Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB) - Platinum (Newest Version)

Im a graduate student, and do some blogging. I was looking for something super fast that I could use to multitask throughout the day, and wouldnt slow down with many tabs open for my research papers. Overall, the computer is okay. Pros: The user interface is very intuitive and in line with standard PC design. It was easy to customize my settings, and the screen is great. The screen resolution is fantastic, as is the keyboard setup. The size of the screen and weight of the computer make it very mobile, which is a big pro. I also like that it has what I call a "normal" USB port, so I dont need to worry about a converter. The Meh: The battery life is fine. Lasts me about 6 hours of active use. I honestly thought it would be better than that, but its still an upgrade from my Surface Pro 2, which I had worn into the ground. Only 1 USB port. Thats all I need, but may be a bummer for others. The Cons: My main complaint is with responsiveness of the computer. I often right click on Word, or another program, expecting it to show my most recently used documents. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Dragging emails to different folders with the mousepad? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Clicking on an app once at the bottom of the screen to bring it to the forefront? Sometimes it works, sometimes I need to minimize everything else just to show the program I want. Ive never had such a hit-and-miss computer when it comes to reliability, and that delay and inconsistency drives me absolutely bonkers. If it just wasnt available, I would find a work around, but the sudden onset of things not working that seemingly resolves itself at some unspecified time is the worst. Considering the price, and the specs I went with, I honestly expected way more for my money. I would recommend going with the Surface Pro for a cheaper price.

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I bought this a couple days ago and was very excited when it came in. Had read up on reviews through amazon and reddit and thought I knew what to expect. However, the alcantera fabric gets too dirty for my liking. Its comfortable, its stylish, but its not durable. After 2 days of EXTREMELY light use, i could see my palm prints in the fabric. I used a damp paper towel and they came off. However, I dont want to worry about that every day for the rest of the laptops life. The battery life was also meh. I was expecting a good 10 hours of light browsing, I got around 5. The price of this product is pretty steep and I couldnt justify it, taking the things above into consideration. Back to laptop hunting!

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Bought for my wife who is in nursing school. It’s fast and does everything she needs. It’s light weight so she can carry it around with her books all day. The price was cheaper than Best Buy and was delivered very fast.

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I loved my 1st Gen Surface Laptop (i5 processor, 8gb ram, 128gb solid state) and I was pumped to try the 2nd gen with i7 processor and double the memory: Unfortunately, I found it disappointing. It seems to have less battery life, is more laggy, and definitely NOT any quicker. (I’m using it for business purposes with 3-5 programs @ a time: word, excel, adobe, chrome- > 5 tabs). The 2nd gen did not seem to out perform the 1st in anyway, thus not worth the additional cost. Also, it seemed more sensitive to hot and cold. Ultimately, I had to return because (the icing on the cake was that) in 3 weeks I was never able to get the 2nd gen to back up from my external hard drive- maybe I got a lemon. TL;DR 2nd gen is not worth the $, save it for the next unit with (hopefully) actual/material upgrades. Also be aware that SURFACE LAPTOPS WERE NOT MADE TO BE REPAIRED. Thus, if there is a problem outside the 1yr warranty- you can’t fix it. You’ll have to buy new or pray that Microsoft will side with you on the defects *cough, not likely*.

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I purchased this laptop to do a variety of tasks, including writing posts for blogs, as well as some design work in Illustrator and Photoshop. Typing on the keyboard is nice, nice level of noise and a pleasant amount of travel. I love the feel of the Alcantara fabric. It does make me cautious that my hands are clean since Im unsure how well itd hold up if Im harsh to it. The square-ish screen dimensions of the Surface gives you a lot more screen space, but if you notice motion blur on monitors be cautious, the panel in this seems to have a slow response of some kind. Trackpad is solid, touchscreen is as well, and the speakers sound good. Fan noise is near non-existent unless you stress the machine, which if far enough can make it sound like a jet. Wish the charger was a block on the wall like you find with Apple machines of the Lenovo I owned previously, the portion between wall and power brick should be longer because it isnt long enough. All around a great machine, just short of perfect, but an absolute buy.

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No, I wasnt let down by the laptop itself. Rather, I didnt even have the chance to be let down. I got this as a Christmas gift for my wife, whose 6-year-old Macbook Air needed replacing. I myself am a happy Surface Pro user (multiple generations) and a fan of what Microsoft has been doing with their OS and hardware. So I convinced my wife to try the Laptop 2 -- I knew the Surface Pro or Surface Book wouldnt be what she needed, but the SL2 could be just the ticket. Especially based on reviews -- everyone gushed over how straightforward and effective this machine is, while being beautiful at the same time. So I order one for her. Have it shipped all the way to the Philippines. It takes a couple of weeks, and Im all excited to get her moved to her new machine. Finally, the box arrives. She opens it, marvels at the industrial design of it, thanks me for her new toy. Then she hits the power button. And it goes into a Windows logo boot loop. No other hint of activity -- no attempt to load the OS, no spinning circles, no booting into safe mode, no UEFI screen, not even a BSOD. Just that damned Windows logo boot loop. I try all sorts of hard reset key combinations, spend hours creating recovery disks and trying to get the machine to run. I spend hours chatting with Amazon reps and Microsoft reps. All sorts of little things go wrong, on top of this major letdown. In the end, the machine still wont run. Maybe the replacement on the way will be better. But as "first" experiences go (my wifes first with the new generation of Microsoft machines, and My first with the Laptop line) (and being a happy, happy customer of the Surface Pro line) -- this was incredibly, unendingly painful, and frustrating. Microsoft has no business shipping a $1000+ machine that doesnt even work out of the darned box. This, for me, is a major burn as both a Microsoft and Amazon customer. Zero stars if I could give it, because I had pretty high expectations, and was severely let down.

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I waited for a month doing extensive research before jumping on to buying a new laptop! I do Photo Editing, Graphics Design, Coding, and Music. Software used are mostly all Adobe, Ableton Live and Heavy coding with a lot of npm installation. Well, after thorough research, It came down to Speed, Compact, Comfort, Ease of Use in terms of what I was looking at. This new Laptop 2 check all of it including elegant and luxury design and buying this was the best decision ever made on a laptop purchase. The keyboard is so comfortable as to a level of taking my typing speed up a few notches, very clean and loudspeaker, sleek design, super slim, amazing screen and the touchscreen makes a huge difference when it comes to designing, navigating or using any kind of creative software, the craftsmanship on a laptop like never seen before and not to mention Matte Black is pure sexy! Yes, I bought Matte Black which I couldnt find on Amazon so leaving a review here as the specs are the same. To anyone wondering, I installed Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Rush, Xd, Lightroom and used all of them. Did some run on regular use cases including designing, editing, saving and exporting and run blazingly fast in all of the apps. I still cant believe this is packed with this much speed in such a slim design just next level !! Highly Recommend!

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The Surface Laptop 2 is one of the best laptops I’ve seen on the market. Spec wise it’s a higher end laptop similar to the MacBook Pro lineups, but beyond that the Surface seemed like the better buy for a couple of reasons. PROS: - Beautiful touchscreen display: This stands out when comparing it to the MacBook Pro. The display between the Mac and the Surface is very similar but touch capability makes it easier than being limited to the touchpad only. I have to say my hand tends to stay on the touchpad anyways but the option of swiping or tapping the screen can make certain tasks easier to do. The laptop has decent brightness if you are working outdoors, although like pretty much any laptop you shouldn’t be working on it in direct sunlight for the best results. - Amazing performance: I personally haven’t compared the Surface Laptop 2 side by side to the MacBook Pro to get a decent comparison but the Surface definitely gets the job done. Whether I’m video editing or browsing the web the Surface runs all of these programs smoothly. With at least 8GB of ram you can run several tasks at once without any delay, it stood up to just about everything I threw at it. As long as you’re not hardcore gaming on it the laptop runs smoothly - Amazing design: The design has stayed the same from last years model. The metal design on the outside of the laptop gives it a very smooth finish and premium feel. The laptop also has the alcantara fabric around the touchpad and keyboard which makes typing on the laptop easier on your wrists. Along with the design the laptop is fairly light and easy to carry around without too much effort. NEUTRAL: - Battery life: The battery life is decent on the laptop. With the high end processor and display it makes sense why the battery doesn’t meet up to some people’s expectations. I can get through a solid 6 - 7 hours of web browsing and occasional videos on a single charge. The charging cable for the laptop is compact so bringing it along shouldn’t be a problem. CONS Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C: Despite the features on this laptop it lacks Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C ports. Although it’s basically an upgrade from last years model it would have been nice if they implemented both of these in the laptop, but personally it isn’t a deal breaker. Windows 10 Home: This laptop comes with Windows 10 Home, not the Pro version. This isn’t any issue for me as much since I don’t use any of the extra features the pro version provides. But BEWARE, this comes with Windows 10 Home. OVERALL: This laptop should suite most people in their day to day tasks. The performance should meet or exceed your expectations if you have a laptop older than 4 years so if you’re looking for an upgrade this is definitely worth the buy. Keep an eye out for sales on the Surface Laptop 2 to get a even better deal for an amazing laptop!

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Ive been purchasing the Surface Laptops for my company and they always came with Windows 10 Pro S, which I easily converted to regular Windows 10 Pro. Unfortunately I missed the part that says these come with Windows 10 HOME S. Now I have to purchase the upgrade. I feel like its a "Gotcha sucka" moment. Typical Microsoft. Ugh....

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I paid for Surface Laptop 2 but received Surface Laptop 1. The laptops are exactly the same externally and so unless youre careful, you might have been duped. The first clue was that the laptop had Windows S installed and was upgradeable to Windows Pro. Surface Laptop 2 typically has Windows Home installed. The processor on my laptop is an i5-7200U, which is for the previous generation. Once you receive laptop, please search for "System Information" in start menu search bar and see the processor. Surface Laptop 1 has i5-7200U and Surface Laptop 2 has i5-8250U. Im returning this back.

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