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00:00So Microsoft recently announced their new Surface Go, it's this 2-in-1 device, starts at $400
00:05and I think it's the cheapest or one of the cheapest computing devices that Microsoft has ever put out
00:10and it's actually, in my opinion, one of the most interesting devices that they've put out in quite a while
00:14This isn't it, this is a Surface Pro 4, very similar in idea and design though
00:19So what makes this thing special though is the price tag
00:21$400 is very affordable and I think a lot of people are looking at it out of interest, as am I
00:27So I just took a look at their launch video and I just had a couple thoughts on the device as a whole
00:31The first thing I noted is that the CPU, that you can only get in one configuration
00:35It's the 4415Y Pentium Gold, came out middle of last year or something like that
00:39Not a super new chip, but it's relatively power efficient and has very respectable performance for a fanless chip
00:46It's noticeably faster than some of the older Surface devices, but its main strength is the onboard GPU
00:52That HD 615 is quite a big step up from older devices
00:56Now if you look at the price point of $400, it's quite attractive there
01:00But I feel like that's a bit of a marketing ploy because that $400 version, as cool as it sounds
01:05is, I don't think it's the one to get
01:07If you're gonna look at this, I would look at the kind of mid-tier model, the $550 version
01:12Here's why, that $400 version has 4GB of RAM, that's not like a deal breaker to me
01:184GB is not great, but it's not the end of the world
01:20It's the drive speed, so they're using eMMC storage in the base model
01:25And that is really, really slow stuff
01:27If you step up to the mid-tier model, they're using NVMe storage
01:30And that faster storage has a huge, huge role in just how the device feels overall
01:36So if you're interested in this thing, I would highly recommend the 8GB model
01:40Now again, it's not about the RAM, it's the storage speed
01:43It's just NVMe is so much faster, that's the one to get
01:47The bezels on this device are a little thick, but since it's a tablet, I'm less bothered by it
01:51Like when you have a thicker bezel to hold on to, it's just, I don't know, kind of serves as like a grip
01:56So you don't have accidental swipes and touches like that
01:59The kickstand on the Surface Go goes all the way back, like the 2017 Surface Pro
02:04So 165 degrees, I think
02:07That type of functionality on a kickstand honestly makes this device so much more versatile to me
02:13It obviously depends on the user, but if you're using it for like drawing or like writing or anything like that
02:18That kickstand that folds all the way back is money
02:21As for ports on the Surface Go, you're getting a USB-C port this time, which is really nice
02:25You can charge with it, you can connect stuff to it, display out, all that good stuff
02:29It's your standard USB-C
02:30It doesn't support Thunderbolt 3, not surprising given what the product is
02:34I don't even think it would have been all that useful considering the CPU
02:37Like what are you going to do with that Thunderbolt 3 port?
02:39Now the included charger still uses the Surface Connect port
02:42It's not a USB-C charger, but it's still nice that it does support USB-C charging
02:46The type cover goes for 100 bucks
02:48I think most users will want to pick this up with the device
02:51They've made the touchpad bigger, nice to see that
02:54I've always found the touch covers to be kind of annoying that it comes as a separate thing
02:58Like on some of these devices, especially on the base model
03:01A type cover is going to be 20% the cost of your whole device
03:05Like that's, that's crazy
03:06100 bucks of a $500 kit is like, that's very expensive for a keyboard
03:11But it is what it is, Surface likes to do that
03:14Now I took a look at some older models just to see what was out there
03:17To see if there's other stuff that you get instead of the Surface Go
03:20Just to, I don't know, just kind of like a comparison of competitors and alternatives
03:24And I actually think that the Surface Go is a very, it's kind of in a class of its own
03:29If you get anything that's older, like yeah, you're going to get similar processing power
03:33And sometimes larger screens and maybe some better functionality
03:36But the overall product of the Surface Go has a lot of features that are unique to it
03:41That just make it a very respectable and reasonable purchase
03:45Like the USB-C charging, the Windows Hello, the updated screen with good pen support
03:50It looks like a really cool device
03:51The unfortunate thing is that instead of that $400 price point that Microsoft is touting
03:56It looks like it's going to be like $650 to get a really kind of fully functional kit going
04:01For like the mid-tier model and a keyboard
04:04So it's not super cheap, but I think it's respectable
04:07I don't know, what do you guys think?
04:08Like is this something that you're interested in?
04:10Because this can't be, or this, it's unlikely that most people can use this as their primary device
04:16Certainly not for like the people that watch my channel
04:18You guys are enthusiasts, you care about tech
04:20And you usually have something that's a little more powerful than this
04:23But it's good as a secondary device, I think
04:25And I think for me personally, if I wasn't making YouTube videos
04:28I would actually try to pick up one of these things as my primary device
04:32Just to see how far I could get on it, it's pretty cool
04:34Okay, hope you guys enjoyed this video
04:36Thumbs if you liked it, subs if you loved it
04:38See you guys next time