Review on Microsoft Surface Pro 5 (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) by Luis Estrella

I bought this tablet instead of the i5 or i7 versions based on the reviews I read. My only concern was how long the battery would last. I needed a tablet that would last all day taking notes in OneNote with the Surface Pen (which is great) with the occasional pause. Also, it had to be a Windows 10 tablet, 12 inch screen or more, but 14 inch was too big, and some lite games. In particular (Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour) this tablet has performed admirably so far. The m3 kernel version was the right choice. The lack of a fan means one less garment to worry about. Battery: If you leave the power settings on high, it won't last as long. I've put it into battery saver mode as soon as it's unplugged from the charger and it lasts quite a while. I keep my screen brightness at 50%, I also turn WiFi off when I don't have a network to connect to so it's not searching all the time. I also disabled background apps running in sleep mode. Now in "sleep" mode consumes very little battery. For example, 6 hours of sleep without a charger and the battery is still 100% charged. As for iron, there are already several reviews on the net. One thing I will address is the 128GB hard drive. Ultimately, it's not a lot of space, but it really isn't worth upgrading to an i5 (256GB) for a minimal performance boost. I ended up getting a large SD card ($23) and used it to install any additional software I might need to keep the main hard drive as free as possible. As long as it's a Class 10 SD, it'll be fast enough. It's also nice to note that this is the m3 7y30 kernel version. The specs mention an older 6 year old version, but this is a new 2017 model. When it comes to gaming, it does a great job with CC generals. I would recommend leaving it on a charger but I can play for more than 1 hour without a charger and the battery will still be between 43% and 50%. This tablet is perfect with some tweaks to the settings!