I've been looking at one of these and the only thing that worries me is the hinge - it looks like the laptop is "fat" at the hinge part instead of closing together snugly.
Is that a problem when carrying it around in comparison to a mac? Is it an annoyance?
I've been carrying around my SB2 15" in my backpack's laptop pocket for about half a year. Here's the summary.
- Zero problem with the fatness on my end. Looks kinda sexy tbh.
- The keyboard is really good about from the fn key which acts as a toggle (if you don't combo it with another key). Can never get quite used to that.
- The body paint can get scratched and worn down if you're reckless.
- The hinge itself works fine ~~~97% of the time. Occasionally gets stuck (can't detach) for unknown reason requiring a reboot or two, or some dirt gets in the way of the connectors and it thinks it got detached when you move it around.
- Battery life feels somewhat disappointing, but I haven't done rigorous tests. If you're planning to use the gpu, you better bring that charger.
- The gpu gets thermally throttled pretty easily.
- Performance at the 4k-ish resolution can be disappointing depending on the app (even the browser). This gets worse if you add an external monitor or if you don't run it above the "recommended" performance level. Unfortunately most devs (including MS) seem to optimize for 1920x1080.
- My SB seems to have problems with WMR even with the official adapter (display goes black occasionally).
- There's a driver (?) bug with the screen brightness sometimes being too low. I've filed a report on the feedback thing, but I'm not seeing or expecting any response. Love the screen (and the width\height ratio) otherwise.
Overall, it's a decent and interesting machine, but the edges can be rough.
I have had the Surface Book 1 since launch and the hinge still work like the day I bought it. Come to think of it I haven't heard any complaints about the hinge at all.
Is that a problem when carrying it around in comparison to a mac? Is it an annoyance?