The laptop, evolved

I’ve always wanted Microsoft to build a laptop.

Some days I’ll be seated on my couch, other days I’ll be seated on the floor of a convention center or press event, so I need a laptop that just works and won’t annoy me when I’m in the middle of writing an article. The Surface line (from the RT right through to the Surface Pro 3) has always been a compromised mixture of tablet and laptop. They’ve never really worked well in my lap, the trackpad and keyboards weren’t as good as a laptop, and battery life hasn’t been ideal for a portable machine. I could use them fine at home on my desk, but every time I took them on the road with me I just ended up irritated because they weren’t real laptops.

Microsoft now thinks it has an answer, and it’s calling it the Surface Book.

Microsoft claims it’s the “ultimate laptop” that’s designed to go head-to-head with Apple’s MacBook Pro and premium Windows laptops. While the Surface Book is primarily a laptop, it’s also a tablet thanks to a display that detaches into something like a digital clipboard. Starting at $1,499, the Surface Book is clearly priced at the high-end of the laptop market, and the 1TB of storage model tops out at $3,199. That’s a lot of money to spend on a computer. I want a Surface that works like a laptop, has a great trackpad and keyboard, and actually lasts me a working day.

So, is the Surface Book a really great laptop or just another mix?