Thursday 28 March 2019

First Impressions of the Microsoft Surface Go

We were in Edmonton so I took the opportunity to visit the Microsoft Store, check out the Go and finally purchased it. I knew there was a special offer that included Office 365 and a maintenance agreement but there is an offer that includes the type case at no cost and up to 50% off for accessories.

First of all screen is really great. Crisp and responsive. Microsoft has made really good use of magnets. The keyboard is held in place with magnets, the pen is held in place magnetically (which is cool), and the power adapter is held in place with magnets as well. The keyboard is really comfortable to use. I'm kind of use to the way GBoard autocorrects. I wasn't convinced that I would like the touch pad but I like the space for the palm rest. The onscreen keyboard used in tablet mode does auto-correct and make suggestions but I don't know if it can be replaced like on android. There are a lot of features that I got used to with the Tab that I'll still be able to use as long as I use Edge (which is fine with me) For instance I can annotate web pages, pictures etc with the pen just like I could on the Tab.

Set up was annoying like it pretty well always is. I did hang out at the store and get switched over to Windows Home instead of S and get Office 365 installed. I will start using OneDrive more since it works well with Office 365. I'm used to working with Dropbox but it's not a problem.

My plan is to replace my Samsung all-in-one and Galaxy Tab S3 tablet with the Book. I got a dock and will be mounting a monitor on the wall that can be used to watch TV as well as being a larger screen for my computer. I don't know how much I'll be using the bigger screen but the option will be nice.

5 comments:

  1. As an Apple man, this entire blog post was the sound effect the old "Peanuts" cartoons used for adult voices. "Whar wa wha whar..."

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  2. I always looked at Apple as a triumph of marketing but not in my area of interest. I like flexibility;)

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  3. Would be nice if I got the name right 🙄

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  4. My first computer was a Mac and I've never strayed from the path, mostly because I get annoyed enough when Apple changes my work processes; switching to Microsoft be too much of a hurdle. That said, I did use Microsoft Office in my last contract and was pleasantly surprised. I found many features to like.

    I haven't had a laptop in a couple of years as I needed a real work machine and opted for a desktop this time as I work mostly from home. However, I do miss being able to work from bed on cold mornings. Maybe I will step out of my Apple rut and try something new. Thanks for the review.

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  5. My first computer was a Commodore 64 then an Amiga. I've used Macs and they're ok but for what I generally do it's more trouble than it's worth to deal with a new OS - labs/research/business uses Windows and I've supported 'puters since DOS.

    I've had laptops and they aren't as portable as I would like and I do want something that offers the full desktop experience (aka full Office functionality). When I get back from holidays I'll be getting the monitor and seeing whether docking this tablet will do the trick.

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