Surface Pro 8

You should try Linux on it someday, to really see what the CPU can do, night and day difference :) With that said, I'd probably prefer a Windows laptop over a MacBook too, their hardware is great, but the software is just so awful. But whatever you do, don't get Microsoft's hardware, I got a Surface Pro 8 some years ago and throughout my 25 years of computing I've never had a worse laptop, and just 2-3 weeks after the warranty went out, the entire machine bricked itself during an update and it no longer boots at all, basically threw 1500 EUR into the sea with nothing to show for it.

I often wonder why Microsoft doesn’t go full-apple on its hardware and software. [...] I bought a Surface Pro 8 some years ago and is probably the worst computing hardware I've experienced in a long time. Even basic things like thermal management is horribly broken when using Windows on it. [...]

[...] I purchase a Surface Pro 8 a year ago or something, thinking Windows would surely work better than usual when it is Microsoft's own hardware too. But no, yesterday it got stuck in a boot loop, after a Windows update broke the audio drivers somehow. [...] I still have to use Windows on my desktop because of Ableton, but I'll never purchase any Microsoft hardware again, and as soon as I can, I'll run Ableton on Linux like the rest of my software.

[...] I just could no longer tolerate the dim/low-res screen and sluggish processor. It seemed like every time I used it, it struggled with network connections and got stuck downloading a bunch of updates. I replaced it with a Surface Pro 8, which is slim, bright and perky. But how to replace the X220 keyboard? I tried a Nuphy Air60, which has great mechanical action, but weird cheap feet that peel off and get lost, and weighs a relative ton in a backpack. Replaced that with a flimsy $10, 100g bluetooth keyboard to replicate the MacBook/XPS typing experience instead, and it’s… good enough. [...]

My wife and I have been very happy with our Surface Pro 8 16Gb we bought last year running Windows 11 Pro. Mostly we use it with the keyboard attached. [...] Firstly, it wasn't running the latest feature update of Windows 11 and trying certain apps (like Instagram) off the Microsoft Store failed to install with a largely undescriptive error. Eventually I realized it wasn't running the very latest Windows 11 feature update which resolved the issue once installed. The other problem was that my user profile was laggy, but not my wife's. For example the Start Menu was very slow to come up. [...] I normally do this with any new Windows PC I get, but assumed it wouldn't be essential for full on Microsoft hardware, but even though there was no obviously extra bundled rubbish software, something was clearly not 100%.

[...] The thinking was "If Microsoft makes both the hardware and the software, it has to work perfectly fine, right?", so I bit my lip and got a Surface Pro 8. [...] Overheated almost immediately by itself, just idling, and STILL suffers from the issue where the laptop sometimes wake itself while in my backpack, so when I actually needed it, of course it was hot and without battery. I've owned a lot of shit laptops through the years, even some without keys in the keyboard, back when I was dirt-poor, but the Surface Pro 8 is the worst of them all, I regret buying it a lot. [...]

[...] I don't know, but it's worth looking into it. For comparison, I have at hand a Surface Pro 8 that should be 3x slower than hers on sheer CPU benchmarks, and I can throw any run of mill task at it (do the taxes with 34 word documents, Excel, dozens of tabs in firefox and a call session in the background) and it's fine. It will burn trough battery life within an two or three hours under that load, and yes the fans will be running, but I have no issue of having it crawl when unplugged.

Some year ago I bought a Surface Pro 8 thinking it was the best hardware to run Windows on and holy hell was I wrong. Overheats in two seconds, performance is probably worse than my Steam Deck purchased years ago and the only way I can have it run relatively well is a barebones Linux install. Before that, I gave WSL(2) a try and besides giving me half the performance compared to running Linux the normal way and introducing various compatibility issues (although it's just a VM?!), a recent Windows update broke the WSL image on disk leading to a corrupted install, never managed to recover from that and gave up. [...]

I've used a Surface Pro laptop for years and I love it. You may want to opt for a version with higher RAM if possible, but I started with a Surface Pro 5 and loved it, then eventually upgraded to the max stat Surface Pro 8 and I've been using it ever since! I love it cause I can draw anywhere

People are like "Yeah I'd never use Linux, what if something important breaks randomly and I have to re-install the entire operating system?" (for free) Meanwhile windows 11 will just blow itself up on Microsoft hardware while in hibernate. So that's how I got a Surface Pro 8 with Debian on it. :P

Been using Linux daily for a while, but I still keep two Windows devices (work laptop & Surface Pro 8). Almost shut down my Surface applying this update but then I saw that familiar KB update, the one known for breaking SSDs. [...]

Oh it's a surface pro 8! I got a refurbished one, they are good for if you don't have a main PC. [...]

Point taken, I totally see how brighter screens must be a boon for people who actually bring their laptop outdoors. My personal needs are way smaller so I missed that part completely (on contrast IDK, I recently had a Surface Pro 8 next to a MBP 4 and it didn't strike me, but I might not be sensible enough to that) 1366x768 We've had HDPI for a decade now, that's truly awful. ports Agreed, people needing more than 4 ports or caring a lot more about size are kinda SOL with the current modular setup.

Worked fine in a window but too slow when fullscreen on my Surface Pro 8. Should have dynamic resolution to maintain FPS.

Yo same... I got a surface pro 8 as it runs the desktop (NOT the stinky mobile version of) clip studio, but the type covers (which charge your art pen) are riddled with issues and break if you observe them too hard.

I've had a few laptops through out the years, starting with a Compaq, 2 Toshibas, Macbook Pro, then I made the jump to a Surface Pro 8. I thought it was the future, but from day 1 it just didn't work for me but I stuck with it. Upgraded to a Surface Laptop this year and wow, I love this thing.