Microsoft Surface Book: For Business or Pleasure? Pros; outstanding design quality, seamless performance, top of the line specifications. Cons; Price tag for the top of the line specifications, proprietary/non-standard connections, I don’t own one yet. Overview Reviewing a hybrid machine has always been a challenge, if you judge them as a tablet it will fall down on the portability or ease of use next to its competitors, and judge them as a laptop and they miss the mark with processing power, graphics capability and all round computing use of other models. The Surface Book is the exception to this rule. Since its introduction of the Surface Pro 3 Tablet and the interaction of Windows 10 across multiple device types, Microsoft has been top of the list of ones to watch when it comes to hybrid machines. Then they released the much anticipated Surface Pro 4 and displayed they truly knew what they were doing when it came to on-the-go computing and mobile working capabilities. For this reason alone, I couldn’t wait to find out what they next had in store for us and when it was announced, I fell in love immediately. The Microsoft Surface Book fits right in the middle of the tablet/laptop hybrid, marketed as the “Ultimate laptop replacement” I think it delivers on all of Microsoft’s promises. From The Bottom Up From the ‘Brushed Grey’ casing to the silver logo on the top and the beautiful display, the design of this laptop will remind anyone who looks at it of its main rival, the Macbook Pro, which is similar in specification. With these similarities, Apples flagship laptop actually comes in as slightly cheaper however, the Macbook Pro does not come with a detachable screen or the Surface Pen. This laptop feels solid. There’s no other way to put it, but when a device comes essentially in three pieces (keyboard, screen and pen) for it to feel this stable and well-built is an achievement in itself. As the ‘Dynamic Fulcrum Hinge’ is opened it extends the base of the device by a few centimetres, giving it more stability and keeping it seated flat as you use it on your lap, even if you still decide to use the touchscreen feature and stab at the display with the reckless abandon of a giddy child (which I can confirm first hand). The most unique part of the entire design is by far the ‘Dynamic Fulcrum Hinge’. It is a solid sectional piece of metal that closes on itself when closed, leaving a gap and holding the screen at an angle to the keyboard. The main concern with this gap was how the screen and keyboard would manage the force of any weight on there at all, would the screen crack or would the bottom panel warp and bend. The short answer is no. The long answer includes the fact that the keyboard panel is made of one piece of machined magnesium as is the hinge itself, as well as the back panel for the screen. This tied alongside that the two parts are locked in place by strong magnets means that it is not susceptible to damage that wouldn’t damage any other laptop. You would have to push down with the same force as to crack a normal screen to put the hinge in any real danger. This just leaves the gap when it’s closed. There are downsides and upsides to this and personally I think the upsides win. The main ones being; you may be more likely to get dust and other objects in there, but it allows the laptop to have a full functioning keyboard, with raised keys that don’t leave any grease smudges on your screen and as the keys are flush to the case, any dust or particles that do get in, won’t get in the actual frame and can just be brushed off when opened. With a quick press of the release button and a healthy clunk, the screen can be detached and still

feels like a well machined, secure piece of technology. The screen itself weighs in at about a pound heavier than the average tablet (which is unsurprising considering it contains everything it needs to act as a standalone machine), but when connected to the keyboard as one complete piece it weighs in at slightly less than the competition for a similar spec. The Surface Pen can only mount to the screen on one side, which is a very minor downside when compared to how well it is held in place by the magnetic connection (you can pull the laptop across the desk using just the pen, but don’t try to pick it up in the same way - I can neither confirm or deny that these test were carried out). When held in the hand it feels just like an executive pen would, and with minimal latency it works seamlessly both with the inbuilt draw and design programs and as a second cursor if you don’t want to use the trackpad. The added bonus that the ‘Eraser’ at the other end actually does function as an eraser for the aforementioned design programs, or you can click it once or twice to make a new note or take a screenshot, respectively. One of the few downsides I can find with this machine is the limited connections it comes with as standard. Without the addition of a docking standard (coming in at about £120) It has just the 2x USB 3.0 ports and one Mini Display port in place of any HDMI Connections but this does all go toward keeping this a slim-line and portable device. Marking another similarity to its competitor, the Macbook Pro, it also has a magnetic charge port which is the same on the keyboard and the tablet itself so you can charge each individually if necessary. But more than just a way of providing power to the device, it can be used in conjunction with the Docking station to route more audio and visual options (2 more Display ports, 4 more USB ports, an Ethernet connector and a 3.5mm mic/headphone jack). Matching with the rest of the design the keyboard feels just like a keyboard should. I managed to easily switch between this and the full size external one I use in the office, not only without making additional mistakes but with keeping the same typing speed. With an 8mp camera on the back and 5mp webcam on the front, it isn’t a market leader in the way of photography but still more than capable to handle whatever a Tablet/Laptop camera would be used for. Under The Hood The entry level Surface Book comes with an i5 processor, 8GB RAM and 128GB SSD running Windows 10. The only direction they go from there is up, with choices including a i7 dual core processor, up to 16GB RAM, a 512GB SSD and even the addition of a dedicated discreet NVIDIA GeForce 940M GPU. Unsurprisingly these additions come with an extra chunk added to the overall price tag, but still seem worth it when taken as a whole package. A 13.5” screen with a resolution of 3000x2000 reaching an impressive 267 pixels per inch works perfectly in tandem with a 64-bit Windows 10 for what I believe is the best looking display around. You are also easily able to scale and adjust the size and resolution of the OS and all programs so no matter if you want to use your finger, the pen or the cursor to close the ‘5 ways to assert yourself in the office’ article when your boss walks past, you shouldn’t miss. Although both parts of this device come as a whole, there is nothing that one relies on the other for and it is perfectly possible that Microsoft could push out an upgrade on one part to increase the overall quality. In The Office With the recently released Windows 10 getting better and better with each update and Office 2016 properly integrating with the Cloud, it’s unsurprising that Microsoft’s futuristic device finds itself right at home on your desk. With the Solid State Drive and impressive RAM reducing boot time to mere seconds - even with the low level build - closing the lid when you’re in the middle of something, moving somewhere else and getting right back to it is quicker than asking the apprentice to boil the kettle before your next meeting. And with the ability to connect to wireless monitors,

alongside the accuracy of the touchscreen with the Surface Pen and the inbuilt draw and design programs, if your presentation falls flat it won’t be due to the tools you’re using. Microsoft promises around a 12-hour runtime of continuous use with the Surface Book, and although I didn’t find that myself it’s still leaps and bounds in front of its predecessors with about 8-9 hours’ runtime and can fully charge both batteries in about 2. For an active office environment, including last minute off site meetings or emergency ‘brain storming’ sessions, the Surface Book will always be on hand and ready to tackle the task. At Home I am no artist, but I thoroughly enjoyed the cathartic use of the ‘Colouring in for Adults’ – FreshPaint program. Simply, it gives you an outline of an image, shows you some reference photos and then lets you loose with all the brushes, paints, paper types and crayons you could dream of. Including being able to take a picture and then import it to the software, trying your hand at being the next big name in graphic design and impressionist portraits couldn’t be easier. But again, I am no artist, so showing this off to a much more creatively endowed friend of mine resulted in first, some patronising laughter, second, some ‘you’ll get there in the end’ style of primary school encouragement but then interest and amazement in the tablets capabilities. Taking the screen off of the base, turning it around and putting it back means you can close the laptop with the screen on the outside, giving it a much more ‘sketchpad’ kind of feel. That alongside the resistance and precision of the 3:2 resolution screen gives “the closest thing to drawing on real paper I’ve found”. Whilst zooming in and out of a photo, adding touches here and there and accurately portraying a true to life interaction between all the inks/brushes/paper, the Surface Book didn’t struggle at all, even with the addition of streaming video alongside a golden oldie playlist and a minimum of 8 tabs at any one point on the Edge browser. Although it is not a top end gaming engine, the higher model, with the NVIDIA GPU can easily handle most games on reduced settings or some older games at a very high quality. In Summary I believe the Microsoft Surface Book is one of the best laptops to come on the market in recent years. It is not sold as a tablet and I think if it were, the price and weight would not allow it to be a competitive product. But as a powerful laptop which can have as much mobility and durability of a tablet, this puts it right to the top as the best Hybrid device. Even if the screen didn’t detach and even if it didn’t have the incredible Surface Pen it would still be an outstanding laptop for both the home life and the work environment. It is about £200 more expensive than the Macbook Pro and as a tablet it is heavier than everything else in the market. But, there is honestly nothing that can match this in both fields at the same time. This is my favourite laptop that I have had a chance to test out and I don’t see that changing for quite some time. Whether it be at home for emails and streaming, in the office for presentations and spreadsheets or on the move for artistic inspiration anywhere and anytime, the Microsoft Surface Book will be my first choice.