Since we started hiring remote workers, I’ve put them all in the higher end Surface devices, from the Surface Book to Surface Laptops and mostly Surface Laptop Studio 2’s. They all work great and are easy to “dock and go” with the Surface Dock and I’ve not had a single hardware problem. So, it has made my life easy from that aspect.
A month or so ago, it was quietly said that Microsoft is ending the “Studio” line of laptops. I was OK with that as long as we can get “Surface Laptop” with Core i7’s. So, when I went shopping for a Core i7 Surface “Laptop”, I couldn’t find a single one from my trusted outlets. I could get the Surface Pro but not the Surface Laptops. They have pretty much gone all ARM/Snapdragon on the “Laptops”.
So, I am sort of at a conundrum. Yeah, I can start to migrate to a different vendor (Dell/HP) but my users like the Surface’s and the Docks. My IT Admin co-worker is an Apple fan and he was suggesting a Mac and Parallels but that just won’t work for us because everyone is just used to Windows and how things work.
We do a lot of design software here. Our primary one can be accessed via RDP and RemoteApps so not too worried about it. But we also run AutoCAD, Bluebeam and 32-Bit Office (for legacy VBA/Macros.)
So, I was curious to see if there are others that deploy Surface Laptops and if they are facing the same frustrations.
7 Spice ups
ajason
(aJason)
2
Yes, I am fighting with that this week. I assume it’s because there are a lot of people upgrading to Windows 11. I was looking to get some 15" i7 Surfaces and wanted 32 GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD. I can get it with Snapdragon, or in a 13.8" size. I saw a few more available today than yesterday, but those are also selling out fast. I’m just keeping my eye on it and waiting to see if some become available.
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The places where I have found a few Intel models have already jacked up the “Supply and Demand” price on them.
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Is that a low-key IT joke? I mean Apple has its place, but is not typical in an Enterprise, at least not for most users.
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By chance, are you watching the direct Microsoft site? Resellers can be avoided in this case…
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When I hired him, he asked if he could use a Mac with Parallels. I said, sure. For the most part, it has worked OK for him to support our end users but an engineer and drafter would not be happy.
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That is where I normally purchase them…I even looked at their higher priced “Business” versions and all out of stock on Intel models.
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Strange…do you have a VAR you can contact? Often, they’ll at least have a better idea of why it’s happening and when to expect availability.
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Take a look at CDW for the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 as they have some stock Microsoft Surface Laptop Copilot+ PC for Business - 7th edition - 13.8" - Intel Core Ultra 7 - 32 GB RAM - 1 TB EP2-33223
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jessevas
(jessevas)
10
If your company is (what’s the word…) agile (?) enough, you could put your heavy lifting production boxes on a KVM system and let people access them from a pool. That’s assuming you have people who aren’t married to a software suite all throughout their process. I got this idea from live graphics production setups. Don’t know what environment you’re running.
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My thoughts exactly.
Also buying a Mac just to run Windows through Parallels is like buying a sports car and only using it to go grocery shopping.
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Yeah, been talking to them and they are a little baffled by it. I listen to Windows Weekly on TWiT and they don’t really know what is going on except that Microsoft is ALL IN on CoPilot+PC.
It could be Intel being late to the game on the TOPS requirement perhaps…but I will say, I have a desktop Dell here at work that is an Ultra 9 with the proper TOPS needed for CoPilot+PC but it still doesn’t have “Recall”…
2 Spice ups
kwelch007
(kwelch007)
13
I suppose. In fairness, I know a few Linux/Security admins that use Macs because the shell is so integrated and MacOS is BSD/Unix-y. I get that. I personally would push back pretty hard on a support-level admin running an OS that the majority of their user base doesn’t run. I would consider otherwise an unwillingness to immerse in the environment. I definitely wouldn’t pay for it out of my budget. Just my $0.02.
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From what I’ve heard “Recall” isn’t really working right anyway!
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This! In previous work, we had company issued cell phones…I was always the last to upgrade one cycle, and first the next. We took turns so that someone was always at the same level as the users…not bleeding edge, not unsupported, just working with the masses. It makes it difficult to support someone if you’re not using what they use!
3 Spice ups
ajason
(aJason)
16
@PassRusher, what specs are you looking for specifically? I see a few models available today on the MS store in the black color:
(These are 15" i7s)
2 Spice ups
ajason
(aJason)
17
Okay, check this out - I checked again and there is an additional model available that wasn’t this morning: (the 32GB RAM 1 TB SSD.) It looks like we just need to keep checking on it.
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Thanks for the heads up on the inventory alerts…I snagged a 32GB model…that so helped! 
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So, I actually do use a SnapDragon Elite Surface Pro with 5G and Recall works quite well on it and way better and private than I expected.
Like I mentioned, I do have an Intel Ultra 9 with the required TOPS for Recall and nothing yet.
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