Microsoft Surface Go - The return of the small Windows Tablet
On July 9, MS announced it's rumored low cost Surface device - the Surface Go.
The $399 10" 2-in-1 format device announces the return the small tablet form factor to the Microsoft Portfolio. You can pre-order now or wait until general availability on August 2.
While other OEMs like Chuwi have been selling small tablet and 2-in-1 form factors for a while - the fact that MS decided to release a product is significant - more on that later.
MS choose an Intel Pentium Gold 4414Y CPU with HD 615 to power the device that sports a 1800 x 1200 Pixel Sense 3:2 aspect ratio 10 point touch screen with pen support. While it seems odd to still be thinking Pentium vs Intel's Core line - the nice thing is - it's fanless and very low power so think 6W TDP.
There is Intel 802.1ac WiFi & BT 4.1 support along with a 5MP Front & 8MP 1080P rears cameras with Hello facial sign-on support.
One very absent feature was the lack of LTE support.
There are two choices in terms of RAM / Storage - either an 4GB / 64Gb eMMC model or an 8GB / 128GB SSD version for $549.
In addition there is a Type Cover that ranges from $99 for black to $129 for Surface laptop colors like Burgundy, Platinum and Blue and then the Surface Pen is another $99 for any color.
So depending on your choices - you're all in is from $599 (64Gb Model with Black Keyboard & Pen) to $769 for the 128GB Model with a Colored Type Cover and Pen.
For me I see this as a potential replacement for my 4+ year old Dell Venue 8 Pro - model 5830. Originally released as a Windows 8.1 device - I've been really impressed with the little Venue as a consumption device - especially when travelling. I often can travel coast to coast - watch a couple of movies or stream TV during a flight and still have plenty of battery.
Based on the Intel Atom Z3740D CPU with 2Gb of RAM / 64GB eMMC the Venue Pro sports a 8" 1200 x 800 720p 2 point touch screen and pen support. It has a 2MP front and 5MP rear cameras - but not Hello support. it has a Dell 1538 802.1n WiFi and BT support and like the Surface Go support and SDXC external storage. The unit when I bought it was $299 in 2014 and included the pen. But there is no keyboard, so I typically just use the touch screen keyboard or pen input.
The Venue has been rock solid and even supports the most recent Window 10 RS5 builds as it is current running build 17713 now.
As I mentioned the release of this product is somewhat significant is that A) it re-introduces the small form factor device at a reasonable price from MS themselves and B) it will spawn alternatives from folks like HP, Dell, Lenovo and others.
So now the real question is - do you buy one ?
On the one side I am still not 100% with the MS Surface line. Watching the Feedback Hub responses from folks running Windows 10 on all models of Surface devices they still seem to have as many if not more issues than folks running main stream OEMs. There are almost monthly firmware and driver updates - even for stable Windows 10 releases.
On the other side - it does check a lot of boxes in terms of meeting an updated 10" consumption device that can still run Office, Store apps and 3rd party (if you upgrade to Home/Pro edition).
It supports all the key points of the modern Windows platform - so touch, pen, hello facial, etc. If you decide to add the Type Cover - you could even consider it a productivity device - albeit for light work.
The real question will be the performance of the Pentium Gold 4415Y processor. From the specs - and other reviews - the 4415Y provided similar processing power to Core i3's of 2016 - so for the expected use case it may the proper replacement for the Atom.
From a pricing perspective - I consider these kinds of devices to be extremely disposable - meaning you'll buy it - use it until the battery dies and probably replace it - say in 3 - 4 years time. If you're lucky you'll experience the same OS support I have with my Venue 8 Pro.
Personally at this level of device I would rather spend less - so buy the 64GB version and add a SDXC card than spending the extra $150 for the 128GB version. I highly recommend buying the pen - but depending on your use case the Type Cover can be optional.
For me I'm going to wait. I believe we'll see competitive units from Dell, HP and others this fall that may provide better value and I think we may see the price fall on the Surface Go by Christmas.
Regardless - it's nice to see the 10" form factor returning...
The $399 10" 2-in-1 format device announces the return the small tablet form factor to the Microsoft Portfolio. You can pre-order now or wait until general availability on August 2.
While other OEMs like Chuwi have been selling small tablet and 2-in-1 form factors for a while - the fact that MS decided to release a product is significant - more on that later.
MS choose an Intel Pentium Gold 4414Y CPU with HD 615 to power the device that sports a 1800 x 1200 Pixel Sense 3:2 aspect ratio 10 point touch screen with pen support. While it seems odd to still be thinking Pentium vs Intel's Core line - the nice thing is - it's fanless and very low power so think 6W TDP.
There is Intel 802.1ac WiFi & BT 4.1 support along with a 5MP Front & 8MP 1080P rears cameras with Hello facial sign-on support.
One very absent feature was the lack of LTE support.
There are two choices in terms of RAM / Storage - either an 4GB / 64Gb eMMC model or an 8GB / 128GB SSD version for $549.
In addition there is a Type Cover that ranges from $99 for black to $129 for Surface laptop colors like Burgundy, Platinum and Blue and then the Surface Pen is another $99 for any color.
So depending on your choices - you're all in is from $599 (64Gb Model with Black Keyboard & Pen) to $769 for the 128GB Model with a Colored Type Cover and Pen.
For me I see this as a potential replacement for my 4+ year old Dell Venue 8 Pro - model 5830. Originally released as a Windows 8.1 device - I've been really impressed with the little Venue as a consumption device - especially when travelling. I often can travel coast to coast - watch a couple of movies or stream TV during a flight and still have plenty of battery.
Based on the Intel Atom Z3740D CPU with 2Gb of RAM / 64GB eMMC the Venue Pro sports a 8" 1200 x 800 720p 2 point touch screen and pen support. It has a 2MP front and 5MP rear cameras - but not Hello support. it has a Dell 1538 802.1n WiFi and BT support and like the Surface Go support and SDXC external storage. The unit when I bought it was $299 in 2014 and included the pen. But there is no keyboard, so I typically just use the touch screen keyboard or pen input.
The Venue has been rock solid and even supports the most recent Window 10 RS5 builds as it is current running build 17713 now.
As I mentioned the release of this product is somewhat significant is that A) it re-introduces the small form factor device at a reasonable price from MS themselves and B) it will spawn alternatives from folks like HP, Dell, Lenovo and others.
So now the real question is - do you buy one ?
On the one side I am still not 100% with the MS Surface line. Watching the Feedback Hub responses from folks running Windows 10 on all models of Surface devices they still seem to have as many if not more issues than folks running main stream OEMs. There are almost monthly firmware and driver updates - even for stable Windows 10 releases.
On the other side - it does check a lot of boxes in terms of meeting an updated 10" consumption device that can still run Office, Store apps and 3rd party (if you upgrade to Home/Pro edition).
It supports all the key points of the modern Windows platform - so touch, pen, hello facial, etc. If you decide to add the Type Cover - you could even consider it a productivity device - albeit for light work.
The real question will be the performance of the Pentium Gold 4415Y processor. From the specs - and other reviews - the 4415Y provided similar processing power to Core i3's of 2016 - so for the expected use case it may the proper replacement for the Atom.
From a pricing perspective - I consider these kinds of devices to be extremely disposable - meaning you'll buy it - use it until the battery dies and probably replace it - say in 3 - 4 years time. If you're lucky you'll experience the same OS support I have with my Venue 8 Pro.
For me I'm going to wait. I believe we'll see competitive units from Dell, HP and others this fall that may provide better value and I think we may see the price fall on the Surface Go by Christmas.
Regardless - it's nice to see the 10" form factor returning...
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