the bad is 8 gig ram is with at least core i5 and that cpu is more than what many people need. an i3 with 8 gig ram and 128 or 256 gig ssd option could sell better i think

It is NOT true that 4GB is underpowered for very common use cases.  I used a 4GB Surface Pro 2017 with m3 cpu for months and it was perfectly responsive for email, lots and lots of open webpages, and a surprising amount of multi-tasking.  I had no regrets.

The bad part was that I was seduced by its good performance into gradually adding mostly-work-related apps onto it until background processes increased and the registry aged-in, and then (but only then) did it bog down.  I counted over 60 apps at that point, some of them demanding work apps. If I'd left it alone with home-related uses, it would've been fine. 

I reset it and gave it to my daughter, who has used it fine for almost a year for email, web, MS Word music and light gaming. Even short video editing (slow rendering but fine for family shorts). No problems, very responsive.

Quote from: SteveQ on March 29, 2020, 21:08:36
"...and 128 GB of storage to be barely enough for Windows 10."

Come on, I don't disagree that minimum ram should generally be considered 8 gigs, and while 128 gigs of storage is small, it's so far beyond "barely enough for Windows 10" that it calls into question the validity of this entire article.  I have a Dell Venue 8 from years back, and Windows 10 fits on it's 32 gigs of storage with *some* room to spare.  I would agree few should buy a Windows system with only 128 gigs of storage, but if you're just doing online stuff, it would be fine.

...get a Chromebook?

"...and 128 GB of storage to be barely enough for Windows 10."

Come on, I don't disagree that minimum ram should generally be considered 8 gigs, and while 128 gigs of storage is small, it's so far beyond "barely enough for Windows 10" that it calls into question the validity of this entire article.  I have a Dell Venue 8 from years back, and Windows 10 fits on it's 32 gigs of storage with *some* room to spare.  I would agree few should buy a Windows system with only 128 gigs of storage, but if you're just doing online stuff, it would be fine. 

It is laughable that MS sells a Go with 64 GB eMMC and Pro 7 (or 6...or 2017...or even 4) with a miserable i3 "G1" with 4 GB RAM........ my S9 Plus and specially almost every medium class smartphone has more than that (and faster CPU...).

So shame on MS. The SP7 should start with 8 GB RAM, i5 G1, 128 GB as the cheapest (699€ is already expensive) and then the i5 G4 8 GB RAM, 256 GB for 799€, then the same i5 16 GB RAM,  512 GB ssd for 999€. And the i7 G7 as 16 GB RAM and 512 GB as minimum for 1199 and the same i7 32 GB RAM,  1 TB for 1500€. These prices would be great as people has still to buy a keyboard and perhaps pen.

Actual prices are very high and deliver just OK hardware specs.

These surface tablets are complete garbage. Have fun trying to fix them once they break. Not only are they too expensive for what they put in them, they have a lot of quirks that ruin the tablet when you try to replace parts. Microsoft should stick with windows and xbox, not tablets.

Some would say, "Buy it and run Linux" :)

Quote from: heffeque on March 29, 2020, 01:27:55
Try updating RAM and SSD on a Surface Pro 7 and get back to us with your results  ;)

oh well, i was talking laptops only, pads and phones are another animals. but ok you got me.

Quote from: william blake on March 28, 2020, 23:14:18
i can tell you guys when and why 4gb is good.
1. buy a device you like with the best screen/cpu/gpu/other non-upgradable options, but with 4gb of ram and a hdd
2. upgrade immediately to 8+8 fastest ram and fastest/low temp ssd(or add ssd to hdd)
3. profit!

Try updating RAM and SSD on a Surface Pro 7 and get back to us with your results  ;)

i can tell you guys when and why 4gb is good.
1. buy a device you like with the best screen/cpu/gpu/other non-upgradable options, but with 4gb of ram and a hdd
2. upgrade immediately to 8+8 fastest ram and fastest/low temp ssd(or add ssd to hdd)
3. profit!

It might make sense at an under $500 price point...   low end competing with android and non-pro ipad tablets...  and low end PCs.   but at $599 when they have been selling the i5/8gb/128gb for $799 with type cover for a while now isn't really a deal.   Although it did see the i5 boosted back up to over $1000 when this sale went live to make it look better.