the still lingering driver issues will not be repeated with new chips and their drivers.

You might even find the detach screen is usable with the ports and SD card there instead of marooned on the base.

There's also the possible snatching a deal on the SB1 when they flush the channels and the Bleeding Edge types ditch theirs for the newest, shiniest thingy from MS.
 
OP
C

City_Guy

New Member
Overall, if you can live with your current machine for a little while longer I'd really wait for the SB2, probably 1Q17. From the rumors, the screen resolutions will make the 2 windows at once a lot more usable, and maybe the still lingering driver issues will not be repeated with new chips and their drivers.

You might even find the detach screen is usable with the ports and SD card there instead of marooned on the base.

There's also the possible snatching a deal on the SB1 when they flush the channels and the Bleeding Edge types ditch theirs for the newest, shiniest thingy from MS.

Greetings,

You make a good point. I was at the Microsoft store yesterday and spent quite a bit of time using the Surface Book. Although the employees tried to be helpful, I was surprised at their lack of product knowledge and how they fumbled using the product. I suppose they were too busy using their iPhones and discussing their afterwork plans with colleagues to take a deep knowledge dive into the products they sell. They had obviously been trained to engage the customers and ask all sorts of meaningless questions, instead of sitting down and actually demonstrating the unique capabilities of the Surface Book and convincing me that I should not walk out the door without a Surface Book. Compared to the Apple store a few doors down, it was a disappointing retail experience, the Microsoft store employees didn't do much, and didn't know much. It will be easier to just order the surface book online. OK retail rant off.
For a couple of reasons I don't really want to wait until the next generation Surface Book is released. I can actually use the Surface Book now, I enrolled some online courses and having the Surface Book will be very useful for the assignments. It is always a catch 22 situation to determine when to buy with the possibility of the next new model being released sometime in the not too distant future.
 
Top