Microsoft Surface Pro 4 with MEP2016 or 17 or VPX

browj2 wrote on 9/21/2016, 9:01 AM

Edit: Purchase done. Will report on my findings after installing VPX.

Hi,

I'm looking for a small format laptop/notebook for business travel and, of course, some video editing while traveling. The Surface Pro X 4, 8GB, 256GB SSD, i5-6300 with Intel HD graphics 520 is on sale today here in Canada. Has anyone tested one of these with MEP or VPX? Comments?

I also looked at the Surface Book, not on sale. Anyone with this?

@Peter,

I've reviewed your comments on the Surface Pro 3. Still happy with it?

Thanks,

Comments

Scenestealer wrote on 9/21/2016, 5:35 PM

Hi John

Yes very happy with the surface Pro3 although to be fair I have not done much editing on it and still only have MEP2015 on it. In fact if I had known how good it is before I bought it I would have gone for the i7 model with 8GB and 256SSD, especially as I subsequently saw Microsoft claim that this model is suitable for Premiere Pro. Still, more money, and as I bought it for overseas trips I didn't want something too valuable in case it went wandering.

It served it's purpose well on a trip to India & Shri Lanka last year, with a screen just big enough to view "daillies in our hotel rooms" both video and stills (from my wifes camera), and with the added 128GB micro SD enough space to download a copy of our SD cards. I could do a rough edit by using the automatic "trim frames on import" and view that immediately. The Pro4 has a bigger screen but I think that makes the machine too bulky/heavy for my liking. It's a bit like cars - the Mini has become the size of a small sedan, losing some of it's charm.

On the downside with MEP is that the NB Titler does not work citing low VRAM, but I see the Intel chip has changed on the 4 and this may be enough plus I see the top end models can be had with a discreet Nvidia chip also. Performance of my fairly low spec. pro3 is sufficient for basic edits, fades and MEP effects but it will struggle with more tracks, PinP's, collages, etc. I could have added a 256GB MicroSD if I could have found one at a good price point. The Strontiums seem to out perform the popular brands and is adequate as a second "harddrive" for source files or rendering. Renders are fast using Quicksync.

With such a small hi res screen everything in the MEP GUI is pretty small to read and operate as "touch", but MEP2015/16 allows you too increase size in the program settings. I saw a current post where a member claimed that 2017 no longer has this facility, but I wonder that it may be just hiding somewhere else. Still, you could carry a mini Display Port to HDMI cable with you and use the TV in the Hotel as a screen.

HTH. I will hide the other post.

Peter

browj2 wrote on 9/21/2016, 5:53 PM

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the insight. I will be travelling overseas as well and this is mainly for work.

Looking at the models in the shop, I found the Pro 4 to be rather small and was leaning towards the Surface book. Now that I have the Surface Pro in my hands, I find it big, but not cumbersome. I touch type so i got the keyboard as well. Haven't tried it yet. I love the predictive text using the on-screen keyboard - just like my BB phone and tablet, so the keyboard may not prove to be too useful except for typing lengthy documents. I looking forward to using the pen as well.

The vendor mentioned to me that the i7 isn't a real i7 and is only marginally better than the i5. I haven't checked this out yet.

What is the read transfer speed of the micro SD cards that you are using? You had mentioned 115 Mb/s in the previous post. I almost bought a 3.0 USB memory stick at that speed but put it off because I see others at 150.

Back to playing with the new toy. Will report more tomorrow if I get VPX going.

Thanks,