I use an old Surface Pro as my everyday laptop....yeah, the original one and it IS rough because it is so floppy.

Now I am seriously considering a new Surface Book as my main laptop. I won't get the insane specs one with the GPU. In fact I really just want the base i5 w/ 8GB RAM model. I don't do a ton of heavy duty processing, but I do need a robust laptop that can chew through a task. Also, storage really isn't an issue any more. I don't store music, photos or video or at least no many, and simple free cloud storage take care of most storing tasks

I think my only hang-up is the combined weight of Surface and rigid keyboard unit. After long years or lugging a laptop around, in 2006 I just decided enough, so all my laptops have been under 3 lb. Going back to a nearly a 3.7 lb laptop is going to be a 'literal pain'.** I really want the table functionality to take the keyboard off, but I really don't want a plain Surface Pro 4 with the floppy excuse for a keyboard.

**Truthfully, I should just ditch my Timbuk2 shoulder bag. Its rugged as hell, but it really is 2x as heavy as it needed to be. That stupid bag weighs more than the stuff I put in it sometimes. I like all the pockets and stuff, but really it is over engineered....that is a whole other thread.

What do you use as your formal laptop?

I was really tempted for a bit. But buying a premium laptop is such a fool's errand. Because, for most people, laptop entirely involves internet use and typing.

I only have an everyday, and then I have my burner (i.e. No, Mr FBI I have no idea who's laptop that is or why it covered in gasoline on fire.) Truthfully, I do have a $250 burner laptop that I hand over to the kids or visiting relatives to check their e-mail. It just easier to have all my stuff on my pristine laptop, and everyone else's non-sense on something I can wipe. Nobody but me touches the gaming desktop.

If you have a Microsoft store nearby definitely try it out first. I played with the Surface 4 and the Surfacebook last week for a bit.

My gripes on the surfacebook:

It only runs 3 hours in the tablet mode.
The resolution is really high so stuff is pretty tiny on screen
The open close mechanism takes a few seconds to do it's thing before you can remove the top. It actually broke the 2nd day they had laptop and one side would not release.
The width of the thing isn't bad when it's closed, it feels like an old laptop width. But that gap seems like it will definitely collect crap from your bag.
The discrete GPU model seems like way to go but it's so expensive compared to the advertised price.

The surface 4 seemed cool actually except for the fact that the touch screen didn't work on the first demo unit I walked up to.
The new keyboard is pretty nice. Not floppy really.

They might have some build quality problems it seems.

Yeah, people have said there are some quality control issues to iron out. I was thinking of buying in three months or so.

I'm not really interested in discreet graphics, to be honest unles syou are video editing or CAD. I think most people wouldn't even need that sort of horsepower of the discrete graphics or woudl be using it for the wrong reasons...it not a gaming laptop. There are far more powerful gaming laptops if that what people want.

Personally i think the three hour table mode is fine, unless you really plan to just grab the screen and shove it in your bag for a day...not really the "use case" MS is imaging. If people want a "browser device" to use all day, they are better off an iPad or Galaxy Pad. The other tablets are really made for casual 'shove in your bag' use, the Surface Pro line really seems like they are for people who really need to have a real laptop and are willing to take the hit on portability to do that. And yeah, you take a hit, despite all the improvements MS has made.

My main interest is I want a laptop that will be light enough to put in my bag (I travel a lot) and I want the conveniences of pulling the keyboard off when I just need that tablet for 90 mins. Over the years I have just found that ALL the solutions for giving a tablet a decent keyboard have been shitty, the solution for the first Surface Pro was shitty. I think this Surface Book comes closest to what I want, if they can work on quality control it will be close.

My other option was the Lenovo Yoga, but I think the Surface with the option to detach is just better and the Lenovo watchband hinge seems flimsy.

I can't comment on the Surfacebook beyond my general rule of thumb to not hop the first run of a brand new line. With that said I really want to try one out sometime.

In regards to the Lenovo Yoga out IT manager brought one over the other day and I was actually fairly impressed. Lightweight, good build quality, and seemed to have a good hinge. We're an all Lenovo shop here at work and for the most part they've been great although I feel like we've had some issues with docking stations.

I have a perfectly functional Surface Pro 3, so I couldn't quite justify getting a Surface Book. I may get the second iteration. I did spring for the new pen though. It's really nice. I liked the Pro 1's pen more than the Pro 3's pen, but this new one is better than either, and with a faster processor I'm sure it would be even better still.

@scrawnto: I am thinking about jumping on the new pen and type keyboard myself. Also running a Surface 3 pro while docked as my workstation at work. Great machine, but when on the go the keyboard leaves room to be desired. The new keyboards looks to fix most of the issues I have with the old one.

I actually wanted to start a topic about the surface pro... I don't mean to derail the topic but my fiancé has always kind of liked the designs of these and she is currently in vet school now. She drags a laptop around everywhere she goes to get her work done and wants somethig a bit more mobile. For a student do you guys think surface pros are a pretty solid device? I was thinking of getting her the surface pro 3 but if it's really that much of a step up I may just break and get the 4 for her.

Why not just get the pro4?

In my head, there is almost no reason to get a surface book. The pro4 is a moderately powerful CPU with okay battery life.

The keyboard is not terrible, IMO much better than the pro/pro2's keyboard, and the new trackpad is supposed to be better than the pro3 (which i have and dislike).

Unless someone has a need for a GPU, the pro4 should meet most people's needs,

That kickstand keyboard just won't cut it, they improved it but is is NOWHERE close to as stiff as it needs to be for 'lap' use or balanced on a sofa arm. When you want something that detaches from the keyboard and ist still a PC, and it lightweight but still powerful enough...well the choices are slim with the Surface Book being the best. If I gave up on detaching the screen the Lenovo Yoga 900 is pretty good.

The Surface Pro keyboards just aren't good enough, and it looks like nobody really made a decent alternative for Surface Pro 3, so it is unlikely they will for #4. I'm going to wait a few month and then see what people think is better- Surface Book or Lenovo Yoga 900.

UPDATE:

Yeah, after looking at the issues the Surface 4 PRO is having, I'm not ready to go that way. Its neat, but I think an if I want an i5/i7 and some tablet use I might be better off with the Lenovo LaVie Z 360 or Lenovo Yoga 900 a which are both multi-touch but do not support pens. The pen stuff on the Surface is neat but I never really used it because the ergonomics of draining around a 2lb device with a floppy base was a hassle.

I will be upgrading from the original Surface Pro (2013). However, the Yoga 900 is only be a 2.8 lbs, or if I want to really cut weigh the LaVie Z 360 is 2.1 lbs. Either way I'm ditching my Timbuk2 messenger bag since its is the heaviest thing I carry. The way I see it, 50% of the weigh I carry is the fucking bag and the other 50% is my stuff. I think the split need to be 60/40 with the low figure being the bag.

I tried(and have been using) a Lenova Thinkpad laptop with a touchscreen and am in love. I haven't touched my ipad since.(something I did NOT expect, as this was a replacement for my laptop, not my ipad)

Just food for thought, and definitely recommend anyone buying a laptop to seriously consider the ones with a touchscreen.

I've got the Surface Pro 4 and love it. I've had no issues so far with the stand as it always stays in the place I put it, I tend to use it on my lap or sofa arm a lot and its fine.

I was tempted by the Surfacebook as it looks so nice but it was just too much extra money. So far after using my Pro 4 for just over a month I dont regret the purchase at all.

Well, that nice to hear. So, no quality control issue on your end with screen flicker or booting?

Nope, pretty much just runs like a normal laptop for me, except a lot more smooth.

Same for me, I got an i5 and it's been running great. Before the first round of firmware upgrades I had an issue with booting after it went to sleep, had to do the power button and volume up trick, but since the FW update I've not had an issue. Using my face to sign in is pretty great, the new keyboard is really nice, and the pen stuff works well in all the applications I've used it with for both painting and sculpting.

Not quite a wacom cintiq but a whole lot easier to lug around and much more reasonably priced.