Also ridiculous how Microsoft insists on 64/128 GB being the entry level storages, in a world where smartphones start at 128 GB. Even Apple understands this, and offers 256 minimum on their cheapest laptops...
Apple don't understand nothing about storage they still selling ipad pros more than any macbook, with no touch screen. 64 gigs for a student in grade is more than enough. its only 664 for a 128 ssd, which still makes it cheaper (by 300-400 bucks) than any Macbook or Dell XPS 13 inch model (surface has better specs too)
Apple's cheapest laptops also start at $999, not $549... Yeah Apple doesn't offer underspec'ed laptops but that's by not offering any cheap options at all.
What they could have made was an i3 1005g1+8gb+128gb ssd with a decent 1080p display (maybe the surface go 2 one) for 599/649$, instead we get an i5 with 4gb & emmc. Whoever decides these base models of the surface lineup needs to die. This is just pathetic.
That would be too expensive... They try to get this as cheap as possible by cutting corners. With your suggestions this would be $200 to $400 or even more expensive
No man, they'd actually save some money by going for the i3's. As for RAM n flash, no one's asking for a pcie gen 4 ssd. Even 150-200$ phones have 6-8 gb ram n ufs storage now...I could overlook the display resolution but it wouldn't even have cost that much extra for an upgrade to 1080p, and I did give them a 100$ margin. This just feels like another forced segmentation of products to push you towards the pro's, surface laptops and ultimately surface books.
Predictable. Appealing entry point but the upgrade prices to get what you actually want (an SSD controller, 8GB of RAM) puts you into price tiers where you could probably get more elsewhere. But it’s valid to pay a premium for the design and Microsoft directly.
Also the 10th gen product when 11th gen is an actually decent bump.
This would have likely came out earlier this year, if it wasn't for Covid19, its still 300-400 bucks less than an Dell XPS(and you get a touch screen and DDR4 RAM).
Every year it's the same. Base model is too underspec'd to be useful and then the slightest upgrade to a useable configuration is overpriced... and to a half-decent configuration is way overpriced... but whatever, maybe I'm just cheap :-).
My 2011 Macbook Air has 4GB RAM and a 128GB SSD (SATA I think). 2011. It was the base model back then. Yes, it was way more expensive but these are NETBOOK SPECS! Remember those?
Gotta agree with other here - make the base price $599 and include 8GB RAM, or $649 and 128GB SSD as well. Although I see on the store this latter configuration is $699 (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/configure/Su... and I think at that price you start looking at other options (e.g., you can get 6/8 core Ryzen laptops with 256GB around this price, but I guess form factor is worth some money).
64GB will be stifling on a modern laptop, however much you access everything on the cloud.
Air cost a 1000 bucks lol, this one with 8gigs of ram and 128 gb hd costs 664, what are you talking about? This is a better deal than the 900 dollar Dell XPS 13 too and it includes touch screen,ddr4 ram, bigger touch screen. This is a premium entry level student laptop. Apple barely has a ipad pro that is in that price range lol. No one else offers these components at that price. Hopefully, this makes Dell drop the price on their XPS line
Why compare it to the iPad Pro? The new iPad air is a better comparison. $599, higher PPI, faster performance, 64GB good storage not eMMC, suspected to be 4GB RAM. Of course no keyboard but it’s a tablet after all, and we’re just talking specs, the iPad is better there.
No reason they couldn't do 8GB *and* a 128GB SSD at $599. 4GB of DDR4 and a 64GB SSD cost less than $50 at retail, and that's including the PCB and assembly costs that wouldn't be present for an upgrade to this device.
A 12.45” 3:2 screen means the same vertical space for productivity as a 14” 16:9 display, so well-done. Given all the other corners cut, however, I would not give them the benefit of doubt on the keyboard until actually tested.
No thanks. I'd buy a laptop that may not be as pretty, but has better specs at the same price point. The entire Surface line is just Microsoft trying to be "the Apple of Windows". Problem is, while Apple Macs don't have any competition (running MacOS), Surface devices have plenty.
4GB, 64GB EMMC, only G1 graphics? This is pathetic. The Lenovo S145 with 4GB DDR4 soldred and an extra slot, comes with a 128GB NVME drive with the i3-1005G1 processor. It is list priced at $319. As compared to this... offensive piece of junk... out of the box it is a great little laptop. For me, at retail, I can get an 8GB RAM stick for less than $40, and the OEM retail price of the i5 in this thing has a volume list price that's less than $40 more. That's an $80 difference in bill of materials for what would be a substantial upgrade on this for what could retail for less than $410. This thing isn't worth the time of day in its base config. For the price they are asking for the base model, it should have had 8GB ram and a 128GB NVME. I would have gladly purchased it at $599 with that config with the i5-1035-G4, and $629 with the G7 version. Both are listed in the same TDP, so there wouldn't have even been a need to change the cooling design!
This is not just a bone headed decision, this is a deliberate act of trying to rip off the customer. This goes on my long list of MS products that a "Hard Pass".
With Surface products, you're paying a fair bit for the form factor, materials, equipment beyond just the CPU, and post-sale experience (e.g., firmware updates many years after EoL). The Lenovo S145 has a garbage 15" 720p TN screen, 0.3 MP junk-tier webcam, no USB-C, plastic build with plenty of keyboard flex, 4 hour battery life, etc. So that's a completely different product in a different segment, and you get what you pay for. Assuming Surface Laptop Go is like the rest of their line, you'd get a premium design and build, great display quality, webcam quality, etc.
And yet, out if the box, it's a more usable laptop than the base surface laptop go presented here, and, can be upgraded to be far more capable for less than the difference in cost. I absolutely grant you that it likely has better build materials.
That depends on what you want to do with it. If you are doing any kind of color sensitive work, the Lenovo will be useless. Not that the Surface would be a good choice for that, but you could at least do it.
Premium build quality my f***ing ass. I had to RMA 2 Surface Gos for bulging screen (defective battery?) and constant BSoDs - both right out of the box! Absolute garbage quality control.
I don’t know why they try and make a premium device with unusable specs. 64GB is just not enough for Windows. 4GB will be useable in the near future, even 6GB would increase the usability by a staggering amount.
Just price it a bit higher with decent specs and it’s a way better product.
eMMC isn't necessarily a dealbreaker in the classroom with roaming profiles anyway. And besides, eMMC 5 provides up to 400 MBps. That's not modern, but it's not bad either.
eMMC is slow in random sector reads, which is far more important for system than sequential reads. And degrades very fast. In a year it could be as slow as HDD.
They still can't get it right. They don't understand 15:10 and 16:10 screens are for vertical orientation. And tablets are too big. Not every model needs the kick stand which is wasting 3 mm, so it could be 6 mm thin. And eMMC...
Eh, entry level is Chromebook-class machine with comparable price, it isn't too bad for what you get... if you want a Chromebook with Windows, which is likely an incredibly tiny market.
If you want an actually useful laptop then you should obviously jump to 8/128 version, it isn't too expensive.
@headeffects Does an iPad, of any form, run Endnote? Or the *full* suite of O365 apps? No. So, completely useless for a degree/post-grad student. Is the iPad a nice shiny? Yes, is it a laptop replacement? No.
Everyone moaning about the base spec, no one thinking of use-cases. Some people just need a "netbook" that *can* run native Office and other windows apps. Not fast, not power-user, just run them for the 2 or 3 times a week they *need* them. Get a life.
Agree with many here on the entry level version being almost criminally gimped. Just how much more would a large OEM like MS have to pay for 8 GB RAM and a 128 GB SSD? That should be the minimal starting configuration. This brings me to another question: just how much does MS want for actually useable versions, i.e. 8 GB RAM and 128 or 256 GB SSDs?
Forgot to add: The problem with that horribly underspecced starting model is that people who don't know much about why those specs are really limiting are often the ones buying them for their kids or students (schools) and think they're giving them a premium device. It just ain't.
I guess this is as close as Microsoft is willing to come to premium Chromebook alternative.
64GB should be OK for OS, Office suite... maybe a few more apps and all the data in the cloud. 365 laptop. Surface 365?
I still use Surface Pro 3 4GB for tablet needs, I am not to worried about 4GB of RAM for light scenarios. But screen res doesn't sound right. Should be at least 1800x1200, I think.
I use my Surface Book docked 99% of the time, and this would be an ideal replacement. I'd want a minimum of 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD, and this is frustratingly close. The only time I use my machine away from my desk is for writing or a bit os sofa websurfing, and I wouldn't need anything more than this.
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lilmoe - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
eMMC storage is not even funny. Phones with UFS 3.x are running for $400, Microsoft.Teckk - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
take that with 4 GB RAM and you're unstoppable !!DabuXian - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Also ridiculous how Microsoft insists on 64/128 GB being the entry level storages, in a world where smartphones start at 128 GB. Even Apple understands this, and offers 256 minimum on their cheapest laptops...c1979h - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Apple don't understand nothing about storage they still selling ipad pros more than any macbook, with no touch screen. 64 gigs for a student in grade is more than enough. its only 664 for a 128 ssd, which still makes it cheaper (by 300-400 bucks) than any Macbook or Dell XPS 13 inch model (surface has better specs too)Kjella - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Apple's cheapest laptops also start at $999, not $549... Yeah Apple doesn't offer underspec'ed laptops but that's by not offering any cheap options at all.danthekilla - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Apple was selling ipads with 16gb until this year... And no sd expansion.Samus - Saturday, October 3, 2020 - link
But those weren’t 2020 products. They were 2016 eta iPads and sold for half the price of this.Spunjji - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
Weird to say "smartphones start at 128GB" and then cite a company whose smartphones and tablets start at 64GB 😬They did *just* bump their minimum storage on notebooks up, though, so good for them on that front.
Adityaseven7 - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
What they could have made was an i3 1005g1+8gb+128gb ssd with a decent 1080p display (maybe the surface go 2 one) for 599/649$, instead we get an i5 with 4gb & emmc. Whoever decides these base models of the surface lineup needs to die. This is just pathetic.haukionkannel - Saturday, October 3, 2020 - link
That would be too expensive... They try to get this as cheap as possible by cutting corners. With your suggestions this would be $200 to $400 or even more expensiveAdityaseven7 - Friday, October 9, 2020 - link
No man, they'd actually save some money by going for the i3's. As for RAM n flash, no one's asking for a pcie gen 4 ssd. Even 150-200$ phones have 6-8 gb ram n ufs storage now...I could overlook the display resolution but it wouldn't even have cost that much extra for an upgrade to 1080p, and I did give them a 100$ margin. This just feels like another forced segmentation of products to push you towards the pro's, surface laptops and ultimately surface books.tipoo - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Predictable. Appealing entry point but the upgrade prices to get what you actually want (an SSD controller, 8GB of RAM) puts you into price tiers where you could probably get more elsewhere. But it’s valid to pay a premium for the design and Microsoft directly.Also the 10th gen product when 11th gen is an actually decent bump.
c1979h - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
This would have likely came out earlier this year, if it wasn't for Covid19, its still 300-400 bucks less than an Dell XPS(and you get a touch screen and DDR4 RAM).tipoo - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
The real base price for the one you want is 699, and the XPS 13 is commonly found there on Dells frequent sales.andrewaggb - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
Every year it's the same. Base model is too underspec'd to be useful and then the slightest upgrade to a useable configuration is overpriced... and to a half-decent configuration is way overpriced... but whatever, maybe I'm just cheap :-).antonkochubey - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
4GB RAM and 64GB storage in the base model.Nice. Even Macbook Air starts at 8GB/256GB.
tipoo - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Macbook Air also starts at 999, and the entry model is a dual core.philehidiot - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
My 2011 Macbook Air has 4GB RAM and a 128GB SSD (SATA I think). 2011. It was the base model back then. Yes, it was way more expensive but these are NETBOOK SPECS! Remember those?kliend - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
The Surface lineup is so confusing any longerHardwareDufus - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
no, that prize goes to their other franchise...Xbox..XBox One X
Xbox Series X
XBox One S
good grief
wait:
Surface
Surface X
Surface Go
ok, it's a tie...
tipoo - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Whoever named PS2 deserves a retroactive raise69369369 - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Xbox One SADpsychobriggsy - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Gotta agree with other here - make the base price $599 and include 8GB RAM, or $649 and 128GB SSD as well. Although I see on the store this latter configuration is $699 (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/configure/Su... and I think at that price you start looking at other options (e.g., you can get 6/8 core Ryzen laptops with 256GB around this price, but I guess form factor is worth some money).64GB will be stifling on a modern laptop, however much you access everything on the cloud.
c1979h - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Air cost a 1000 bucks lol, this one with 8gigs of ram and 128 gb hd costs 664, what are you talking about? This is a better deal than the 900 dollar Dell XPS 13 too and it includes touch screen,ddr4 ram, bigger touch screen. This is a premium entry level student laptop. Apple barely has a ipad pro that is in that price range lol. No one else offers these components at that price. Hopefully, this makes Dell drop the price on their XPS lineheadeffects - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Why compare it to the iPad Pro? The new iPad air is a better comparison. $599, higher PPI, faster performance, 64GB good storage not eMMC, suspected to be 4GB RAM. Of course no keyboard but it’s a tablet after all, and we’re just talking specs, the iPad is better there.Spunjji - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
This is a laptop. As a productivity device, an iPad Air doesn't even come close.Spunjji - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
No reason they couldn't do 8GB *and* a 128GB SSD at $599. 4GB of DDR4 and a 64GB SSD cost less than $50 at retail, and that's including the PCB and assembly costs that wouldn't be present for an upgrade to this device.The 4GB/64GB variant of this is e-waste.
fazalmajid - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
A 12.45” 3:2 screen means the same vertical space for productivity as a 14” 16:9 display, so well-done. Given all the other corners cut, however, I would not give them the benefit of doubt on the keyboard until actually tested.c1979h - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
The Surface Pro keyboards are nice and the other Surface laptop keyboards always got good reviews. I doubt if they went cheap on it.Calin - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
It's less vertical space for the Surface Laptop Go at 1024 pixels - a full HD screen has 1080.Tams80 - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
Shhhh. Maths isn't their strong point.PixyMisa - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
64GB of eMMC and not even a microSD slot to upgrade it? Microsoft, this is garbage.damianrobertjones - Monday, October 12, 2020 - link
OneDrive. It worked for Google when they sold their machines with 16Gb of storage.tipoo - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Is this passively or actively cooled? That 15W might act more like sub 10 if passive I would imagine, or does it have a fan?unorthodox-nube - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
AMD Ryzen 3 / 5 would have been much faster and cheaper. That Price Saving could yield in better RAM, Storage and may be better Display as wellDigitalFreak - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
No thanks. I'd buy a laptop that may not be as pretty, but has better specs at the same price point. The entire Surface line is just Microsoft trying to be "the Apple of Windows". Problem is, while Apple Macs don't have any competition (running MacOS), Surface devices have plenty.damianrobertjones - Monday, October 12, 2020 - link
Yet people still buy them, thankfully.ObrianL - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Overpriced and outdated. Wait for Tiger Lake surface.damianrobertjones - Monday, October 12, 2020 - link
The computer you need now, is the computer you need now.Sahrin - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
No Renoir; is DOA.lightningz71 - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
4GB, 64GB EMMC, only G1 graphics? This is pathetic. The Lenovo S145 with 4GB DDR4 soldred and an extra slot, comes with a 128GB NVME drive with the i3-1005G1 processor. It is list priced at $319. As compared to this... offensive piece of junk... out of the box it is a great little laptop. For me, at retail, I can get an 8GB RAM stick for less than $40, and the OEM retail price of the i5 in this thing has a volume list price that's less than $40 more. That's an $80 difference in bill of materials for what would be a substantial upgrade on this for what could retail for less than $410.This thing isn't worth the time of day in its base config. For the price they are asking for the base model, it should have had 8GB ram and a 128GB NVME. I would have gladly purchased it at $599 with that config with the i5-1035-G4, and $629 with the G7 version. Both are listed in the same TDP, so there wouldn't have even been a need to change the cooling design!
This is not just a bone headed decision, this is a deliberate act of trying to rip off the customer. This goes on my long list of MS products that a "Hard Pass".
amb9800 - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
With Surface products, you're paying a fair bit for the form factor, materials, equipment beyond just the CPU, and post-sale experience (e.g., firmware updates many years after EoL). The Lenovo S145 has a garbage 15" 720p TN screen, 0.3 MP junk-tier webcam, no USB-C, plastic build with plenty of keyboard flex, 4 hour battery life, etc. So that's a completely different product in a different segment, and you get what you pay for. Assuming Surface Laptop Go is like the rest of their line, you'd get a premium design and build, great display quality, webcam quality, etc.lightningz71 - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
And yet, out if the box, it's a more usable laptop than the base surface laptop go presented here, and, can be upgraded to be far more capable for less than the difference in cost. I absolutely grant you that it likely has better build materials.cfenton - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
That depends on what you want to do with it. If you are doing any kind of color sensitive work, the Lenovo will be useless. Not that the Surface would be a good choice for that, but you could at least do it.Spunjji - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
You can't upgrade that screen. For someone like me, they're both useless.69369369 - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Premium build quality my f***ing ass. I had to RMA 2 Surface Gos for bulging screen (defective battery?) and constant BSoDs - both right out of the box! Absolute garbage quality control.damianrobertjones - Monday, October 12, 2020 - link
Don't buy it then.headeffects - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
I don’t know why they try and make a premium device with unusable specs. 64GB is just not enough for Windows. 4GB will be useable in the near future, even 6GB would increase the usability by a staggering amount.Just price it a bit higher with decent specs and it’s a way better product.
lmcd - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
eMMC isn't necessarily a dealbreaker in the classroom with roaming profiles anyway. And besides, eMMC 5 provides up to 400 MBps. That's not modern, but it's not bad either.regsEx - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
eMMC is slow in random sector reads, which is far more important for system than sequential reads. And degrades very fast. In a year it could be as slow as HDD.tipoo - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
It's the random read/write speeds that really give SSDs that pop feel over HDDs, and eMMC suffers thereregsEx - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
They still can't get it right. They don't understand 15:10 and 16:10 screens are for vertical orientation. And tablets are too big. Not every model needs the kick stand which is wasting 3 mm, so it could be 6 mm thin. And eMMC...Zizy - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
Eh, entry level is Chromebook-class machine with comparable price, it isn't too bad for what you get... if you want a Chromebook with Windows, which is likely an incredibly tiny market.If you want an actually useful laptop then you should obviously jump to 8/128 version, it isn't too expensive.
Tams80 - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
No eMMC, an AMD APU and scrap your Pixelsense/N-trig stuff and just use Wacom EMR on the Surface GO.Whiteknight2020 - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
@headeffects Does an iPad, of any form, run Endnote? Or the *full* suite of O365 apps? No. So, completely useless for a degree/post-grad student. Is the iPad a nice shiny? Yes, is it a laptop replacement? No.Whiteknight2020 - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
Everyone moaning about the base spec, no one thinking of use-cases. Some people just need a "netbook" that *can* run native Office and other windows apps. Not fast, not power-user, just run them for the 2 or 3 times a week they *need* them.Get a life.
s.yu - Saturday, October 3, 2020 - link
Laptop so no SPP support I assume, another sidegrade.Xajel - Sunday, October 4, 2020 - link
When I see manufacturers limiting their $500~1000 laptops to 8GB & 16GB in 2020 I just don't understand why!And now, 4GB in 2020.. And from Microsoft, who makes Windows 10 !!
Everything in my PC that has expected lifetime, Keyboard strokes, NAND write times, Display backlight, etc... are wasted on this BS.
eastcoast_pete - Sunday, October 4, 2020 - link
Agree with many here on the entry level version being almost criminally gimped. Just how much more would a large OEM like MS have to pay for 8 GB RAM and a 128 GB SSD? That should be the minimal starting configuration.This brings me to another question: just how much does MS want for actually useable versions, i.e. 8 GB RAM and 128 or 256 GB SSDs?
eastcoast_pete - Sunday, October 4, 2020 - link
Forgot to add: The problem with that horribly underspecced starting model is that people who don't know much about why those specs are really limiting are often the ones buying them for their kids or students (schools) and think they're giving them a premium device. It just ain't.Zagor Te Nay - Monday, October 5, 2020 - link
I guess this is as close as Microsoft is willing to come to premium Chromebook alternative.64GB should be OK for OS, Office suite... maybe a few more apps and all the data in the cloud. 365 laptop. Surface 365?
I still use Surface Pro 3 4GB for tablet needs, I am not to worried about 4GB of RAM for light scenarios. But screen res doesn't sound right. Should be at least 1800x1200, I think.
flashpowered - Tuesday, October 6, 2020 - link
I use my Surface Book docked 99% of the time, and this would be an ideal replacement. I'd want a minimum of 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD, and this is frustratingly close. The only time I use my machine away from my desk is for writing or a bit os sofa websurfing, and I wouldn't need anything more than this.