Do you rely on a laptop for a living? If so stay away from the Microsoft Surface Pro
Whats your biggest regret this year? I’ll tell you mine, buying the Surface Pro 4

It’s easy to look at the Surface Pro and get swept up by the marketing hype. “Oh wow, it’s a laptop and a tablet?”. But let me tell you the Surface Pro is no more revolutionary than one of those 70s calculators that ran on solar. At first, it seems awesome, you can show off to your friends at school, but once the hype wears off it becomes pointless. Have you ever had a calculator run out of battery mid sum? No, right? Calculator batteries last a life time. It’s all a gimmick.
It’s neither as good as a tablet or a laptop
This is the reality of the Surface Pro. Have you ever tried to use one on your lap? Ever seen a picture of someone with one on their knees? No, because it’s fucking impossible. Forget sitting comfortably on your sofa. The only way to get the right angle and stop the surface sliding off on the floor is to use a big pillow to prop it up. Yeah, that’s right, you bought it because it’s compact and small yet you end up carrying a huge pillow around. At least when you’re fed up of the Surface Pro you can use it to take a nap. Forget using it on trains and buses unless you’re lucky enough to get the one free table seat. Oh and aeroplanes tables that’s a whole other ball game. You’re always on edge trying to balance the Surface pro. It’s more circus seal training than productive and professional.

A tablet or a Dumbbell Sellotaped to a book?
How about the tablet part? That’s good, right? No. Sure it’s a tablet but it weighs a fucking ton. It’s a tablet as much as holding an 80’s monitor up to your face is a tablet. It’s not a laptop replacement its a gym membership replacement. Forget reading E-books on it. If you want to experience what its like for yourself you don’t need to go to the Microsoft Store to try it, just tie a dumbbell to a book and see how long you last.
A Touch screen that ET’s skinny fingers couldn’t press
This is the best feature, right? No, It’s useless. Windows 10 isn’t anywhere near touch screen ready yet. It’s about as touch friendly as a hot stove. I knew that when I bought it but I was lead on by the promised that all the new updates were just around the corner. That was over a year ago now and it still sucks as much as the day I bought it. Most icons are that small even ET’s little skinny finger couldn’t press them perfectly every time. I can guarantee you one thing. Exactly a week after you buy the Surface Pro you will forget it has a touch screen at all.
A pen that doesn’t even out perform a Bic
This is the main reason I was fooled into buying it. I do graphic design and I think I used my Surface pen twice. It just sits in the drawer. Why? because it lags that much it makes your blood boil. If you’ve had the pleasure of using Wacom or the iPad Pro this will anger you more than anyone. I know what you’re thinking “I can draw directly onto Photoshop” That’s the dream right. “I will be so much more productive!” Wrong, the surface makes it a headache. You would have more success using your screen as a white-board with permanent marker and sending a photo to your clients.
A Keyboard scruffier than a homeless man’s shoes
The keyboard is possibly the worst part of the Surface Pro. I paid a whopping $1,500 for the Surface and the keyboard now looks like a bum with his toes sticking out of his shoes. Microsoft could have used better fabric? Something stronger exists surely. If your a hardcore computer user like me working 8–10 hours a day the keyboard won’t even last you a year. Worst of all its $120 to replace. Another problem is that magnetic dust gets trapped between the keyboard and the body and scratches all the finish. Also when typing on the keyboard it flexes more than a wooden dance floor on Saturday nights.

A touchpad that takes breaks when you don’t want to
The only time you remember you have a touch screen is when the touch pad randomly stops working. One minute your scrolling around the web the next minute you’re using the touch screen to restart the Surface. It’s a headache. If you come from a MacBook you will never forgive Microsoft for the track pad they designed. It’s like getting the bus to work after 10 years of driving a car.
A Surface or a disco pro?
I’m not sure if Microsoft intentionally planned to add a full fledged disco into the Surface Pro. But they sure succeeded. After about 6 months the Surface Pro becomes nothing more than an expensive strobe light. Have you ever tried to do your office work at a rave? That would be silly right? How could you focus. I can barely look at the screen for more than 30 minutes without getting some serious eye strain and a banging headache.
I’ve spoken to so many people with this issue yet if your out of warranty Microsoft doesn’t want to talk to you. One mention of this on any of the Microsoft Surface social media pages and they mark you as spam. They should be apologizing and replacing not hiding it.
Link to a topic with thousands of people facing the same issue. Can you spot any replies from Microsoft? No?
Software with more bugs than an insectarium
- The WIFI always goes off and disappears. It does my head in. So many times I’ve connected on my phone and my laptop couldn’t even see the network. Only a restart seemed to fix it.
- I once had a Skype meeting with a client and I couldn’t even detect the on board camera drivers. I ended up trouble shooting for 3 hours to fix the issue. 3 hours of what should have been paid time wasted. These are both Microsoft product shouldn’t it be seamless?
- Pro apps are sluggish and crash even on the i5 with 8gb of RAM. Using programs like Affinity designer and Photoshop just lag and freeze all the time. If you like waiting you will love the Surface.
- The worst bug I remember was an issue with sleep. I was on my way to the airport with my surface fully charged. Once I was on the plane I pulled out my laptop and it was boiling hot and had only 2% battery left. I ended up blowing on it to cool it down and then had to spend my 8-hour flight bored out my mind unable to do any work.
Update your life away
This is not Surface related but Windows related. What the fuck is wrong with windows updates? I’ve had my computer crash and restart while in the middle of work and then on reset update for 2 hours. Yeah, Windows I’m not trying to make money right now…. I’ll just go get lunch at 10 am then and come back at 12, should I? Yeah, I can turn off automated updates but even with Linux, you can still use your computer while it updates.
Unpredictable and unproductive
You will end up wasting more time restarting your computer and fixing issues than getting work done. If you are a freelancer or run a business forget the Surface. That nice salary you make from been productive and pleasing your clients will be cut in half because you will end up spending most of your time chasing up issues.
Out of warranty, get out your wallet
My Surface has just died again. Now I’m out of warranty and support wants to charge me $29 for a call just to explain the issue. This is a hardware failure which happened once before previous. The first time It happened I was under warranty and they replaced it. The problem is this is a known issue that a lot of people have reported. If the hardware has an issue the manufacture should replace it regardless of warranty. What makes me even more angry is that Microsoft want to charge you to call support about the issue to start with.
The ordeal with Microsoft Servicing. Last time I had the Surface replaced I had to get a 5-hour flight to Singapore. That was the nearest service centre to Bali.
If your a digital nomad or plan on traveling you cannot rely on Microsoft. If your laptop dies you’re stuck. But with Apple, you can be in a tiny village in the middle nowhere or even a rain forest and find someone who can fix and has spare parts for a MacBook.
The resell value is worthless
Microsofts Amazon flash sales make your new Surface worthless. You pay $1,500 then the following week they have a 25% off sale and the month after a 50% off sale. When you come to selling or upgrading how will you ever get any money back? They have no respect for their customers. Microsoft devalues their products so much that the carry case you purchased for it will probably end up worth more. Forget trying to sell a used Surface. Why would anyone bother buying one when Microsoft will be selling them for $100 in no time anyway.
I recently sold my used 2011 MacBook pro for more than I can get for my Surface Pro 4. Crazy right? Apple products keep value because they don’t hold crazy flash sales.
So who’s the surface Pro good for?
- A gift for your Grandma to experience video chat for the first time.
- Your Mum to browse Bing because she doesn’t know how to change the homepage to Google. •
- Someone ready for retirement in finance who is trying to hide the fact they are still using pen and paper and need a computer as an office prop.
- Anyone who likes to throw money away
Who’s is not for?
- Productive creatives
- Anyone who earns a high hourly rate
- People who use a computer over 1 hour a day.
- People who like to make money and not waste time waiting on frozen computer screens. -Anyone in business
Now every time I see a MacBook user I’m jealous with envy
I regret selling my MacBook Pro and I regret even more buying a Surface Pro 4.
My Advice is If you want to make your life hard and give yourself high blood pressure. Get a surface pro 4. If you want to go home after a day of work stress-free get a mac.
So what do I like about the Surface Pro 4?
I don’t actually know…
Maybe if I try to be positive. I like how small it is. But it’s no smaller than any other 12–13 inch laptop on the market.
P.S
Don’t waste your money!
Video review coming soon