Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Microsoft Surface Go hands-on”.
Microsoft has a new, tiny little computer., It’s called the Surface Go you may have heard of it and it’s ready to take on the iPad, or maybe it’s ready to take on Chromebooks, or maybe it’s just a really little Surface Pro.. You know what Here’s a question.. What is this thing designed to compete with All right? So this is the Surface Go and, as you can see, it looks quite a lot like just a little tiny baby Surface Pro. Now, they’re not exactly the same of course, and I’m gon na get into the differences. And before I get started, I’m gon na say That this is not a review, yet we’ve only had this thing for a couple of days, but I do have some thoughts. So, let’s start with the hardware.. Now, if you’re familiar with the Surface Pro hardware, you know exactly what to expect here. It’S just smaller, but some of the edges are a little bit more curved, which makes sense for how small this thing is.. It is a little bit thicker than an iPad Pro, which is kind of a bummer, but it makes sense..
This is a full PC after all.. The screen is 1800 by 1200 and it’s nice, but it feels a little bit cramped because the bezels are really huge to make space for the Windows, Hello, camera and also they’re, just really huge. The kickstand. It’S great.. It’S a standard, Surface kickstand.. It works at pretty much any angle and you can use it on your lap just fine. In terms of ports, the big one, the one I’m most excited about is USB-C.
Hurray.. If you use an Android phone, you can use that charger to charge this thing, although it won’t charge super quick with that. You’re, better off using the charger that comes with it, which uses this little Surface Connector.. Now, unfortunately, this doesn’t have a standard USB, A port and the Surface Connector here doesn’t have one on it either, unlike on the Surface Pro, which is a little bit of a bummer but whatever get a dongle., There’s also a microSD card slot for expanding the storage, Which I’m really happy about. And last but not least, there is a headphone jack..
Oh sorry, there’s one more connector, and that is the keyboard connector on the bottom for connecting it to the Surface keyboard. So we should talk about that.. As with the Surface Pro, there is a Surface type cover designed specifically for this computer.. You have to buy it separately, though., It’s 130 bucks, and it’s designed for this thing, which means that it’s really really small, just like this computer, but Microsoft did a pretty good job, making the keys go edge to edge.
So, although it is a little bit cramped, I got used to typing on it in just a couple of hours.: It’s actually pretty much fine.. It has really good key travel much better than a MacBook., And I like the touchpad. – It’s not very big’cause, this computer’s, so small, but it works really well and I haven’t had any problems with it. Overall. I really like this hardware, but I have to admit that I have a soft spot for tiny computers and this is just a tiny little cute computer.. So you know I kind of love it.
Build quality, though it’s really good. The magnesium is solid and it might be a little bit more plasticky in its finish than the Surface Pro, but whatever it runs. Windows 10, which means that it can do more than a Chromebook and you’re, probably able to be a little bit more productive than you could be on an iPad.. It’S a little Surface, so cool we’re done, here. We’re not done here.. No, we got ta talk about price and specs, because you know what That’s, where things get a little bit weird., So the base model of the Surface Go cost 399, and for that you get an Intel. Gold. 4415Y processor., It’s a relatively new processor, but it’s also pretty low end. So you’re not gon na be able to do super intensive stuff on this thing.. It also comes with 64 gigs of storage and here’s the issue.
Only four gigs of RAM, which for most people, isn’t enough to do the stuff that they wan na do on Windows.. Now that RAM situation might not be that bad. If you leave this thing in its default state, which is running Windows 10 S mode, the version of Windows that can only run Windows Store apps, but turning it off is really easy and I think most people do because you can’t get the apps you want. Like Chrome, 1Password and the Amazon Kindle app., I have lots of feelings about S mode and there’s not time to get into’em in this article.. Anyway. I think most people are gon na wan na get the upgraded version which costs 549 and comes with the same processor.
128 gigs of storage and eight gigs of RAM. And that’s the version. I’Ve been testing for the past day and for basic stuff. It’S actually been pretty fast and that RAM means that I can have a bunch of stuff open..
But that brings me back to the price.. The right Surface Go, I think, for most people is the upgraded model which costs again: 550 bucks plus 130 for the keyboard., That is $ 680., Not accounting for the Surface Pen. If you want that which costs an extra hundred bucks., I’m not saying that. I think this thing is too expensive..
I mean, after all, an iPad Pro with a Smart Keyboard starts at a little over 800 bucks and at 680 you can get a pretty decent Windows. Laptop., I feel like buying a computer in this price range. It just turns out, there’s no easy answers.. The bottom line for me is buying this new kind of device in this price category is surprisingly complicated. As a new kind of device. That’S trying to do a newish thing in computers.
I think the Surface Go is really intriguing, but I do wonder if it kind of falls on this weird middle zone., So okay., I’m a middle child. I don’t know if you can tell and being a middle child. Sometimes kind of sucks., The big kids get to do all the cool stuff and the little kids they get all the attention and the middle kids. They just constantly have to prove themselves and the Surface Go.
It has to prove itself.. At the end of the day. I do think the Surface Go falls in a very similar category to the iPad Pro.. It could serve as your main computer, but definitely not for everybody.. Hey thanks.
So much for watching., Like I said, I’m gon na be reviewing this thing. So let me know in the comments what you’d like me to test and I’ll try and fit it into the review. And one quick note some time in the near future.
We’Re gon na take a break from making these episodes’cause we’re a little bit tired. But I promise you, we will be back .