If any device screamed for 120hz Refresh rate and Slim Pen 2, it is the Studio.
I had just taken it as given that the next Surface Studio would be compatible with the Slim Pen 2. I am blown away that it isn’t. And it’s something of an equivocal feeling, too. I dislike the flat profile of the Slim Pen/Slim Pen 2. There just ain’t no way that’s comfortable for 5-8 hours of illustrating that I do in a day. My original slim pen got put into a drawer a few months after I bought it, and hasn’t seen the light of day since.
Personally I’m most disappointed with the value proposition.
I’m of two minds about the value proposition.
On the one hand, the i7-11370 is an old chip and it’s not even an old chip that significantly boosts performance, given that the previous chip was 4 years old. The conversations that were being had on the Surface Speculation Thread about 12th gen chips throttling and overheating have convinced me that 12th wasn’t the way to go without any significant redesign. My SS2 has SO MANY problems with the graphics card overheating. I regularly clock 140 degrees on the GTX 1070 when I’m drawing in Photoshop, or making a video call via Discord. It is starting to degrade the performance of my SSD. Add in processor overheating to that too? Woof, the studio would be unusable in short order.
If they needed lower thermals, fine, so be-it. But, I’ve also had this machine and run it for 10-16 hours per day since I purchased it in January 2019. So I feel that keeping a 45W chip in the SS2+ wouldn’t have been a horrendous choice for 11th gen chips. They could have gone with one of the 8-core chips, like the Intel Core i7-11800H, and seen a boost in multi-tasking processing.
Right now, I’m looking for upgrade options next year. Putting those needs together, the list doesn’t seem unreasonable.
Those needs are:
- 24" or larger drawing surface with bezels no wider than my thumb (I grip the side of the monitor as I draw)
- Glass surface for easy disinfecting/de-allergenizing
- low-dust output (mini-computer form factor)
- Comfortable pen
- Low driver issues
- Color-accurate monitor
The Surface Studio 2 was, at the time I bought it, the ONLY computer that fit all of my needs. Now, I might be able to relax some of those needs, like the glass surface or the small-form factor workstation… which would mean the only other option that would fulfill what I need is a Wacom 27 Pro + a workstation.
So that’s what I think of when I think of the SS2+'s value for its price. What is its value compared to competing products I could purchase? Despite the Surface subreddit bagging on its apparent base price increase, the SS2+ is only $200 dollars more than the version I bought in 2019 with similar specs (the 1TB SDD, 32 GB RAM, 1070 RTX model). The Wacon 27 Pro plus stand costs 4k on its own, and the cost of buying a workstation that would pair with it would be in the 2-3k range if I’m lucky.
It’s one of those situations where I’m not sure if I’m willing to buy the SS2+ if there is a bigger, more tantalizing upgrade possible in 2023. I guess I will have to see what next year brings. If my SSD fails, the SS2+ might be the only thing that fits my needs and is within my budget.
Augh! I don’t enjoy having to hold my nose when I contemplate a tech upgrade. 