6.7.2019

This review is in two parts - if you just want to know what I thought of the product then just read the first part. If you are interested in what happened AFTER I started it up to avoid having the same issues then also read part two.Part OneI searched high and low for a laptop at a reasonable price with a good specification to serve as my second device when travelling with work. I have an iPad Pro but there are just some things in the Windows world that they don't do so well which finally got to the point where I decided I needed a new windows laptop.I had written off the Microsoft laptops due to them being too expensive then came across this one on Amazon.Not only is it an absolute bargain with over £200 off the list price but it performs perfectly and is on par with a MacBook in terms of being pleasing to own and use.Yes it's a first generation but after reading reviews and based on my needs which are email, productivity apps and browsing, I decided it would be more than adequate for my needs. And I was absolutely right - it is. Yes ports are limited and yes it came with 10S but that can easily (for free) be upgraded to full Windows 10 if needed. Would I recommend - at this price absolutely.Part twoIt wasn't all plain sailing though. After unboxing and setting up the laptop I left it to run the various updates while I carried on working on my desktop. When I turned back to it and hit the keypad I was told that Windows Hello was not able to log me in and "Your pin is no longer available due to a change to the security settings on this device. You can set up your pin again by going to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options." Cue panic as there was no way past this without either Hello or a pin, neither of which were working.After much browsing I discovered an update last year (2018) had caused this issue so I wasn't alone. However, the only fix was to recover the laptop which was what I decided to do rather than send it back or call anyone. Note you need at least a 16GB external drive to do this if you get to this point too.After the first recovery and again getting through the initial set up I thought I would lock the machine to see if the issue still existed which would suggest it was running an OS that had the update causing the issue but nothing afterwards which included a fix. Upon trying to unlock I was back with the same message about security settings so then had a good idea what to do next.I did a second recovery boot and then set up the machine for the third time. However, once into the desktop I changed lock and sleep settings to 'Never' and turned off Hello. I let all updates run, during which time I also switched out of 10S to Pro which was almost instant (I expected a load of install options). After updates had completed all that was left was to reboot which I did with fingers crossed that it wasn't going to be another Groundhog Day. This time I was presented with the option to enter my pin which I did and I was in with everything working fine. Then I set up and enabled Hello and locked the device again. This time Hello switched in and unlocked and hey presto a fully functioning W10 Surface laptop. It had taken me around 10 hours from start to finish to get everything sorted.A final word of warning is that when you enable Hello in settings there is a message saying that "windows hello is preventing some options from being displayed" which is in red and seems like a warning that something is wrong. I googled it and it seems to have caused panic but it's basically saying that when Hello is working it will kick in every time the device is locked and you can't set a timer to delay it. I have no idea why it's in red or why Microsoft didn't just say what I just said!If you got this far then well done and just be aware of how to avoid the recovery route that I went down.

1.10.2018

Ours was was bought for my daughter from John Lewis for a lot more than this - although we did get a 3 year guarantee with them....Things I like:1) Screen ratio:- it has a squarer profile than its rivals - designed for work, not watching movies - please note!2) Physical Interface:- keyboard has useful travel and feels good (note major rivals have awful keyboards - Dell XPS 13 is hideous)- consistent, accurate, touch-pad - Windows laptops have better touch-pads nowadays and this is excellent- touchscreen - superb and fairly fingerprint resistant - screen quality is phenomenal - absolutely beautiful- webcam - this is in the right position - beware the Dell XPS 13 which points its camera up your nose- speakers - surprisingly loud and surprisingly good - better than my £2k gaming laptop3)

10.7.2019

This laptop is fantastic. I didn't buy this one - I was given it by work. So...Firstly, it is very thin and very light. It folds down to nothing and it weighs less. This is fantastic. The battery life is superb. I can work all day on it and it'll keep going. It will definitely need a charge come evening, but that's fair enough.This has a touchscreen, which I don't use all that much. I don't really like touch screens on laptops, but I realise that's a matter of choiceThe track pad is nearly as good as Apple's. And that is high praise. I used to have a mac, but it got too old and died. Apple make the best trackpads, bar none. This is nearly as good thoughThe keyboard is much, much better than Apple's.

30.12.2018

First of all I am an Apple fan but I wanted to have a great Microsoft/windows computer for everyday tasks (word etc) as most people I know have windows based computers so some software isn't compatible without additional software on my apple products . I have to say this has to be one of the best laptops I have had the keyboard is beautiful designed along with the fabric around the mouse/keyboard area which feels fab- comfortable when typing- gives a more expensive feel. The fact that the laptop has a touch screen is amazing- makes multitasking seamless, couldn't imagine not having a touch screen now- I use this a lot now that I have one definitely well worth buying this model- not to most

15.10.2017

The hardware is impressive. The screen is very thin (for a touch screen) and it is bright and crisp. The new material is nice to rest one's wrists on whilst typing. Battery life is adequate and speed is OK on the low-end machine I have. I imagine the bigger processors and memory will make it a pleasure to work on. All in all this is a good buy, but not absolutely excellent. Beware:1. The operating system is super fast but pointless. I really tried to stick with it, but there is NO software worth speaking of outside Microsoft's own and some unknown apps; basically you will have to upgrade to Windows10 pro - which thankfully and for now comes for free with the machine. But a bit of a bother.2.

21.11.2017

This laptop is almost perfect. Certainly for school, I have found the storage more than generous, and they keyboard functional and easy to type on. The laptop is light and portable, easily slips in my school bag. It is also great for watching and streaming (only in my free periods of course ;)). In spite of its lightness in terms of weight, the screen is very large and lovely to watch things on. There are only a couple of things I wasn't such a fan of:1) The screen is often far too bright. I have it turned to 0% brightness, and yet in a slightly darkened room, this thing still burns my eyes. There are no options to make it any dimmer.2) The battery life is somewhat poor. It lasts me through the day at school,

5.7.2019

I was looking for a small light laptop for my wife to use. Her needs are fairly modest, a bit of web browsing, online shopping, email and using MS Word to create the occasional document.This model (Intel M-5Y70 Processor, 4 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD) has the lowest configuration of all the surface laptops, but has good battery life, and the same sturdy build of the higher models in the range. When it fell just below £500 in a special offer, I decided to purchase.As this machine was a first gen Surface Laptop, the first thing after start up was to update to the latest version of Windows 10. This took around 8 hours, with very little of that being the download....

9.1.2019

Great laptop - premium, durable and fast. If you are looking for a premium WIndows laptop that is also more stylish than everything else out there, even Macbooks, then go for this. The colours are amazing; the alcantara is awesome and easy to maintain and the screen and keyboard are great.I use it for: browing the web, emails, MS office and downloads and it handles all of these with ease. The only weakness, which is the same for all 7th gen intel CPUs is the battery life, for my mixed case use, I get 6-7 hours. It is plenty but I would like to have a bit more juice. 8th gen laptops will probably get you about 8 hours on mixed use but I don't think that alone is worth the price difference.In the end you are getting a laptop that does everything (non intensive eg gaming),

31.5.2018

Excellent laptop. Actually bought it from eBay brand new for £750, so recommend checking eBay if you are on a budget. Absolutely amazing build quality, quick and free upgrade to windows 10 pro, stunning screen and really solid keyboard and glass track pad. Also super slim and light weight! I haven't had it long enough to fully try out the battery life but so far it looks very promising.I was initially worried about the alcantara keyboard finish, but if you have also had the same concern, do not worry; it is very durable feeling, it also has a finish that prevents it from getting wet, so any liquids on it just bead and fall off. If you look after your laptop and do not use it with grubby,

10.3.2018

It is a seriously good computer, lightweight, sleek and the i5 processor is super fast. The computer turns on in seconds, no waiting.Yes you lose a day while it updates its software, but you get this with all windows computers.However, it does not come with a free version of Microsoft word, not even the starter version. Apple on the other hand gives you pages and numbers free.This did not concern me as I had Office 2013 on my old computer, however, Microsoft will no longer allow you to download the 2013 software, even though I had previously paid for the key. I had looked in to this before and found many sites advertising 2013, but now they send you over to Office 365. Therefore,

28.6.2019

Hello! Bought this item for 500 pounds amd in product description it says it get core m5y70 but insted i got core m3y70 that is 2 generations ahead and mutch better. Also read speeds are better than you typical ssd at 750/350 for read and write. The sound is exelent. I cant figure out where the speakers are but they sound better than any laptop i heard before. DIsplay is also exelent. I bought this device as secondary laptop for writing articles, youtube and light photo editing and it is good for that but you shoulnt rely only on this laptop as you main machine due to low powerd CPU. ANd also Core m3 here is silent,

17.10.2019

My son ordered this product as just starting Uni, he had researched for a few months, checking memory, style, weight, size, and price. He decided on this as it was lightweight, and the touchscreen was a good selling point for him, although Microsoft had a newer version, this version was more than adequate for his course work. The memory was more than enough, although if you were doing graphics or art etc, you may need more memory space. It arrived very quickly, it was easy to set up and at Uni they gave him a code to upload Windows update, so a good price for a great little laptop, also lightweight to carry in the case in a backpack. would recommend.

15.7.2018

I’m very impressed with this. I bought what I think is the lowest-spec Surface and it is a real treat. I knew I’d have to supplement the 128gb ssd drive with my old separate drive. And I knew I’d need to buy a dock to run an extra monitor and other inputs. I got the Surface cheap, and the dock too, - otherwise I’m not sure I could have justified paying all that money. The only downside is that my extra monitor, which I thought was brilliant, now turns out to look very low res in comparison with the Surface’s stunning display. Well done Microsoft for this Surface laptop. I like it a lot. I've now had this Surface laptop for nearly 10 months and, after shutdown, it still starts wonderfully quickly.

4.7.2019

The laptop looks great and easy to use but, after only having the laptop for one day the facial recognition said it didnt recognise me and required me to enter my pin, but there was no where for me to do that and said i would need to go to settings and change my pin, I obviously couldn't do this as I couldn't get into the laptop! If I didnt know someone that could fix it for me then I would have returned this, apart from that problem I'm happy with it so far and hopefully it's okay now! Fast delivery and great price though.

16.3.2019

I honestly bought this laptop with so many doubts on its credibility and durability. But it turned out to be a beautiful piece of technology, I've only had it for a day so I cannot speak about its long-term performance, but so far so good. I bought this as an emergency laptop because mine broke, so wanted a high-end, speedy laptop with a great keyboard and this laptop fits that description. So if you are thinking of buying this laptop it is soooo worth it.

Microsoft Surface Laptop - Reviews

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