Thread by @dnanian

I'm always interested in trying to understand what the idealized "mobile life" being pitched by various companies is supposed to be like.

Last year, I traveled with just an iPad Pro LTE and found I could (barely) do what I needed to do, with much awkwardness.

(Long thread.)

This year, because I may be a bit of a crazy person, I'm doing the same thing with a Surface Go LTE.

It's been quite interesting so far.

The Surface Go (with keyboard) is significantly less expensive than the iPad Pro (with keyboard).

The Go is no speed daemon, but neither is it as slow as the term "Pentium Gold" implies. Windows seems to be reasonably efficient, and given the mix of apps I use when traveling (email, browser, editing, cloud stuff), the speed is fine.

The integrated LTE is, in a word, fantastic. Apps are smart about data use on metered vs. unmetered networks. Switching is seamless and fast. The LTE connection is very quick and solid.

Even though the Go has only 8GB of memory, its management of data, caching and the like (eg browser tabs) is WAY better than the iPad Pro. I'm not using nearly the amount of data, even though I'm doing the same things.

Because I was able to automate aspects of my day (which I also do on the Mac, and can't be done on the iPad Pro), support turnarounds are much faster and more efficient.

With the Linux subsystem, I'm even using the same automation scripts I use on the Mac.

And given the real multitasking -- I'm running real, full blown Windows -- I'm also able to have all the stuff I need open and ready to go...without needing to have it take up active screen real estate.

Big downside (apart from Windows, which I can handle fine, but would likely be a major problem for some) is battery life. The iPad Pro, in constant use, will usually go for 7-8 hours in my scenarios.

Surface Go - probably 5-6. I'll have a better idea later.

Big upside: great keyboard and touchpad. A real cursor. Real selection. And touch when I want to scroll or do things that are better that way.

It's not that I don't like direct manipulation. It's that -- in my opinion -- the iPad Pro's "work" UI is very frustrating.

That isn't to say that I can't do the things that I want to do. Rather, it's that I'm constantly fighting the limitations of the system. I can get the things done...yes. But it's a noticeably worse experience.

That is, with the iPad, I have to do things the "iPad way". I needed a program that would open ZIPs and let me see the contents (which are RTF and don't display well). It requires tons of taps, all manual, every time. But I could do it.

With the Surface Go, I just download the ZIP with a click or tap, and it opens and finds what I need, integrates it, displays it properly.

It works the way I work every day on the Mac.

For me, that's a huge win...even though it's Windows.

So there you go. Might change my mind later in the week, but at present, the Surface Go is a much better "super light traveling connected computer" for MY workflow. I'm pretty surprised at how well it's working.

YMM(will)V.