Surface Pro 4 or Acer Alpha Switch 12?

Surface Pro 4 or Acer Alpha Switch 12?

In a month, I'll be starting my engineering courses. Commuting to school, and staying about 10hrs a day there. So I'm looking for a tablet/laptop for my schoolwork.

I looked at the Acer 12 and it's about ~$150 cheaper than the SP4 for the same specs (i5, 4GB, 128GB, price difference also accounts for keyboard and pen included) or ~$100 difference for an 8GB upgrade on the Acer.

Most of the time it'll be just used for writing down equations and solving math related problems, so a good stylus functionality is a need, however, storage space and resolution isn't a big issue.

But, it seems like the SP has an hour and half more battery light than the Acer.

Which one should I purchase?

Acer
>Cheaper
>Comes with keyboard
>Silent on all configurations
>Better keyboard than Matebook/iPad, comparable to SP4
>Worse battery life
>Way hotter
SP4
>Expensive
>Doesn't come with type cover ($100)
>Only CoreM is passive cooled, other have fans
>Longer batteries
>Better build quality
>Cooler
>Pen technology actually pretty good, comparable to Wacom in some sense (but has low pressure levels)

idk about Acer's pen tech though

I heard that Acer's pen isn't that great. Also according to benchmarks, the SSD on the SP4 is ~20% better.

But, I'm the fence. I don't know if I should spend the additional ~$100-$150 for the surface or get the Alpha 12.

~$750 Acer
(i5 8GB 128GB, pen and keyboard included)

~870 SP4
(i5 4GB 128GB, pen and keyboard included)

I like the fact that the Acer will be silent, however, the battery life is what worries me as well.

'ive had a sp4 with a I5 8ram. I've had it since january. It has had problems from the start. I took the first one back to micro center less than 7 days to get a exchange one (brand new,not refurb) from january to june. the touchscreen has quit 4-6 times. Thank god i have the keyboard. Or it would not work at all.
I took it to the microsoft store 3 times, last time being in june. It finally updated, and seems to work alright.
The pen is really cool, i dunno if that acer has one. I can do electronic signatures on documents I created.
I'm no tech guy, just average joe in the construction industry. I bought a military grade case that fits nice, and the keyboard fits like a glove.
I'm pretty happy with mine now, but I guess I'm only touching the tip of the iceberg eith this thing.

The Surface is probably one of the best devices a student can get, I wish I had this thing when I was doing my undergrad

i like the note pad in mine with the pen. It sure does cut down on having to carry extra items.

...

I would pick sp4 because it just seems like a better all around product and it would be nice to have the multi functionality that come with the SP4 being that it can also act like a tablet of sorts.

I still have a few weeks to decide. The Alpha 12 came out recently, and there aren't many reviews, or any 3rd party products for it. On the other hand, the SP4 has a great deal of reviews, and overall it's a solid product. So I don't know if I should try out the Alpha or go with something that's already highly regarded.

However, I'm not sure how much of a difference 4GB and 8GB will be. I use firefox and usually have multiple tabs open at once.

Any comments on the drawing capabilities of the SP4? It's a bit expensive but I hear it's worth it

>However, I'm not sure how much of a difference 4GB and 8GB will be
You probably won't even notice it, Wangblows 10 Botnet Edition is really good at paging with the fast SSD in the Surface

Only time I ran out of RAM with my 4GB device was when I tried editing a Photoshop file with like 40+ layers

I guess those 4GB of memory won't matter with light gaming as well? Usually play Kerbal Space Program, or Crusader Kings II.

Not at all

If anything more intense 3D gaming would cause the Surface to heat up and drop frames as it throttles back after like an hour

Thanks for the input. Would it be too "late" to purchase a SP4 now? Seems like SP5 is around the corner.

Not at all, if anything it would be better now since the drivers are more mature. Recently launched Microsoft devices always have driver issues when they first launch

The SP4 doesn't throttle.

good joke

Prove that it does dickhead.

I've been productive with UE4, 3DSMax, and Zbrush using my SP4 8GB. I'd notice if it throttled.

u in med school brah?

Does the SP4 gets hot and noisy after months/years of usage ? It looks like a hassle to clean but I am considering of taking one over an ultrabook (like the Dell XPS 13).

Is the Surface 3 a good buy if I don't have the dosh for a Surface 4?

Lenovo's MIIX 700 is supposed to be bretty good too and I've seen them on Slickdeals for $399.

Not sure how it compares but worth checking out OP considering the price. Plus it's got the Yoga 3's sexy hinge design.

Yeah

>Lenovo anything

I love my surface book I got the 1900$ i5 256 8gb should for 1400. It's nice

I vote for the SP4. I have the i7 version and I am really enjoying it. The fan never comes on during light usage and is pretty quiet when it does.

I don't think that the SP5 will be out until march. Kaby Lake ships at the end of the year and there are rumors that the next hardware refresh won't come out till the next big windows update.

Not who you were replying to, but it doesn't throttle for me either. Quit trolling

surface book imo

these notes work for you? they look absolutely awful