Microsoft Surface 2 laptop will offer few tech upgrades

[HEXUS]

But it will be available in an attractive black finish.

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[aidanjt]

Still going with that crappy unservicable glued-on car carpet keyboard surface, I see.

[Tabbykatze]

Still going with that crappy unservicable glued-on car carpet keyboard surface, I see.

A lot of people seem to really like it though and when I've had hands on is really nice. It's no less serviceable than an Apple Mac butterfly keyboard

[peterb]

It's no less serviceable than an Apple Mac butterfly keyboard

That isn't necessarily a recommendation!

(Not that I have any issues with Apple's keyboards)

[Spud1]

Will be curious what else (if anything) they change on the new Surface Pros - i've long hoped they would relaunch their "power cover" which included a second battery but not really seen any rumours about it. I do typically get really good battery from my 12 month old SP i7 but it can be as short as 3 hours if mostly using it for hearthstone or other intensive tasks so it would be a useful addition.

Should be interesting to take a look at the black ones in the flesh if they have them at Future Decoded this year too.

[Zhaoman]

A Surface Book with USB-C and Thunderbolt is what I'm after. I'll keep waiting!

[aidanjt]

A lot of people seem to really like it though and when I've had hands on is really nice.

I'm sure it's fine to use. The problem is when it comes time to clearing out dust and hair from between the fan and fin stack, you're not going to be able to do it without destroying the surface.

It's no less serviceable than an Apple Mac butterfly keyboard

Eh, no fan of the keyboard retention method Apple went with, obviously you shouldn't have to replace the chassis just to swap out a keyboard, but at least you can get to the laptop innards, even if you can do little more than clear out dust and repaste the heatsink assembly at this point. But at least you can do that much without destroying the machine. That's why iFixit gave it a repairability score of 1, over the surface laptop's 0.

[Tabbykatze]

I'm sure it's fine to use. The problem is when it comes time to clearing out dust and hair from between the fan and fin stack, you're not going to be able to do it without destroying the surface.


Eh, no fan of the keyboard retention method Apple went with, obviously you shouldn't have to replace the chassis just to swap out a keyboard, but at least you can get to the laptop innards, even if you can do little more than clear out dust and repaste the heatsink assembly at this point. But at least you can do that much without destroying the machine. That's why iFixit gave it a repairability score of 1, over the surface laptop's 0.

Both very valid points! My only rebuttal, which isn't really a defense of it, is that to make something ultra light, portable and have a great capability would necessitate it being a fully integrated construction. To me, these laptops are not for the general user to take apart and clean, these are targeted at the users who wouldn't know a silicon chip from a potato chip.

Please note, this is not a defense of the surface laptop 2 being unrepairable/unmaintainable, simply a diversion around the reasoning why it was done.