Items tagged with surface laptop
Just over a year ago, Consumer Reports caused a huge rift in the consumer electronics realm when it withheld is vaunted "recommended" rating from Microsoft's Surface family of products. The publication based its decision on a survey from 90,000 of its readers and found Surface products to be “significantly less reliable than most other brands”. At the time, the Surface Laptop, Surface Pro and Surface Book were affected by the demotion. When the Surface Book 2 launched, it too was cast off with the lepers. Surface Book 2 What a difference a year makes. The Surface...
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Rumblings started back in June that Microsoft had some new hardware planned for 2019. Some were surprised when Microsoft sent out invites earlier this month to a hardware event that is suggested to be for the unveiling of new Surface hardware. One of the devices expected at that hardware event scheduled for October 2 is the Microsoft Surface Laptop 2. Ahead of that event, a slew of images has leaked that claim to be of the new laptop in its various colors. The colors seen in the images include a new black laptop that reportedly replaces the Graphite Gold version offered last year. Other colors...
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If you're a fan of Microsoft's Surface family of PC hardware, mark October 2nd on your digital calendar. That is when Microsoft will announce the latest round of updates for its hardware family. We're likely to see across-the-board updates, with the exception of the Surface Go, which launched just a few months ago. Microsoft's Surface Pro is due for a redesign, and it’s likely that the device will take some cues from the smaller Surface Go including a slightly more rounded design and the inclusion of USB-C (or Thunderbolt 3) ports. Surface Pro When it comes to what powers...
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For those of us that have bought new laptops or convertibles in the past two years or so, USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports have become commonplace. While USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 peripherals aren't nearly as ubiquitous as those using USB-A, it's nice to have the ports built-in. Microsoft, however, has been reticent to adding even a single USB-C port to its recent Surface products. So, Microsoft has come up with the above solution and just look at it -- it's massive! That is a single USB-C port that plugs into Microsoft's proprietary Surface Connect interface on the side of its Surface Pro, Surface...
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Microsoft says its Surface Laptop offers the "perfect balance of portability and performance," and for some people that is certainly true. It only weighs 2.76 pounds, boasts up to 14.5 hours of battery life, and the entry-level model wields an Intel Core i5 processor to throw at tasks. Or at least that used to be the case. Microsoft has gone and added a new entry-level SKU, one that is a full $200 cheaper, but also less powerful. The entry-level Surface now comes equipped with an Core m processor with integrated Intel HD 615 graphics. That means less computing muscle than what you would get with...
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When Microsoft released the original Surface Pro five years ago, the mobile market was completely different – Windows tablets were an afterthought and weren’t the svelte and snappy performers you can buy today. The first-generation Surface Pro wasn’t perfect, but it was a huge step in the right direction for Windows 2-in-1’s and tablets. Today’s mobile computing device landscape is completely different versus five years ago and one could argue it was significantly re-shaped by the success of the Surface Pro. Each notebook manufacturer has its own interpretation of...
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Microsoft really wants PC users to embrace the Surface Laptop, however, the rub for some people is that it runs Windows 10 S and some want the real deal when it comes to Windows 10. To make these folks happy, Microsoft has been allowing users who like the Surface Laptop, but don't want Windows 10 S to upgrade to full Windows 10 Pro at no cost. That upgrade normally costs $50 on other notebooks. Originally Microsoft planned to allow the free migration to Windows 10 Pro until the end of 2017, but that has changed (for the better). Microsoft is now saying that Surface Laptop owners will be able to...
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At some point in time, it is reasonable to expect that Microsoft will refresh its Surface Laptop line with 8th Generation Kaby Lake-R processors, which offer up to a 40 percent boost in certain benchmarks versus 7th generation Kaby Lake CPUs (largely the result of having more cores). In the meantime, Microsoft is taking pre-orders on a decked out Surface Laptop with oodles of system memory and storage space. To be more specific, you can now head to the online Microsoft Store and configure a Surface Laptop with a Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB solid state drive. The top-end setup is only...
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Microsoft has a public perception problem on its hands. The company’s Surface family of PCs has run afoul with Consumer Reports, which could be detrimental in its efforts to win over mainstream shoppers. In a survey of its readership, the publication found that Microsoft’s Surface line was “significantly less reliable than most other brands” and decided to drop recommendations for the products. We’ve already seen Microsoft’s public response to the damning Consumer Reports takedown, but veteran Microsoft watcher Paul Thurrott has some insight into internal discussions that have been brewing within...
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Microsoft’s Surface family of hardware products have generally been lauded by the press for their seemingly high-quality designs, first-party status, and for getting most of the details right with regards to ergonomics and functionality (often times, later being copied by third-party manufacturers). Publications like Consumer Reports have also given Surface laptops and tablets recommended ratings based on their own in-house testing. However, Consumer Reports is now walking back its recommended rating after receiving tens of thousands of responses from its subscribers. In particular, the...
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Microsoft’s Surface Laptop is its first full-fledged, no compromises take on the traditional notebook form-factor. The Surface Book and Surface Pro can operate as quasi-notebooks with their keyboards attached, but they are tablets first and foremost. While the Surface Laptop is a desirable piece of hardware in its own right, it ships from the factory with Windows 10 S installed. For those unfamiliar with this Windows 10 SKU, you cannot install or run Win32 apps with Windows 10 S; instead, you’re relegated to installing Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps from the Windows Store. Given the rather...
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We have said it before and it bears repeating—the majority of today's mobile devices are simply not built with do-it-yourself repairability in mind. Some products are worse than others when it comes to home repairs and upgrades. Two products that fall into that "worse than others" category both belong to Microsoft—its latest Surface Laptop and Surface Pro models, both of which failed to make a positive impression during a teardown analysis.The folks at iFixIt show no bias when it comes to tearing apart electronic gadgets. We mention this because Apple is notorious for intentionally making its products...
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Are you ready for more Surface hardware? Microsoft earlier this week announced the Surface Laptop, which is a premium Kaby Lake machine that is slathered in Alcantara and features a 13.5-inch PixelSense touch display. However, it looks as though Microsoft has additional Surface hardware in store for us later this month. Last night, Microsoft Corporate VP of Devices Panos Panay took to Twitter to provide this update:See you in Shanghai. May 23. #MicrosoftEvent #Surface https://t.co/aMgvkkqE52 pic.twitter.com/vzcK9MqIpf— Panos Panay (@panos_panay) May 5, 2017 The fact that Panay tagged the...
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Microsoft had its big revealed spoiled late last night, when WalkingCat leaked a bunch of details (and pictures) of the intriguing new Surface Laptop. Today, at its official launch, we’re learning more about the device and its position in the Surface family thanks to Microsoft’s always exuberant Panos Panay. As we mentioned last night, the Surface Laptop has a 13.5-inch PixelSense display (which actually has the thinnest LCD touch module on a laptop), and it is available in four colors (Platinum, Burgundy, Cobalt Blue and Graphite Gold). What we didn’t know at the time was what was powering the...
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