Microsoft Surface Pro 12.3" 1796 Black 2017

The Surface Pro 1796 is a beautifully built, fanless Windows tablet that's perfect for light tasks and travel. Its portability is best-in-class, but the ancient dual-core CPU and weak graphics mean it struggles with anything beyond basic web browsing and Office work. Only worth it if you find a deal at the lower end of its $349 to $482 price range.

That Core i5-7300U processor lands in the 2nd percentile of our database, and honestly, it shows. It'll handle a few browser tabs, email, and Office docs without crying, but don't expect to edit photos or run anything demanding. The 8GB of RAM is also near the bottom of the barrel at the 13th percentile, so multitasking gets tight fast. The integrated graphics are a non-starter for gaming, scoring a brutal 3 out of 100. On the bright side, the SSD keeps boot times snappy, and the touchscreen is responsive, which makes the tablet mode genuinely usable for scrolling and note-taking.

Stacked against something like an Apple MacBook Air M4, this Surface gets absolutely demolished in raw power and battery life, but it also costs a fraction of the price. The Lenovo ThinkPad Gen 13 and HP OmniBook X Flip are both far more modern 2-in-1s with better screens and performance, though they're in a totally different price bracket. The real fight is against other refurbished older laptops. Here, the Surface Pro wins on build quality and that excellent kickstand design, but loses on raw specs to a similarly priced used ThinkPad.

Pricing is a bit of a moving target here, with vendors listing this refurbished unit between $349 and $482. At the low end, you're getting a solid secondary machine for travel or a kid's homework station. But if you creep toward that $482 mark, you're flirting with the price of a new budget laptop that will run circles around this aging i5. If you're buying, hunt for the deal closer to $349 to make the math work.

The Surface Pro 1796 (aka the Surface Pro 5) is a tablet that wants to be your laptop. It's light, the kickstand is still clever, and the 12.3-inch PixelSense screen makes tapping around Windows 11 Pro feel natural. But we need to be real about what you're getting here: this is a dual-core chip from 2017 trying to run a modern OS. For light work, it's fine. For anything else, you'll feel the age immediately.

If you need to run any modern games, compile code, or keep more than a handful of apps open at once, look elsewhere. This machine's 8GB of RAM and weak processor will frustrate you daily. Students running specialized software or anyone needing all-day battery life should also steer clear.

This is a niche buy. Grab it if you need a cheap, silent Windows tablet for light note-taking, media consumption, or as a dedicated terminal for remote desktop work. It's a well-built device that feels premium, but the internals are showing their age. Don't buy this expecting a primary computer in 2025.