We have had an old HP netbook for years. It was a nice little laptop when we bought it, and it served us well for occasional use here at home, and traveling. Unfortunately, as with all technology, things have progressed rapidly since then, and the poor little thing just couldn’t keep up. It’s become increasingly frustrating, slow, and, frankly, annoying. It was time to think about retiring it. We began looking into newer, shinier alternatives.
Two of the front runners were the Microsoft Surface Pro and the Surface Book2. (No grief from all you Apple folk. I know- you love your Mac Books and such, you hate MS and Windows, and all that. Fine. You do you. I have an iPhone and love it. We have an iPad and use it all the time. But for actual computers, we are Windows people. Give me no grief.) The BaldMan asked me to look at both since I would be using the thing at cookoffs and around the house, probably more than he would. I did, and comparing the two, the best I could come up with was that there were things about both that I liked. And it was hard to decide among those pros and cons without using it. We also looked at other brands of laptops, but, honestly, without going well out of our budget, none of them were close to either of the Surface options for what we liked and wanted.
We went to a Microsoft store so we could touch and feel and play with both. And, again, we liked some things about both, but when it came down to it, the Surface Book won out. Bigger screen, though not unwieldy when detached and used as a tablet. Full size keyboard. That was big seller for me because I do a lot of typing and the cramped keyboards on the smaller units are sometimes difficult. (In it’s defense, I didn’t find the Pro as difficult as the HP notebook. It was pretty comfortable.) It is heavier but neither of us is going to be carrying it around all day, every day, and it’s weight is fine for our use. Windows 10, of course, but I’m used to it by now and rather like it. Office 365 Home was part of the package we bought which upgrades all our Office apps to newer versions. So was a case for it, and the BaldMan let me pick that, so, of course, I went for the Kate Spade! 🙂 All you fashionistas are happy, aren’t you??
So, how is it? Well, we just got it basically set up, but I am writing this on it, and it’s really got a nice keyboard. I like typing on it. Still working on getting all the “stuff” loaded onto it, but a lot of what I use is tied to my Google account, so once I signed in there, *poof*! It’s a nice-looking machine, as well. Clean and simple silvery-gray, with a pretty slim profile. The screen detaches easily for tablet mode. It’s fast, ridiculously so compared to the old HP. Although I suppose, given the age of the old fellow that’s not really a fair comparison. Ooh, we did get the pen, too, so there’s some fun built right in!! LOL Haven’t used it away from home yet, but I suspect it will be just fine there, too. As of right now, I like it. A good choice for us, I think.
On the weather front, we keep getting little snippets of snow falling every couple hours. It’s been going on since last night. Nothing is sticking and the sun is shining between the flurries. I am just going to tell myself it is Mother Nature, shedding the last bits of her winter coat before warm weather. Much like the dog and cats shed the extra coat they grew out before the cold. That sounds good, right?
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