My review of the Microsoft Surface Pro 6
Ever since 2012, I’ve always wanted a Microsoft Surface. One of my dorm mates had one and I just thought it was the most amazing device ever, but since it was so new, I was apprehensive (also very poor because broke college student). 7 years later, I’m returning back to school and I decided now that I’m a full grown “adult”, I can afford to splurge a little and buy myself a Surface Pro 6, purchased at Costco for $200 off because I’m a sucker for a great deal. The bundle at Costco comes with the keyboard cover AND the surface pen, so I saved a couple hundred bucks there as well.
At first glance, the Microsoft Surface Pro 6 is a thing of beauty. It’s lightweight, it’s sleek, it’s sexy, it’s the total package in terms of what I wanted. It’s built to be a tablet with all the basic functionalities of a laptop. I know there are some people who have utilized this for gaming, however I am using this strictly for schoolwork and my review will reflect that.
The Pros:
- The weight: I definitely love how light the Surface
pro is because I commute to school from work, and sometimes I have to carry 2 laptops. The total weight of the surface pro with the type cover is around 2.4lbs, making it easy to transport. - Laptop to tablet mode: I love that I’m able to utilize the surface as a laptop and a tablet. On the one hand, I can attach the keyboard and utilize it like any other laptop. On the other, I could detach the keyboard completely and utilize it as a tablet.
- Tablet stand: Another great function of the surface pro is the built-in stand. It creates an easy hands-free mode when I’m looking up recipes or watching streams.
- The Pen: Love the pen. Where do I begin? The pen really helps me out with my school work. I mostly utilize it with tablet mode, while I study. One of my favorite things is that I’m able to utilize the pen to handwrite small notes or highlight passages within my reading. If I wanted to I’m sure I could take a full set of handwritten notes, but my handwriting is ugly, so I probably would not. I could only imagine how much better my math notes would be if I was able to utilize something like this, where I can utilize a mix of typed and handwritten notes.
- Battery life: Personally, I love the battery life on my surface. I’ve mainly used it for school and
afterwards I normally just put it to sleep. I have not had the laptop die on me yet, despite it being put to sleep for a couple of days (maybe 3-4days?) without being charged. I think depending on usageof course, the battery life may differ but for my essential functions, the battery life is decent and 1 charge can last me 2-3 days depending on what I’m doing.
All in all, I loved a lot of the functions of the laptop however I did have some qualms about some of the hardware.
The Cons:
- The keyboard: The keyboard is pretty flimsy, and honestly for a $130-$150 keyboard, I’d want something a bit sturdier. While it is light, which is probably why it sacrifices the sturdiness, when I type it makes me a bit worried that if I pressed too hard, I might break the whole keyboard.
- Keyboard connectivity: I noticed that after a couple days of using the surface pro, the keyboard sometimes disconnects from the laptop, while still being plugged in. I did some digging around and it seems to be a glitch with the device that hopefully Microsoft is working to rectify. However, it is a bit annoying that in the middle of note taking, sometimes my keyboard disconnects and I have to unplug it and replug it in.
- Laptop mode with the keyboard: While I love the ability to change from laptop to keyboard, I don’t love that when I’m sitting in those tiny desks in my lecture hall, I have to lift the tablet stand in order to have it work as a laptop. So when it comes to those tiny desks, it becomes a bit precarious to try to utilize the laptop mode because it has to sit perfectly on a flat surface, or else it won’t stand properly. This makes it difficult for me to utilize laptop mode while on my bed or while sitting on the floor without a hard surface. I have to balance it on my legs just right, just to have it stand upright.
- The Charger: While I love how easy it is to charge the laptop, the charger comes off the laptop too easily, which means if I pulled it even slightly, the charger could disconnect. This actually happened to me when I was plugging it in before class, and the charger disconnected without my knowledge, and lo and behold when I turned it on I noticed it was only at 45%, thankfully after the 1.5 hour long class, I still had 35% charge on it.
Of course despite these little setbacks, I’m happy with the choice I made.
Personally if you’re looking for a 2-in-1 laptop for school, I definitely recommend the surface pro. It’s easy to transport and has great functions for you to be able to do a multitude of tasks on the go. Sometimes I use it on the train to class and read my assignment and mark notes on it.
Microsoft Surface Pro 6
$899+
Pros
- Lightweight design
- Convenient Laptop/Tablet Mode
- Built in tablet stand
- Surface Pen
- Longlasting battery life
Cons
- Flimsy feeling keyboard
- Keyboard connectivity issues
- Laptop mode does not have enough structure to hold itself up on a lap/small surface area
- The charger disconnects from the laptop fairly easily.
