Microsoft announces SurfaceBook

[fjtorres]

http://www.engadget.com/2015/10/06/m...top/#continued

And then Microsoft dropped a bombshell on stage. "What if you wanted a Surface... But you wanted a laptop Surface, something with a bigger screen, something with the perfect typing experience of a laptop," Microsoft's Panos Panay said on at its Windows 10 devices event. "We made the ultimate laptop; we made Surface Book." That's right, it's Microsoft's first in-house laptop -- with a 227 DPI 13.5-inch display, an NVIDIA GeForce GPU and a 12-hour battery life. Microsoft is calling it the "ultimate" laptop ...but just like every other Surface in the product line, it's still a detachable, convertible PC.

13.5 in 227 dpi Laptop with pixelsense screen, glass trackpad, NVidia GPU...
...that is also a tablet with pen support.
7.7mm thick, 1.6 lbs weight.

Very interesting hinge.
Modular design: Nvidia gpu is in the base, Intel CPU/GPU in tablet.

They also announced two Win10 Phones and SurfacePro 4 with much improved keyboard cover.

CNET has lots of pics, especially the of the SurfaceBook hinge:

http://live.cnet.com/Event/Microsoft...ices_NYC_event

More details incoming.

[fjtorres]

CNET wrapup:
http://www.cnet.com/news/surface-boo...ust-announced/

The new Surface Pro 4 improves on its 12-inch predecessor with a 12.3-inch display at 267 pixels per inch (5 megapixels) using Gorilla Glass 4, but retains the same footprint. Microsoft introduced PixelSense technology (a branding of its inking tech), supporting a stylus with 1,024 levels of pressure (that's equivalent to Wacom's consumer graphics tablets) with "best-in-class" palm detection and parallax compensation. The stylus attaches magnetically to the device, and uses a one-click launch, similar to the Adonit Jot Dash. The battery is rated to last a year.

It introduces a G5 chipset which enables real ink-like operation but intelligent interaction. It has different nibs (pen tips) which presumably deliver a different feel based on the type of inking you're doing (painting, notetaking, and so on). Seriously, WANT.

As for Lumia phones, The most whiz-bang features of the 5.2-inch Lumia 950 ($550) sound like the quad-HD OELD display (1440x2560), USB Type-C (for fast charging) and Qi wireless charging. It's slated to incorporate 3GB memory with 32GB storage (plus microSD) and use a 6-core Snapdragon 808 processor. The screen has 564 pixel per inch resolution and uses glance screen technology (displays information without touching the screen)

The 5.7-inch 950XL ($650) is similar to the 950, but uses an 8-coreSnapdragon 810 processor.


The phones both have dual antennas so you're never "holding it wrong" and use liquid cooling, probably because those processors run hot. The cameras have a 20MP sensor, triple LED RGB flash, updated optical image stabilization and a dedicated camera button. It supports 4K video. Plus it autouploads to the cloud.

They ship with the usual MIcrosoft apps onboard.

There's also a Continuum dock which has a Type C input and 3 USB, HDMI and DisplayPort connectors; it will let your Surface automagically switch between tablet and desktop mode and display small screen content -- like your phone screen -- on larger screens while behaving like a desktop device and a mobile device. Windows 10 automatically scales the screen display. I have to say, it looks tempting.

It's too bad ASUS already uses the TRANSFORMER name because MS just dropped a tablet that becomes a laptop, a laptop that becomes a tablet, and two phones that become desktops.

[fjtorres]

Video time!

Surface book:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=95&v=XVfOe5mFbAE
(Love that hinge.)

Surface Pro 4:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Gh4...U&spfreload=10

[tubemonkey]

Make it out of plastic, downgrade it to a Core i3 and I'll pay $250 for one

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Make it out of plastic, downgrade it to a Core i3 and I'll pay $250 for one

Coming up!
In three years.

[pl001]

Well the media and fans seem to be gushing over this, but I'm not so sure.

There are two batteries, one in the keyboard and one in the tablet. So presumably the battery life as a tablet will only be about 6 hours. And if their estimates are similar to how they estimated my Surface 3, expect much less than that.

It will be top heavy, with the screen weighing almost as much as the base.

The hinge leaves a fairly big gap along the edge when closed, which also makes it 1" thick along one edge. That's traditional laptop thickness.

The screen/keyboard connection is an electronically actuated mechanism.

Other than the discrete graphics, I'm not seeing much appeal in this over a Surface Pro.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by pl001

There are two batteries, one in the keyboard and one in the tablet. So presumably the battery life as a tablet will only be about 6 hours.

You are assuming the GPU resides behind the screen. It does not.
The Surface Book has two graphics units, the one embedded in the CPU module and the discrete GPU in the base. Once the base is detached, the GPU and its power drain goes away. That is why it has *three* configurations, two with GPU, one without.

And the reason the media is enthused is because there were no hints it was coming and because there is nothing like it out there. There is genuine innovation in that design. Modular laptops are not exactly a dime a dozen all over.

[tomsem]

Oh I don't know about innovation. They obviously ripped off the design of The Giant from "Halt and Catch Fire".

[cerem0ny]

Meh, I bought a transformer t300 yonks ago - its half as good as a regular tablet and half as good as a normal laptop... Go figure.

[pl001]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

You are assuming the GPU resides behind the screen.

Not quite. I am assuming their battery life estimate is for the least powerful model without the separate GPU and that each battery is about the same size.

There's no doubt there is innovation in the design. But there also appears to be many shortcomings that make it unappealing to me compared to the SP4.

[robko]

Originally Posted by cerem0ny

Meh, I bought a transformer t300 yonks ago - its half as good as a regular tablet and half as good as a normal laptop... Go figure.

Tech has come a long way. I have a Surface 3 and although I didn't expect to I almost use it interchangeably with my laptop. Unless I have a specific use for more screen space (i.e. two documents open side by side) I really don't think about which one I grab. Even for longer sessions I find I don't feel the need to reach for the laptop if I happen to be using the tablet. And it's a reasonable compromise of size vs weight for using it as a tablet (reading newspapers/magazines).
I think Windows tablets/convertibles are a significant market waiting to happen when people realize how handy it is to do everything you could do on a laptop on an even more mobile device. Of course there will be lots of people that are strictly using their device for apps and media consumption that will never move from Android or Apple.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by pl001

Well the media and fans seem to be gushing over this, but I'm not so sure.

There are two batteries, one in the keyboard and one in the tablet. So presumably the battery life as a tablet will only be about 6 hours. And if their estimates are similar to how they estimated my Surface 3, expect much less than that.

It will be top heavy, with the screen weighing almost as much as the base.

The hinge leaves a fairly big gap along the edge when closed, which also makes it 1" thick along one edge. That's traditional laptop thickness.

The screen/keyboard connection is an electronically actuated mechanism.

Other than the discrete graphics, I'm not seeing much appeal in this over a Surface Pro.

Depends on your useage. For me, a SP is fun, but beyond that, it doesn't offer me anything. Most of the time I'll have a keyboard connected. So, better for me to get a laptop. But, sometimes, I want that tablet. Maybe I'm just browsing a bit on the couch. Or I want to show pictures to friends and family.

The Surface Pro is for people that mainly want to use a tablet and do some light keyboard work.
The Surface Book is for people that want a laptop because of the attached keyboard and the extra power, but also want to use a tablet once in a while.

It sounds like you're in the first group, I'm in the second. Only the price is holding me back.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

The Surface Pro is for people that mainly want to use a tablet and do some light keyboard work.
The Surface Book is for people that want a laptop because of the attached keyboard and the extra power, but also want to use a tablet once in a while.

There is a reason the Surface keyboard covers are optional and the Surface Book keyboard is bundled in. They are aimed at different audiences with different needs. MS is offering both products because there is room (and need) for both.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

There is a reason the Surface keyboard covers are optional and the Surface Book keyboard is bundled in. They are aimed at different audiences with different needs. MS is offering both products because there is room (and need) for both.

It's not only the keyboard. It's also the extra power the Book gives simply because it has that keyboard. That's why I was a bit surprised I noticed they also offer a Book without the dedicated GPU. Without it, you only get that keyboard and extra battery life.

But yes, there are two groups that can and do coexist next to each other.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

It's not only the keyboard. It's also the extra power the Book gives simply because it has that keyboard. That's why I was a bit surprised I noticed they also offer a Book without the dedicated GPU. Without it, you only get that keyboard and extra battery life.

But yes, there are two groups that can and do coexist next to each other.

The thing many people forget is that the PC market is enormous and there is room for those kinds of fine-grained distinctions; that you can rack up big sales off of niche products and that products with seemingly small differentiation can profitably coexist and prosper independently. One size-fits-all thinking simply limits your reach.

My first thought when I first saw the modularity of the design was that they could possibly offer GPU upgrades via replacement keyboard modules or possibly a dual GPU version for high-end gaming. Or a "keyboard module" without a keyboard but with a professional-grade pad for artists. A data acquisition module for environmental sensing applications. Mix-match bases, maybe.

Once you start down the road of modularity you can come up with all sorts of interesting variations.