Microsoft Surface (2017 Model) with ArcMap for Multi-GB Datasets and Mapping?

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06-28-2017 09:40 PM
StuartRobbins
New Contributor

I've looked at past discussions on here for Microsoft Surface compatibility with ArcMap and there seems to be mixed results almost entirely based on what you want to do.  So I will first describe what I do:

I almost exclusively work in ArcMap, displaying multi-GB planetary datasets (basemaps and DTMs) anywhere from a few MB, to more often ~2-20 GB, to sometimes 100 GB.  I almost exclusively use the "streaming" tool to create polyline features based on the data, and sometimes I need to edit the vertices rather than just erasing the shape and making a new one.  I do all this using a Wacom Intuos Pro tablet interface with a desktop computer.  I do rely on at least two programmable keys on the Wacom -- is there any analogue on the Surface, or would I need to get the keyboard and rely on that instead?

That's literally 99+% what I do.

I'm trying to investigate is whether the latest incarnation of Microsoft's Surface Pro (2017 model) is suitable for this.  I realize that some of the datasets would need to be on a microSD card, but I could customize the data I have on the tablet to what I want to work on for that week.  The purpose of the Surface wold be to do mapping on the road -- on an airplane or when I'm at a hotel and don't have my normal setup.  As a Mac user for everything but Arc, it would also be useful to show colleagues stuff while at conferences.  So this would not be a main working interface, but it would be one that would function pretty well for what I need to do.

With that in mind, what do folks think?  Will the Surface work for what I would like to do?  If so, is there a spec set that I should shoot for BELOW the best one (i7 core at 2.5GHz, 16GB RAM, and 1TB SSD)?  From everything I've seen, the answer appears to be "yes it will work and you might as well future-'proof' by getting the best," but I don't want to ask my work to buy one until I get some more information.

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3 Replies
DanPatterson_Retired
MVP Emeritus

The Surface Book ... a step up from the Pro.  It has superior video and has a keyboard, stylus, two usb 3.0, and a micros sd ... It runs ArcGIS Pro very well.  It is what I got because I had to get a 'mobile' machine.  I didn't buy the top of the line.  It wasn't cheap, but my time is worth more.  I always recommend a desktop in any event... but when you have to have a mobile unit, I chose it over the Surface Pro.  Here is the test on 'will it run' for Pro 2.0 to give you an idea...  My only regret is not buying the top of the line model.

StuartRobbins
New Contributor

Hi Dan, thanks for the response.  My understanding is that ESRI still hasn't implemented any sort of GPU acceleration, in ArcMap and so unless I'm doing something like using Spatial Analyst (which I've done 3x in the past few years), GPU doesn't really matter so much.  So, map display/scroll and laying down vertex points is all disk I/O and CPU limited.

Looking at the specs (Microsoft Surface - Wikipedia ), something that worries me is the weight of the Book versus Surface.  I already have a laptop (2016 MacBook Pro) which I always travel with, so I'm a bit hesitant to get a Book which weighs >2x as much as the Pro.

The CPU in the *new* Pros also look better benchmark-wise than the best Surface Books.  I couldn't find the exact Intel CPU on the site, but here's the next-one down (as in, the top Pro has an i7-7660U, this is the i7-7600U, versus the top Book which is i7-6600U), comparison:  http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-6600U-vs-Intel-Core-i7-7600U/m36828vsm220838.  It performs about 9% better than the CPU in the Book.  Compared with what you have (i5-6300U), it's 21% better.

Please don't think that I'm trying to knock your suggestion -- I just spent a half hour looking into it to see if I think the Book would be better than the Pro for what I do; unless you think I'm wrong in the above analysis though, I think the Pro is going to be better.  Did I miss something?

Two side-notes:  I travel a lot -- 18 trips slated for this year.  So while this by no means is something I'd use every day, it's something that wouldn't sit gathering dust.  Also, apparently the Trump administration is pursuing (more quietly than before) if not a laptop ban, then a laptop severe-extra-checks at airports and perhaps the Pro would slip more under the radar than a Book, and less hassle with security is always nice.

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DanPatterson_Retired
MVP Emeritus

Stuart.  The weight is negligible... throw some weights of the equivalent mass in your laptop bag for a few days and see if it is an issue.

Speed?  that is relative. 21% of 10 nanoseconds?  I can do 50,000,000 origin distance calculations in Numpy in ArcGIS Pro in under a second.... 0.79 seconds won't even get me an extra sip of coffee.  It works great with ArcGIS Pro, the screen resolution is wickedly better than my desktop, but on a smaller footprint.  The only reason I got a Book was because I had to have something for field work.  You can use it as a laptop or pull of the screen separate from the keyboard and use it as such.  Having said all this, I still prefer a desktop for real 'work', but I have been impressed how much real work I can get done on the Book while watching TV.  My only regret is not getting the top of the line in terms of ram, I got 8 Gb, I am used to 32 on my desktop.  But there isn't anything that I have found on the Book that chokes up.  I also get to observe about 100 students trying to 'do GIS' on their laptops of various ilks and flavors and nothing has matched up so far.  They love the facial recognition software to login too .  So, go try one out, but in the end 250 -500 grams and 21% of something miniscule really needs to be thought out carefully.  Good luck