It weights around 1.6 pounds there is no way they'd include a blu-ray drive. This is definitely ultrabook territory
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Surface Book Is Microsoft's Glorious New Laptop - twice as fast as macbook pro
- Thread starter mocoworm
- Start date
It weights around 1.6 pounds there is no way they'd include a blu-ray drive. This is definitely ultrabook territory
Basically no one wants optical drives in portable devices. And for good reason, they are a massive waste of space, weight, structural integrity and energy.
And you really don't need them. I don't even have one in my PC (tower).
PodcastFips
Member
I'm more looking forward to the 15 inch thin bezel UHD Dell XPS.
Astral/H3X
Member
Wait.
You have disks?
Like, an actual disk? That you want to insert into your computer? What for?
NoblesseOblige
Banned
Seeing the prices for the model I'd want makes me sad. I can't justify asking my work to shell out $2000+. I really wished they'd offer more customization. I want i7 8(+)GB of RAM, and 128GB SSD, but that option doesn't exist. The closest is a 256GB SSD which I do not need as most my work content is stored on servers.
I was far more interested in it until I saw it was just another surface with a keyboard adapter.
I'd prefer it were just a laptop, not a convertible, and was cheaper/lighter.
Otherwise, it's the most appealing Surface yet.
I wonder if the SD card slot will sit flush, so you can conceivably just get a large SD card and leave it in, I do this with my Laptop which only has a 128gb SSD.
I'd prefer it were just a laptop, not a convertible, and was cheaper/lighter.
Otherwise, it's the most appealing Surface yet.
I wonder if the SD card slot will sit flush, so you can conceivably just get a large SD card and leave it in, I do this with my Laptop which only has a 128gb SSD.
qa_engineer
Member
There is no information on which GPU model and how much VRAM it will have. This is important information for someone who wants to do light gaming on ultra thin laptop
NoblesseOblige
Banned
I presume those sorts of people are going to wait for benchmarks anyway, which I think would come after a complete tear down of the hardware.
nikos
Member
Why not just put out a great product without having to compare to Apple? All these companies are doing is putting Apple on a higher pedestal. Everyone is out to be the Apple killer instead of just doing something great for themselves. It would be refreshing to see a product launch from a company without some sort of jab being taken at Apple. I guess that only speaks for the quality of products Apple is producing though.
I hadn't watched the video before posting that, just looked at the OP and Gizmodo link. I edited my post accordingly.
Its entire form factor, other than the hinge and detachable screen, borrows from the MacBook. Even its name is pretty much the same.
Most "actual" laptops don't have optical drives either.
Sure you can find them, but optical drives have been ditched for the most part for several years.
Look at the iMac, an "all in one" PC, that doesn't even have an optical drive anymore.
CarbonFire
Member
I've been looking to ditch my aging iPad, and wanting to get a decent laptop for light gaming / productivity. This might just be right up my alley. Hopefully the lower priced versions aren't terrible for performance.
Vigilant Walrus
Member
1500 dollars is a lot. I remember Macbook Air being 1400 when it came out in 2009 and that product was severely underpowered.
The truth is that you're paying for diminishing returns for comparative specs when you're going for either portability or power. You need higher more energy efficent components with better yields, and that is why the thinnest products always end up costing so much.
Remember the king? Sony Vaio Z was the god of gods of portable computing for many years, and that one was configurable with up to above 3000 dollars.
Oh my fucking god. This is the best promo video I have ever seen.
Look - Not even talking about the product itself, they way they shot, edited.. and the music. Amazing.
Imagine what a Pro version of this in 15-inch range could be? Thicker body, with quad-core i7 and a 960-970m class card.
The truth is that you're paying for diminishing returns for comparative specs when you're going for either portability or power. You need higher more energy efficent components with better yields, and that is why the thinnest products always end up costing so much.
Remember the king? Sony Vaio Z was the god of gods of portable computing for many years, and that one was configurable with up to above 3000 dollars.
Oh my fucking god. This is the best promo video I have ever seen.
Look - Not even talking about the product itself, they way they shot, edited.. and the music. Amazing.
Imagine what a Pro version of this in 15-inch range could be? Thicker body, with quad-core i7 and a 960-970m class card.
Yep, this is really where we're at now. Software just doesn't come on DVD anymore, and people stopped using PCs and laptops as DVD/Blu-ray players.
It's like when the first iMacs didn't come with a floppy drive, at first people sort of freaked out but very quickly, no one missed it.
And that is for the pleb version.
That is what i was hoping to do. Get teh 128gb model with 16 gb RAM and just buy a 256 gb SD card. Hopefully they let you customize the builds at some point.
randomengine
Banned
There is a whole universe of film and television content that is not available to stream, that only exist on disc.
qa_engineer
Member
And me! But seriously I hope this is the device that can do it all while sporting really good looks.
Please have at least a 970M with 4-6gbs of VRAM.
CosmicQueso
Member
Damn. Thought I'd avoid a new Surface this year. Guess not.
You'd be better suited to getting a USB disc drive and ripping them to the laptop anyway for better battery life.
NoblesseOblige
Banned
Edit: Nevermind, misunderstood point.
dragonelite
Member
I can confirm, i replaced my bluray player with a 256gb ssd in my laptop.
Im considering the 2100 version, but i need to know more technical specs.
Genuinely the best advert I've ever seen from Microsoft.
They kept it simple, and it works.
Bolivar687
Banned
I agree that portable devices really don't need them but I will say, given the price premium on this device, and the history of the Surface line, that this is probably being targeted in part at professionals. And in the legal profession we send/receive discs all the time to opposing counsel or the courts in lieu of USB drives. Emails aren't big enough and many attorneys do not feel comfortable using cloud or even ftp services to send confidentially sensitive information. I know people who swear by their Surface but at $1500, this is not enough for them to make it their all purpose work computer.
As far as desktops for home use, I put one in mine, as JJ from PC DIY says, they're cheap and nice to have just in case. My motherboard came with discs for anti virus and other useful applications and I order physical games sometimes if I'm anticipating them enough to own a box. I fully admit that I doubt I'll ever use it more than a handful of times though.
Poodlestrike
Banned
I like how there's an OT and a Gamingside thread for this...
You guys can go into OT, it's okay, they don't bite.
(Other than PopGAF. They bite people.)
You guys can go into OT, it's okay, they don't bite.
(Other than PopGAF. They bite people.)
So buy an external blu-ray drive. I got a portable external DVD-RW drive 4-5 years ago that I can pull out if I need to use a disc, which isn't often.
ss_lemonade
Member
Was excited, then I saw the prices 
So how is this going to be 2x faster than a macbook pro? Base macbook pros come with an i5 + 8gb too right (and 128gb ssd).
So how is this going to be 2x faster than a macbook pro? Base macbook pros come with an i5 + 8gb too right (and 128gb ssd).
0.1.1.2.3.5.8.13.21.34.55
Banned
yeah.. if the discrete gpu is a 970 or 980... i'm in.
nothing else on the market can tick those boxes at this size.
Today I learnt that I am sub-pleb.
That is a lot of money but let us not pretend that i7, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD, and super high pixel density isn't state of the art.
If you want to dance on the cutting edge it is going to cost you. Same as ever.
0.1.1.2.3.5.8.13.21.34.55
Banned
HappehLemons
Member
Seems like the GPU is in the keyboard, I'm assuming it'll switch to onboard graphics once the laptop is in tablet mode. :/
Bits N Pieces
Member
Jesus fucking Christ!
At first I wasn't that interested because you know a laptop with no touchscreen is not something I want to go back to (although I wouldn't mind a better integration with our Cintiq).
Then in the trailer they detached the screen and I was like
O.O
I WANT ONE!
Seriously this is looking awesome!
That's going to be my new laptop in some way!
Then in the trailer they detached the screen and I was like
O.O
I WANT ONE!
Seriously this is looking awesome!
That's going to be my new laptop in some way!
burn.money
Neo Member
man that 2700 price tag hurts... but for wanting something for drawing and creative purposes and to have everything all in one place thats pretty nice... heres hoping the new pen works amazingly. so then i can sell off my 24hd cintiq.
cripterion
Member
Man this is some fine hardware. How can they get this so right and their console so wrong?
Dreams-Visions
Member
Where did all these GAFers come from that have $2,000+ to spend on a 13" laptop? Just curious.
Implying that's a bargain for a 13" laptop, never mind the very "baseline" specs.
Implying that's a bargain for a 13" laptop, never mind the very "baseline" specs.
justsomeguy
Member
Not everyone on gaf is in their early twenties and paying off school debts still ;-)
Just noticed the trailer says upto 16 GB RAM and 1 Tb storage. that option isn't even available on their website.
blurredvision
Member
My experience is completely anecdotal but I work for a managed service provider and literally every engineer here that has a MacBook has it only for the hardware. They are running Windows still. Good on Microsoft for finally realizing they could sell their own high-end hardware.
Also good on Microsoft for making it obvious it's a MacBook competitor but still looks completely original. There's no way somebody is going to mistake a Surface Book for a MacBook, even at a quick glance.
Also good on Microsoft for making it obvious it's a MacBook competitor but still looks completely original. There's no way somebody is going to mistake a Surface Book for a MacBook, even at a quick glance.
AHA-Lambda
Member
Why does he show off games by showing videos of them?
And why Gears 2??
And why Gears 2??