Surface Books and Bing

[Boris]

Are they any good? I have decided to try my hand at another "offer" by Bing to try and win a surface book; however, I decided to try and get the surface Book bundle which comes with several things. I do have to have 5,000 points to gain 150 entries for a better chance to win, but I am not positive it would be worth it. I have been waiting for a winner to be announced for the EVGA SC17 gaming laptop, which they keep pushing back. They have yet to announce a winner, push back, or do something... they las pushed it back to 9/25/2017. I do not do art, to be honest, but I do have friends who do art... maybe one of them could make use of it... or sell it... if sending it to a friend to sell is not against the rules or illegal... maybe I could make my crappy videos a little less crappy... I do not know... well, I am intrigued. I have heard that they are not the most reliable and that it depends on what series I am getting. I do not know, but still, I might try my hand at digital art and see how well that goes. I will suck, of course, if I am able to do art, but I do not know if I will or not. We will see if I do end up winning and getting it.

Anyways, anyone have any experience with bing rewards or Surface Books?

[Diana]

The surface series is still considered top of the line when it comes to digitizers on laptops, as far as I know. However, their hardware is unreplaceable and unupgradable. In addition, they tend to run pretty expensive and other manufactures are quickly catching up. I recently purchased a lenovo yoga/flex with competitive specs and it is repairable. So far I am happy!

I tend to not sign up for online offers, usually they send your information out to spammers or advertisers (same thing ). The only thing I trust bing to do is install toolbars lol!

[Boris]

The surface series is still considered top of the line when it comes to digitizers on laptops, as far as I know. However, their hardware is unreplaceable and unupgradable. In addition, they tend to run pretty expensive and other manufactures are quickly catching up. I recently purchased a lenovo yoga/flex with competitive specs and it is repairable. So far I am happy!

I tend to not sign up for online offers, usually they send your information out to spammers or advertisers (same thing ). The only thing I trust bing to do is install toolbars lol!

Top of the line is great, but if it's not repairable or upgradable, then oh my. At least it's free (unless I missed something) I never heard of your product before, and it sounds interesting.

You made a valid point, but I haven't gotten any new spam or advertisers.

[galled]

It seems a lot of PC makers are following Apple's lead on making products basically disposable rather than repairable and/or upgradable. I refuse to buy any product that I don't "own" enough to do what I want with it (like repair it) unless I absolutely have no choice. I feel I must "vote with my wallet" or this shameless type of consumer gouging will continue and grow.

Re: online contests
I'm very wary about anything online that promises something for nothing (no such thing as a free lunch). Best bet is to setup a spam email account and enter away!

[murmurlade]

Don't really know much about bing rewards other than the fact that online contest are always shady.
So, so very shady. Unless the incentive is that I've already done something to be eligible for the contest (like purchase something at one of the participating shops) there's really... not much point.
What are those points you have for, anyway?

Aaaas for the surface book: it's a decent laptop. My brother uses one for work so I've had the chance to play around with it. The stylus is okay, and the screen is fine too. Touchscreen is fine and overall it's just-- a decent laptop. It does however, have a stylus if you do want to get into drawing or give it to someone who intends to do so. Nothing fantastic about it. I'm pro-desktop

Also about Diana's yoga *cough cough* Lenovo is a great brand, but gosh I have a bad experience with the yoga touchscreens. I think it was my particular manufactured batch that had this defect-- but basically the touchscreen would go crazy with invisible fingers touching it everywhere and messing up my stuff.
Also, doesn't have a stylus but yup-- cheap and repairable!

Best doesn't mean better specs or more expensive-- best means price to performance ratio.

Buuuut yeah, I think I went off on a tangent there. Good luck with the "offer", I suppose?

[yorunaka]

I don't have the Surface Book but I do have the Surface Pro 4.

I loved it at first but then I've had this recurring issue of the display flickering when it's either too hot, or the device has been running for a long time (sometimes high RAM usage, sometimes not), or both. It's not just me, btw. If you do a quick Google search about the issue, you'll see other people having the same experience.

So I can't say I love it now.

As far as I know, the Surface Book had more issues than the SP4 early on. I'm not sure anymore how Microsoft handled those. I don't usually do research on devices I'm not planning on purchasing.

As for using the Surface for digital art, the main issue I have with it is that the stylus nibs are really freaking flimsy. I owned a Wacom Bamboo and a Wacom Intuos and I NEVER had to replace the nibs on those. I only ever had to use the default nib. I've already gone through like 5 nibs on the SP4 pen in a period of 13 months.

Furthermore, it takes a while getting used to drawing on the SP4 when you have a light hand. I think part of the reason why I'm going through the nibs on the SP4 (aside from its inferior quality compared to Wacom pens) is the fact that I have to draw with more pressure than how I used to since the program fails to register my strokes if I draw too lightly.

As a device in general, the main thing I do like about SP4 is that it boots pretty damn fast and hasn't really become slow for me over the year. But you should expect that from its hardware, really.

[Boris]

galled I see. I heard apple products are secretly repairable but they don't want to try fixing it as to get more money... or I might be thinking of another company. I do have an account with them, but meh.

murmurlade The points are to enter sweepstakes to win certain products, and you can get points by doing a few things, such as using bing to search the internet, completing "quizzes" and completing offers. At least it's a decent laptop. Invisible fingers everywhere touching your stuff sounds funny but frustrating at the same time.

yorunaka Flimsy nibs are not a good thing... if I do win the thing, I hope I don't break it. I don't think anyone does research on products they do not intend to buy unless it is for school or something. I use pressure when I draw or write, so I am a bit concerned I'll wreak the poor nib.

[Diana]

Also about Diana's yoga *cough cough* Lenovo is a great brand, but gosh I have a bad experience with the yoga touchscreens. I think it was my particular manufactured batch that had this defect-- but basically the touchscreen would go crazy with invisible fingers touching it everywhere and messing up my stuff.
Also, doesn't have a stylus but yup-- cheap and repairable!

Picking a fight I see!

Haha! I have visible fingerprints, but no invisible fingers.
I was nervous before purchasing since I read online that some of the earlier models had funky screens- like the digitizer is off centered or the screen is just green. Mine seems ok so far. I ended up with a flex 5, which I guess is an american rebrand of the yoga 520; maybe they worked out some kinks or something? The verrry edge of the upper left corner of my screen doesn't respond to the pen, which made calibrating a little difficult, but other than that I haven't had any problems with the laptop hardware.

You can get a pen for it! I like the lenovo active pen for the nibs. I find the bamboo nibs too sticky. The amount of drag is too high. The lenovo active pen has a firmer nib. My desktop has a Graphire so I'm used to very solid plastic while drawing lol.
To keep on topic, I think that the surface pens fall between a lenovo and a bamboo. They're sort of rubbery but mostly solid, but I haven't played with them for extended time. I've only scribbled with them in the store.

[murmurlade]

I think the flex 5 was fine, I've tried out my friends laptop.. but in short, Lenovo should really up their screen game ^^; Any screen issue is a big issue---- because so many things can go wrong. They're! So! Sensitive!

I haven't used a wacom tablet before so I can't say much about the nibs, but my genius is really rough and had great grip on the tablet. Using a stylus to doodle on a touchscreen seems very slippery in comparison to that.
Rubbery nibs sound interesting to doodle with those.. so flexible >_> It'd be able to emulate those tilt brushes on photoshop.... way better...

Though... can anyone tell me, would you substitute a proper drawing/graphics tablet for a laptop with a stylus? Never tried, but I don;t think i would.

[galled]

I see. I heard apple products are secretly repairable but they don't want to try fixing it as to get more money... or I might be thinking of another company. I do have an account with them, but meh.

Secretly repairable means "voids your warranty." Most Apple products (especially the newer ones) are more likely to be irreparably damaged during disassembly than repaired. In the past (older devices) tended to be a hassle, but repairable to some extent. Today they use glue and other permanent methods to make sure you can't fix them (although they claim these new methods reduce manufacturing costs--which makes no sense because their devices just get more expensive...).

Check sites like ifixit.com for repairability ratings and guides.

[yorunaka]

Boris :
Well you can always buy just the nib set. It's not really a good option for me though since they don't actually sell the Surface line here in the Philippines so anything I buy from Amazon or something would have to go through our horrendous customs :/

As for Apple, even when they did do repairs, it was fucking horrible. I owned an early 2012 model of a Macbook Pro. After a year, the screen became completely black so I had it checked in their service center. The quotation for repair was like 1.6 times the price of my unit. Obviously, I didn't get my laptop repaired.

murmurlade :
I did. I owned a medium Intuos 4 prior to the Surface Pro 4. I haven't gotten back to the Intuos 4 ever sing I got the SP4.

But here's the thing. Prior to owning the SP4, I didn't have my own laptop. I've been using the laptop our company issued one for practically everything (from work to personal things) prior to my purchase. I think buying the SP4 is better in the short term if you want to draw on a screen. It's cheaper than buying a desktop, monitor, Cintiq, and other peripherals at least. Plus it's portable so if you want to draw while travelling and stuff, the SP4 isn't exactly THAT bad of an investment (despite the issues I raised especially since they don't really appear all the time).

But if you're looking for something more robust, I'd go with getting desktop + Cintiq + peripherals.
Well I hear Huion is okay too but Wacom is my only tried and tested when it comes to devices. Like hell I dropped my Wacom Bamboo and Intuos so many times and they never failed me. Owned a Genius tablet in the early days and had to replace it with my Wacom Bamboo because the stylus just stopped working. And well I already shared my inputs about the SP4 pen (I'm also not a fan of the fact that the SP4 pen is battery-operated btw)

Diana :
I actually like the Wacom pen nibs much more than Surface ones. I wouldn't say they're sticky as much as they're scratchy. And I guess I'm biased because I just really like how Wacom pens are receptive even to the lightest pressure

[murmurlade]

Yorunaka

to break it down...
SP4
+ cheaper than the combined cost of getting a desktop+cintiq
+ basically both a laptop and an lcd graphics tablet
+ portable

so this is situational- in my case, i already have a desktop setup and im looking for a new tablet.
in this case, getting a graphics tablet is obviously cheaper than an SP4. (as long as it isnt a cintiq)

thing is, i heard cintiq screens are very, very fragile? im a bit afraid to try out wacom tablets-- ive only had my genius tablet for 3 years and its still going strong. (if not the nibs. the nibs are pretty worn down and i dont think i can replace them) recently ive been losing pressure when the tablet isnt connected properly but i dont think thats the tablets fault = = just age and my own idiocy--

also, the huion is more or less HALF the price of a cintiq. there's bound to be a difference in quality-- but it seems about the same?

IT'S PORTABLE THOUGH. THAT'S. A REALLY BIG. ADVANTAGE.
*shakes head at people who lug along their laptops and tablets to starbucks to draw* that cant be comfortable at all

aw. all this talk makes me wanna try an LCD tablet.
no time for luxury purchases though T T

[yorunaka]

murmurlade
I'm used to lugging a laptop everywhere because my previous job entailed that I always bring my laptop at home for work sometimes so lugging around an SP4 which is like half the weight of my previous device isn't that bad. lol

As for the Cintiq screen being fragile, ummmm I don't think it's a very big issue considering that it's one of those drawing devices that are meant to be used on your desk. You don't move it around simply because it can't function on its own anyway. And I've read about people owning a Cintiq for like 7 years with no complaints (older models, ofc. not enough data for the newer ones)

As for Huion, I considered it. Considered it a lot. But I'm not wholly sure how the pen for that one is like. The pen became a big thing for me after purchasing the SP4. I don't want my nibs breaking down fast and I haven't seen any stores here in the country selling Huion nibs. I also hear reviews about Huion having some driver issues so there's that to take note of.

If you're looking for a robust tablet, Wacom is pretty good. As I said, nibs were never a problem to me. My main issue for my Intuos was the fact that it uses a connector that's already obsolete (mini USB B ). Looking for a replacement when your cable dies is a pain. I'm not sure if this is true for the newer models though. Haven't checked those out

[Boris]

I think the flex 5 was fine, I've tried out my friends laptop.. but in short, Lenovo should really up their screen game ^^; Any screen issue is a big issue---- because so many things can go wrong. They're! So! Sensitive!

I haven't used a wacom tablet before so I can't say much about the nibs, but my genius is really rough and had great grip on the tablet. Using a stylus to doodle on a touchscreen seems very slippery in comparison to that.
Rubbery nibs sound interesting to doodle with those.. so flexible >_> It'd be able to emulate those tilt brushes on photoshop.... way better...

Though... can anyone tell me, would you substitute a proper drawing/graphics tablet for a laptop with a stylus? Never tried, but I don;t think i would.

I thought all nibs were rubbery, and I think it would depend on the laptop used, to answer your question.

I see. I heard apple products are secretly repairable but they don't want to try fixing it as to get more money... or I might be thinking of another company. I do have an account with them, but meh.

Secretly repairable means "voids your warranty." Most Apple products (especially the newer ones) are more likely to be irreparably damaged during disassembly than repaired. In the past (older devices) tended to be a hassle, but repairable to some extent. Today they use glue and other permanent methods to make sure you can't fix them (although they claim these new methods reduce manufacturing costs--which makes no sense because their devices just get more expensive...).

Check sites like ifixit.com for repairability ratings and guides.

Secretly repairable means the company can fix it but doesn't want to in order to make more money.

I should look at that site, but I've got nothing that needs repaired... except my younger brother's wii-u game pad.

Boris :
Well you can always buy just the nib set. It's not really a good option for me though since they don't actually sell the Surface line here in the Philippines so anything I buy from Amazon or something would have to go through our horrendous customs :/

As for Apple, even when they did do repairs, it was fucking horrible. I owned an early 2012 model of a Macbook Pro. After a year, the screen became completely black so I had it checked in their service center. The quotation for repair was like 1.6 times the price of my unit. Obviously, I didn't get my laptop repaired.

Yikes! That's a lotta dough!