To all the people saying that this is too expensive for college students...have you been to a college campus recently? The kids may be on a top ramen budget, but they're still walking around with MacBooks...
Fadil Karim I'm a computer science student, I spend a lot of time coding and I'm really tempted to get a Surface. I wonder when the Surface 5 will be out.
Fadil Karim True. At UC San Diego 90+% of students had apple products and all this other expensive shit. I lived that Ramen life with a hand me down laptop.
one thing to note for college/university students. the ms store offers a 10% discount. it should help pay for part of the type cover. yes it's strange it's not included. hopefully it helps some of you
Isolwi1 usually go to the microsoft page that is dedicated to your country, that usually display your national currency on their website, then find the education option.
i heard is better power efficiency though although battery capacity is lower and I am just going to be using it primarily for watching hq vids, internet browsing, office suites, and listening to music though I heard some say i5 has better battery idk, maybe discounted surface pro 3?
don't know if you will see this dave, but I just wanted to say you are such a breath of fresh air. whereas other tech reviewers(Verge/Techbuffalo/Android authority/CNET) just seem and feel so, i would say robotic so often, and honestly feel more like style than substance and just like they are talking off some kind of script. You and MKBHD are my favorite reviewers on youtube and hands down the best in my opinion-because you always make me feel relaxed and just talk to your viewers in your reviews like you are a normal everyday user-just like the people who watch your videos, and it's so relatable in addition to the knowledge you impart on us. A great example from this video:"The surface pro 3 in particular was really solid and it came out before I started making youtube videos, so i thought i should do one for the surface pro 4 that was geared towards college kids." Thanks for the videos Dave, you have something great here, keep at it, you will be at the top before soon.
+Aaron Trinh Defenitely Core i5 with 8 GB of Ram. Core M might be able to handle it(emphasis on the might) but it would drain the battery really bad.That's if you have an extra $300 to upgrade the RAM and ssd If not you want to go with the Core i5 with 4gb of ram
Thank you so much Josiah for your feedback. Surface 3, discounted i5 128 GB pro 3 or pro 4 i5, priority is value (budget) and battery life (heard pro 4 got worse in battery life which i see is true sadly)
***** its just that we don't know how fast the iPad Pro chip is. The normal iPads cant even compare to the surface. But from what we've seen so far, the iPad Pro has a REALLY fast chip with much better graphics than the surface. I don't know though. I actually considered waiting, but then I just got a Razer Blade XD.
+Vikas Gudhe it is not about chips and specs but rather what you can do on it and functionality. why would i get get a 12 inch ipad that has the same interface and OS as the 4 inch iphone.
Dave, In 2 years you're going to retire from whatever you're doing to support yourself and family. Because by then, your subscriber count will be so high you no longer need to work. Keep up the awesome work, and remember I said this.
I love the casual vibes to this video. Dave always seems to have great reviews of the Surface devices! Even though he reviewed the Surface 3 somewhat unfavorably, I still ended up buying one and I still think it's brilliant.
You don't talk about the drawing aspect of the surface pro 4, which is a big deal as the surface brand is heavily targetted to artists. Is it better from the surface 3? Performance improvements? Adobe CC interactions? Ect. Judging this product without mentionning its use as a drawing tablet isn't accurate, although the review was otherwise as good as usual.
+Lothian Alimantado I geared it towards students. The majority of students aren't going to be using it for art work but more as an average 2-in-1. As for the how it handles art work, it's identical to the material I mentioned in the surface book. The pen is great but losing keyboard shortcuts is super annoying to almost every illustrator.
Thanks for the answer - I don't loose the keyboard shorcuts while working on my surface pro using the keyboard though. I was wondering if the better screen had more pressure levels for instance. I understand you made the review to help students, but my surface has mainly value as a drawing tablet from an art perspective, wich justifies an high cost for me. Btw, the video is excellent, your format is always helpful that's why I was a bit disapointed here.
Loth A If you want a review from the perspective of an artist, you should watch Brad Colbow's video, it was everything I need to be sold on the SP4. No disrespect for Dave's review, both are equally awesome :)
Background beat on point, not distracting, layout of all your reviews are consistent and smart. Man... Why haven't seen this channel earlier. I'll share this!
+Dave Lee what is the source of the wake up issue then? is it software? and is it already been fixed? is the wake up issue is always happening or rarely happening?
I've had my Surface Pro 4 for over a year now and Dave just told me I have an SD card slot that I never knew about... I should watch this channel more often
hey Dave, I'm not really sure if you'll reply to this, but thanks to ur video, I've decided to buy a surface pro 4 for college, although you said 4gb of RAM is already good enough for a typical college student, do you think its wise for me to go with 8gb version instead of the 4gb If I were to consider this purchase as a long term purchase throughout my studies, (3-4 years), I'm hesitating because many people keep saying that 4gb RAM is quite irrelevant In 2016, and I'm gonna be graduating in 2018-2019, I'm worried that my laptop is going to need more RAM in a few more years as many simple programs would start demanding more memory. I'm sorry If I sound ignorant, hope you can reply to this..thanks in advance
4gb are not irrelevant most people have that setup. but if I were you go for the 8gb for better use throughout the years. I recommend you get a normal laptop with higher specs rather than the pro 4. like a razer blade stealth or an asus rog gl552vw .hope it helps.
To be honest with you, you should definitely get the best laptop you can for the amount of time you're gonna be with it... I'm graduating by the end of 2017 and I'm planning on getting a laptop with really good specs (i7 6700HQ (or anything that's better by the time I graduate), 8 or more Gb RAM, good battery life and a good SSD, the GPU is optional) because if I'm going to game w/ the laptop than i'll probably get an external GPU like the Razer Core... To be honest I'm just speculating at this point, only time will tell what I'll end up with...
I found your channel today and I've watched 3 of your videos. I really like your work man, wish have found this channel sooner. I like these points specially: You get deep, but not boring deep, on details. The recap part is beautiful and informative, and your honest opinions help a lot on choosing for an average customer. Thank you and keep up your good work.
I disagree with the battery life assertion, you were running it between 50% and 75% brightness right? I run my sp3 all day, but I just bring it down to around 25%. I have pretty good eyesight, but I don't see why someone would waste battery on making a screen just the tiniest bit brighter.
+Michael Hoff EXACTLY! Windows warns users that anything over 25% would harm battery life, but reviewers tend to remain ignoramus about that. He should have done it at both 75% and 25%. 25% on my Surface Pro 2 is more than enough for long term use in my fully-lit classroom or office...
+MrElectrifyer Really ? I`m on W10 and on a Surface pro 3 i got since launch and my windows never ever told me anything about that. Not that .. i need it to tell me that as it's pretty obvious the brighter your screen is the more power it consumes. I just did it again , tapped through the brightness via the button on the sideswipe. No notifications.
+MrElectrifyer Tried it just now, no warning for me. Going into battery properties it also doesn't show any extra warnings when i set it to 100% brightness. I was curious about reproducing this since I have never seen this warning on any laptop and I`m a sys admin for both MS devices as well as Apple devices so in a professional capacity i was wondering why i wasnt seeing something that might be out there and a user could encounter. I have Windows 10 Pro , and prior to that 8.1 pro ; likewise all the company devices use the pro version of Windows. Do you have the home version by any chance ? That might explain that difference
NL0Gwenster I'm using Windows 8.1.1 Pro on my Surface Pro 2 (holding off upgrading to Windows 10). Maybe it's gone in Windows 10. It's been there since Vista era and it's showing right now on my Surface Pro 2 with Windows 8.1.1 as I up the brightness over 25% while on battery. Here's an image of what I'm talking about (goo. gl/QIp5GD), copy it to your address var and remove the space.
Man, you have some of best reviews I have the pleasure of coming across. I also noticed my ugly mug too, a slight taint in an otherwise sublime view buddy. Stunning job. Audio sounded lovely. I could go on and on....and on.
Id say go for it dude because who knows when the surface pro 5 will come out. If you dont have a ton of money to spend then do what I did and look on craigslist because I found mine (core u5, 4GB ram, 128GB SSD) brand new (never opened) for $680.00. The guy who got it received it as a school gift but he didnt need it since he uses his macbook for school so I got about $350.00 off original price. Also ebay and amazon are great sites to look for them but if you buy it used make sure to ask the seller things like how is the overall condition, how long does battery last or what all does it come with. I ask these types of questions before I buy any type of computer online because the last thing you want is to waste money on a broken product. Hope this helps you out!
Used this video and many others, in my decision to purchase a Surface Pro. Dave, thank you for the information and candor in all of your videos they help immeasurably when making purchasing decisions.
Dave I've gotta say, I'm a huge promoter of your videos and production skill which is in my opinion on par with MKBHD if not better. That said, the lighting in this review was just bad. Your shots of the unboxing as well as shots you appear in are dark and the background is either not lit well or just seems bland. Lighting sets the mood! Just some constructive criticism, keep up the awesome videos!
For the college kids like me who cant pull $1000+ out of their ass for a laptop, I've been using my Chromebook Flip for about a year now. Got it off of Amazon for $250 and its done me well! Perfect for studying and typing essays, and you can download android apps straight from the Play Store which is really useful!
The X2 is great so far. I would recommend it if you could find a good deal. Solid hinge design. Goodish speeds. Good touch screen. Tbh an AWESOME keyboard for the size and price. Speakers are very lackluster. Touchpad fucking sucks and is the worst part about it. Build quality is great though. Can't think of anything else bad with the device so far. Takes a little long to charge. But charge lasts pretty long
Daymian Hayes Ur stupid U could have just get the i5 4gb 4gb ram and then get a micro sd for that and the keyboard might pile up to 800 if you want the pen then pay for a cheap pne
Great review, as always Dave! Your channel is quickly becoming one of my favorites for tech reviews. Your videos are just the right length, rarely miss important information, give a clear, well formulated opinion without obvious bias and have a natural, almost zen like flow to them. Keep up the great work! Couple things to note, as someone who has owned both the Surface Book as the Surface Pro 4: 1. The Surface Pro 4 is by far the better tablet. The tablet portion of the Surface Book really felt like an afterthought. It has atrocious battery life, absolutely no expandibility and misses the excellent stand of the SP4. Now I know Microsoft markets it as a laptop with some clipboard functionality, but I can't help but feel they went the Apple route and intentionally crippled what could have been a perfect device in order to sell to separate products. Just think of how good the Surface Book could have been with ALL the perks of the SP4, combined with that fantastic keyboard dock. I would MUCH rather have the same Surface Pro 4 tablet with the option to choose either the $150 Type Cover 4, or a $250 Keyboard dock with that same hinge and added battery, of even a $300 Dock with NVIDIA GPU in it. Combine the excellent tablet experience with the Surface Book's laptop experience, and you've got close to the perfect all in one solution. Not to mention insane battery life. 2. The difference between the i5 and i7 model of the Surface Pro 4 isn't as small as you make it out to be. Unlike the basic 128GB Surface Book, the i5 128GB Surface Pro 4 comes with only 4GB of RAM (which you mentioned), which is enough for casual tablet use, but very meager for a main laptop, especially considering multitasking. Besides that, the i7 has the way better Intel 540 graphics, compared to the 520 graphics in the i5 model. The i7 has about 70-80% better graphics performance, and actually comes very close to the discrete GPU in the Surface Book. Perhaps that is why Microsoft decided to handicap the i7 model of the Surface book with the Intel 520 graphics instead of the 540. Personally, I use the Surface Pro 4 as my main laptop more and more, and keep finding myself to prefer picking it up over my MacBook Pro. I have the i7/256GB/8GB model and have found that, for a tablet with a low voltage CPU and no discrete GPU, it actually packs quite a punch when it comes to gaming. Sure, it won't run the latest and greatest games in full resolution. But when you turn the resolution down to 720p (which is acceptable on a 12" screen) and tweak the settings some, I've found that even GTA V, Shadow of Mordor and Tomb Raider manage frame rates in the high 50's. No, it's definitely not a gaming powerhouse, but I'd put it at least on par with a last gen console, and it is more than capable for providing an adequate gaming fix. So far, I've finished three backlogged games on it (Bioshock, Portal 2, Arkham Origins: Blackgate) and am halfway through Arkham City. Not too shabby, when Apple's iPad Pro only manages to run Gameloft games and constantly crashes the same Bioshock. My brother, on the other hand, has a gaming desktop, so doesn't need either the power, graphics performance, or storage that I need from the Surface Pro 4. He picked up a brand new 128GB i5 model for 884 euros today, which is about $1000,-. Coming from an 8" Shield Tablet, he couldn't be happier with it, and that model provides him with everything he possibly needs from both a tablet and a laptop.
I have said this before, but your videos are really great to watch. Very genuine, very honest content. I've always been buying Apple products but your video really wants me to go check this Surface Pro 4 out!
I think that 8 gigs of RAM is actually necessary for most college students. I'm sure that most would still need to write papers and look at journal articles. When you do that having around 8 tabs on google chrome 4 gigs actually is not enough anymore
Amazing video. Do you think you could make a video on the 50bucks amazon tablet? I Wanno if I could use it for light work. Bit of web browsing and essays and things like that?
I love your reviews man! I am using the surface pro 4 with the same config now, most of the bugs that were there before seem to be fixed now and its just awesome. The only downside is when I have a lot of classes, I need to be seated by a plug to charge it up by the end of the day, but its great for collge students, life gets so much more simpler!
Just a heads up to any college kids watching this: If you're in engineering make sure to get the 8GB version. Solidworks and most other CADs require 8GBs to run.
Subscribed. I usually dislike (like not on RUclips, mentally) most review videos, like it's just something about my mind set. But you're calming and very good. Wish I found you long ago!!!
That was hilarious xD when u unlocked with the face recognition, the reflection on your surface's screen made me look behind my back to check if someone was behind me haha. Nice video!
Why do the battery test at 75% alone? 25% is more than enough on my surface Pro 2 in my office with everywhere lit up. Plus, Windows always warns users that any brightness over 25% would affect battery life, but some reviewers just ignore the warnings and do unrealistic tests. Instead of doing it at just your desired brightness, do it at both your desired brightness and the one Windows recommends when on battery, thus giving viewers a better idea of actual battery life...if you're going to give people advice, you need to look beyond your minuscule use case. Regarding including the Type Cover in the package, if that had happened, they'd have to increase the price to compensate for it, making it less accessible to consumers. Then you'd start reading tons of comments/headlines saying it should have been $130 cheaper 'cause they don't need the keyboard, or Microsoft doesn't believe in the tablet functionality, so they included a keyboard. People will always find something to whine about. Microsoft's decision to keep it separate is less damaging to the image of the Surface IMO. That's not even taking into consideration the fact that other competing tablets don't come with a keyboard. If you need it to come with the keyboard, simply add the Surface to your shopping cart, add the keyboard, complete the transaction, and bingo! The Surface comes with the keyboard...it's no rocket science.
Why do I have to watch your videos at least twice a day! This is just a superb video and again, based on what I'm looking for. Thanks Dave, please continue :) Also, your videos are some of the best here on youtube. Crystal clear, beautiful and artistic.
+Critical Bloke You do have a point. However, Windows 10 is still built to compliment both tablets and desktops and uses 1.7GB at idle regardless; a jack of all trades, master of none. As a student, I'm already having a hard time with 8GB at my disposal. I see no reason to even offer the 4GB variant given that future upgradability isn't an option.
+Remeister how the hell are you having trouble already at 8gb?? I cant imagine what you would possibly be doing as a student that would require so much RAM, unless you are purposely leaving every possible incongruent program,tab,game,feature,etc. open and obsessed with multi-tasking to where you have this warped sense of ram requirements..... then id understand. Ive built high end custom boutique computers for years now and im in a few of the top 15 world record ranked benchmarks on HWbot.org, and ive never needed to have more than 16GB in even the highest of the high end desktop gaming/workstation rigs.....
+Nick Hansen I just bought a Lenovo Y50 earlier this year. On a good day I'll have at least 3 windows with a dozen tabs of research each in Chrome and a couple of Word assignments, Excel graphs, and a reserved window for iTunes to top it off. I don't ask for much and yet I'm utilizing about 6.8GB in total. There isn't much of headroom left to run anything else if I so require. Out of my entire system, the RAM is the only bottleneck for my workflow. I'm speaking from a real world use scenario and not just marveling over a sheet of numbers printed by a benchmark.
great review.I'm buying one of these after christmas.I commute to university and it'd be very useful to work on lab reports and excel sheets on the train home.
You're amazing, quality quality review. I'm subbed to a few million-sub channels, but your review holds more weight than any of them. Great great job. Please keep going
In high school and community college right now, starting university in fall. Cannot afford anything nearly this expensive, but picked up a used 1st gen off ebay for $275. It's getting here friday (hopefully) and I really do think it'll be perfect for college, since already 90% of my books are ebooks, stylus will be super helpful for taking notes on those ebooks.
Yo Dave just wanna say good looking out. I've been looking for reviews in regards to the Surface Pro 4 video editing capabilities and so far you're the only channel that I know of that actually included this in their review. So I appreciaite it man... And on a side note... This laptop is with everything included is like $559.99 at bestbuy lol which is more than half off than when it initially launched. But yea thank you once again.
Great review! I also agree that you should have more subs, given your even-handed and well produced work. Hope you can do an iPad Pro review in near future as well!
Excellent video as usual man! I wanted this before the Surface Book was a thing ha. I think it's worth saving up a little longer to get that over this. For college maybe not though. The Surface line is a great way to go either way.
Amazing video dave! You keep getting better and better with every video. Production quality is top notch, information covers all details and i just don't have anything else to say. Keep the awesomeness coming! :D
Another great review dave! I really like how thorough and concise your reviews are. Even mentioning that the pen detaches when carrying the surface in the backpack.
Great, informative review. First time seeing your review but it's snappy and still relevant. My college days are way behind me but consider me a new fan. Keep up the good work!
Everyone has to share your videos on every single social media they have... dude everyone says it cause its true, your videos are amazing and you act "above your youtube age". You make 1mil subscriber like videos other than 65k. Keep it up, YOU WILL GET POPULAR! and remember me when you do XD
I use the Pro 4 for school, and it's the best student device out there. I use it as a laptop for coding in Data Structures, and then when i go to Calc, I take the keyboard off and do all of my math work in One Note with the pen. I haven't used a single piece of paper all semester.
This would be ideal if you are a student and are in Engineering, Technical Drawing, Art or similar due to the pen input. However for other courses I could never recommend this. A Lenovo X250 is about 66% the price in the UK for the same spec, that includes two batteries one of which is hot swappable. The x250 is also still resistant and protected for drops, etc. Also parts are upgradeable and re SSD are much faster. A Dell XPS would be better if you are gonna spend more time gaming than working with again better battery life (important when you are out and about all day). Hard to recommend the SP4 for those who do not need the pen input, my x240 has four years insurance with two extra batteries that could get me through 3-4 days away from a charging port. Also it has taken knocks and not a mark on it, and it also has a great keypad and trackpad, and for students that is essential. Learning to type fast can only be a plus and with a great trackpad touch screens are redundant.
Hi Dave, nice video. I wanted to buy the surface but everyone keeps telling me that it is still a microsoft and has all of its problems, like blcking, virus ect. Would you give me an advice? which one is better btw surface and ipad pro (the new one)? thank u so much
I'm not interested in the Surface, but I can't help watching your reviews. Amazing video as always. So pleasant to watch. Thanks for taking the time to make it.
Wow !! cool one ! watching your video for the first time and is very neat ! Great job done :-D And also, your location (the place where you stay) looks awesome ! :-D
I own a MacBook air 2013 I believe the model is and was looking into investing in buying a surface pro four since I'm going to be a computer science major What do you think? Yay or nay ?
To all the people saying that this is too expensive for college students...have you been to a college campus recently? The kids may be on a top ramen budget, but they're still walking around with MacBooks...
Well, you do need a good computer to get your stuff done. You cant compromise on that :)
Fadil Karim I'm a computer science student, I spend a lot of time coding and I'm really tempted to get a Surface. I wonder when the Surface 5 will be out.
Alan S it's gonna come out on 2017 spring, if you don't want to wait that long, maybe buy surface pro 4 on this Friday!
Fadil Karim True. At UC San Diego 90+% of students had apple products and all this other expensive shit. I lived that Ramen life with a hand me down laptop.
Once saw a guy place his cafeteria tray on his MacBook. Why, just WHY? If you don't want it, give it to me!
one thing to note for college/university students. the ms store offers a 10% discount. it should help pay for part of the type cover. yes it's strange it's not included. hopefully it helps some of you
+David Yan when i did it, it didnt even ask for an email, they just gave me 10% off!!
What countries have this offer?
+Isolwi1 most country offers it
Syahrul Anwar
How can I find out if my country has this offer?
Isolwi1 usually go to the microsoft page that is dedicated to your country, that usually display your national currency on their website, then find the education option.
OMMGGGG I HAD MY SURFACE PRO 4 FOR A YEAR NOW AND I JUST REALIZED IT HAD A SD SLOOOT HAHAHA
yzabella THIS IS SO ME WITH TECHNOLOGY. that’s why I love doing research because laptops are so expensive😭😭 and I want the best experiences I can get
when the SP4 fell down in 2:30 my heart fell down with it
U deserve so many more subs. Your videos feel like something that would come from a channel with 500,000 or more. I love them :D
+Don DeWaay aww thanks =) Appreciate it
+Dave Lee Should i get the m3 or thee discounted i5 surface pro 3
Totally get the i5
Intel core M kinda sucks
i heard is better power efficiency though although battery capacity is lower and I am just going to be using it primarily for watching hq vids, internet browsing, office suites, and listening to music though I heard some say i5 has better battery idk, maybe discounted surface pro 3?
don't know if you will see this dave, but I just wanted to say you are such a breath of fresh air. whereas other tech reviewers(Verge/Techbuffalo/Android authority/CNET) just seem and feel so, i would say robotic so often, and honestly feel more like style than substance and just like they are talking off some kind of script. You and MKBHD are my favorite reviewers on youtube and hands down the best in my opinion-because you always make me feel relaxed and just talk to your viewers in your reviews like you are a normal everyday user-just like the people who watch your videos, and it's so relatable in addition to the knowledge you impart on us.
A great example from this video:"The surface pro 3 in particular was really solid and it came out before I started making youtube videos, so i thought i should do one for the surface pro 4 that was geared towards college kids."
Thanks for the videos Dave, you have something great here, keep at it, you will be at the top before soon.
+Tyler Roberts aww thanks! Appreciate the kind words and support =)
Seriously underrated comment
Yeah your videos feel nice and comforting (it’s weird but it is) and you are so informative with realistic expectations
Dave, your reviews rock! Coming from the fan-boy oriented iVerge channel... Yours save my day.
+Yu Cheng aww thanks! I love the Verge though hah =)
+Dave Lee m3 or i5? I want the best battery life with 10 tabs on chrome and also about 6 windows of office suite and listening to music.
+Aaron Trinh Defenitely Core i5 with 8 GB of Ram. Core M might be able to handle it(emphasis on the might) but it would drain the battery really bad.That's if you have an extra $300 to upgrade the RAM and ssd If not you want to go with the Core i5 with 4gb of ram
Thank you so much Josiah for your feedback. Surface 3, discounted i5 128 GB pro 3 or pro 4 i5, priority is value (budget) and battery life (heard pro 4 got worse in battery life which i see is true sadly)
Yea surface pro 3 with i5 and the surface pro 4 keyboard is probably going to be the best option for most people
Fantastic review Dave, can't wait to see how this stacks up to the iPad Pro.
+Antnie Its better than the iPad Pro.
+Antnie Really? There's no contest. Surface all the way.
+dayron elias You are sooo biased my friend.
***** its just that we don't know how fast the iPad Pro chip is. The normal iPads cant even compare to the surface. But from what we've seen so far, the iPad Pro has a REALLY fast chip with much better graphics than the surface. I don't know though. I actually considered waiting, but then I just got a Razer Blade XD.
+Vikas Gudhe it is not about chips and specs but rather what you can do on it and functionality. why would i get get a 12 inch ipad that has the same interface and OS as the 4 inch iphone.
Dave, In 2 years you're going to retire from whatever you're doing to support yourself and family. Because by then, your subscriber count will be so high you no longer need to work. Keep up the awesome work, and remember I said this.
Psstt it has been 2 years
Pretty crazy, you actually did predict the future. 1,6m subscribers 2 years later. Damn.
@@cyrielroelofs 1.8M Subscribers now after 3 months from your comment.
2M Ya'll
And bingo!!
I love the casual vibes to this video. Dave always seems to have great reviews of the Surface devices! Even though he reviewed the Surface 3 somewhat unfavorably, I still ended up buying one and I still think it's brilliant.
You don't talk about the drawing aspect of the surface pro 4, which is a big deal as the surface brand is heavily targetted to artists. Is it better from the surface 3? Performance improvements? Adobe CC interactions? Ect. Judging this product without mentionning its use as a drawing tablet isn't accurate, although the review was otherwise as good as usual.
+Lothian Alimantado I geared it towards students. The majority of students aren't going to be using it for art work but more as an average 2-in-1. As for the how it handles art work, it's identical to the material I mentioned in the surface book. The pen is great but losing keyboard shortcuts is super annoying to almost every illustrator.
Thanks for the answer - I don't loose the keyboard shorcuts while working on my surface pro using the keyboard though. I was wondering if the better screen had more pressure levels for instance. I understand you made the review to help students, but my surface has mainly value as a drawing tablet from an art perspective, wich justifies an high cost for me. Btw, the video is excellent, your format is always helpful that's why I was a bit disapointed here.
I'll be doing a much more art oriented review on a future device soon =)
Ooh thanks then Dave :D
Loth A If you want a review from the perspective of an artist, you should watch Brad Colbow's video, it was everything I need to be sold on the SP4. No disrespect for Dave's review, both are equally awesome :)
Background beat on point, not distracting, layout of all your reviews are consistent and smart. Man... Why haven't seen this channel earlier. I'll share this!
Dave, did you get any annoying Windows 10 bugs (such as not able to wake the device up) or any hardware problems? (like back light bleed etc.)
+Jordan Lin No hardware issues on my unit but the occasional wake on device was an issue, That stuff always gets sorted out though.
+Dave Lee what is the source of the wake up issue then? is it software? and is it already been fixed?
is the wake up issue is always happening or rarely happening?
its already been fixed
I've had my Surface Pro 4 for over a year now and Dave just told me I have an SD card slot that I never knew about... I should watch this channel more often
I cringed when you held it by the keyboard and dropped it
Slime Gamer well, it is kinda his job to do that.
Slime Gamer Who didn’t?
I do a lot of 3D modeling and sculpting, and I just ordered one of these bad-boys, partly in thanks to your review. I'm super stoked for it to arrive!
hey Dave, I'm not really sure if you'll reply to this, but thanks to ur video, I've decided to buy a surface pro 4 for college, although you said 4gb of RAM is already good enough for a typical college student, do you think its wise for me to go with 8gb version instead of the 4gb If I were to consider this purchase as a long term purchase throughout my studies, (3-4 years), I'm hesitating because many people keep saying that 4gb RAM is quite irrelevant In 2016, and I'm gonna be graduating in 2018-2019, I'm worried that my laptop is going to need more RAM in a few more years as many simple programs would start demanding more memory. I'm sorry If I sound ignorant, hope you can reply to this..thanks in advance
go w the 8gb ram
4gb are not irrelevant most people have that setup. but if I were you go for the 8gb for better use throughout the years. I recommend you get a normal laptop with higher specs rather than the pro 4. like a razer blade stealth or an asus rog gl552vw .hope it helps.
If you're in engineering or comp sci, go with 8gb
you'll need the 8 gb for video editing or playing games but for classic college work 4gb is enough
To be honest with you, you should definitely get the best laptop you can for the amount of time you're gonna be with it... I'm graduating by the end of 2017 and I'm planning on getting a laptop with really good specs (i7 6700HQ (or anything that's better by the time I graduate), 8 or more Gb RAM, good battery life and a good SSD, the GPU is optional) because if I'm going to game w/ the laptop than i'll probably get an external GPU like the Razer Core... To be honest I'm just speculating at this point, only time will tell what I'll end up with...
I found your channel today and I've watched 3 of your videos. I really like your work man, wish have found this channel sooner. I like these points specially: You get deep, but not boring deep, on details. The recap part is beautiful and informative, and your honest opinions help a lot on choosing for an average customer. Thank you and keep up your good work.
I disagree with the battery life assertion, you were running it between 50% and 75% brightness right?
I run my sp3 all day, but I just bring it down to around 25%. I have pretty good eyesight, but I don't see why someone would waste battery on making a screen just the tiniest bit brighter.
+Michael Hoff EXACTLY! Windows warns users that anything over 25% would harm battery life, but reviewers tend to remain ignoramus about that. He should have done it at both 75% and 25%. 25% on my Surface Pro 2 is more than enough for long term use in my fully-lit classroom or office...
+MrElectrifyer Really ? I`m on W10 and on a Surface pro 3 i got since launch and my windows never ever told me anything about that. Not that .. i need it to tell me that as it's pretty obvious the brighter your screen is the more power it consumes. I just did it again , tapped through the brightness via the button on the sideswipe. No notifications.
NL0Gwenster Disconnect from AC power, set the brightness to anything over 25% and see Window's warning when you check the battery menu.
+MrElectrifyer Tried it just now, no warning for me. Going into battery properties it also doesn't show any extra warnings when i set it to 100% brightness. I was curious about reproducing this since I have never seen this warning on any laptop and I`m a sys admin for both MS devices as well as Apple devices so in a professional capacity i was wondering why i wasnt seeing something that might be out there and a user could encounter.
I have Windows 10 Pro , and prior to that 8.1 pro ; likewise all the company devices use the pro version of Windows. Do you have the home version by any chance ? That might explain that difference
NL0Gwenster I'm using Windows 8.1.1 Pro on my Surface Pro 2 (holding off upgrading to Windows 10). Maybe it's gone in Windows 10.
It's been there since Vista era and it's showing right now on my Surface Pro 2 with Windows 8.1.1 as I up the brightness over 25% while on battery. Here's an image of what I'm talking about (goo. gl/QIp5GD), copy it to your address var and remove the space.
Man, you have some of best reviews I have the pleasure of coming across.
I also noticed my ugly mug too, a slight taint in an otherwise sublime view buddy.
Stunning job. Audio sounded lovely. I could go on and on....and on.
Both you and D2D are probably the best tech youtubers on the planet! The subs will come with time, just keep it up :D
+Ash Tailor (ashthought) You and Dave are both sensational! I know both of you will get to 100K in no time!
+Ash Tailor (ashthought) You and Dave are both sensational! I know both of you will get to 100K in no time!
2:40 I hope you had something soft on the floor, like a pillow to prevent the tablet from hitting the floor.
Isaac Adam it wont hit the floor its stuck to it its easy to take off
This is easily the best review of the SP4 I've seen yet (and I think I've seen all so far lol).
Very well done!
Hi Dave, I know you might not answer my question but, Would you still recommend the Surface Pro 4? Or should i wait for the pro 5?
get the pro 4 don't wait for the surface 5
Sonaint Are you sure? I heard that the surface pro 5 is coming in October
Well if you can wait you might as well, but if you want something now the surface 4 is pretty cheap atm
Chromax get surface 4 it will be cheaper now that the 5 is coming out!
Id say go for it dude because who knows when the surface pro 5 will come out. If you dont have a ton of money to spend then do what I did and look on craigslist because I found mine (core u5, 4GB ram, 128GB SSD) brand new (never opened) for $680.00. The guy who got it received it as a school gift but he didnt need it since he uses his macbook for school so I got about $350.00 off original price. Also ebay and amazon are great sites to look for them but if you buy it used make sure to ask the seller things like how is the overall condition, how long does battery last or what all does it come with. I ask these types of questions before I buy any type of computer online because the last thing you want is to waste money on a broken product. Hope this helps you out!
Used this video and many others, in my decision to purchase a Surface Pro. Dave, thank you for the information and candor in all of your videos they help immeasurably when making purchasing decisions.
Dave I've gotta say, I'm a huge promoter of your videos and production skill which is in my opinion on par with MKBHD if not better. That said, the lighting in this review was just bad. Your shots of the unboxing as well as shots you appear in are dark and the background is either not lit well or just seems bland. Lighting sets the mood! Just some constructive criticism, keep up the awesome videos!
Rare to see unbiased constuctive critisism on youtube. Good looks!
This guy does some of the best reviews on RUclips. Always straight to the point and useful info.
For the college kids like me who cant pull $1000+ out of their ass for a laptop, I've been using my Chromebook Flip for about a year now. Got it off of Amazon for $250 and its done me well! Perfect for studying and typing essays, and you can download android apps straight from the Play Store which is really useful!
Daymian Hayes Hey could you maybe send a link of the $250 Surface pro 4!
Daymian Hayes I just got a used hp Pavillion x2 for 260CAD$
chromebooks are kinda ass they can't do anything like autocad or solid works or visual studios
The X2 is great so far. I would recommend it if you could find a good deal. Solid hinge design. Goodish speeds. Good touch screen. Tbh an AWESOME keyboard for the size and price. Speakers are very lackluster. Touchpad fucking sucks and is the worst part about it. Build quality is great though. Can't think of anything else bad with the device so far. Takes a little long to charge. But charge lasts pretty long
Daymian Hayes Ur stupid U could have just get the i5 4gb 4gb ram and then get a micro sd for that and the keyboard might pile up to 800 if you want the pen then pay for a cheap pne
Great review, as always Dave! Your channel is quickly becoming one of my favorites for tech reviews. Your videos are just the right length, rarely miss important information, give a clear, well formulated opinion without obvious bias and have a natural, almost zen like flow to them. Keep up the great work!
Couple things to note, as someone who has owned both the Surface Book as the Surface Pro 4:
1. The Surface Pro 4 is by far the better tablet. The tablet portion of the Surface Book really felt like an afterthought. It has atrocious battery life, absolutely no expandibility and misses the excellent stand of the SP4. Now I know Microsoft markets it as a laptop with some clipboard functionality, but I can't help but feel they went the Apple route and intentionally crippled what could have been a perfect device in order to sell to separate products.
Just think of how good the Surface Book could have been with ALL the perks of the SP4, combined with that fantastic keyboard dock. I would MUCH rather have the same Surface Pro 4 tablet with the option to choose either the $150 Type Cover 4, or a $250 Keyboard dock with that same hinge and added battery, of even a $300 Dock with NVIDIA GPU in it. Combine the excellent tablet experience with the Surface Book's laptop experience, and you've got close to the perfect all in one solution. Not to mention insane battery life.
2. The difference between the i5 and i7 model of the Surface Pro 4 isn't as small as you make it out to be. Unlike the basic 128GB Surface Book, the i5 128GB Surface Pro 4 comes with only 4GB of RAM (which you mentioned), which is enough for casual tablet use, but very meager for a main laptop, especially considering multitasking. Besides that, the i7 has the way better Intel 540 graphics, compared to the 520 graphics in the i5 model. The i7 has about 70-80% better graphics performance, and actually comes very close to the discrete GPU in the Surface Book. Perhaps that is why Microsoft decided to handicap the i7 model of the Surface book with the Intel 520 graphics instead of the 540.
Personally, I use the Surface Pro 4 as my main laptop more and more, and keep finding myself to prefer picking it up over my MacBook Pro. I have the i7/256GB/8GB model and have found that, for a tablet with a low voltage CPU and no discrete GPU, it actually packs quite a punch when it comes to gaming. Sure, it won't run the latest and greatest games in full resolution. But when you turn the resolution down to 720p (which is acceptable on a 12" screen) and tweak the settings some, I've found that even GTA V, Shadow of Mordor and Tomb Raider manage frame rates in the high 50's. No, it's definitely not a gaming powerhouse, but I'd put it at least on par with a last gen console, and it is more than capable for providing an adequate gaming fix. So far, I've finished three backlogged games on it (Bioshock, Portal 2, Arkham Origins: Blackgate) and am halfway through Arkham City. Not too shabby, when Apple's iPad Pro only manages to run Gameloft games and constantly crashes the same Bioshock.
My brother, on the other hand, has a gaming desktop, so doesn't need either the power, graphics performance, or storage that I need from the Surface Pro 4. He picked up a brand new 128GB i5 model for 884 euros today, which is about $1000,-. Coming from an 8" Shield Tablet, he couldn't be happier with it, and that model provides him with everything he possibly needs from both a tablet and a laptop.
My heart stopped for a second when you dropped it
I have said this before, but your videos are really great to watch. Very genuine, very honest content. I've always been buying Apple products but your video really wants me to go check this Surface Pro 4 out!
I flinched when it fell off the magnets.
the dedication on this channel and quality is amazing
I think that 8 gigs of RAM is actually necessary for most college students. I'm sure that most would still need to write papers and look at journal articles. When you do that having around 8 tabs on google chrome 4 gigs actually is not enough anymore
+Kevin Surjanto Don't use chrome then
+Kevin Surjanto my pc has 856MB of ram, i can still use 8 tabs :D
+Kevin Surjanto Chrome is a terrible browser, Chrome is your bottleneck there, not the RAM.
I just never close anything, now with Windows 10 I just make new desktops so I never have to reopen everything, so 8 GB of ram is essential.
Your reviews are so well made that i keep watching them over and over, it's relaxing man. Keep up the good work.
Amazing video. Do you think you could make a video on the 50bucks amazon tablet? I Wanno if I could use it for light work. Bit of web browsing and essays and things like that?
I love your reviews man! I am using the surface pro 4 with the same config now, most of the bugs that were there before seem to be fixed now and its just awesome. The only downside is when I have a lot of classes, I need to be seated by a plug to charge it up by the end of the day, but its great for collge students, life gets so much more simpler!
you are totally right. I used surface pro 3 for my last year in university, and it worked really well.
Just a heads up to any college kids watching this: If you're in engineering make sure to get the 8GB version. Solidworks and most other CADs require 8GBs to run.
Jeez, i love your tech reviews! You show so much more then some tech reviewers and put some humor into it!
Thumbs up before even watching the vid
Subscribed. I usually dislike (like not on RUclips, mentally) most review videos, like it's just something about my mind set. But you're calming and very good. Wish I found you long ago!!!
How does Sims 4 and Minecraft run on this device
both run really smooth in highest settings, I love my purchase
do u do software design?
yes
Zoey Z mmm Yes a good processer like i5 might work
That's a very important question
That was hilarious xD when u unlocked with the face recognition, the reflection on your surface's screen made me look behind my back to check if someone was behind me haha. Nice video!
Do you use the Red Weapon as your camera?
I wish so badly that I did. But nope, a GH4
+Dave Lee Just asking because I noticed that your videos were 4K.
Justin Bryan The color scheme or movement of the player reminds me of Saints Row 3 I know it's a stretch but some aspects remind me
Loved this new set! You should even update your profile picture in this place, is so awesome and classy!
Why do the battery test at 75% alone? 25% is more than enough on my surface Pro 2 in my office with everywhere lit up. Plus, Windows always warns users that any brightness over 25% would affect battery life, but some reviewers just ignore the warnings and do unrealistic tests. Instead of doing it at just your desired brightness, do it at both your desired brightness and the one Windows recommends when on battery, thus giving viewers a better idea of actual battery life...if you're going to give people advice, you need to look beyond your minuscule use case.
Regarding including the Type Cover in the package, if that had happened, they'd have to increase the price to compensate for it, making it less accessible to consumers. Then you'd start reading tons of comments/headlines saying it should have been $130 cheaper 'cause they don't need the keyboard, or Microsoft doesn't believe in the tablet functionality, so they included a keyboard. People will always find something to whine about. Microsoft's decision to keep it separate is less damaging to the image of the Surface IMO. That's not even taking into consideration the fact that other competing tablets don't come with a keyboard.
If you need it to come with the keyboard, simply add the Surface to your shopping cart, add the keyboard, complete the transaction, and bingo! The Surface comes with the keyboard...it's no rocket science.
Why do I have to watch your videos at least twice a day! This is just a superb video and again, based on what I'm looking for. Thanks Dave, please continue :) Also, your videos are some of the best here on youtube. Crystal clear, beautiful and artistic.
THAT VIDEO THOUGH.
Your condo looks awesome! And excellent video as per usual, production value is top notch!
Cheers from Quebec City!
4GB of ram in 2015 is a joke.
For a tablet it is actually pretty good and if you need more then you can get a better version...
+Critical Bloke You do have a point. However, Windows 10 is still built to compliment both tablets and desktops and uses 1.7GB at idle regardless; a jack of all trades, master of none. As a student, I'm already having a hard time with 8GB at my disposal. I see no reason to even offer the 4GB variant given that future upgradability isn't an option.
+Remeister how the hell are you having trouble already at 8gb?? I cant imagine what you would possibly be doing as a student that would require so much RAM, unless you are purposely leaving every possible incongruent program,tab,game,feature,etc. open and obsessed with multi-tasking to where you have this warped sense of ram requirements..... then id understand. Ive built high end custom boutique computers for years now and im in a few of the top 15 world record ranked benchmarks on HWbot.org, and ive never needed to have more than 16GB in even the highest of the high end desktop gaming/workstation rigs.....
+Nick Hansen I just bought a Lenovo Y50 earlier this year. On a good day I'll have at least 3 windows with a dozen tabs of research each in Chrome and a couple of Word assignments, Excel graphs, and a reserved window for iTunes to top it off. I don't ask for much and yet I'm utilizing about 6.8GB in total. There isn't much of headroom left to run anything else if I so require. Out of my entire system, the RAM is the only bottleneck for my workflow. I'm speaking from a real world use scenario and not just marveling over a sheet of numbers printed by a benchmark.
+Remeister Sounds like a memory leak.. chrome loves ram
great review.I'm buying one of these after christmas.I commute to university and it'd be very useful to work on lab reports and excel sheets on the train home.
You're amazing, quality quality review. I'm subbed to a few million-sub channels, but your review holds more weight than any of them. Great great job. Please keep going
you seriously deserve way more subs Dave, keep up the good work!
In high school and community college right now, starting university in fall. Cannot afford anything nearly this expensive, but picked up a used 1st gen off ebay for $275. It's getting here friday (hopefully) and I really do think it'll be perfect for college, since already 90% of my books are ebooks, stylus will be super helpful for taking notes on those ebooks.
Yo Dave just wanna say good looking out. I've been looking for reviews in regards to the Surface Pro 4 video editing capabilities and so far you're the only channel that I know of that actually included this in their review. So I appreciaite it man... And on a side note... This laptop is with everything included is like $559.99 at bestbuy lol which is more than half off than when it initially launched. But yea thank you once again.
Woohoo!!! was waiting for this video!! Thanks!
you the real most valueable reviewer dave 😃
Still using and loving this in 2019 but might upgrade to the 7 soon or surface book 3 if it comes out.
I absolutely love the way you present the device .and. .great great content also .. always on point
Thank you so much! Im about to start school this year and looked at a bunch of different laptop hybrids! This one seems the best for students! :)
dude you make AWESOME reviews. keep it up.
Great review! I also agree that you should have more subs, given your even-handed and well produced work. Hope you can do an iPad Pro review in near future as well!
Excellent video as usual man! I wanted this before the Surface Book was a thing ha. I think it's worth saving up a little longer to get that over this. For college maybe not though. The Surface line is a great way to go either way.
that front facing camera pic cracked me up LOL nice review!
Amazing video dave! You keep getting better and better with every video. Production quality is top notch, information covers all details and i just don't have anything else to say. Keep the awesomeness coming! :D
Another great review dave! I really like how thorough and concise your reviews are. Even mentioning that the pen detaches when carrying the surface in the backpack.
Your videos are so clean and informative :)
I always like your videos before even watching them
Objective & Constructive review! Thx Dave.
+Otmane Yakkaoui Thank you!
I have to say that you're one of the best reviewers in RUclips, great job.
Another great video👌👌👌
your growth in subs shows you are doing it right. keep it up
Love the Intro music to all your videos! You do a great job!
Thanks Dave. Your reviews are the best by far.
Your explanations and everything are just outstanding.
Great review! Im glad to see you still making reviews on products and hope you keep doing what your doing!
Very good review, you deserve much more subsection era.
Great, informative review. First time seeing your review but it's snappy and still relevant. My college days are way behind me but consider me a new fan. Keep up the good work!
Everyone has to share your videos on every single social media they have... dude everyone says it cause its true, your videos are amazing and you act "above your youtube age". You make 1mil subscriber like videos other than 65k. Keep it up, YOU WILL GET POPULAR!
and remember me when you do XD
your videos are awesome man! nice work! I have the i5 surface pro 4 and I love it.
I use the Pro 4 for school, and it's the best student device out there. I use it as a laptop for coding in Data Structures, and then when i go to Calc, I take the keyboard off and do all of my math work in One Note with the pen. I haven't used a single piece of paper all semester.
Ken Wohltman did you get the 4gb or 8gb version?
This would be ideal if you are a student and are in Engineering, Technical Drawing, Art or similar due to the pen input. However for other courses I could never recommend this. A Lenovo X250 is about 66% the price in the UK for the same spec, that includes two batteries one of which is hot swappable. The x250 is also still resistant and protected for drops, etc. Also parts are upgradeable and re SSD are much faster. A Dell XPS would be better if you are gonna spend more time gaming than working with again better battery life (important when you are out and about all day). Hard to recommend the SP4 for those who do not need the pen input, my x240 has four years insurance with two extra batteries that could get me through 3-4 days away from a charging port. Also it has taken knocks and not a mark on it, and it also has a great keypad and trackpad, and for students that is essential. Learning to type fast can only be a plus and with a great trackpad touch screens are redundant.
Amazing video!I loved the intro.The video was great.Keep up the good work
Hi Dave, nice video. I wanted to buy the surface but everyone keeps telling me that it is still a microsoft and has all of its problems, like blcking, virus ect. Would you give me an advice? which one is better btw surface and ipad pro (the new one)? thank u so much
Best thing I've ever done for school. So easy to transport and get all my work done. The Money was worth it getting the i5 256gb 8gb of RAM.
ah.... the good old days... nice to watch some of these older reviews...
Always waiting for ur videos...Great review
Sick review dave 👍🏻 Great quality as always
+Ismail Nail thanks!
I'm not interested in the Surface, but I can't help watching your reviews.
Amazing video as always. So pleasant to watch.
Thanks for taking the time to make it.
+Alessio la Penna (KnowThyself) one more thing...are you going to review the iPad Pro by any chance?
+Alessio la Penna (KnowThyself) He generally does not review toys
0M9H4X Have a great day :)
Good vid, channel improving with every video
Dude!!!! EVERY SINGLE QUESTION I HAD WAS ANSWERED HERE! THANK YOU!!!!!
+Sadegh Fatahi thanks for watching!
Great review man! It's nice to see how you've evolved overtime, f.e. the recap-animations and stuff, love the eye for detail. Keep up the good work!
+Jonas Denil (Snerk One) Thanks =)
Great production. Great video. Great job, keep it up man!
i love ur accurate drawings and animations
You're awesome Dave! Another great video.
Wow !! cool one ! watching your video for the first time and is very neat ! Great job done :-D And also, your location (the place where you stay) looks awesome ! :-D
Great video Dave those notes killed me
RUclips just recommended your channel to me so I thought I'd give it a go...you've got a new sub! Great video!
I own a MacBook air 2013 I believe the model is and was looking into investing in buying a surface pro four since I'm going to be a computer science major What do you think? Yay or nay ?
Love watching your reviews. Great content, always relevant and an easy going relaxed style of presenting.
Very informative and straight to the main points of what a true review should be. Thank you Dave! :)
Great review as always Dave, nice