Articles about Surface Book

Last year Consumer Reports stripped Microsoft Surface laptops of its coveted "recommended" status because of concerns about reliability. But now the badge of honor has been restored, with the publication saying: "Microsoft's reliability is now on par with most other laptop brands".

While the vast majority of the Surface laptop range is now recommended by Consumer Reports, the Surface Go is not. The reason for this is that in lab tests, the device's performance was found to be subpar.

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While Windows 10 is gaining some serious ground in the PC market, the same cannot be said about Microsoft Edge. Looking at the usage share of the major browsers on Windows 10, it is pretty much in the same place as it was a year ago -- a distant second to Google Chrome.

While it may be easy to dismiss Edge, Microsoft has rolled out major improvements since it debuted in mid-2015. And it's touting the benefits every chance it gets. Two new ads released by Microsoft promote better battery life and increased security over its main rival.

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Microsoft is set to begin shipping its second generation Surface Book in November and says it wants to offer the power of a desktop with the versatility of a tablet.

Surface Book 2 will be available in both 13 and 15-inch versions, weighing in at 3.38lbs and 4.2lbs respectively, both will have a PixelSense Display with multi-touch, plus Surface Pen, and Surface Dial on-screen support. The 15-inch version will have nearly seven million pixels -- 45 percent more than a MacBook Pro.

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Microsoft's upcoming event in London, called Future Decoded, will have Panos Panay, the Surface head, as one of the keynote speakers, fueling speculation that the tech giant will unveil the new-generation products part of its hardware line at the end of next month.

Microsoft has already unveiled two new Surface devices this year, the Surface Laptop and the new Surface Pro, but it has yet to reveal a successor to the Surface Book or Surface Studio.

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When Consumer Reports announced that it was dropping its "recommended" status from Surface devices, Microsoft was quick to defend itself. While the software giant disagreed with the move, saying it doesn't believe the "findings accurately reflect Surface owners' true experiences or capture the performance and reliability improvements made with every Surface generation," a leaked internal memo shows high return rates for Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book.

While it's certainly true that return rates have dropped over time, the information contained in the memo goes some way to explaining the decision taken by Consumer Reports. The memo also shows that Microsoft is ready to communicate with the ratings group and encourage it to "reverse [its] findings." The company is prepared to go on the offensive to defend its reputation.

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Earlier today, Consumer Reports caused a huge controversy by pulling its "recommended" status from all Microsoft Surface laptops and tablets. While I personally swear by the consumer-focused organization for its coverage of vehicles and appliances, I take its computer coverage with a grain of salt. After all, it infamously panned the 2016 MacBook Pro for poor battery life, even going so far as to say Chrome provided longer usage than Safari -- totally wrong, by the way. It turns out Consumer Reports's testing of the MacBook Pro was flawed and it later reversed course, recommending the Apple laptop after all.

With all of that said, I was obviously a bit dubious of its criticism of some Surface machines. In my experience, the Surface hardware is extremely well made and owners are generally satisfied with the computers. That's not to say they are perfect -- quite the contrary. Actually, they have been prone to bugs that were later fixed (mostly) with firmware and driver updates. Despite those issues, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend any Surface product. Obviously Microsoft and Panos Panay -- father of Surface -- would share my disagreement with Consumer Reports. To solidify that, Panay has now penned a response titled "We stand behind Surface."

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Moving from one operating system to another -- be it Windows to Linux, Mac to Windows or whatever -- can be fraught with tension. Microsoft wants to make life easier for anyone who has decided to ditch their Mac, by releasing the Mac to Surface Assistant to help migrate data to a new Surface Pro, Surface Book or Surface Studio.

For some time, Microsoft has featured detailed instructions on the Surface support pages that explain how to backup and transfer different types of data from one computer to another. With the Mac to Surface Assistant, however, all of this is taken care of by a wizard-led interface.

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To make it easier for enterprises to install Windows 10 updates and perform maintenance tasks during off-hours, Microsoft has introduced Wake on LAN support on Surface devices connected to wired networks through a Surface Dock, Surface Docking Station or Surface Ethernet Adapter.

The Wake on LAN support can be leveraged through device management tools like System Center Configuration Manager, and is available for the Surface 3, Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book, paired with any of the aforementioned accessories.

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The UK's decision to leave the European Union continues to hit the pockets of consumers. The latest victim of Brexit is Microsoft's Surface Book, with every model in the range hit with a £150 price hike.

While not a direct response to the Brexit vote itself, the resulting drop in the value of the pound has already seen many companies push up prices to compensate. We've already seen Apple increase the cost of apps in the UK by 25 percent, and Microsoft has already increased the price of enterprise software. Representing an 11 percent price jump, the new Surface Book price tag makes the already-expensive laptop even less attractive to would be buyers.

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If you can't afford a Microsoft Surface device, chances are there is a pretty interesting alternative out there that does not break the bank. For instance, Chuwi's Hi12 falls in the same category as the Surface Pro 4, but can be had at a fraction of the cost.

Same goes for the new Hi13, which the company is pitching as a rival to the mighty Surface Book. Microsoft's hybrid device is very impressive, featuring high-performance internals, a premium build, and a price to match, so what does the Hi13 bring to the table?

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Water smacked the windshield -- a torrent of heavy droplets -- as my wife struggled to feed money into the tollbooth machine. Pelting rain is uncommon during November in San Diego, but we had purpose for driving 36 km through the downpour to Chula Vista and the Otay Ranch Apple Store, where I had never been before. The shop was the only one around that had the 15.4-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar in stock.

Eleven days earlier, Nov. 15, 2016, I received the 13.3-inch model that was ordered on October 27th. While first impressions were wow, the laptop felt slow compared to my previous MBP, and the battery drained in about half the time as specs stated. I worried that Apple produced a defective unit. No store in the area had the smaller laptop in stock, should I want to take advantage of the 14-day return policy. Deadline approached, so I considered as alternative my first 15-incher in more than a decade, tempted in part by quad-core processor and discreet graphics.

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Microsoft likes to compare its Surface range with the MacBook Pro at any given opportunity, even though the two products are very different.

November, according to Microsoft, was the best month ever for consumer Surface sales, and the software giant is gleefully claiming that disappointment with the new MacBook Pro is part of the reason behind the surge. But is it? Really?

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Last Wednesday, Microsoft revealed, among other things, an updated Surface Book. The following day, Apple introduced a new MacBook Pro. Both devices look great, sport powerful innards and come with a suitably high price tag.

Which you go for will likely depend on whether you’re a fan of Microsoft or Apple, but if you’re not firmly entrenched in either camp, and need a little guidance to decide which laptop to go for, here are all the details you need.

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Available in a multitude of configurations, the Surface Book can meet the needs of many buyers in the premium segment. But, just in case you are looking for even more flexibility, Microsoft has introduced a new model in the range, which offers a higher storage capacity at a price that does not break the bank.

The Surface Book range is now comprised of seven models, four of which feature dedicated graphics. The other three -- the latest one included -- come with Intel's HD graphics, which is less powerful but not as costly an option. So, what does the new Surface Book model offer?

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That's the question to ask if you're considering ordering the new MacBook Pro unveiled last week or wondering whether or not to cancel an already placed purchase before it ships. For fervent fanboys who drink Apple Kool-Aid like water, "treat" can be the only answer. But for the thinking public, the response depends on several factors, such as budget and whether or not buyers believe that the fruit-logo company advocates a rational design ethic.

Let's start with the latter. Apple is finger-obsessed and has been since before the first Mac shipped, as I explained in March 2010 post: "What 1984 Macintosh marketing reveals about iPad". The company lags behind Google getting to the next user interface, which is more contextual and immediately responsive: Voice, meaning touchless interaction, rather than touch, supported by artificial intelligence. By contrast, Apple isn't ready to abandon the finger-first motif, as Touch Bar makes so obviously apparent.

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