Microsoft Surface Book 3 review: A little stale, but still slick

The Microsoft Surface Book 3. If you've seen one of these before, you're probably disappointed that it looks exactly the same as the previous two. If you haven't seen one of these before, you're probably thinking what's the deal with that freaky hinge? And yeah, it is definitely a bummer that the Surface Book 3 looks identical to the Surface Book 1 and 2 before it. But if you're new to the game, just want to know what to do with this weird hinges. It's because this laptops claim to fame is this ability to do this. [MUSIC] There are a lot of laptops that are also tablets out there twin ones as they're called most cases. Say the Dell XPS two in one. You've got a clamshell laptop and you can fold the keyboard behind the screen to make a tablet. Then you have another class of hybrid your iPad Pro, your windows Surface Pro seven too many services Mona's high memory right? So sorry, but those give you powerful tablets And then you can attach a clip on keyboard to it to make kind of a computer. This is the only thing on the market which is a dedicated clamshell laptop really possible on to where you can detach the screen and this becomes a standalone Alone power tablet with its own battery and speaker isn't such, a thing with the tablet functional is that it's mostly for creative so watch for the well she's got this Surface Pen which will cost you another $99 By the way, not included. I have pretty big hands and even the 13.5 inch model. using that as a tablet. I was borderline too big for me for reading purposes. The 15 inch, you might as well just be reading off an actual stone tablet as it's a very large tablet, which again great for creatives. One of the best things about the laptop itself is the screen which is a 3 by 2 ratio 3000 by 2000 pixels. It's a beautiful screen so it works great as a tablet, if you can hold it comfortably. To get a separate laptop from base situation working Microsoft has made some compromises. Firstly in the processor, no matter what processor you get the 13 inch comes with the i five or an i seven, the 15 inch only i seven, but no matter we should get it will use because the processor is in the Screen and not the base, is a 15 watt processor, not the standard 45 watt processor for more powerful computers. But that essentially means without getting too technical, is that, competing laptops with similar specs but with more watts, is more traditional 45 watts, would be better at running multiple processes, Then this guy, it's not a huge deal. It's not a really big difference, but it's a difference and you're paying a lot. So that's the thing. Another compromise is the speaker's like the processor Microsoft has put the speakers in the top bit and not the bottom. And as a result that kind of on the palate, especially on the 13.5 inch model, Which not only is it other speakers in my entry level 2017 MacBook Pro better. The speakers in my phone are also better than the speakers in the 13.5 inch model, which is pretty disappointing. Although the 15 inch fares quite a bit better [MUSIC] Change is the essential process of all existence. But everything I've just said more or less applies to the seventh one and two, fourth change with the new one, obviously not as design. It's all in the internals, but even then it's not a huge overhaul. First we have the 58 inch model. Inside this is an Nvidia 1660 ti max q chip. That's good for a laptop of this size but not really great. You can however, get a 15 inch model with a Quadro RTX 3000 caught in it, although that's kind of a different thing. Microsoft classifies that as surface books of business. Is kind of only for professional creatives who do really GPU intensive stuff. And that's reflected in the price it starts at $3500. More interesting are the graphics in the 13.5 inch Surface Book Three, because it's actually really unusual for a 13 inch laptop to have a discrete graphics card, much less than one that's as powerful as the one in here, This is a Nvidia GTX 1650 MAX-Q GPU. That GPU isn't powerful enough to make this a dedicated gaming machine per se. But it is powerful enough to play most games even the more demanding ones if you switch down the graphics settings. Most pricey laptops will let you do some photo editing on the go. But the graphics power on this also means that you can do some video editing on the go. That's really handy for a 13 inch laptop. And lastly, apart from all the bells and whistles, and there are a lot of those, these are just really good laptops. They get a lot of flack for being kind of sick. And widen the base and they definitely are. But the upside to that is that the keyboard is phenomenally spacious. It's actually the most probably the most comfortable keyboard I've used on a 13.5 inch laptop. And the 15 inch one is great too. That's kind of like a boring detail I guess because cable is not particularly sexy. Can undersell the importance of good keyboard The trackpad is, super responsive and has a really nice grip, only complain, is it's a little bit small. The port selection is not the best, but they're pretty good especially if you're used to living in MacBook land. You've got two USB a, slots here, as well as an SD card slot reader, big deal for some, there is a USB C slot, however, it is not fundable. Which means that the Surface Book Three, both models won't be compatible with certain peripherals and monitors. That is a bummer. But Microsoft says that it didn't use Thunderbolt because there are certain security risks associated with it. So yes, it does suck but depends how much weight you put in what Microsoft says. One quick note of the design, though, There is a clear disadvantage to the fulcrum hinge that connects the tablet to the base. It stops the laptop from feeling completely. So Dustin on the bad stuff can still get through even when you Shut it. One of the nifty things Microsoft has done Is that they put a battery in the screen and a second battery in the base. What that means is you can detach the screen, go on that then Netflix and chill live your life and then you come back and reattach it and then you run off the battery in the base, despite having a depleted tablet battery. Although when that connected the battery will deplete and charge at the same time, so it's not like you get twice the battery life of a normal laptop. Although the battery life is solid, I was able to get a full workday out of this guy pretty easily, but not best in class. Both of these are exceptionally well made devices. You can feel the build quality basically from the second you touch them. They're super good clamshell laptops, and the unique detaching screen is really well done and really helpful. If you're after that. But who should actually buy this? And important part of that answer is the press obviously. So these ain't cheap. The 13.5 inch laptop starts at 1600 dollars, but that's what the model with an i five processor and with integrated graphics you're really if you're going to splash out this much better off spending an extra $400. Taking it up to two grand and that'll get you the 13.5 inch model with the Nvidia graphics card inside and then I seven and double the RAM and double the storage. The 15 inch line starts at $2300. And if you're after the super pallid business line, that's us at 30 $500. So either way, whether it's 13.5 inch, 15 inch or business line is funny some pretty serious cash. It's not that these computers are overpriced. It's just that the average person fees that computer for Facebook, Netflix, Microsoft Office etc. What really use most of the features that make it expensive. So if you are just looking for a decent laptop to do those things on, you don't really need to spend the money that this costs. However, if you're in need of the portable power Or your after a particularly luxurious tablet laptop hybrid. The Surface Book Three line won't let you down. Let's just hope that this is the last time a Surface Book looks exactly like this. [MUSIC]