The Creation of a Comprehensive Review: A Hands-On Experience with the 15-Inch Surface Book 2

I am thrilled to share my experience with the newly released 15-inch Surface Book 2, which has finally given me the opportunity to explore the capabilities of this device. As an avid fan of Microsoft's hardware lineup, including the Surface Book series, I have been eager to test its features and performance. The addition of a powerful NVIDIA GTX 1060 graphics card in the 15-inch model has made it possible for me to edit my footage with ease.

In this comprehensive review, I will provide you with an in-depth walkthrough of the device's hardware, software, and performance. This includes a detailed examination of its unique features, such as the screen that houses the CPU and GPU, which can be detached by pressing a button. The base of the device also houses the GPU, providing additional power to enhance editing performance when using external GPUs. I will discuss how this feature allows me to utilize the pen, sold separately for $100, in reverse mode, enabling me to use applications like Lightroom while still leveraging the GPU for added performance.

The 15-inch Surface Book 2 boasts a stunning 15-inch, 3:2 aspect ratio touch screen with a resolution of 3240 x 2160. This display is complemented by an array of ports, including two USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports, an SD card slot, and the magnetic proprietary power port. Additionally, it features a 3.5mm headphone jack in a somewhat unusual placement. The device also includes a front-facing camera with five megapixels and eight megapixels on the rear side for capturing high-quality photos and videos.

At its core, the Surface Book 2 is powered by an Intel 8th-Gen i7-8650U quad-core processor paired with 16 gigs of DDR3 RAM. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card rounds out this formidable hardware configuration, making it a compelling option for creative professionals and gamers alike.

In terms of software, the device comes preloaded with Windows 10, providing users with access to Microsoft's suite of applications and services. To evaluate its performance, I conducted a comparison test between the Surface Book 2 and my previous Razer Blade laptop, both equipped with the same NVIDIA GTX 1060 graphics card.

To gauge the processing power of both devices, I used the same footage captured from 4.6K and 4K cameras to create videos on both systems and rendered them simultaneously. Surprisingly, despite having a more powerful processor, the Surface Book 2 took around 25% longer to complete this task compared to my Razer Blade laptop.

However, one area where the Surface Book 2 excels is in its battery life. I conducted a series of tests to determine which device would last longer under demanding conditions, including watching YouTube videos with the screen brightness set to maximum. The results were striking, with the Surface Book 2 lasting significantly longer than the Razer Blade laptop.

Ultimately, the Surface Book 2 offers an attractive balance between performance and battery life that sets it apart from its competitors in the market. With a starting price of $1,499 for the i5 13.5-inch model and rising to $3,299 for the one terabyte 15-inch i7 model, this device is positioned to challenge gaming laptops with similar specifications.

Overall, my experience with the 15-inch Surface Book 2 has been overwhelmingly positive, and I hope that you have enjoyed following along on this comprehensive review. Your feedback in the comments section would be greatly appreciated, as it helps me refine my content to better meet your needs.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- I finally got my hands on a 15-inchnew Surface Book 2,which I'm excited about.Now, I've always kind of beena fan of the Surface lineup,the Surface Book,and, frankly, just what Microsoft is doingwith their hardware lately.But I've never pulled thetrigger on any of themfor the simple fact thatnone of them have hada graphics card that is powerful enoughto allow me to edit my footage.But now, thanks to the15-inch model havingan NVIDIA GTX 1060 in it,I can finally give it a try.So, in this video, I'm gonnado a complete walkthrough.If you're not familiar withmy complete walkthroughs,they're basically me showingyou every single featurethat the device can do andthings that it can't doso that you, if youwere looking to buy one,are fully informed before you go do so.So, first up, let'sstart with the hardware.It's made out of this magnesiumthat is lightweight and resembles metaleven if when you tap it, itkind of feels like plastic.(taps loudly)Regardless, it's minimalisticand looks pretty good, in my opinion.But what makes it so unique on the marketis the fact that it has ascreen that houses the CPUand a base that houses theGPU and an extra batterythat can be disconnectedby pushing a button,turning the screen into a large tablet.Now, it can even be reconnectedbackwards to the basefor some other form factors.I've particularly foundthat using the pen,which is sold separatelyfor $100, by the way,when it's connected in thisreverse format and is laid flat,allows me to use things likeLightroom to edit photosbut still utilize the GPU in the basefor the added performance.The screen itself is a 15-inch,3:2 aspect ratio touch screenwith a 3240 by 2160resolution on this model,but there's also a13.5-inch version that hasa 3200 by 2000 resolution.Now, if you go for the 15-inch model,you get a set processor, RAM, and GPU,namely, the Intel 8thGen i7-8650U quad-core,16 gigs of 1866 megahertz DDR3 RAM,and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060.The 13.5-inch model, on the other hand,has a choice between the7th Gen Intel i5-7300Uor the same 8th Geni7-8650U for the processor,eight or 16 gigs of RAM,Intel HD 620 GPU on the i5 model,or the NVIDIA GTX 1050GPU on the i7 model.And both have storage optionsof either 256, 512 gigs, or one terabyte.Now, as far as ports go,we have two USB 3.1 Gen one portsand an SD card slot on one sideand the magnetic proprietary power portand a USB 3.1 Gen one Type-C port,with USB power delivery, on the other.We also have a 3.5millimeter headphone jackin the very odd placementthat is the top right of the screen.Now, for cameras, wehave a five megapixel,1080p video front-facing cameraand an eight megapixel,1080p rear-facing camera.Under that screen,we have Dolby stereospeakers hidden in the grillas well as dual microphones.Software-wise, it's running Windows 10.So, it's gonna be yournormal affair there.But what I really wanted to knowis how it stacks upagainst my current laptop,which is the last previousmodel of the Razer Blade,which has a 7th Gen i7processor, 16 gigs of RAM,and the same NVIDIA GTX 1060.Now, as I mentioned, Iedit a lot on my laptop,so the GTX 1060, that graphics card,was really important to me'cause I use Premiere,and it has CUDA Cores,and all that fun stuff.So, the first test I'd like to dois take the exact same footage of this4.6K and 4K cameras that I haveand make the same video on both of theseand then render them both at the same timeand see how that goes.That was a little surprising,actually, because on paper,the Surface Book has a better processorand the same everything else,so it should, theoretically,do better, right?But it's actually about 25%slower than my Razer Blade,which is not a terribleamount, but weird, right?When I asked Microsoft's reps about this,they gave me the explanation thatthe processors on the Surface Book 2are at a lower voltage, so thathad something to do with it.Either way, that's kindof just what happened.And, by the way, thiswas me actually turningon best performance settingson the Surface Book.If I left it on recommended,which it normally is on,it actually would have taken a lot longerto do this as well.Now, finally, the big problemthat I have with the Razer Bladeis that the battery dies so fast.So, I either bring a different laptopif I'm gonna go to a cafeand write for a long timeor go somewhere and write for a long time,compared to if I knowI'm gonna be editing,I can't use that same computerwith the good battery life to edit,and I can't use the editingcomputer for good battery life.So, the Surface Book, to me,was a nice balance between those two.So, let's see if that's actually trueand do a battery testbetween those two computersand have them both runthe same YouTube videowith the screen brightnessset all the way upand see which one dies first.(light jazz music)And dead.Yeah.Now, I normally leavemy opinion out of these types of videos,but I just wanna say that withthis much more battery life,honestly, in my opinion,I would gladly take the25% slower render times.Finally, the price starts at $1,499for the i5 13.5-inch modeland goes up to $3,299 for the one terabyte15-inch i7 model, which isthe one that I have here.Putting it on par, at least,with gaming laptops with similar specs,like the Blade, for example.There you go guys, hope you enjoyedthis complete walkthrough witha little bit of opinionsprinkled on at the end.Sorry.But yeah, let me know what youthink in the comments belowof this type of video, of the laptop,of anything you feel like.Just let me know.Like to hear from you guys.If you did like this video, though,please thumbs up or share,it's greatly appreciated.If you liked it a lot, please subscribe.That's also greatly appreciated.As always, though, regardless,thanks for watching.(techno music)\n"