One of the more interesting success stories of Youtube, excited-engineer-turned-Surface-evangelist Sean Ong has certainly been one of the most prolific promoters of the Surface line going back all the way back to the ill-fated Surface RT. Sean’s latest video puts Microsoft’s newest vision for computing, the Surface Book laptop, in side-by-side comparison with one of its strongest competitors, the MacBook Pro.
The video, apart from showcasing Sean’s neat bow tie, presents a balanced look at the features of both machines, from build quality, camera the hinge, ports, screens and even the “coolness factor”. The model of MacBook Pro in comparison seems to be the 13-inch, appropriate since it’s the same model to which Microsoft is directing its own comparison. Sean does a good job of showcasing the novel features of the Surface Book that set it apart from not just the MacBook, but also all traditional laptops, including a touch screen, a removable screen that can act as a separate tablet and digitizer pen support. The MacBook get some advantages in operating system (for OSX users who also wants to use Windows,) as well as base model cost ($200 cheaper), but overall, according to Sean, the Surface Book is still a better buy with better performance, a better screen and many more types of input; in fact, it even wins in the “coolness factor” department, citing the overwhelmingly positive attitude of the media at Microsoft’s event and even beyond.
It should be noted, however that while Sean mentions briefly about the specs advantage of the Surface Book compare to the MacBook Pro 13-inch, the video is very clearly aimed at the normal consumer, or in his word, those who “don’t understand specs or don’t care about specs.” Most of the comparisons are made based on the design and the interactivity options of the 2 devices, and are presented in a very clear, easy-to-understand way, which may annoy tech-enthusiasts looking for in-depth coverage of internals and benchmarks (have a look at our post for that). Nevertheless, it should be a very good video to show to your MacBook-infatuated colleagues, or simply parents looking for a new computer (whether they actually need something like the Surface Book is a different story).
Looking for more information about the Surface Book? Check out our hands-on with the device, and be sure to stay tuned for upcoming news, reviews and much more.