Microsoft Surface Book
Ranked 3 of 5 2-in-1 laptops by recommenders
People recommend it for its touchscreen and detachable 2-in-1 design and tablet-like build. The most common caveat is that the battery wears out or swells with age.
People recommend it for its touchscreen and detachable 2-in-1 design and tablet-like build. The most common caveat is that the battery wears out or swells with age.
28 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 15
- approval share
- 46%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 0.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Touchscreen and detachable 2-in-1 design
“The Surface Book or whatever is going to be your best option because you want the 2-in-1 features.”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “Chuwi Minibook X: the netbook we deserve” “I used the touchscreen when I had a Surface Book when working at microsoft”
Comment from 29 Oct 2026 in “Get Ready for Touch on Mac” “let the screen detach but keep the extra horsepower in the base”
Comment from 28 Oct 2026 in “MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display and Touch” - Comment from 28 Oct 2026 in “MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display and Touch”
- Comment from 29 Oct 2026 in “MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display and Touch”
Still runs well years later
“Now I have a Surface Book 3 and it's still cool”
Comment from 7 Apr 2026 in “Every GPU That Mattered” “the thing still works like new”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “Surface Laptop Ultra: Made for World Makers”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Battery wears out or swells
“My big problem with it is that the battery got swollen a few years ago, pushing out the bottom panel”
Comment from 11 Mar 2026 in “MacBook Neo Is a 'Shock' to the PC Industry: Asus Co-CEO” “it didn't age too well, the battery is giving up and the SSD is pretty slow”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “Surface Laptop Ultra: Made for World Makers” “the battery in my SurfaceBook went all Spicy Pillow on me”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “MacBook Pro Rival with the Nvidia Powered Surface Laptop Ultra” - Comment from 10 Jan 2026 in “Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold hands-on”
- Comment from 4 Mar 2026 in “Apple Introduces MacBook Neo”
Slow performance over time
“it didn't age too well, the battery is giving up and the SSD is pretty slow”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “Surface Laptop Ultra: Made for World Makers” “The Surface Book 3's being used at my job all launch Teams, Excel and Outlook like they're perpetually struggling to get out of bed.”
Comment from 3 Jun 2026 in “Microsoft Doubles Down on Controversial Quantum Computing Claims” “After the absolutely abysmal performance using a SurfaceBook Pro, never again.”
Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux” Screen detach and hinge problems
“What sucked: the hinge, the split battery, mysterious problems with screen detach, the magnetic power connector, glossy screen.”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “MacBook Pro Rival with the Nvidia Powered Surface Laptop Ultra” “it was really easy to accidentally lock the screen while removing it”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “Surface Laptop Ultra: Made for World Makers” Charger too weak under heavy load
“if you were playing a game or doing many video encodes, the charger (100w?) could not provide enough power”
Comment from 11 Mar 2026 in “MacBook Neo Is a 'Shock' to the PC Industry: Asus Co-CEO” “The provided charger could not provide enough power to the device when it was under heavy load”
Comment from 11 Mar 2026 in “MacBook Neo Is a 'Shock' to the PC Industry: Asus Co-CEO”
Other 2-in-1 laptops people recommend
The four most recommended other 2-in-1 laptops, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Surface | 64 | 60 | 52% | 11 | 2 yrs7 owners | — |
| Lenovo Yoga | 15 | 10 | 60% | 7 | 3 yrs4 owners | — |
| Microsoft Surface BookThis page | 13 | 15 | 46% | 4 | — | — |
| Microsoft Surface Go | 12 | 5 | 71% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Asus ROG Flow Z13 | 7 | 2 | 78% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
All 33 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Pretty great device, it's unfortunate Microsoft discontinued it.”
“the Surface Book still is heavier than it could be”
“I like to have the touch as an option”
“I used the touchscreen when I had a Surface Book when working at microsoft”
“CPU + battery in the top-cover kills the balance of the laptop and makes the whole thing heavier”
“My wife loves her surface book specifically for the touch.”
“let the screen detach but keep the extra horsepower in the base”
“its been sluggish the last two years or so”
“The Surface Book 3's being used at my job all launch Teams, Excel and Outlook like they're perpetually struggling to get out of bed.”
“hinges broke often, charging port broke often”
“I don't trust Microsoft after how they abandoned the Surface Book”
“the battery in my SurfaceBook went all Spicy Pillow on me”
“What sucked: the hinge, the split battery, mysterious problems with screen detach, the magnetic power connector, glossy screen.”
“it was really easy to accidentally lock the screen while removing it”
“The software support was on a standstill for 6 months at a time with minimal updates later on.”
“the dock would get its own updates silently and brick itself randomly”
“It was a garbage device with tons of issues.”
“the thing still works like new”
“The Surface Book or whatever is going to be your best option because you want the 2-in-1 features.”
“it didn't age too well, the battery is giving up and the SSD is pretty slow”
“bad idea, super flaky with Surface Linux”
“Now I have a Surface Book 3 and it's still cool”
“Best tablet I've ever had. 15" and yet thinner (then) and lighter than an iPad Pro”
“My big problem with it is that the battery got swollen a few years ago, pushing out the bottom panel”
“For a couple of days I had a Surface Book 1 before returning it. The keyboard was really good but otherwise just a terrible device and experience.”
“if you were playing a game or doing many video encodes, the charger (100w?) could not provide enough power”
“The provided charger could not provide enough power to the device when it was under heavy load”
“Decent specs, does what I want it to.”
“within weeks of the warranty expiring I ran into serious issues with the battery”
“those feel like a 95%-ish imitation of Macbooks”
“The screen went out about a week before the warranty expired, they couldn't replace the screen”
“After the absolutely abysmal performance using a SurfaceBook Pro, never again.”
“the second was BSODing from the start, basically DOA; and the third stopped recognising the top part's battery after nine months”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.