So it has been more than two weeks since I received my new little darling through a most generous offer from @SteveS and since the device hit the market more than five years ago it’s not like any of you are in the market for one. Nevertheless, there might still be some lessons to be learned.

The weight of the device is 774 gr (27.3 oz) and I have to admit I’d thought it would feel lighter. Compared to the old Surface Pro 3 (let’s keep the SP 2 out of this) it is lighter, even feels clearly lighter. But in comparison to the Surface Go 2 it is 220 gr (7.7 oz) heavier and when holding both devices you feel the difference. I think it is down to the material used in the chassi, being a more expensive device it needs better protection.

The black color is reminiscent of a Steinway Grand.

Aesthetically it is stunning, however, you know there is always a however right, the area surrounding the two USB-C ports and the Surface Connector, is just as black as the rest of the device, and it makes it surprisingly difficult to enter the prong (something I have zero experience with) and unless you are careful, over time, you will probably scratch the area around the insertion hole (and we really don’t like scratched insertion holes, do we) chipping of the color and exposing whatever is beneath it. A surprising choice by Redmond’s industrial designers.

In order to find out more about the device I did some searches on YouTube and found all the regular reviews. What I didn’t find was the 6 months and 12 month follow ups, with the exception of a few in Hindi, and my linguistic skills don’t extend to that language. Makes me think that very few people actually decided to use it. I suppose the compatibility issues for the first SKU is to blame.

However (there it is again), so far I haven’t found any issues. Granted, I’m not an Adobe user and considering the screen, both resolution and size, I can see how some digital artists might find that off putting. One example is that I could use it just fine with my iPad 10th as a second screen using Duet. To be honest, I expected that to fail, and I assume it is running in x86 32-bit compatibility mode (haven’t figured out how to check that yet) but that is just not a problem for that combinatIon. I also used my Samsung Galaxy Tab 9 FE as a wireless second screen, that also worked just fine, and installing Phone Link I can use both the iPad and the Galaxy as separate devices, yet doing copy & paste between them. Kind of important feature when doing research and you need to insert specific links to source material.

The thinness is a godsend, I can easily add a second portable USB screen in my “research bag” that already contains iPad or Tab 9, charger, stand, mouse and foldable keyboard (as a reserve for the tablets). One external monitor is a ten year old Asus 15,6 HDR screen that connects with one of those weird USB ports, flattened out to two sections (don’t remember if they have a specific name, but Samsung used it on the Note 3) that has a double USB A connector. The second is for juice. Obviously there is no USB A outlet on the SP X so it requires a hub.

I have a small hub stick from Anker. Connected it and the Asus monitor to the hub. First time, for some unknown reason, it did require additional power which I supplied from an external battery pack. But once that was in place it did light up and doing the whole extended and magnification setup in Windows it worked absolutely flawless. I even disconnected the battery pack to see what would happen (I call it scientific curiosity) and it continued to work without a hitch. After that I can even start it up without external power source. However (here we are again) when there is no external power, that thing will drain the SP X prematurely, reminding me of some of my teenage BF (see attached battery report). But the fact that it can be done with such old and abandoned hardware was a pleasant surprise.

However (!), when using it in portrait mode, the way I like to stand it when writing longer texts, the port placement is a bit inconvenient. Let’s start with the Surface connector. You can’t have that side down (the right when turning from landscape mode, what Windows calls Portrait) because there is no stand that will accomodate a hole big enough to leave room for that connector. Hence, you have to use Portrait inverted (reversed?) with the Surface connector on the top and the two USB-C connector at the bottom. If you need to use one of them then you can’t center the device on the stand. If I only connect one external monitor it can be done, but the USB cable required for video is on the thick, and therefore inflexible, side. If I move the external monitor (sunlight, better viewing angle) I risk toppling the device with unforeseen consequences.

The other is that it becomes impossible to connect two external monitors when the Pro X is in inverted Portrait mode since one of the ports will be blocked by whatever kind of hooks is holding it in place. The solution is using one of the external monitors in portrait mode, but that means stretching that rock hard USB cable (get your mind out of the gutter) so any kind of vibration will topple it. And it kind of defeats the purpose of the Pro X screen since it has soo much higher resolution than the external screens, when writing and watching the screen for mistakes, the higher resolution avoids eye fatigue and enables longer writing sessions.

From the viewpoint of sitting and writing for hours, I will say that the Signature Keyboard is simply amazing. Key travel is comfortable but what really stands out is the space between the keys. You really have to fumble it to make a typo by mistake (foggy brain doesn’t count) and the alcantara is soft and cool on the wrists. The corners for each key has a soft roundness to it so there is no sharpness when the fingers float around from key to key. Microsoft hit a home run with that.

Under more usual conditions I get a little more than six hours battery life, I could probably squeeze out more by dimming the screen. I like to use a fair amount of dark mode when available which forces me to crank up the brightness. It took me a while to get used to not cranking up the brightness because I was so used to needing that setting in my older devices. Kind of interesting to realize how you settle into certain routines and then the difficulty that comes when trying to break out of it.

The 4G support came as something of a surprise (lack of awareness?) and I must say I like it. In Japan the carriers charge a montly subscription for a second SIM card (in Europe it was a one time fee) so I’ve chosen to switch my SIM card between the phone and the Pro X (no calls [I think] when inserted in the Pro X). Somewhat inconvenient since you need to have the SIM tool with you at all times. Hence, if I don’t need the phone I switch the card at home before leaving in case I will be at a place that doesn’t offer free Wi-Fi, or limited Wi-Fi. In Japan McDonald’s offer one hour, with a ten minute break before you can reconnect. It is faster than tethering and if I bring tablets along I can tether them to the Pro X. Maybe because the battery is bigger and stronger than in the phone it doesn’t seem to drop connections like the phone will sometimes do. Maybe because I have a Rakuten contract, being the only one who offers an unlimited data plan for like $20/month that utilizes the DoCoMo network they temporarily closes us out of the tower when busy, but so far it hasn’t happened when using the Pro X over the cellular network. Perhaps sheer luck, but something I’ve noticed with satisfaction.

The Slim Pen was also a welcome addition. My original Suface Pro was model 2 with Wacom (a real clunker), then the Pro 3 with the horrible N-trig (anyone remember that name?) technology, After a year or so Microsoft released a better pen (and upgraded firmware?) so at least it became somewhat usable. With the Surface Go it was acceptable as a note taker, and since I’m no artist that was satisfactory for my use case. But I will say that the smoothness of the Slim Pen is on another level. One of the reasons I got a Samsung Galaxy Tablet was the S-pen because I do a lot of annotations in PDF files and a smooth functioning pen is a must. The Pro X is a little too heavy for longer annotation sessions (say more than 90 minutes) but it works just fine for doing a chapter or two, and since the screen is bigger than the Galaxy Tab 9 FE it is way easier to combine highlighting and handwritten notes. No need to pinch out and in the whole time.

The trackpad, or touchpad as Microsoft calls it, is large compared to the old SP 3 keyboard, yet there is room for an even larger trackpad. Not sure if I’d want that though. It is a wee bit sensitive, sometimes it feels like I didn’t even touch it yet the cursor has moved and suddenly I’m typing inside a sentence four lines up in the document. A lot of typing before discovering the faux pas and it will be a Ctrl+X, just a few characters and hello Ctrl+Z. Microsoft has enhanced it with 3-finger and 4-finger swipe gestures (no middle finger gesture though) that it takes a while to get used to. I did change the 4-finger swipes up and down to navigate pages which is very convenient when scrolling through documents trying to find a certain spot.

Soo, what have I learned so far? Compared to something like when we hung out on the original TPCR and upgrades was almost yearly, this time it is more than 5 years since I got a new PC and the jump is actually more significant than I expected. I remember thinking every year a new model was introduced that it was basicallt the former model with a new CPU, and since I don’t do “heavy computing” I just didn’t see the point in upgrading. I wanted something more revolutionary to motivate me and my purse. This makes me think that GOSPLAN and its five year plans might not be such a bad idea. If it wasn’t for my SP 3 battery being kaputt and it being a nightmare to upgrade it, I’d probably chug along on my Surface Go until its battery went into the doldrums. So I’m eternally grateful to @SteveS for a most generoud offer. And more than that, discovering the joy of exploring a new computer.