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Surface 2 and Pro 2 |OT| Lap it up

D

Dead Prince

Banned
i told my mother about this. she also wants a tablet but want one with 4G. so the nokia probably would work but it isn't on Tmo.

but man. BB.com doesn't carry the 256GB here D: and microsoft.com has a ship date of december 15th lol

how much of a difference is the 128GB/4GB with the 256GB/8GB in terms of perf.
 
NeOak

NeOak

Member
DMPrince said:
i told my mother about this. she also wants a tablet but want one with 4G. so the nokia probably would work but it isn't on Tmo.

but man. BB.com doesn't carry the 256GB here D: and microsoft.com has a ship date of december 15th lol

how much of a difference is the 128GB/4GB with the 256GB/8GB in terms of perf.
Click to expand...

None. Just the extra RAM and space. The SSD controller is the same.
 
G

Green Embers

Member
Trackpad oddities... so I figured out why the track pad has been different for me. If you scroll from outside on the trackpad to the left it will pop open the right sidebar (charms bar) and the mouse will jump to the start symbol.

Nifty now that I know but there for a bit I thought my surface was possessed, lol. It also works on the left side going right where it will pop open the multitask panel.
 
NeOak

NeOak

Member
iBpTUoevqaKT8.jpg
Click to expand...

Surface Pro 2 with Type Cover 2 at dusk
 
A

Anastasia

Member
I was running ilomilo plus earlier and it looks fantastic. The tablet continues to impress.

Also, I've warmed up to the trackpad. It's still not perfect, but I find myself using it more often, especially for side-scrolling.

Anarkin said:
A pixel failure would drive me crazy. Hope it won't come back. ;)
Click to expand...

Yeah, it was bothering me a lot when I first noticed it (it was in the lower left portion of the screen). But so far it hasn't come back. It's just a software glitch, thankfully. ^^
 
S

Syckx

Member
Decided to go with the Surface 2, and I am glad I did. This thing flies compared to my old RT, and I really don't use anything outside of Office, web, and email. I also bought a purple Type Cover and the Arc Touch Mouse, both of which are awesome. The trackpad on the Type Cover is worse than the old one, but it doesn't have that oil-attracting plastic, so I'm okay with the change.

The design of this thing is slick. I wasn't too happy that silver was going to be the only option, but I like that it looks a lot cleaner than the titanium finish of the old one. All in all, a very worthy upgrade.
 
X

Xplatformer

Member
Syckx said:
Decided to go with the Surface 2, and I am glad I did. This thing flies compared to my old RT, and I really don't use anything outside of Office, web, and email. I also bought a purple Type Cover and the Arc Touch Mouse, both of which are awesome. The trackpad on the Type Cover is worse than the old one, but it doesn't have that oil-attracting plastic, so I'm okay with the change.

The design of this thing is slick. I wasn't too happy that silver was going to be the only option, but I like that it looks a lot cleaner than the titanium finish of the old one. All in all, a very worthy upgrade.
Click to expand...

Welcome to RT young Surface Jedi. :)
 
M

moowear

Member
NeOak said:
Only BF4 would show a difference. The rest of the games are 32 bits, so the 4GB will be fine.
Click to expand...

Thanks again for the ffxiv benchmarks. I have a 256gb pro 2 coming but wondering if I can save some money by going with the 128gb and 4gb ram. Will having 4gb ram vs 8gb have any affect on playing ffxiv?
 
D

Deleted member 1235

Unconfirmed Member
I missed it but does anyone know if the docking station fits a surface 1?
 
L

Lucius86

Banned
So I've had my SP2 256GB for around 24hours, and after some initial niggles, I am super impressed by this device.

  • Ever under stress, this device remains silent and surprisingly cool. It never gets 'hot', though it did get warm on the back.
  • The display is beautiful. It just looks awesome.
  • The touch keyboard is awesome, with the keys having a great feel to them. The trackpad is pretty useless though, being more of a chore to use than an aid. Definitely recommend getting a BlueTooth mouse connected for even light amounts of work using desktop apps.
  • My SP2 last me a full day of note taking using the Style and OneNote 2013, along with plenty of downloading files and programs throughout the duration.
  • Anyone who complains about the weight of this thing is stupid. It's not heavy and is perfectly manageable.
  • Keeping this thing clean is going to be a nightmare. HELLO FINGERPRINTS.
  • The power cord should be a metre longer. You have to be very close to a wall socket annoyingly.
  • It really is a beautiful device, but also very professional looking.
  • Having the pen and the charger use the same port on the side is really bad design - I can see myself misplacing my pen quite often :(
  • It runs Skyrim surprisingly well, and dropping the resolution down from 1080P to get some more FPS in games doesn't affect image quality much at all. I want to try Batman: AC next for a greater test later today.
  • Fresh paint with the pen is an amazing amount of fun.
  • I reduced the scaling from 150% to 125% - helps reduce blurriness of any apps that do not scale well (not many thus far), yet it's not too small. 100% was overkill though.

Overall, yes it was a lot of money, but boy I am happy with my purchase so far. The only major niggle so far I've had is with the pen holder using the same connector port as the charger - what an oversight. Otherwise, I'm loving this thing.
 
M

monome

Member
argh....

while I wait for the dock to be available in France, MS drops, again, the Pro 1 price...

I'm not interested much in autonomy. the thing will be on the dock most of the time and be used as a torrent/ media machine.

main tablet use is comics +light browsing.

am I stupid to consider the 679€ Pro 1? I have to buy the dock and get an extra usb 3.0 hdd + sdxc card too.

I don't think I'm gonna play games on it. since I have a wiiu already and will get an X1 when titanfall hits.
 
S

senahorse

Member
izunadono said:
You can download from Intel fine, but afaik 8.1 is shipped with a working driver (no crash on OpenGL) so no need to care about it.

I have mine set to balanced and customised the settings to be high for High Performance. I used to have problems with many laptops setting it to High Performance so I avoid it, just customise the settings inside as you see fit.

For example, when I close the lid, the Surface Pro will still run if it is plugged in. This is great if I have media servers running etc.
Click to expand...

NeOak said:
Post 787 for more info.

1. Yes, the shipping driver is the newest one. The one downloaded from Intel crashes.
2. Maybe 1 fps more. I set it to Max Perf while plugged in anyway.



He means the option for the Intel GPU inside the configuration foe the power plan, not the Power plan per se.
Click to expand...

fluffydelusions said:
1) Possible but it could also be buggier too.
2) Probably not. Read this:http://variableghz.com/2010/11/power-saver-balanced-or-high-performance/
Click to expand...



Thanks all, that makes sense. I tested it really briefly after posting the question and I may have got a 5-10fps bump in Torchlight 2 but the testing was far from extensive so take that with a grain of salt.
 
S

senahorse

Member
Had a good day of use at work today. Took it to meetings, used word for my presentation notes and then scribbled questions, notes and follow up material inline. I love this device :D

Another question though about One Note 2013.

To use handwriting I select draw and use the pen, then when I want to convert the handwriting to text I use the lasso tool. The problem is, after using the lasso tool and converting some text, every time I try to write something else it switches from pen back to lasso. To be able to write again, I need to close One Note and reopen.

Is there something I am doing wrong, or better yet a more elegant way to use handwriting?

edit: oops double post, I thought I clicked edit :/
 
H

hadareud

The Translator
hadareud said:
The speakers on my S2 are bollocksed :(

Going to have to call MS about it tomorrow, hope they are good about it.
Click to expand...

Just to say that they were very good about it.

Had an online chat and they're sending out a new one today with a labelled box for the old one and I have 2 weeks to send it back. Took no longer than 10 minutes and I didn't even have to call or anything.

Good customer service - not something that can be taken for granted these days.
 
G

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
monome said:
argh....

while I wait for the dock to be available in France, MS drops, again, the Pro 1 price...

I'm not interested much in autonomy. the thing will be on the dock most of the time and be used as a torrent/ media machine.

main tablet use is comics +light browsing.

am I stupid to consider the 679€ Pro 1? I have to buy the dock and get an extra usb 3.0 hdd + sdxc card too.

I don't think I'm gonna play games on it. since I have a wiiu already and will get an X1 when titanfall hits.
Click to expand...

If that is all you really going to use it for, I think you should look around first.
 
M

monome

Member
GK86 said:
If that is all you really going to use it for, I think you should look around first.
Click to expand...

srry, it's a bit cryptic to me.

You mean other brands/ form factors?

I'm a whore for industrial subdued design, so unless it's a Surface I'm not going for a laptop or for another brand.
 
S

Special C

Member
I had an little glitch today on NeoGAF. I was browing with IE (app mode) with the type cover unattached. When I clicked in the search box on NeoGAF my virtual KB popped up but would immedialty dissapear. If I was fast enough to put a couple of letters in it still dissapeared and nothing typed. I had to attach my type cover to do a search and was a minor annoyance.
 
NeOak

NeOak

Member
lastflowers said:
does the new arctouch mouse need the dongle like the original ones from a couple of years ago?
Click to expand...

It's BT 4.0 LE iirc

moowear said:
Thanks again for the ffxiv benchmarks. I have a 256gb pro 2 coming but wondering if I can save some money by going with the 128gb and 4gb ram. Will having 4gb ram vs 8gb have any affect on playing ffxiv?
Click to expand...

None at all.

fluffydelusions said:
I can't even imagine bf4 running on a pro 2 going by the beta. Has anyone tried bf3 BTW?
Click to expand...

It was a rhetorical answer lol
 
M

maximum360

Member
sca2511 said:
What other device would be a good alternative for the Surface Pro 2? Venue Pro 11? Pretty much looking for best bang per buck.

I was pretty impressed with how thin the Tap 11 is, but I also read in a review that it gets pretty hot when playing games or the like. Also looking at the laptop convertibles, like the Sony VAIO Flip 13, but I saw some reviews saying the NTRIG pen isn't as good as the Wacom. Decisions.
Click to expand...

The Venue Pro 11 looks like it may be a decent challenger. No kickstand though. If I do decide to go with the Dell I would have to use their power cover option. It pretty much turn the thing into a laptop but the cheaper alternative [similar to type cover] is just too flimsy. Seriously, all these new tablets should have kickstands.

Doffen said:
The Surface Pro with a student discount is a steal.
Click to expand...
If the SP2 started at that price there would be no hesitation.
 
W

Watevaman

Member
Oh wow, so the only real difference between the SP1 and 2 is really the battery life?

Can you upgrade to 8.1 from 8 or does that cost extra?
 
R

Retrocide

Member
I'm really tempted to get the surface pro 1 at that new low price....especially since I can get the students discount. Can you use the discount code in the the physical store? If so I can go to delawareand get it tax free too....
 
S

Sigma722

Member
Retrocide said:
I'm really tempted to get the surface pro 1 at that new low price....especially since I can get the students discount. Can you use the discount code in the the physical store? If so I can go to delawareand get it tax free too....
Click to expand...

I believe you can get it in the store by showing a student id, or acceptance letter or something else proving you are a student. Might be worth calling first though.
 
J

jagowar

Member
Retrocide said:
I'm really tempted to get the surface pro 1 at that new low price....especially since I can get the students discount. Can you use the discount code in the the physical store? If so I can go to delawareand get it tax free too....
Click to expand...

I tried to apply the code I got to an order with the original pro and it would not take... if I could get the 10% off in conjunction with the discount I would be all over one.
 
W

Watevaman

Member
Yeah, I just tried to add the student promo code to my cart and it wouldn't take it. I'm assuming it's because it already counts a $100 off discount for the SP1.

edit:and after the code with the SP2, it's only $100 more so I might as well get that if I decide to.
 
S

Sigma722

Member
Kinda wish they would have tried to innovate a little on the camera for the pro 2 :-/

Surface 2's looks a lot stronger, and the pro2 camera taking software sure is basic..
 
S

sammich

Member
Im not sure how far this coupon reaches(geographically outside Toronto) but staples has a 10% off coupon off your entire purchase in store. They have surface 2's. Valid only Oct 25/26th though. Im not going to use it and i have 2 different ones as i signed up with 2 different email addys. If anyone is thinking about buying a surface or wants anything from staples to be honest, let me know.
 
NeOak

NeOak

Member
Watevaman said:
Oh wow, so the only real difference between the SP1 and 2 is really the battery life?

Can you upgrade to 8.1 from 8 or does that cost extra?
Click to expand...

lol

The GPU, the second position for the stand, and the most important: cold boots in 6 seconds.

Its not a revolutionary upgrade, but its noticeable.
 
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