Recently on holidays with friends, my HP Spectre died! So now it is time for a new laptop.
Through some research, I came across this deal! I think it's a brilliant deal, so I'm sharing with the ozbargain team.
8th Gen CPU and 8GB Ram with in a nice form factor was my criteria, and this nailed it!
Nice - good to hear.
Did you get this one with the 8th Gen CPU? Any thoughts/comments on it?
I plan to do some photo editing on mine and need a beafy CPU.
Yep I got this exact one. The CPU is fine. I finally feel like with the 8th gen mobile CPU's, laptops are finally at a point where you're not sacrificing too much performance compared to a desktop. Quad core and hyper threading seems to be the norm now. I haven't tried but I'm sure it would run photoshop fine for photo editing. I probably wouldn't recommend it for video editing though. The CPU also runs super cool. If I'm just watching Youtube videos the CPU temp hovers around 15 degrees. I've never heard the fans spin.
Also just to note, this doesn't have an sd card slot, that thing on the side is the charging port/surface connector.
Thanks - adjusted the description!
Also great to hear that the 8th gen feels decent. I'm going to be using mainly lightroom and exporting ~50-60 photos per batch of edits. So it should be good with the 8gb ram.
Is there a way to know if the 128gb SSD is a NVME drive?
@Tech and cars: The 128gb drive they use is a Samsung kus020203m which is an NVMe drive, however it's not what I would call a top tier NVMe drive, or even a good one at that. A Samsung 970 Evo has like 3x faster read & write speeds
@Benno123: Ah okay, so with the 256gb drive, it's more than just storage increase, it's a higher performance increase too?
Thanks again for taking the time to write all of these responses!
@Tech and cars: Usually 128GB SSDs (whether NVME or regular SATA) tend to have somewhat crappy performance compared to 256GB and higher.
@Tech and cars: Technically, this is gen 7.5, rather than a true 8th gen. It is Kaby Lake R (Kay Lake Refresh), rather than Coffee Lake.
vs Coffee Lake (i.e. 8259U):
https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-8250U-vs…
vs Kaby Lake (i.e. 7260U):
https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-8250U-vs…
Since it does have double the cores over 7th gen, I guess it is more 8th gen like.
@netsurfer: Ah I see - this is really good to know… Quite a huge performance jump to the true 8th gen (coffee Lake) :/
Now I'm reconsidering.
@Tech and cars: If you want Surface Laptop right now, there is no choice (released in 2017).
Also, note: don't go for the i7 version. Have a look at this:
https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-8650U-vs…
i7-8650u's performance is disappointing due to intel staying with 4 cores / 8 threads. It is no match to true 8th gen i5 (8259u):
https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-8650U-vs…
Realistically, general use, i5 Kaby Lake R should be fine in that form factor.
@Tech and cars: Not really. Kaby-lake R is 8th Gen, at least according to Intel.
I5-8269U has a TDP rating of 28w, of course it will perform better since the TDP ceiling is higher, the turbo boost can kick in for longer, thus the higher performance. And afaik, i5-8269u can be only found in Apple macbook pro 13, and Apple does do some fine tuning to make the processor runs a bit faster, besides that, a lot of benchmarks just will give a higher score on macOS, like Geekbench, there is no way around it. You can play around the TDP ceiling with Intel XTU as well, it will gives you better performance, as long as you can keep it properly cooled.
If you take a look at cinebench R15,It can only gives you around 15% boost in short burst under factory settings(that means couple minutes, since one complete CR15 run will take a minute or two,since Macbook Pro 13, with its thin chasis, doesn't stand a chance to sustain turbo boost for extended period of time.
More review should uses cinebench R20 for measuring performance under sustained load), I bet the difference of i5-8269U inside a MBP13 vs i5-8250U will be minimal. It is the user experience that really matters, like how loud the fan under light task or heavy load, like how the keyboard feels.
You can think like this: What you can do with i5-8250U, you can do with i5-8259U, what you can't do with i5-8250u, you can't do with 8259U either.It's still quad-core, and it is going to power limit throttling or thermal throttling under sustained load in such a chasis.
Personally, I find the SL2 overall, at this price, a great buy(I probably wounldn't buy because I don't want another laptop, but it is tempting to say at the least as a everyday carry laptop)
@HashBrown: Thanks so much for the reply. I think I'm going to bite the bullet and get it tomorrow in person :)
There is so much knowledge here on OzB! Love this place!
@HashBrown: Of course intel is going to call Kabe Lake R 8th gen, that's good marketing. The fact that i5 Coffee Lake U beats i7 Kabe Lake R shows Coffee Lake is more proper 8th gen. Intel had to do something quickly and Kabe Lake R was a quick fix.
There are other devices which use i5-8259u. NUCs, for example. Obviously, NUCs are not laptops, but intel seem more serious about their own 8th gen NUCs. Coffee Lake CPU, better GPU (though intel GPU is not good), newer Wifi with 160Hz for 5GHz, bluetooth 5, all USB-A ports upgraded to USB 3.1 gen2 (thunerbolt/USB-C is still there).
It is 2019 now and with AMD being quite competitive right now, intel finally starting to get its act together, rather than incremental updates for years. Kaby Lake R is okay as the i5 did at least double the number of cores. But, it does feel a bit of a stop gap.
There is a reason Apple picked Coffee Lake and intel using Coffee Lake further confirms it. If Microsoft opted to release SL3 this year, it could run into a similar issue, it might have to pick whatever intel can provide this year (and next year's intel CPUs are likely to have a decent jump again).
@dcep: This is true, but so what? You can't play competitive titles like CSGO and expecting 60fps@FHD, you can't take adavantage of cuda acceleration in a lot of programs because it is not a nvidia card. At the end of the day, it is still integrated GPU. My point is , it doesn't MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
it doesn't MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
Ohh yes, It's hell of a lot difference.
One can "play" fortnite/csgo , be it 720p high fps or 1080p subpar fps.
While the other one can play solitaire and pinballs.
@netsurfer: @netsurfer
I would point out that you are comparing 15W CPUs (i5-8250U & i7-8650U below) to a 28W CPU (i5-8259U) which is not a fair comparison.
A proper comparison would have been Kaby-Lake R i5-8250U vs Whiskey Lake i5-8265U (both 15W) which is only a ~8% improvement.
@MashiMaro: Apple didn't do this last year. They simply took the jump to Coffee Lake and bump up the power usage. Intel also took the Coffee Lake route for their NUC (again, power increase).
Microsoft could stay with 15W if they want to. Then, there is the chipset side. Apple did take advantage of 4 TB3 ports last year due to the switch of CPU and chipset.
i7-8550U lags behind i5-8265U. I did point out Microsoft had no choice back in 2017. Basically, you need to decide whether this 15W requirement.
Got the entry level one for uni a month ago. Best purchase put it off for way to long, comfiest keyboard, great screen, speakers are good and the battery life is 10 hours+ constantly watching lectures and numerous pages open. Only slight negative is the wificard is very basic (still does the job). Alot of people complained about the single USB-A port realistically it's fine.
Got mine through JB Hi-fi with the price match last 20% off at Harvey Norman- also used the RACQ E-gift Card (4% off) and was fortunate enough to use an Easter 5% off storewide. Got an extended 3 year warranty and the laptop for $1200.
Is that the M3 version? How are you finding the performance?
I got the 1st gen i5, 4gb ram and 128gb HDD. It’s great for general work. No issues whatsoever.
It’s pretty much directly competing with MacBook Air, the OS and hardware are built for each other.
The build quality is quite good.
I got the laptop 2, it's great I got a pretty solid home gaming rig i78700k that's crazy powerful and I don't see much of a difference for uni studying. Takes a few seconds to boot up, everything loads instantly and I prefer the keyboard on my laptop over my Logitech G910. Some people complain about storage you could lug an external hardrive around in a sleeve compartment, I cloud save all my uni documents to be safe so it works out fine.
I love my Surface Laptop 2 (I have an i7 with 512GB). Best laptop I have used. People harp on about lack of USB C but realistically, dont miss it at all because all my devices are USB A and if it had only a USB C slot, I would have to use a dongle.
However, your comment about the 128GB storage. The Surface Laptop 2 does not have a microSD slot. I would recommend getting one with more storage if you can afford it. You might be getting mixed up with the Surface Pros, which do have a microSD slot.
The 128GB model is still a great laptop if you are careful with what you install, and this is a great price!
The storage premium on surface laptop is unreal. I would recommend getting external SSDs instead
Thanks!
Is there a way to know if the 128gb SSD is a NVME drive? I couldn't find any conclusive answers from my googling.
Looks like it's NVMe. NotebookCheck tested the 256GB model with 1000MBps read and 715MBps write.
Keep in mind that the surface laptop 2 is impossible to get into without destroying it, so no chance of repairs or fixing the laptop, and make sure you have all your data backed up because if the laptop dies you're not getting it back.
I'm also going to recommend the samsung T5 if you're needing an external, WD my passport SSD is also a great choice if it's cheaper but often it's not.
Also any particular SSD you would recommend as a combo?
You can’t go wrong with a Samsung T5.
@Orrelljet: T5 seems like an overkill. SL2 has only a standard USB-A port and is rated at USB 3.0 (aka USB 3.1 gen1).
Any USB 3.0 (3.1 gen 1) SSD will do (or just buy an enclosure and put a cheap SSD in it - but if you do that, make sure you get one which supports TRIM over USB).
Based on the specs, the sole USB port is USB 3.0 (aka USB 3.1 gen 1):
https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/surface/devices/surface-lapt…
Samsung T5 unfortunately is an overkill (also, even though T5 is USB 3.1 gen 2, the SSD inside is still SATA3 based, rather than NVMe type - despite USB 3.1 gen 2 has more bandwidth than SATA3; its random read/write is disappointing compared to Samsung's own SATA3 SSDs). No point overspend for it, unless you have other devices which support USB 3.1 gen 2. When T5 is heavily discounted, you could consider it.
P.S. again, this is not MS's fault. In 2017, with intel based chipset, the only way to get USB 3.1 gen 2 is through Thunderbolt 3, which also means USB-C and USB-A really is a more sensible choice. Unfortunately, that's another reflection on my earlier comment about true 8th gen. All these little things do add up.
@netsurfer: Fair point. Even though the T5 is available for decent discount, quite regularly, a cheapo SSD and enclosure would be better value. You’re bang on the money about USB 3.1 g2 being pointless too. I would, however, still probably go for the T5 though. Personally, I’ve not had much luck with portable enclosures recently and the T5 is both smaller and a better match, aesthetically, for the SL2.
@Orrelljet: It depends on how often you use that external SSD and it depends on your usage pattern. I don't really care about the case for external SATA. I often just use a cable and connect to a SSD without case (that's the advantage of SSD - no moving parts).
I am not impressed with current USB 3.1 gen 2 SSDs. Hyped up using sequential read/write. Put it this way, I have an SSD on SATA2 (yes, SATA2), but it is a decent SSD… its 4K random read/write (esp. 4K random write) is way better than T5. T5's random read/write is bit of a joke for a Samsung SSD. If you have a large number of small files, it is much better to zip the lot before copy - because no matter how fast the SSD is, it won't be efficient enough when copying loads of small files.
T5 is in a neat package. I suspect the included cable won't be very long (in order to ensure USB 3.1 gen2).
lol HP laptop dying, true owner testament.
Friends don't let friends buy HP
Genuine question, what's wrong with HP laptops? I recently bought one a couple weeks ago.
Consumer range is bad but their business enterprise range (and HPe) are good.
oh, i didn't know that, thanks. I bought an hp pavilion, I guess that's not any good?
@OzBoganYeah: They release so many it's hard to keep up. Some models are more prone to failures than others.
@Clear: Whelp, looks like this will be the last HP laptop I buy. Which brands and models do you recommend? I mainly use it for web browsing, watching/streaming videos, store photos and videos, use photoshop, etc. Or vice vera which brands and models I should avoid? Appreciate the info, I honestly didn't know about these issues.
@OzBoganYeah: You'll probably have the best experience with them. I usually go for Lenovo laptops and sometimes the more expensive Dell models. Acer is one that I always avoid.
This is true of all the major laptop manufacturers. Dell, Lenovo & HP's consumer and business ranges is night and day difference in quality. The consumer ranges are built to a low price point (also filled to the brim with bloatware preinstalled) and it shows.
Friends don't let friends buy Acer ever, they are always shit.
They are built to not last.
Agreed. After my HP Spectre I swore never to buy another one again. Their customer service is shocking.
Me too. Will never buy a HP again.
Lol at all the comments below.
To be fair, mine was physically damaged in transport and didn't die from general usage.
I still have my spectre from 2012, works fine.
Ultra Book i5, SSD 512gb, 8gb ram
I reformatted it about a year ago and it ran so smooth. Fast, no complaints. Few cosmetic things like screw cap and screw fell out, delete button stopped working (no issue as i used an external keyboard)
Until i started updating and installing new programs.. man the thing just went downhill from there..
Now i have to buy a new laptop… other than that it was probably the best buy for $500.
So each to their own.
after widnows 10 is installed how much space left on the ssd?
~90gb
Does this come with 12 months or 24 months warranty? HN website states 12 months, my surface Pro in the past came with 24 months warranty if my memory hasn't failed me
Statutory warranty would cover you for 24 months.
That’s the precedent that has been set for PCs under Australian Consumer Law.
128GB SSD is not enough… also we have had 4 of these die on our office… while ever other laptop and desktop PC (Random brands) have lasted over 8 years and even then they still worked fine when we replaced them.
It is if you store everything online. It's all moving that way anyway.
I'm talking about synced email and programs fill up the 128gb fast. All ours are 128gb ..Its manageable but 250 would be nice.
Storing anything online on MSFT's services is a very, very bad idea. They've user's accounts in the past for having pictures of their own children in the bath.
Interesting - do you have a source?
@mingofmongo: You're asking for a source from ~6 years ago. I can no longer find the one relating to a parent and it's not saved in my evernote. I'm not willing to input the search string necessary to find the articles but I'm sure you could if you were so inclined.
https://www.neowin.net/news/microsofts-ban-of-nudity-on-skyd…
https://mspoweruser.com/microsoft-monitoring-censoring-skydr…
https://mspoweruser.com/its-okay-to-put-your-nude-photos-on-…
https://mspoweruser.com/watch-what-you-store-on-skydriveyou-…
https://forum.level1techs.com/t/dont-trust-microsoft-skydriv…
Agree that 128GB is not enough any more. My music library is bigger than that. With Windows Updates that just consume disk space before you've even accounted for applications of any of your data, my WinSXS folder is currently sitting at 6.2GB but was at 31.8GB before I ran a disk cleanup on it. Online storage only is unrealistic, I regularly use my laptop where I don't have an Internet connection. MS also recently announced that newer versions of Windows 10 updates will require 32GB of free disk space. Having a USB disk hanging off just so you can access any data is less than ideal.I like these laptops but they aren't up-gradable everything soldered on and glued together. I'll keep buying ThinkPad's where you can upgrade the RAM and SSD thanks.
laptop2 owner: everything is good except only has one usb port, microsoft is super stupid, their designer is a retard.
Had to look it up because I didn't believe you. That's ludicrous. An extra USB port doesn't take up any essential space or have any cost. They must have some wireless mouse/ keyboard that they want to push. Doubt it was the designers choice (sounds like a classic management decision), but still just as stupid.
not only that but no USB-C or thunderbolt3 either. I nearly bought one except for this.
Darn it. If only it has 16GB that's the standard now no?
Even my phone has 8Gb already so why laptops still on 8!?
I have had a Surface 2 for a couple of weeks now. My one and only complaint (besides paying $200 more for this exact one!) is the screen is very reflective and very hard to view outdoors. Other than that it's an awesome little machine.
I got this one last year, nice laptop, but the hard disk is very very slow.
The Surface Laptop 2 doesn't have an option for disk drives?
as much as I resent Microsoft hardware, this may be a good deal for some, as Microsoft got a few things right in Surface Laptop 2:
- good keyboard
- screen is above average (bright and colour accurate, also I prefer this aspect ratio)
- and another thing which is often overlooked: firmware and other vital updates are distributed via Windows Update, which is great for not-so-tech-savvy
So this model on this deal is sort of approved for people who need an entertainment laptop, or even students, because it's a fun and well enough designed machine. As long as you're OK for it to fail just out of warranty haha.
However this is still a bit pricey for the storage amount provided, I would love it being cheaper. And you know my normal tune: if you have this kind of money, look at Dell XPS 13 in Dell Outlet store. They are mostly more easier to service, and are more reliable, let's admit it. Also students looking for a good laptop to use during studies, please also check the Latitude section on Dell Outlet. These laptops come with 3 year premium on site warranty, and the build quality is higher than this laptop, because if you do intend to toss it into the backpack 5 times a day, that alcantra cover is going to wear very soon. Business grade hardware is often underrated as an option, but they make wonderful student hardware.
Good luck!
The exposed outside of the machine is metal, the alcantara is only on the inside, I don't really understand how it would get worn down being in a bag when it's protected by the rest of the laptop?
you took my words literally there. you put your wrists on alcantara to type, and typing 5 lectures a day will wear that very quickly. I have seen what alcantara looks like after 6 months of a lot of typing.
Very good laptop for basic tasks.
I hope in the next revision they add Thunderbolt 3, SD/MicroSD and 16GB RAM, then it could be a real desktop replacement.
nah dun think so microsoft are stubborn and stupid
Good deal! Mum will be happy this Sunday.
For $50 less and no keyboard and pen but have SD card slot and still one USB port and more portable, this tablet form might be for you. Same specs as this laptop version.
https://www.harveynorman.com.au/microsoft-surface-pro-6-i5-8…
Is this the infamous Microsoft laptop with a palm-rest made of carpet?
Website says its $1498, OP has it changes?
oh man! :( price changed before I got a chance to buy one!!
I wonder if this is built to last? Got Asus laptop. It's 9 years old. Been around the world without a case. Fallen off the bed a few times. Still working!
Where do I put my floppy?
What is it ?
Floppy disc drive. I guess you could just usb it
Aww man, paid $50 more a few weeks ago the last time it was on sale! Really good laptop for the price. Great build quality and display. The only real ding against it for me is the IO which is kinda rubbish, but it's not a deal breaker. The best thing about this over other laptops (IMO) is the screen aspect ratio. I really like having the extra vertical space. Great for reading articles, writing code etc. Probably not so great if you're watching lots of movies or TV though.