What Panos says about SP4 - "Nothing"

[malberttoo]

Innnnnnteresting......

http://techcrunch.com/2015/04/03/microsoft-is-saying-exactly-nothing-about-the-surface-pro-4/

 

[jnjroach]

That is their policy, they don't even talk to us MVPs about upcoming releases, only what is the market...

 

[malberttoo]

That is their policy, they don't even talk to us MVPs about upcoming releases, only what is the market...

I love the fact that he gets on those AMA's by the way. The Surface team that has participated in them in the past have really shown themselves to be some cool folks.

 

[GreyFox7]

Much ado about "nothing"

 

[olimjj]

Its" DeJa Vu all over again"

 

[SeeVuPlay]

Remember when he talked about the Surface 3 for a few days leading right up to the launch? Neither do I.

 

[Liam2349]

I hate TechCrunch.

But the AMA was decent. They didn't answer the biggest question which was about Windows Hello in future devices.

 

[ChiGGz]

External GPU would be a deciding factor for me to upgrade to SP4 from my 3. It's too bad they didn't answer that question.

 

[Liam2349]

External GPU would be a deciding factor for me to upgrade to SP4 from my 3. It's too bad they didn't answer that question.

I doubt it would be worth the money. At that stage, you have a device that is no longer portable - you have a desktop. Probably better off building one.

 

[ChiGGz]

Not sure I follow. Yes it would be more expensive (obviously) but why would that make it less portable? For me, its an ultra portable business machine on the road and a gaming machine when I'm docked at home... Perfect. Depending on pricing, I bet its cheaper than an additional $1500 for a gaming desktop.

 

[Liam2349]

Not sure I follow. Yes it would be more expensive (obviously) but why would that make it less portable? For me, its an ultra portable business machine on the road and a gaming machine when I'm docked at home... Perfect. Depending on pricing, I bet its cheaper than an additional $1500 for a gaming desktop.

I should clarify then.

When you mention external GPU, I assume you mean as a part of the dock - something that is for stationary computing, powered from the wall.

It will also depend on what you plan to play, as any decent graphics card will be bottlenecked by the CPU.

Games I play like PlanetSide 2 and Arma 3 require a high end CPU.

If you were to try running these games, or any decently specced game, on the Surface processors, the stresses of the high temperatures are likely to significantly shorten the lifespan of your device.

So you could do it. Play games like counter strike with good graphics, still struggle to run anything demanding a better CPU, but the stresses on your device would be immense.

I would go for the gaming desktop option with better ventilation, so that playing games isn't killing your computer.

I am biased though. This external GPU option isn't tailored for me, and I already own a good gaming PC. It could be an option for you, but you should give some thought to how long you expect your Surface to last.

 

[malberttoo]

My guess, if they offer an external GPU that there would be enough people who would buy it, where their SP3 is their only device, and they'd be perfectly happy using the SP3 mode for certain funtions outside the house (by itself) and then docked with the GPU for gaming inside the home. Or vice-versa.