Editorials
5 Reasons to Buy the Surface Go, 4 Reasons Not To
Don't Buy if You Need a High Performance Surface | ||||||||||
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The Surface Go isn't a powerhouse. It's running an Intel Pentium Gold processor that allows for a fanless design and it comes with 4GB or 8GB of RAM. You don't get the same speed as with the Surface Pro, and you don't get as much RAM, which may limit what you can do with the Surface Go. One of our reasons to buy the Surface Go is to use it as a secondary device, and that's what it is designed to deliver on. You won't be running intense apps and enjoying the experience, even if you do upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. If you need a high performance Surface, stick with the Surface Pro or wait for the Surface Pro 5. | ||||||||||
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FlyingShawn
07/11/2018 at 2:45 pm
Why is Microsoft so obsessed with low-RAM device offerings?? Yeah, the Go is meant to be a secondary device, I get that, but I run out of 8GB RAM all the time just using Chrome with multiple tabs and memory-hungry sites like Facebook! Even on their bigger/better Surface devices (Pro/Book/Laptop) you have to pony up big money for the i7/big SSD combo (most people don’t need the extra speed/lowered battery life of the i7 or that much storage) just to get 16GB of RAM! 8GB should be the starting point for most devices in 2018 and there’s no rational reason to force users to the ultra-high configuration tier just to get above that!
I *was* really, really excited for a smaller companion to my Surface Book for when I want to travel light, but the last thing I need is a device that’ll get outdated as quickly as my 2013 ThinkPad Tablet 2 did (absolutely phenomenal form factor and the Atom chip wasn’t even *that* terrible, but a measly 2GB RAM and spinner-slow eMMC storage made it feel about as snappy as a bargain-store Android tablet and I’m expecting the same from the 4GB/eMMC Surface Go). The 8GB/SSD Go will definitely perform better, but a 16GB with the same Pentium and storage would be a world better in usability and perceived speed!