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News Microsoft announces entry-level Surface Go

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by bit-tech, 10 Jul 2018.

  1. bit-tech

    bit-tech Supreme Overlord Lover of bit-tech Administrator

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    Read more
     
  2. bawjaws

    bawjaws Multimodder

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    £400 for 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage, with no pen and no keyboard? No thanks.

    This looks like a nice bit of kit, but it's not sensibly priced imho.

    Edit: At least you can easily switch from "Windows 10 in S mode" to full fat Windows 10, and for free, but it's a one-way ticket.
     
  3. Paradigm Shifter

    Paradigm Shifter de nihilo nihil fit

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    I know the Surface kit is supposed to be Microsoft's attempt at making something as desirable as an iPad (etc) but while initially I was thinking, "Huh, that's not too bad..." bawjaws made me remember that I have a 12" 2560x1440, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage (48GB for Windows 10) with full fat Windows 10 already... I've had it for over two years, and it cost rather less than half what Microsoft are asking for that.

    Also, after the pain that one of my colleagues has gone through with with Surface Pro 4, I'm not well inclined to bother with this. His first six months with the Surface Pro 4 it has spent more time being fixed than it has being used, by what I suspect is close to a full order of magnitude.
     
  4. Anfield

    Anfield Multimodder

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    The current Windows tablets with more up to date CPUs easily cost $300 - $500 too as Intel doesn't have to give the chips away for almost free unlike in the old days where they deep discounted the Z8350 Atom and similar.

    So if you compare it to the price of current Windows tablets like the ALLDOCUBE KNote 8, Chuwi Hi13, Teclast X5 Pro, Jumper EZPad 6 Plus, Onda obook 11 Pro then the Surface Go suddenly doesn't look so bad any more (besides the missing 2 -3 inches on the screen, but in return you get a warranty).
     
  5. Horizon

    Horizon Dremel Worthy

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    Where can I get a 2560x1440 anything for less than £275? Cheapest laptop with such a resolution starts at £768
     
    Last edited: 10 Jul 2018
  6. RedFlames

    RedFlames ...is not a Belgian football team

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    by chancing your arm on a cheap no-name chinesium offering from aliexpress... probably...
     
  7. Paradigm Shifter

    Paradigm Shifter de nihilo nihil fit

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    Chuwi Hi12. On Amazon UK. When I bought it, it was a direct sale from Amazon and was £169. I had a Bluetooth keyboard knocking around, so didn't bother with the extortionately expensive keyboard dock thing.

    Sort of. Chuwi is Chinesium, but it was from Amazon. And to be honest, it's done rather well. My only real complaint with it is that it takes an absolute age to charge up once significantly depleted. It survived getting thrown about quite a bit over the last couple of years.

    ...

    As for more up to date CPUs... yes, but I think the SSD read/write speeds will have more impact than the CPU upgrade, in all honesty. If the Surface has an NVME or SATA SSD that's half decent it would be approaching being worthwhile. I don't hammer a tablet the way I do a "workstation" laptop or desktop or HPC box, but it can feel sluggish when I/O is high.

    edit: I experimented with a USB3 memory stick (a tiny Sandisk one that barely sticks out) and everything run off that is fairly fast, so basically the eMMC in the Hi12 is slow. That won't help Windows speed up, but applications can be installed to a USB3 flash disk and that's a lot smoother responding. Of course, it could also be the In-Order-Execution Atom CPU slowing things down for the OS...
     
  8. RedFlames

    RedFlames ...is not a Belgian football team

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    the Higher-spec models do, only the el-cheapo base spec offering uses eMMC.

    The general concencus seems to be - the base spec model is fairly pointless, but if you ignore that one it's not a bad device.
     
  9. Anfield

    Anfield Multimodder

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    And the successor is £289 (up to date model) at the same store:
    www.amazon.co.uk/CHUWI-Lightweight-Resolution-Windows-Celeron/dp/B071P9DGGK/

    Nothing against the old Hi12, but the point stands that those "cheap" chinese tablets have gotten a lot more expensive (which makes the Microsoft one look not so bad in comparison).
     
  10. Horizon

    Horizon Dremel Worthy

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    That thing also listed for 399, now if you apply the 10-25% price decrease that surface products get after the early adopter period ends it falls to 299-359, which is not much more than the 220 the chuwi is going for. If they had the exact same specs I'd be inclined to agree it's overpriced but as it stands I don't see the basis for the claim.
     
    Last edited: 10 Jul 2018
  11. Paradigm Shifter

    Paradigm Shifter de nihilo nihil fit

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    True enough, that way lies the classic "oh, but if I only spend a little more I can get x... y... z..." which can lead to someone buying something considerably more expensive than they originally intended. I've done it myself in the past and watched others do it more recently. ;)

    I've had the Hi12 for quite a while and while I do agree that those "cheap" tablets have become more expensive, I was using the one I have personal experience of; one that also came with full-fat Windows 10 and a (roughly) comparable specification to the £400 Surface Go... two years ago. The 13.5" update is firmly out of tablet territory. 12" is too large to hold comfortably one handed, so 13.5" is well out of whack. ;) I can just about live with a Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro for a 13" screen - it's almost usable as a tablet but still rather cumbersome.

    Would I buy the Hi12 again, with what I know now after using it for two years? Probably not. It's great for reading PDFs on, but I'd prefer an 8" tablet for reading Kindle books or similar.

    You asked, and I quote;
    I gave you the answer. Now you appear to have forgotten what you asked - and how I answered - and headed off in a different direction entirely. Even with the increase in price on Amazon for the Hi12, it's still less than your original £275 target. Even assuming a 25% discount in a few months, that'll still be £300 while the Hi12 I linked to is £220 right now. Horses for courses - would it be, a) Hi12 for £220 right now, b) it's sequel Anfield listed at £290 right now, c) a Surface Go at £400 or d) wait six months with the expectation the Surface Go gets cheaper?
     
  12. Anfield

    Anfield Multimodder

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    Among those three? I'd go for the Surface because the cheap ones aren't cheap enough by comparison, or spend a bit more and get something that makes the £550 model of the Surface go look like a joke:

    http://en.myvoyo.com/chanpin/pingban/886.shtml
     
  13. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Microsoft has confirmed lower-than-expected pricing for the Surface Go family, dropping the entry-level model to £379 and the higher-end model to £509. Pricing in the article has been updated accordingly.
     
  14. DragunovHUN

    DragunovHUN Modder

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    How usable is that Pentium supposed to be? A few years ago I wanted something that runs Windows and has a battery, so I ended up with an Atom Z3735 and I'm still shocked by how much it struggles with the most basic tasks.
     
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