Dunno what people are putting on these things. Granted I have a second SSD in my laptop, but the system disk is a 240GB SSD. I have 100GB used at the moment, without doing any cleanups from the last Windows update. That is Windows 10, all of Office 2019 (including Access and Visio), Visual Studio (C++ and VB languages only), SQL Server, SQL Management Studio, KiCAD and EasyEDA electronic design applications, Eclipse, Photoshop Express, Gimp, and a 3D CAD for model railroad design. ANd that's just the stuff I bothered pinning to the start menu. Using less than half a 240GB SSD. Most of what's on the second SSD are Hyper-V VMs for other things I do, although what i have right now could all fit on the one drive and STILL not fill it 100%
If you work with video or with games or VR apps, for example, you can easily require hundreds of GB of storage. On my Surface Book 2, my SteamVR apps / games alone consume over 300 GB. Whenever I'm processing 360 3D video locally, that can temporarily consume the rest of the 1 TB SSD.
I have to wonder if Microsoft has sorted out the overheating problems in the latest Surface Book. I used to have one of the first gen Surface Books for use through work, but the thing would get too hot and throttle constantly. Good device for sketching on or doing some basic 3D work, but not really up to the heavier stuff (VMs, sculpting). I hope the Surface Book 3 gets a little thicker to allow for more ventilation.
At least, someone gets this. It's a classic bait-and-switch. Caveat emptor, in deed.
The $1,300 7300U 2.6-3.5 GHz dual-core is going EOL, to be replaced with the i5-8350U 1.7-3.6 GHz quad. As a sweetener, MS is "discounting" the EOL product to $1,150, if equipped with a 128GB SSD.
So. The 'new' Surface 2 with 128GB is (drum roll) ... $1,500 -- before, of course, the $100 pen ($89.99 special pricing for eligible students, parents, teachers, and military!). No worries. The pen, "that best expresses your style," comes in Black, Burgundy, Cobalt Blue and new Limited Edition Aqua, PLUS (another drum roll, please) . . . Platinum! Need a new dock with that?
Turn around once and you're past $2,000 --- blink, and, 'BOOM!' -- $3k+. At least, you get a tax deduction, huh?
Back to my point. The best-binned, cut-down mobile GTX 1050 2GB w/CPU is going to hit 50w. The GTX 1060 6GB? 65w. Throttle, much?
MS is pushing disingenuous. Gosh. Sheldon never mentioned this; or, the big football-playing doughnut shop owners. No one is disputing the capabilities of the SB2 --- just their "spin and marketing"
Hat's off to Brett for threading the needle on this one. Nice work.
And now, two years later, we find out why. This change was almost certainly done so that Surface Book 2 models would have a valid TPM and so would be Windows 11 compatible. The only Surface Book 2 models that are *not* compatible with Windows 11 are ones with the old i5-7300U processor. Seeing as they were still more than a year away from releasing the Surface Book 3 at the time of this change and they generally carry on selling previous generation Surface Books for several months after a new model is released, they likely didn't want a situation where users couldn't install Windows 11 on a Microsoft branded machine a little over a year old.
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Smell This - Tuesday, April 2, 2019 - link
MS Surface at 15w with a GTX 1060 6GB & 4.2 GHz turbo ??Wow. Wintel has some 'splainin' to do on that one.
PeachNCream - Tuesday, April 2, 2019 - link
Wait, what do Microsoft and Intel have to explain? I don't get what's odd about this.flyingpants265 - Tuesday, April 2, 2019 - link
I think he's implying that the rest of the CPUs are too power-hungry? Doesn't make sense, if so.FreckledTrout - Tuesday, April 2, 2019 - link
I don't get what needs to be explained. There is an Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB laptop part. The Intel Core i7-8650U boosts to 4.2 GHz.flyingpants265 - Tuesday, April 2, 2019 - link
Hahaha 256gb hahadamianrobertjones - Tuesday, April 2, 2019 - link
With an SD card slot if you need more space.rrinker - Tuesday, April 2, 2019 - link
Dunno what people are putting on these things. Granted I have a second SSD in my laptop, but the system disk is a 240GB SSD. I have 100GB used at the moment, without doing any cleanups from the last Windows update. That is Windows 10, all of Office 2019 (including Access and Visio), Visual Studio (C++ and VB languages only), SQL Server, SQL Management Studio, KiCAD and EasyEDA electronic design applications, Eclipse, Photoshop Express, Gimp, and a 3D CAD for model railroad design. ANd that's just the stuff I bothered pinning to the start menu. Using less than half a 240GB SSD. Most of what's on the second SSD are Hyper-V VMs for other things I do, although what i have right now could all fit on the one drive and STILL not fill it 100%amb9800 - Tuesday, April 2, 2019 - link
If you work with video or with games or VR apps, for example, you can easily require hundreds of GB of storage. On my Surface Book 2, my SteamVR apps / games alone consume over 300 GB. Whenever I'm processing 360 3D video locally, that can temporarily consume the rest of the 1 TB SSD.damianrobertjones - Friday, April 5, 2019 - link
In your case... you'd then buy a different model. Done.Gunbuster - Tuesday, April 2, 2019 - link
Enjoy the 32nd rehash of worst in class Marvell AVASTAR WiFi/Bluetooth.BigDragon - Tuesday, April 2, 2019 - link
I have to wonder if Microsoft has sorted out the overheating problems in the latest Surface Book. I used to have one of the first gen Surface Books for use through work, but the thing would get too hot and throttle constantly. Good device for sketching on or doing some basic 3D work, but not really up to the heavier stuff (VMs, sculpting). I hope the Surface Book 3 gets a little thicker to allow for more ventilation.Smell This - Wednesday, April 3, 2019 - link
At least, someone gets this. It's a classic bait-and-switch. Caveat emptor, in deed.The $1,300 7300U 2.6-3.5 GHz dual-core is going EOL, to be replaced with the i5-8350U 1.7-3.6 GHz quad. As a sweetener, MS is "discounting" the EOL product to $1,150, if equipped with a 128GB SSD.
So. The 'new' Surface 2 with 128GB is (drum roll) ... $1,500 -- before, of course, the $100 pen ($89.99 special pricing for eligible students, parents, teachers, and military!). No worries. The pen, "that best expresses your style," comes in Black, Burgundy, Cobalt Blue and new Limited Edition Aqua, PLUS (another drum roll, please) . . . Platinum! Need a new dock with that?
Turn around once and you're past $2,000 --- blink, and, 'BOOM!' -- $3k+. At least, you get a tax deduction, huh?
Back to my point. The best-binned, cut-down mobile GTX 1050 2GB w/CPU is going to hit 50w. The GTX 1060 6GB? 65w. Throttle, much?
MS is pushing disingenuous. Gosh. Sheldon never mentioned this; or, the big football-playing doughnut shop owners. No one is disputing the capabilities of the SB2 --- just their "spin and marketing"
Hat's off to Brett for threading the needle on this one. Nice work.
sarvendravasha - Thursday, May 9, 2019 - link
Good to see that https://firsttimehomebuyerprogram.net is making me some reliable for the ongoing home buyers programs.Spanky2k - Monday, June 28, 2021 - link
And now, two years later, we find out why. This change was almost certainly done so that Surface Book 2 models would have a valid TPM and so would be Windows 11 compatible. The only Surface Book 2 models that are *not* compatible with Windows 11 are ones with the old i5-7300U processor. Seeing as they were still more than a year away from releasing the Surface Book 3 at the time of this change and they generally carry on selling previous generation Surface Books for several months after a new model is released, they likely didn't want a situation where users couldn't install Windows 11 on a Microsoft branded machine a little over a year old.