Surface Pro 6 AMA

"Tripper" (tripe46) 10/16/2018 at 11:45 • Filed to: None

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I just received our first one, tuned all the way up. I’m configuring it now. AMA.

Car Content

For Sweden > Tripper 10/16/2018 at 11:53

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Why not buy a laptop like a normal person?

benjrblant > For Sweden 10/16/2018 at 12:00

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Surface offers increased efficiency for maximum shitpostage. 

Tripper > For Sweden 10/16/2018 at 12:02

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I did buy a laptop for this person, one that cost $2,200 even . He’ s been with the company a whole two weeks and decided that he’d rather have a $2,000 surface instead. His boss approved, so  here we are.

I have a desktop and remote into all of the machines that I need access to using a tiny MacBook like all the cool kids do.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > Tripper 10/16/2018 at 12:26

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How is it? I have been wondering about surface pros for our company, especially field technicians.

We have VM access in the office, and through VPN, but that isn’t always the case out on a job... and running some of our cloud-based tools, and network testing with a standalone system is useful. We’ve been using old dinosaur-sized laptops for jobs that require ethernet testing, and iPads in rugged cases, with VM clients when WiFi is sufficient, but ethernet is not a possibility there .

I’ve been wanting to split the difference a bit, and possibly come up with a way to offload some thin-clients on desks, if a docking station will work in the office, and maybe even in service trucks, too... then shifting the VM and thin client upgrades to the office staff that doesn’t go into the field.  

The big question... are the powerful enough to handle the work, and strong enough not to break when looking at them sideways? Any luck driving an external monitor or two at a decent resolution and frame rate?

The techs like the size of the iPad, and could even go a bit bigger on the screen for better screen real estate, but not much more thickness or weight like a laptop . They HATE the old laptops because they are 5lbs+, almost 3 inches thick, and generally dinosaurs... and work as such... and they have taken a bit of a beating.

Simple quick testing and utility tasks with the screen face up, and touch-based is a plus, or perching the device in a place where the screen is visible while working on things, and watching the results is handy.

From what I’ve read, the system can probably technically do what we want... the questions really are cellular data connectivity options, and ruggedness, and surviving a fast-paced technician’s schedule, and a LOT of portability that isn’t always as gentle as possible .

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Tripper 10/16/2018 at 12:33

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What sort of specs does that have?

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > Tripper 10/16/2018 at 12:45

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The usual two questions: can it run Crysis, and can it run Doom?

For real, though, how useful is it as a lap-tablet?

Tripper > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. 10/16/2018 at 12:45

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So ruggedness I think will be your only issue, but I’m sure a proper case would take care of that. Otherwise docs/adapters work great. You can get usb/usb c to ethernet for the people that need that. I have one of our guys on a Surface Pro 4 running 5 monitors via one dock and one USB adapter. I told him before I deployed it that it probably wouldn’t work, but it does! It runs a TV, 3 monitors (Two in portrait mode and one standard) and the Suface screen. all he does is plug in a USB dock and power.

As long as you don’t have any serious graphics requirements I don’t see what they can’t do. We order all of ours with the “i7" chip, 16gb RAM, and the 512 SSD.

Tripper > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 10/16/2018 at 12:48

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quad core i7, 16gb, 512ssd

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Tripper 10/16/2018 at 12:49

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Not bad. How is cooling because if I remember, these are passively cooled right?

Tripper > winterlegacy, here 'till the end 10/16/2018 at 12:51

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It’s good, particularity speced all the way up. We an SP4 that runs 5 monitors without issue via usb docking station. The guy almost never has issues with it.

I don’t like or use any of the tablet/touchscreen based functions, so I wouldn’t trade my XPS or my MacBook 12 for one. However, the snap on keyboard is pretty good, and the pen features have gotten really good if you use that sort of thing.

Tripper > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 10/16/2018 at 12:53

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I believe so as it is updating like MFer, and I haven’t heard anything yet. It’s about as warm as my phone after playing a video, not too bad. The other guy who’s got a surface pro 4...his has a fan and that thing gets HOT. He also leaves it in the sun on his window sill, I honestly can’t believe it hasn’t overheated. He has a great luck with it.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > Tripper 10/16/2018 at 13:37

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That is similar spec to my mid-2015 MacBook Pro... and probably pretty similar to what we would go with... SSD speed and RAM are a must, though, and usually the bottleneck if not spec’d high enough, although SSD size is not a huge concern, they shouldn’t be storing tons on the device, they should be storing it on their SAN-stored and backed up VM drive.

Just looked at the configurator... WTH Microsoft? Core I5 limits RAM to 8GB and 128/256GB storage, and Core i7 limits the other way, nothing less than 512GB storage and 16GB only.

I would want the 16GB RAM, 256GB is probably fine in terms of OS and app operational storage and virtual memory paging file size, again, not supposed to be their personal laptop, nor store critical data files. The less corporate data on the device the better, actually, as long as the access security and encryption are strong to prevent unauthorized use and access to our network and tools.

Some of the advanced technicians may use the Quad-core i7, but some of the others would probably rather have the lower energy, longer run-time of the dual-core i5, and the budget office always likes saving a little bit.

But that cuts across Microsoft’s bundle line... Core i7 can’t go that low on storage space, Core i5 can’t go that high on RAM.

And it is a 700$ jump between the i5-8GB-256GB configuration and the i7-16GB-512GB configuration, 1199-1899$ respectively.

I would prefer mostly i5-16GB-256GB, and a few advanced  i7-16GB -256GB units, but no dice either way.

Tripper > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. 10/16/2018 at 13:41

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I bet that will change, the SP6 was released today. Particularly if you’re going to order a bunch, I would assume that you can get them speced any way that you like. Not sure though, were a Dell shop except for the people that want a surface.

7:07 > Tripper 10/16/2018 at 13:48

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I’m thinking of replacing my Thinkpad T440s with a Surface similar to how you have this one specced, but I’m worried about losing screen real estate and ports.  Can you actually use a Surface on your lap while typing on the attached keyboard?

boxrocket > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 10/16/2018 at 13:48

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Can’t speak for the 6, but my SP3 had a fan.