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Apple Fanboy Reacts to Microsoft Surface Go 2

2020-05-15 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 12:48 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Tools, apps and tech · mode: Review and recommendation

Ali unboxes the base Microsoft Surface Go 2 with the Pentium processor and gives first impressions as an Apple user: it is cute, portable and has a nice keyboard, but its trackpad, pen and speed lag behind the iPad, so for now he recommends the iPad and plans to test it for two to three weeks.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Unboxing the Surface Go 2, its type cover, sleeve and pen, and setting up Windows

00:02:46 — First impressions: cute, a weak trackpad, a typing test and a good keyboard, easy to carry

  • ★★ Ali's first impression of the Microsoft Surface Go 2 is that it is quite cute and nicer than he expected. — 00:02:46
  • ★★ Ali finds the Surface Go 2's trackpad a bit poor: it feels like a Windows trackpad rather than a Mac or iPad Pro one. — 00:02:46 · iPad Pro, Microsoft Windows
  • ★★ Ali calls the trackpad of the new iPad Pro Magic Keyboard amazing and the Magic Keyboard the single best product he has used in a very long time. — 00:02:46 · Magic Keyboard, iPad Pro
  • ★ The first thing Ali gets on logging into Windows on the Surface Go 2 is an error message about his account, which he says you just don't see with Apple products. — 00:02:46 · Microsoft Windows, Apple
  • ★ Ali bought the Pentium model of the Surface Go 2 because the models with the newer Intel processor were out of stock in the UK. — 00:04:24
  • ★ In a typing test on the Surface Go 2's keyboard Ali reaches 144 words per minute. — 00:04:56
  • ★★ Ali is quite impressed by the Surface Go 2 keyboard: a little small, but with good clicky key travel and a fabric surface that is nice to type on. — 00:04:56
  • ★★ Carrying the Surface Go 2 feels to Ali like carrying a notebook, while his 12.9-inch iPad Pro with keyboard feels like a hefty laptop; on first impressions he would prefer to carry the Surface. — 00:04:56 · iPad Pro

00:05:44 — Screen, sluggish speed and input lag, S mode and installing apps

  • ★★ Ali finds the Surface Go 2's screen all right but not as nice as the iPad Pro's, with pretty huge bezels. — 00:05:44 · iPad Pro
  • ★ Ali thinks the Surface Go 2 has a 1920 by 1080 resolution on a 10.5-inch screen, similar to the budget iPad. (hedged) — 00:05:44 · iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★★ Even on first setup, when a device should be blazing fast, Ali is frustrated by the speed of the Pentium Surface Go 2: it is always a little sluggish. — 00:06:13
  • ★ To install Notion, Ali has to switch the Surface Go 2 out of Windows 10 in S mode, which runs only Microsoft-verified apps. — 00:06:44 · Microsoft Windows, Notion

00:08:10 — Handwriting with the pen in OneNote against the iPad, Apple Pencil, GoodNotes and Notability; scrolling lag

  • ★★ Writing with the Surface Pen in OneNote is not as nice for Ali as the iPad with the Apple Pencil: the stylus is treated like a cursor. — 00:08:46 · Microsoft OneNote, iPad, Apple Pencil, iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali likes that the Surface Pen has a bit of give, with more haptic feedback than the rigid Apple Pencil, but finds it less precise. — 00:09:10 · Apple Pencil
  • ★★★ Ali dislikes OneNote and GoodNotes for handwriting because they slightly adjust strokes to look smoother, and loves Notability on the iPad because it does not change what he writes. — 00:09:10 · Microsoft OneNote, GoodNotes, Notability, iPad Pro, iPad
  • ★★ Scrolling on the Surface Go 2 has a slight input lag, Ali says, while a Mac's Magic Trackpad and the iPad's 120 hertz screen make you feel in control with basically no lag. — 00:10:21 · iPad, iPad Pro

00:10:53 — Verdict: price against the budget iPad, user experience over specs, two to three weeks of testing

  • ★★ Ali plans to take the Surface Go 2 to work for the next two or three weeks to see how it fits into his workflow. — 00:10:53
  • ★★ Each night in bed Ali writes down the most story-worthy moment of his day, sometimes on his iPad; for the next couple of weeks he will do it on the Surface Go 2. — 00:10:53 · iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★★ Going by other tech reviewers, among them The Verge's first-impressions review calling it fairly slow, Ali would probably not recommend the Microsoft Surface Go 2. (hedged) — 00:11:22
  • ★★ Ali thinks the Surface Go 2's base price is $399, about the same as the budget iPad, and like the iPad it comes without a keyboard, pen or case. (hedged) — 00:11:22 · iPad, iPad Pro

  • ★★★ The budget iPad is much faster than the Surface Go 2, Ali says: Apple devices are far better optimised for speed, and against the charge of overpaying for specs he says specs don't matter, the user experience does. — 00:11:52 · iPad, Apple, iPad Pro

    “the specs don't matter what matters is the user experience”

  • ★★ Ali promises to try using the Microsoft Surface Go 2 for the next two or three weeks and report back. — 00:12:26

  • ★★★ For now Ali recommends the iPad rather than the Microsoft Surface Go 2, though he may change his mind in two weeks. (hedged) — 00:12:26 · iPad, iPad Pro

Humor (significant)

  • Ali, an Apple user, opens his first Microsoft tablet as a trip to the dark side — 00:00:01

    “All right, guys, welcome to our first foray to the dark side.”

  • Unboxing the Microsoft stylus, Ali first calls it an Apple Pencil, then reads its multilingual box name — 00:00:57

    “I mean, Microsoft Surface Pen Stift Stylet.”

  • Windows setup greets him with its voice assistant, which he waves off — 00:00:57

    “Cortana, go away.”

  • While Windows says not to turn off the PC, Ali riffs on PC gamer slogans — 00:02:19

    “Hashtag PC. Hashtag PC master race. Is that still a thing these days?”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: iPad · Microsoft Surface Go 2

Also: Organizations: Apple · Microsoft · The Verge

Products: 10FastFingers · Apple Magic Trackpad · Apple Pencil · Evernote · GoodNotes · Google Chrome · Google Drive · iPad Pro · Magic Keyboard · Microsoft OneNote · Microsoft Surface · Microsoft Surface Pen · Microsoft Windows · Notability · Notion · OneDrive · Surface Go Signature Type Cover

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