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Surface 2 and Pro 2 |OT| Lap it up

B

Betta Lines

Member
cookieaddict said:
So can anyone give any personal impressions on the battery life improvements of the new firmware update.
Click to expand...
I only had it a couple of days before this update, so I didn't really have time to get into any kind of typical usage routine. As such, I'm not really noticing a difference. I mean, it seemed fine before, and it's still fine. That said, I've been doing about two hours browsing just now and the battery is at 78%. So that's seems to be in line with Anandtech's new results.
 
G

giga

Member
maeh2k said:
It's a regular ULV i5 as seen in Ultrabooks. Of course they could have chosen a lower slower model (like the Macbook Air), or a Y series CPU to increase battery life at the cost of performance.
The regular i5 M CPUs still consume quite a bit more power, though.
Click to expand...
4200U and 4250U have the same TDP. The former has a higher clocked base CPU (same Turbo) while the latter has a better GPU.

-COOLIO- said:
i cant think of any other computer that is this size and weight that packs as much power and battery life as the sp2.
Click to expand...
Well, it's a 10.6" tablet. Not only does it not include a keyboard (which would add .5lbs), but it's also a weird display size. Even the smallest Macbook Air has a larger, 11.6" display.
 
NeOak

NeOak

Member
dem said:
Geez.. That's quite an improvement for the Pro2.


Hopefully Pro 3 improves the form factor. Until then I'm sticking with the rt.
Click to expand...

Man, I can't help but laugh at the people who think the Pro 3 will be that different.

It most likely won't. Why? It would make it incompatible with the docking station.
 
B

Betta Lines

Member
NeOak said:
Man, I can't help but laugh at the people who think the Pro 3 will be that different.

It most likely won't. Why? It would make it incompatible with the docking station.
Click to expand...
Why would you limit progress because of a dock? Anyway I'm sure they could reduce the weight and thickness somewhat while keeping it compatible. Looking at the design it clips in connectors at both sides, so a thinner Pro 3 could keep these in exactly the same place, and they could sell an insert or plate to fit in the dock to make up for the small gap at the back.
 
G

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
NeOak said:
Man, I can't help but laugh at the people who think the Pro 3 will be that different.

It most likely won't. Why? It would make it incompatible with the docking station.
Click to expand...

Touch luck? Can't hold back improvements because it will incompatible with past accessories. In fact, on top of being new, Im sure MS would love to sell you the dock over again.
 
NeOak

NeOak

Member
Pazuzu9 said:
Why would you limit progress because of a dock? Anyway I'm sure they could reduce the weight and thickness somewhat while keeping it compatible. Looking at the design it clips in connectors at both sides, so a thinner Pro 3 could keep these in exactly the same place, and they could sell an insert or plate to fit in the dock to make up for the small gap at the back.
Click to expand...

If they keep the same battery size while improving the internals, guess what? More battery life.

The batteries the Pro and Pro2 have aren't cheap.

Besides, thermal dissipation. They aren't using 6W chips, they are using 16W ones. Would they gimp the performance and battery life for a mm less or hey, longer battery life!
 
F

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
MS is pushing the Pro 2 and its dock to corporations. Like, super heavily. I don't think they are going to go for an incompatible form factor with the third gen model.
 
G

Ganondolf

Member
Funky Papa said:
MS is pushing the Pro 2 and its dock to corporations. Like, super heavily. I don't think they are going to go for an incompatible form factor with the third gen model.
Click to expand...

they could go for a insert like apple did.

im not expecting them to reduce the size in the pro 3, just improve all the parts they should have done on the pro 2
 
B

Betta Lines

Member
NeOak said:
If they keep the same battery size while improving the internals, guess what? More battery life.

The batteries the Pro and Pro2 have aren't cheap.

Besides, thermal dissipation. They aren't using 6W chips, they are using 16W ones. Would they gimp the performance and battery life for a mm less or hey, longer battery life!
Click to expand...
You're making it sound like an obvious choice, and I'm not sure it's as simple as that. If you're saying more battery life is the priority, then you've compromised the potential performance with that decision. A more efficient chip using the same batteries could be configured to give you slightly better performance with a big jump in battery life, or it can give you a big jump in performance at the same battery life. Many Pro 2 owners are already pretty satisfied with the battery life, so you could justify seeking the higher performance option. The other option is to use this more efficient chip to keep almost identical performance and battery life as it is now, with smaller, lighter batteries. Lots of people would like to see a reduction in weight, so you could also justify this route (although I can imagine some disappointment if the benchmarks didn't improve at all).

So it will be a balancing act. It is possible that they can compromise and improve everything within reason - performance, battery life and a weight reduction. These are the main considerations, I don't think 'is it gonna fit the dock' really influences the design/engineering process until they've decided how they're configuring the internals next time.

They might decide that it would be too expensive to totally redesign the chassis for a small improvement in weight/thermal efficiency at this stage, at which point 'hey, let's keep it the same so it fits the dock' might enter the conversation.
 
P

peteykirch

Member
How would this handle something like Lightroom?

I'm in the neighborhood of needing a new computer, and am seriously considering either a Surface Pro 2 or an MacBook Air.
 
B

Betta Lines

Member
I don't use Lightroom, but it strikes me as one of those programs that needs a big screen (like Photoshop really, but I'm making good use of the digitizer and I can't afford the big Cintiqs) - so outputting to a bigger monitor must be what you're considering? It's certainly powerful enough but it's physically a very tiny display for organising loads of photos...
 
Warnen

Warnen

Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
Anyone know of a good mkv player that's works with subs in "metro" ui? The more I use my surface pro 2 the more I dislike having to use the desktop for vids. I know vlc is being worked on but feels like that should have been done forever ago.
 
MrGreencastle

MrGreencastle

Member
Warnen said:
Anyone know of a good mkv player that's works with subs in "metro" ui? The more I use my surface pro 2 the more I dislike having to use the desktop for vids. I know vlc is being worked on but feels like that should have been done forever ago.
Click to expand...

Mobile.HD is good, but it isn't free ($3.49). Based on the trial version, which is offered for 7 days, I was able to test an .mkv file with the option to add subtitles in the swipe menu.
 
Warnen

Warnen

Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
MrGreencastle said:
Mobile.HD is good, but it isn't free ($3.49). Based on the trial version, which is offered for 7 days, I was able to test an .mkv file with the option to add subtitles in the swipe menu.
Click to expand...

Thanks I bought it when I had my 1st surface pro but never worked for me only got a black screen. I'll try it again.
 
V

Via Purifico

Banned
Pazuzu9 said:
I only had it a couple of days before this update, so I didn't really have time to get into any kind of typical usage routine. As such, I'm not really noticing a difference. I mean, it seemed fine before, and it's still fine. That said, I've been doing about two hours browsing just now and the battery is at 78%. So that's seems to be in line with Anandtech's new results.
Click to expand...

22 % for 2 hours translates to about 9 hours of battery life, that is pretty damn good, it's even more than my vaio pro manages.
 
W

Watevaman

Member
Does anyone know if Best Buy will price match the current price of the Pro 2 in the MS store? The 128 is only $900 for me but I didn't know MS taxed so I figure I'll just go to the local BB and pick it up immediately if that's they'll match.
 
P

panzone

Member
I have some question about Surface Pro 2:

1) Can i use it as a development machine ? The 10,6" screen doesn't convince me.
2) Can i use an usb hub ?
3) Can i use any usb-ethernet adapter ? My laboratory doesn't have wifi.
4) There is any cheap adapter for VGA exit ?
5) Why i should prefer a Surface Pro 2 instead of a Macbook air ?
 
B

Betta Lines

Member
panzone said:
I have some question about Surface Pro 2:

1) Can i use it as a development machine ? The 10,6" screen doesn't convince me.
2) Can i use an usb hub ?
3) Can i use any usb-ethernet adapter ? My laboratory doesn't have wifi.
4) There is any cheap adapter for VGA exit ?
5) Why i should prefer a Surface Pro 2 instead of a Macbook air ?
Click to expand...
The Pro 2 is a laptop in disguise, so the answer to the first four questions is yes. However, all your questions seem to relate to laptop-like functionality, so your last question is the key point. The reason why you'd choose a Pro 2 instead of any laptop is if you feel like there is value its tablet-like functionality. Using touch to browse the web on the couch. Using touch-optimised apps for various tasks. Using the digitizer for pen navigation or design/art work. If you have no need for such functionality, you should get a laptop. The MacBook Air is better at being a laptop than a Pro 2.
 
P

panzone

Member
Pazuzu9 said:
The Pro 2 is a laptop in disguise, so the answer to the first four questions is yes. However, all your questions seem to relate to laptop-like functionality, so your last question is the key point. The reason why you'd choose a Pro 2 instead of any laptop is if you feel like there is value its tablet-like functionality. Using touch to browse the web on the couch. Using touch-optimised apps for various tasks. Using the digitizer for pen navigation or design/art work. If you have no need for such functionality, you should get a laptop. The MacBook Air is better at being a laptop than a Pro 2.
Click to expand...

Thanks, i already have a tablet and i need something to replace my heavy and short-battery laptop. I will get an Air.
 
L

lastflowers

Banned
Alright everyone, go match your music in the music app. This cloud streaming music/match is pretty neat. Will be useful at work. I might subscribe to the music pass because of this.
 
G

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
Alchemy said:
It can handle playing videos and a keyboard and mouse!? Eye popping graphics?!?

This guy is laying it on way too thick.
Click to expand...

That was epic. Really epic.

Haven't seen the video, but I'm sure he used the word epic a lot.
 
W

Watevaman

Member
Alright guys, I'm a new owner of an SP2 now. Now that it's been out for a little while, what are the "must-do" tasks for optimizing a new SP2? I've heard talk about calibrating the inputs, downloading drivers, etc. so I want to know what you guys consider essential before I bite into this thing.
 
H

hipbabboom

Huh? What did I say? Did I screw up again? :(
camajise said:
love this guy's videos. he's sold more surfaces than microsoft's marketing team has. hope Microsoft sends him shit for free to review.
Click to expand...

MS is terrible at highlighting their coolest strength and I sometimes feel its because there's too much media training and trying to stay on message. The best presentations I see are those where a person can go off script enough to make the listener feel like they're discovering information organically. Sadly its not as fun and prone to the deliberate misinformation of the net when there's an invisible lawyer with a leach yanking at people trying to talk about the product. Even if there is such a thing, it should never be obvious to the user but it doesn't seem like MS has enough people with that organic speaking ability (or perhaps freedom).
 
NeOak

NeOak

Member
Watevaman said:
Alright guys, I'm a new owner of an SP2 now. Now that it's been out for a little while, what are the "must-do" tasks for optimizing a new SP2? I've heard talk about calibrating the inputs, downloading drivers, etc. so I want to know what you guys consider essential before I bite into this thing.
Click to expand...

Driver side? Wacom Feel drivers. Rest are ok.
 
X

Xplatformer

Member
f0lken said:
"Has a real keyboard" No it doesn't, it has the option of a keyboard, but MS should stop selling the idea of the Surface combined with a keyboard OR should start including one in the package
Click to expand...

This I agree with. It's a great tablet even if you don't buy a $100 + keyboard. USB keyboards are everywhere.

1) the OS should have been called TILE OS, not Windows.
2) like you said they either need include the keyboard in the $449 price or stop showing it in their adds.

In the week I've owned my Surface I've typed on a real keyboard twice. Every other time I've been quite happy using the on screen keyboard.
 
T

Tablo

Member
-COOLIO- said:
good ad, but what do these things cost subsidized? 200 bucks? id still suggest schools get cheapo chinese tablets in bulk.
Click to expand...

eeW6k7R.gif


No, you have to realize it has to be snappy enough to not slow down the class, even having a dual core i3 /5400rpm HDD windows laptops waste tons of classtime loading up office and other programs, booting up, and spazzing out when connected to USB docks for projectors. Price/performance is important, but you can't stoop that low so that students will be severely crippled by their devices. Surface 2 for 300 or under for schools would be fantastic, even better would be cheap atom tablets with digitizers in the 10~ inch range, baytrail of course.
 
-COOLIO-

-COOLIO-

The Everyman
Tablo said:
eeW6k7R.gif


No, you have to realize it has to be snappy enough to not slow down the class, even having a dual core i3 /5400rpm HDD windows laptops waste tons of classtime loading up office and other programs, booting up, and spazzing out when connected to USB docks for projectors. Price/performance is important, but you can't stoop that low so that students will be severely crippled by their devices. Surface 2 for 300 or under for schools would be fantastic, even better would be cheap atom tablets with digitizers in the 10~ inch range, baytrail of course.
Click to expand...

the cheapo tablets are pretty fast yo. ~80 bucks for dual core tablets. its just that the displays are lacking in most cases (~1024 x 600)

srouce: http://www.chinavasion.com/china/wholesale/Android_Tablets/Cheap_Android_Tablets/

if i was running an elementary school i would buy a ton of them.
 
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