When comparing Surface Book vs Lenovo Y50, the Slant community recommends Surface Book for most people. In the question“What are the best laptops for business?” Surface Book is ranked 6th while Lenovo Y50 is ranked 12th. The most important reason people chose Surface Book is:
Surface Book has a detachable, 13.5”, 3000x2000, 10 point multi-touch PixelSense display. It has good viewing angles, color reproduction and strong, 1700:1 contrast ratio.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Great touch display
Surface Book has a detachable, 13.5”, 3000x2000, 10 point multi-touch PixelSense display. It has good viewing angles, color reproduction and strong, 1700:1 contrast ratio.
Pro Versatile design
It can be used as a standard touch laptop, the hinge allows it to be used in a tent configuration and the screen can be detached from the rest of the body to be used as a standard tablet.
Pro Good trackpad
The Surface book has a large, accurate 5-point multitouch trackpad.
Pro Zero bloatware
Pro Comes bundled with a great stylus
The stylus can be magnetically attached to the side of the screen.
Pro Great key spacing
Microsoft's years of experience creating keyboards are noticeable in the keyboard's layout as keys are spaced in a way that will be intuitive to most users.
Pro Great laptop battery life
Laptop battery life lasts for an excellent 12 hours on a single charge.
Pro Magnetically sealed lid
The lid of the Surface Book is, when closed, magnetically sealed.
Pro Great performance
Can be equipped with the latest specs in terms of processors, graphics cards, etc.
Pro Durable design
Magnesium casing.
Pro Bright backlit keyboard
The red backlit keyboard is very bright.
Pro Slim
At 0.9 by 15.2 by 10.4 inches, the Lenovo Y50 is pretty slim for a gaming laptop.
Pro Nice design
By utilizing angles in the design the device looks a lot less blocky then its predecessor while also looking more thin than it is.
Pro JBL speakers sound great
The included JBL speakers have a good bit of punch, sounding great with movies and games alike.
Pro Huge amount of storage
This has a hybrid 1TB SSHD with 8GB of nand flash.
Cons
Con Comes with Windows that lacks developer tooling
Developer tools under Windows are lacking compared to OSX and Linux. And while it's possible to replace the OS, dual-boot or run a VM environment for development, it's extra hassle that you have to deal with.
Con No USB-C port
USB-C will be the prominent new port used, as it can manage much more than previous USB ports. While it isn't widely adapted yet for accessories, some computers being sold today only have USB-C, which will really help push for more USB-C devices down the road. For now it isn't a big issue, but in a few years the lack of a USB-C port could limit the accessories you use to older options (unless you want to carry adapters around).
Con Far too expensive for specs
Con The screen and keyboard isn't protected from dirt when laptop is closed
The laptop leaves a gap on the side when it's closed allowing for dust and dirt get to the screen and keyboard.
Con No Kaby Lake CPU options
Kaby Lake is Intel's 7th generation processors, which weren't available when the Surface Book was first released. As such, it isn't possible to get the current Surface Book with these newly optimized processors.
Con Keybord might not be for everyone
Surface Book has a keyboard with a uncommonly low travel that might require some getting used to.
Con Screen's aspect ratio might require some getting used to
Surface Book uses a 3:2 aspect ratio compared to the more traditional 16:9 or 16:10 used in most other laptops. The aspect ratio also means that most videos will be letterboxed.
Con The hinge is not as resistive as a typical hinge of common laptops
The hinge can slightly wobble when the Surface Book is used in a lap. This is especially important on this computer as it has a touchscreen you'll want to use and also a pressure sensitive pen which won't work great in laptop mode without support.
Con Hinge scratches any surface it touches.
The hinge when the screen is open will scratch the surface that the Surface Book is sitting on. That nice glass table you're working on? Ruined. Your antique table? Worthless.
Con 3K, not 4K display
Most laptops in this price range have 4K laptops.
Con 3h of battery in tablet mode
According to a TechCrunch video, 3/4 of the battery is stored in the base and 1/4 in the tablet. That 1/4 of the battery will last you about 3h.
Con Shallow keys
The keyboard feels shallow, something that should not have been compromised for a gaming device. Considering PC gaming is all about keyboard and mouse, a shallow keyboard leads to mistakes while gaming.
Con Poor display
With lackluster viewing angles matched with low brightness and poor color reproduction, the display is not that great. Especially when considering that the laptop is meant for gaming and multimedia.