A long day of work meetings has turned into drinks at the nice bar down the street. I'm not quite finished with the last thing I was doing, and I need to get these thoughts out of my brain before I forget them, so I toss my Surface Go in my bag. Twenty minutes into the evening, someone turns to me with a surprised look on their face and asks what device I'm using. Most people I work with are MacBook people, so the unusual shape and size of the Surface Go catch them off guard.
I finish typing my thoughts and hand them my little machine, starting up a demo routine I've developed over the last couple of months of answering these exact same questions just about everywhere I go with my Go. What starts as a curiosity frequently ends in the other person picking up a Surface Go of their own.
Dispelling Surface myths
The truth is, shopping for a laptop or tablet still leaves a lot of people looking at the big brands. Sitting in a coffee shop, it's not uncommon for someone to ask me if my Surface Go is made by Dell or HP or Lenovo, only to surprise them by explaining the manufacturer is actually Microsoft. Even now, with the Surface line getting so much marketing and attention, there are a ton of people who only see Microsoft as the folks behind Windows software. Even on display shelves in big box retail stores, the Surface line isn't the first thing most retail employees will walk someone to as a trial.
I can't tell you how many times I've rolled my eyes at the word 'lapability' only to show them my Surface Go.
But even when someone sees a Surface on display, there are often a lot of questions to follow. Is it a laptop, or a tablet? In person, I can hand them my Surface Go and show how it's a little bit of both. I keep my Surface Pen handy to show how nice it is to be able to grab screenshots and leave notes even if I'm not really all that artistically inclined. I've had jaws drop when I show someone how easy it is to remove and re-attach the keyboard, so I can use it as a recipe machine in the kitchen and a full writing workstation even when I'm in a cramped car. Seeing a Surface on a shelf in a store is so different than seeing it actually being used, so a lot of that utility gets lost in that traditional purchasing environment.
Even among techy people, there are some super common misconceptions about the Surface Go. I can't tell you how many times I've rolled my eyes at the word "lapability" only to show someone that my Surface Go fits on my lap with no problems and no hinge hangover, like you might see with the larger Surface models. The same goes for those who tap their trusty MacBook and tell me they can't live without a backlit keyboard with adjustable brightness, only to see my Surface Go Type Cover does the exact same thing. My personal favorite is folks who tell me they've moved happily to USB-C and can't go back (with an iPhone X unironically in hand) only to blow them away as I connect my USB-PD battery to the USB-C port on the Surface Go to show this is usually the only charger I bring with me places, even when I know I'm going to be away from home for multiple days.
Surface Go is more than a specs sheet
The truth is there are few small computers as versatile, capable, and visually appealing as the Surface Go. And once you show someone how nice these machines are, they quickly start thinking about picking one up for themselves. Several of my friends now have their own Surface Go and love them. I have co-workers who lug around big MacBooks and tell me they're kind of jealous when they see how quickly I can unpack and get to work, or how easy it is for me to put everything in a super tiny bag and be comfortable carrying it all day. And the starting price is very reasonable: $400.
I wish more people knew how much fun this little hybrid is to use.
A lot of that comes down to a quality design, instead of such an intense focus on performance and specs. Because if you're looking for a specs powerhouse, the fastest processor with the most RAM, or the best GPU, this isn't the machine for you. This is a super portable PC designed for people who want that full Windows experience on the go. It's infinitely more useful than an iPad Pro or a Chromebook for me because I never need to compromise on available apps or things like having a file manager. And, honestly, the price on the Surface Go is great for what you're getting. I am still incredibly happy with the base model Surface Go; the only change I occasionally wish I had was the LTE model for when I travel. But if I'm honest, I travel infrequently enough that using the hotspot on my phone is good enough.
It seems like a weird thing to get excited about, but when people see a Surface Go in the wild, and it's clear they are low-key shopping for a new computer already, this PC turns heads and leaves people wanting to know more. I wish more people knew how much fun this little hybrid is to use, and picked one up for themselves.
Everything I need when not at home.
The Surface Go isn't a powerhouse, but it is a no-compromise ultra-portable machine for an incredibly reasonable price.
