Surface Laptop, Copilot+ PC, 1TB SSD, Snapdragon x Elite (12 Core), 32GB RAM, Black, 13.8" Display, Microsoft Laptop Computer

This laptop is an absolute joy to use for about every task I’ve thrown at it. It is lightweight, fast, sturdy feeling, has a good keyboard and touchpad, and is quick with everyday tasks that include web browsing, productivity stuff, and photo editing. It’s very good camera and AI features make it a wonderful WFH machine, and the AI features can translate for you as well as run real time filters on your video. Gaming is limited right now, but I’m sure it will improve very soon as more devs port their apps to run ARM native or get ported over from mobile where they are already running on ARM. If you’re considering this laptop, go ahead, it’s a great value!Packaging is wonderful. Everything can be put in the recycling as far as I can tell, even the cord wraps are ... MoreThis laptop is an absolute joy to use for about every task I’ve thrown at it. It is lightweight, fast, sturdy feeling, has a good keyboard and touchpad, and is quick with everyday tasks that include web browsing, productivity stuff, and photo editing. It’s very good camera and AI features make it a wonderful WFH machine, and the AI features can translate for you as well as run real time filters on your video. Gaming is limited right now, but I’m sure it will improve very soon as more devs port their apps to run ARM native or get ported over from mobile where they are already running on ARM. If you’re considering this laptop, go ahead, it’s a great value!Packaging is wonderful. Everything can be put in the recycling as far as I can tell, even the cord wraps are paper. Excellent.The Surface 7’s build feels rock solid, full aluminum chassis, very subtle branding on the lid, not a single RGB decoration to be found. The backlit keyboard is comfortable and easy to type on. The aluminum has a good feel, I prefer the keyboard 100% more than my ***Book Pro. It has two USB-C ports, a USB-A port, and a headphone jack on the left side, while the right side hosts the Surface power adapter port, which can also be used for Microsoft’s proprietary docks and port replicators that will power the laptop and add the ports with just one plug. This machine straddles the past and future by also offering current standard USB-C with PD and DP, so you can use a third-party dock to get the same functionality, super flexible!Wifi 7 is a notable feature to have on your computer going forward, it’s the new standard in Wi-Fi and the Surface’s Wi-Fi/Bluetooth chip works great on Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 networks. I used Bluetooth for connecting a keyboard, controller and headset and did not have any problems.I think the Copilot+ features that are enabled on these new machines are limited right now just to a few “demonstration” features in Windows. The possibilities are wide open. Hopefully developers going forward can leverage the NPU to do some really cool stuff soon.Even beyond the Copilot+ features and all of the future promise, this is a very well sorted computer. I really enjoy the lack of OEM junk hanging out in every corner of the machine. I can use all the power the computer offers because it does not have to continually run the unstable system resource drains that are on almost every OEM machine. This computer has a big advantage that it does not run the background tasks that OEMs run, so it will almost always be faster than other machines with the same specs.I’ve gotten great battery life on this machine, more than enough for my needs.The Surface Laptop 7 13.8” Copilot+ is arguably the best everyday laptop you can buy right now, and it’s only going to get better. Folks may balk at the price, it’s a good value. Recommended.

Wow! I have to say that I have always appreciated the Microsoft Surface line for its style and form-factors, but have always been a little 'meh' about the innards. This time, Microsoft hit on all cylinders. Not only is this a solid and nice looking laptop, but the new ARM architecture and the POTENTIAL of the Copilot+ system really make this a powerful system for pretty much anyone (with the exception of graphics creatives and gamers), but especially for students.I am really impressed with the power that we are seeing from these new ARM chips, especially when you factor in the battery sipping specs. I have been working on this laptop for almost a week now, doing all sorts of test and a lot of Copilot testing and still have not had to recharge it from its initial ... MoreWow! I have to say that I have always appreciated the Microsoft Surface line for its style and form-factors, but have always been a little 'meh' about the innards. This time, Microsoft hit on all cylinders. Not only is this a solid and nice looking laptop, but the new ARM architecture and the POTENTIAL of the Copilot+ system really make this a powerful system for pretty much anyone (with the exception of graphics creatives and gamers), but especially for students.I am really impressed with the power that we are seeing from these new ARM chips, especially when you factor in the battery sipping specs. I have been working on this laptop for almost a week now, doing all sorts of test and a lot of Copilot testing and still have not had to recharge it from its initial fill up. Now granted, I was not doing any of the 'usual-suspects' for battery drain (that is: gaming and photo/video/audio encoding), but that is mainly because there aren't any 'big-name' pieces of software out yet for the Windows-ARM environment. Still, this really isn't intended to be that kind of platform in the first place. Once we see some inroads with GPUs in this sphere, THEN we can talk about real horsepower and battery sipping ability.It has been a joy using the laptop over the last few days. The screen is beautiful and bright. The keyboard is pleasant to type on, and the trackpad is large and responsive. I don't touch my screens so I can't speak to that (I hate fingerprints on my laptops), but I have always been a fan of the 3:2 aspect ratio on laptops and I'm glad that Microsoft is sticking to its guns on this and leading the way. I've also been really lucky over the years and have never really had to have any work done physically on any of my laptops (software is another issue altogether), but from what I understand from other reviewers, is that the Surface is relatively easy to fix which should translate to a longer useful life and/or cheaper repairs if needed.My only gripe with the physical features of the Surface Laptop is with Microsoft continuing to use its own proprietary charge port. I am less frustrated with this since you CAN use USB-C to charge your laptop but it's more the principle of the matter. The power brick is relatively tiny and light (as to be expected with something that only cranks out 39W), but there is ZERO reason why it is not just a simple USB-C brick and a nice cable to go along with it. Just sayin'.Getting back to the good stuff. What has REALLY been fun over the last few days or so has been playing with Copilot+. I've never really had any need to use any of the AI platforms previously, and to tell the truth I didn't think I ever really would, but after just a bit of work with Copilot in both office apps and as a stand-alone, I think the POTENTIAL for Copilot is absolutely crazy. It's fun to play around with writing prompts and see where they lead. This will actually be a pretty cool tool to use for my writing, especially with character development. It has also been good to help me identify tropes that I may be leaning on a bit too much. I put in a few sci-fi story ideas and let Copilot run with them, and quite a few of those tropes kept popping up (hence them being tropes), but it becomes glaring once you see them in several different story ideas. While I can also see how this can make someone pretty lazy with their work, for me it frees up some brain cycles for me work on plot and dialogue and less on the peripheral characters.My biggest gripe with Copilot+ though, is the content restrictions. I completely understand the AI not wanting to generate material that is sexual, hateful, defamatory (though really, it ought to do it if asked, or there should be a setting to do the processing locally if the issue is using Microsoft servers for the work), but some rather anodyne requests were met with statements from Copilot that said that it could not do that and encouraged me to generate that material on my own. Again, we are still in the early stages of the 'AI Revolution', but I think we could use a bit more 'Wild West' and a little less 'Corporate Boardroom'.As a former educator, this platform really excites me and scares me a bit. It excites me to think about the ideas and content that students could produce with such a powerful platform, but then the teacher in me worries about how I could ever separate the student from the AI with the current tools available. Fortunately, I'm retired and that is no longer my problem, and so I can just be excited to see what my rather gifted nephew is going to churn out with this laptop once I give it to him next month for his birthday.Microsoft has really hit it out of the park with this generation of Surface devices, and I think you are getting a really high-quality laptop with tons of power and phenomenal battery life for a really good price. If you are looking for a solid laptop that is light, powerful, beautiful, and in the Windows ecosystem, then the Surface Laptop with Copilot+ is a no-brainer. It

It’s interesting to note that the exterior design of Microsoft Surface laptops hasn’t changed much over the years. My wife’s 2019 Surface Book 2 looks nearly identical to this new Surface CoPilot+ laptop although the older laptop is a 2-1 design and so was a little thicker. Evidently, Microsoft wisely adheres to the principle that if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. Even the keyboards have a similar look and feel. The differences naturally are found inside, with Microsoft charting a bold new course with neural processors designed and tuned to run newly released AI applications…the wave of the future. To make this laptop more affordable, Microsoft chose to use the lesser of the two Qualcomm processors (Snapdragon X Plus) in this latest line of Surface7th Edition ... MoreIt’s interesting to note that the exterior design of Microsoft Surface laptops hasn’t changed much over the years. My wife’s 2019 Surface Book 2 looks nearly identical to this new Surface CoPilot+ laptop although the older laptop is a 2-1 design and so was a little thicker. Evidently, Microsoft wisely adheres to the principle that if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. Even the keyboards have a similar look and feel. The differences naturally are found inside, with Microsoft charting a bold new course with neural processors designed and tuned to run newly released AI applications…the wave of the future. To make this laptop more affordable, Microsoft chose to use the lesser of the two Qualcomm processors (Snapdragon X Plus) in this latest line of Surface7th Edition CoPilot + laptops. With 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, this laptop is still plenty fast and to prove it, I installed Adobe Photoshop 2024 and loading time was only a matter of just a few seconds…even faster than my gaming desktop. Similarly, components of Microsoft Office 365 Suite like Word, Excel, and Powerpoint also are lightning fast. The screen is bright with excellent contrast and the onboard Qualcomm graphics processor seems more than adequate for most computing needs.The development of the CoPilot+ series of laptops is of course to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) to computing. While it’s in its early stages, AI brings user-friendly options to enhance creativity and efficiency in daily computing needs. CoPilot+ brings simplicity to browsing and it’s been my experience that search results make sense and are easy to understand, complete with references. For creativity, AI has elevated Microsoft’s simple Paint app to new heights with its ability to create artwork (Image Creator) based on simple inputs and/or crude drawings (Cocreator). I could see where this might be handy for creating artwork for Powerpoint Presentations, for example. Windows Studio adds some nice features for video conferencing, such as blurred backgrounds, face-following, and lighting effects. While I wouldn’t designate this laptop as a gaming machine, Windows 11 has added Auto Super Resolution to improve and enhance game resolution and visual quality, taking advantage of the AI capabilities of the Snapdragon X series processor.What I liked…The laptop is lightweight yet rugged and the perfect size for ease of portability. Having a lighted keyboard is a must and the feel of the keys makes typing fast and easy. The screen looks great with crystal clarity and deep rich blacks, making photos look amazing. Battery life is excellent, and it comes with a proprietary charging cable, but Microsoft claims it can be charged through one of the two USB-C ports with a minimum 65W PD charger. A fully charged battery dropped to 80% when on for four hours, so getting all-day use should be no problem. Apparently, the Qualcomm electronics run cool as there are no fans or vents visible anywhere, making it completely quiet and nice to rest on your lap without the constant worry of blocking air vents, etc. and overheating. Setup after unboxing was a breeze and transferring everything from our old Surface laptop couldn’t have been simpler. Even our family version of Microsoft 365 loaded quickly, and Outlook email transferred without a hitch. Last but not least, I love the clean design of the all-metal case and sapphire blue looks amazing.What I disliked…Well, not much to say! The main concern with Surface laptops is that they are designed and configured with a specific set of components. It usually requires a technician to add RAM or change out an SSD, for example. Microsoft isn’t the only laptop manufacturer that does this, so just be sure when you buy a Surface laptop to get it configured correctly to meet your all your current and future computing needs right from the start.I sense things will only get better as the basis of AI in computing is just getting started and the Microsoft Surface CoPilot+ laptop is designed from the ground up to take advantage in this new era of computing now.