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Comment by cwyers | Hacker News Reader

I was really excited about the Surface Book even before they showed that the keyboard is detachable, then I about lost my mind. Holy wow.

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How do they prevent the Surface Book from toppling over, given that all internals must be in the screen part?

It seems this would either double the system weight (due to counterweights) or require an extra stand in the back.

Not all the internals, apparently the GPU is in the keyboard (there's an Intel GPU on the CPU die that's used in tablet mod).

If it's anything like Asus does, it probably also has an extra battery in the keyboard.

Most of the battery mass is in the keyboard. Not sure what battery life is when you detatch the screen - they didn't say.

I was hoping you could bend the screen all the way back but I guess that'd make the tablet too heavy?

You can just invert the screen and bend it over the stand. I'm guessing the problem would have been making the hinge solid and rigid enough more than a weight problem.

If it's anything like other convertibles I've used that stand upright, the hinge is usually stiff enough to keep everything standing.

Well the keyboard is in the stand, part of the battery is probably in the stand, all of the ports are in the stand, the dedicated GPU is in the stand, plus the stand actually lays flat while the screen is mostly upright so in any normal position the stand could only be a fraction of the screen and still not cause it to topple right? I guess the combination of all of that and perhaps a little extra counterweight if necessary makes it work out okay.

A quick comparison, Microsoft cites 1.6 pounds as the weight. I'm assuming it's the screen only as the Surface 4 Pro (the tablet computer) alone is 1.73 pounds, and the Macbook Pro is 3.48 pounds. If the stand held the GPU, a battery pack, keyboard (and possible counterweights) and weighed as much as the screen, it'd be 3.2 pounds and still a fair bit lighter than the MBP.

From: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/devices/surface-book#...

Starting at 3.34 pounds (1,516 grams) including keyboard

Very disingenuous of them to not include the full weight spec with the keyboard.

my big worry with the MS hardware is its flimsy plasticky nature.

I believe the case is all magnesium.

None of the Surface Pro range has ever been either flimsy or plasticky. At the launch, Sinofsky put wheels on a Surface Pro and used it as a skateboard....

You ever use their keyboard?

Yes, I've used all the Surface Pro keyboards. However, the keyboard is an optional accessory. You can use just about any USB or Bluetooth keyboard you like. You can probably get something industrial strength, if that's what you need....

However, I suspect we're talking at cross-purposes here. I don't know about the Surface Book keyboard. I watched the webcast but have not had a hands-on....

The surface pro is NOT the same build quality as their cheap keyboard.

Hmm, the fact that all the ports are in the stand sucks.

I like to pull the keyboard off my surface 3 and lean it up against the wall and watch movies on it while still having mouse control from a distance.

What we really need is for every device to have an embedded Logitech controller so I no long need the usb nub dongle

Why do you need a dongle if it has bluetooth?

Bluetooth nice suck and have lag issues. It may be a subjective feeling but I hate blue tooth mice

In mobile devices the batteries has a lot of weight and it looks like the keyboard part has more batteries than the top part:

http://www.technobuffalo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Micr...

The keyboard contains the nVidia GPU and another battery-- surely enough weight to hold the screen securely.

That reveal was pretty great.

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