Get the Microsoft complete warrantee which covers most anything that goes wrong, including dropping and such.
I’m planning on getting a Surface Book next year to replace my lap top. I’m doing more site visits and it would be really handy to be edit the building plans while I’m standing in the building rather then take notes and head back to the computer. Plus the notes can also go directly into Word.
When I did the math (for the same exact coverage from USAA) it didn’t seem to make much financial sense. I believe it only covers replacement value, which isn’t very much on rapidly depreciating hardware after deductible. YMMV, of course, particularly if you have several expensive laptops in your household. None of my home-built desktops are worth more than my deductible, except for a few months right after a major upgrade.
Instead I decided to get the Microsoft coverage for $150. Especially since I wanted no-questions-asked spill damage protection. Remember how I said it’s the perfect grad student computer? I work in a molecular biology lab doing a lot of wet bench work, with my Surface sitting next to all sorts of interesting fluids…
In my case, I did drop my SP3 earlier this year, bending the case and making it seriously flaky. Replacement through Microsoft was really easy, and only had a modest deductible ($50 or $100 IIRC).
Had I used my renter’s insurance to cover it, I would have had to pay the $500 deductible, and the insurer probably would only pay $100-$200 to make up the difference for a refurb or old stock.
I equipped a client of mine with a Surface Pro 4, and she loves it. She’s an architect, and needed to run AutoCAD and SketchUp on it. One extra nice feature is that the TSA considers it a tablet, so she doesn’t even have to take it out of her bag. She commutes between Kansas City and Prauge, and I set her up with docking stations at both locations, each with a large monitor and a standard keyboard. She has all the advantages of a tablet and multiple desktops, and also has the most current version of her work with her, not requiring access to the cloud.
Just chiming in last minute, here. If he does a lot of touch-up and photo work, stuff you’d intensively be using the pen for, you might consider getting him the Surface Pen Tip Kit, which is compatible with the Surface Pro 4 stylus (that is, if what you bought didn’t come with this pack to begin with). I have a Surface Pro 2, I love it and work on it professionally every day in an illustrative capacity. But the pen it came with was frankly, awful. The tip was way too low-friction. Since that was a model with wacom technology, I was able to buy a wacom pen with a better tip. But the new Surface Pro models (3 and up) use NTrig tech instead. So you’re stuck with the stylus it came with (for the most part), but at least Microsoft has released a tip pack so you can switch out the tips for a better pen drawing experience.
That makes sense. We only had a 250 deductible and I have an expensive gaming computer and my wife has a laptop.
I might be a little late to this thread, but I have the Surface Pro 4. On the one hand it’s a beautiful, light, ultra-convenient piece of equipment. On the other hand it has awful battery life, the form factor can be a little annoying, and it can get pretty hot.
I have the maxed out version (i7, 16Gb, 1TB HD), and I thought I’d be able to run a couple VMs on it. But with just one VM the fans kick in, and I’ve had it shut down a couple of times from overheating. I like to watch video while working, and the battery just can’t handle it, especially if I have a bunch of tabs open in Chrome. With Chrome, a video, and a VM open, the battery might not last 2 hours.
The form factor is mixed. Because of the kickstand you can’t have the screen at less than maybe 100 degrees. That comes up more often than you might think when you’re in a bright environment and need to move the screen to avoid glare. And moving around is a pain–you can’t just grab it by the keyboard and walk like you could with a laptop–you have to fold up the keyboard and close the kickstand every time you move. And you can’t type while standing up. And the form factor requires more table space than a laptop because of the kickstand.
If I was going to do it again I’d get the Surface Book. The traditional form factor is just more useful. Having said that, I could see how someone with different needs than me could love it.
I have about the same configuration, and I edit videos with it, never having that problem. But what you’re doing is obviously more demanding. As for the kickstand issue, see my solution, above.