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Author: A Brief Elaboration of a Tube
Rating: 5
Review: She Who Must Be Obeyed needed a small Windows computer which essentially has three tasks to do: email, online browsing and running a projector for Powerpoint training videos which include embedded video and sound. She has to lug all the stuff around herself, so small and light are very important. Price, too - and of course Amazon can't be touched for speed of delivery and customer service. Enter the Surface Go 2 - the entry level model with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. Not much bigger than a 10" iPad. I asked an online question about whether this had the grunt to do the videos, and a kind respondent said yes, but I'd need to switch from the "S" variant of the OS to Windows Home. In fact, it turned out, it wasn't necessary to switch to Home because when I logged in to SWMBO's Microsoft account I simply downloaded the Microsoft 365 suite (which she already owned) and it runs absolutely fine. Having logged into her Onedrive, bingo - all her files were available as expected. Let's face it, you are NOT going to be doing any heavy duty photo editing, or playing Call of Duty (is that still a thing?) on this machine - partly because the S variant of Win 10 won't let you download the apps, but mostly because this entry level pc is very limited powerwise. I was apprehensive about its performance when I ordered, but once I could see how it deals with Powerpoint, Outlook, Word I was chuffed to mintballs. It starts relatively quickly (not, it has to be said, anything like as fast as my Surface Pro 2018 i7 / 16GB but hey) and it runs the MS365 apps very, very competently. Sound quality is good, the screen image quality is excellent for the price point, and it appears every bit as well made as my Pro i7. Be aware that when you switch it on for the first time and go through setup it'll spend some considerable time downloading updates and installing them. Make sure the Go 2 is plugged in to power and has a mostly, or fully, charged battery. I had some few issues with setup until I left the pc to charge overnight; next morning it was excellent. During setup it proudly announces that it's working, and it's sorry for the wait, and thank you for your patience. But it just seems to go on and on........ don't assume it's got looped on something! If it bugs you that much, go make and enjoy a cup of tea and leave the damn pc alone. It'll get there in the end....... SWMBO drew the line at spending £100 on the MS Type Cover keyboard (again, I use one with my Pro i7 and it's excellent). So it was £28 on an Arteck Surface Go Type Cover from Amazon (product code B07V2DNGS2) which works well enough but irritatingly can lose Bluetooth connection with the Go 2 if the Go 2 goes to (see what I did there?) sleep. Takes a few seconds to reconnect. The keyboard flexes more than the MS ones so the touchpad isn't quite the precision device it is on MS. I found the onscreen keyboard surprisingly good and SWMBO (who's never worked a Windows PC with touch screen before) is massively impressed. Important accessory is a hub. With just one USB-C port we added a Anker USB C Hub, 5-in-1 USB C Adapter, with 4K USB C to HDMI, SD and microSD Card Reader, 2 USB 3.0 Ports, for MacBook Pro 2020/2019/2018, iPad Pro 20 (Amazon product code B07H4VQ4BZ) and it works very well indeed. Small, light, and like most Anker kit, well made. Lets SWMBO run her HDMI projector, power her outboard speakers and read files in and out to a USB stick and / or data cards (SD and micro SD). (The Go 2 has its own built in micro SD port as well, of course). In summary: this thing is worth every penny of its modest price. Choose the MS Type Cover if funds allow - it's just way better than the imitators. For light duty work in a Windows environment, it's a truly excellent device.
