Watch for battery life when buying older Surface devices. Replacing batteries in the older Surface Pros is notoriously difficult, because apparently the whole assembly is glued together. Loss of battery life is what forced an early retirement of my 5th-gen (2015) Surface Pro, even though not was otherwise completely serviceable. Newer versions are apparently more repairable, but you’ll have to investigate where that cut-off line of repairability is.

Mach-E GT’s are a steal right now

I mean, I think it started as a BSD fork with a Linux kernel jammed in so… you’re not far off.

I’m pretty sure Jurassic Park (the movie) coming out was when it became common knowledge to the general public. A few hardcore dinosaur nerds (and readers of the Jurassic Park novel) were generally aware beforehand, but it was the movie that pushed it into common knowledge. (Source: I was 14 when Jurassic Park (the movie) came out)

I could see how in Europe, where every little compact hatchback has a tow rating, this could be very frustrating. In the US, where mostly college kids drive compact cars, every household has at least two vehicles, and mom regularly hauls the kids around in their “family” 2 ton SUV (that has no hitch), somebody you know probably has a truck. Our tow vehicle standards (either official or customary) seem to be more stringent. That seems to leave leaked into the European-spec Mach-E. Would be nice to have a tow hitch, even if it was just for mounting a bicycle carrier.

The Mach-E is an extremely competent family hauler that mom and dad can enjoy driving. (It is a chubby Fusion with a lift gate.) How many people tow with their family SUVs? A very small minority. The car itself is excellent as-is, no need to pretend it’s a towing vehicle.

That’s about where I am. If I’m doing really light duty stuff (web browsing, no video) I can get maybe an hour. Any more than that, the clock is ticking pretty fast.

I’ve done several repairs and battery replacements on various tablets, but as an amateur, I won’t touch this one. I’m sure if you crack these things regularly you can get proficient at it, but given the complexity, I’m not sure it’s worth the labor.

One caution on older Surface Pros: They are generally not serviceable, and when the batteries eventually go, you will have to replace the device. The 9th gen and later may be better. I am dealing with this right now in a 2017/5th gen Surface Pro. While it’s nice hardware (as a user), apparently the battery is glued-in in such a way that you cannot replace it without destroying the tablet. I’m currently looking to replace it with either a Lenovo ThinkPad X12 detachable or a Dell Latitude 7320 detachable, both of which are similar but (purportedly) much more repairable.