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Surface 2 and Pro 2 |OT| Lap it up

Definitely something funny going on with the battery. It shows that it's not charging, stays at 7%. If I hit the sleep button and then wake it a few minutes later it will have jumped up in charge. But if I leave it 'on' for about the same amount of time (or longer), it will stay at 7% and immediately warn me to plug the charger in if I pull it out. And that's not because it's on, with the power is being depleted faster than it can charge - it can comfortably increase battery charge while idling. Seems like a software thing anyway, hopefully the next update will address it.
 

hipbabboom

Huh? What did I say? Did I screw up again? :(
[QUOTE="God's Beard!";94731541]Bow down to the Cintiq Companion master race, plebs.[/QUOTE]

That manga has rotted your brain :(
 

Laconic

Banned
[QUOTE="God's Beard!";94782475]I'm not gonna do my illustration work on a Surface Pro 2 screen when I could use a Cintiq, lol[/QUOTE]

Why not?
 

hipbabboom

Huh? What did I say? Did I screw up again? :(
[QUOTE="God's Beard!";94891873]It's a nicer screen and the surface pro is really small. The price is irrelevant, the cintiq is just a better drawing tablet. Which should be obvious. It's a 13HD that doubles as a laptop.[/QUOTE]

I'm a little confused now as to what you're comparing here :(
 
I'm a little confused now as to what you're comparing here :(

The Surface Pro 2 and Cintiq Companion.

Cintiq has a larger, much more sensitive screen and the Surface Pro 2 has a more convenient stand and keyboard. Surface Pro 2 is really good for almost everybody, but Cintiq has it beat cleanly as a professional drawing tool.

The Cintiq is a terrible option for most people.
 

ericexpo

Member
my mom got a surface for Christmas, i really wish they had a demo mode like in video games on new technology. This is where you swipe, this is how you make a contact now make your own.
 
Weird, apparently my type cover is shipping from the US (should get here next Monday), but I'll have to wait till Friday for my Pro 2 since it's being shipped from Ontario, Canada of all places.

I had no idea they actually shipped any of that stuff out from Canada in the first place.
 
Two things I don't get about the Surface line.

1. Why is the keyboard so damned expensive?

2. Why can't I install other programs (especially other web browsers) on Windows RT?
 
So, it's taken me a month to get a Surface I'm satisfied with. I bought a 32GB Surface RT and was fine with it until I realized there are some x86 programs I'll need for work.

Fine, so I ordered a Surface Pro 128GB. In the mail I received a Surface RT 64GB. After two weeks of trying to get that one returned and exchanged, I said fuck it and got a full refund I then sold the 32GB RT.

I then I try to buy a Surface Pro 2 128GB from Amazon and instead of that, got a Surface Pro 128GB from a third-party seller. Instead of battling the return/exchange piece as I'm going on a trip in a couple of days, I got a partial refund for the Surface Pro, which didn't include a stylus and ended up paying $570 for it.

I then had to work with the seller to help them determine what a Pro 2 vs a Pro looks like as they had paid for 2's from their vendor and ended up with the original Surface.

The knowledge on all sides (and part marketing's fault) is low and, to be honest, it is kind of difficult to tell them all apart if you just throw a glance at them.

Ultimately, I have a Surface Pro 128GB that works just fine, but holy hell if it wasn't annoying to deal with.

/rant over.
 

Tangeroo

Member
So, it's taken me a month to get a Surface I'm satisfied with. I bought a 32GB Surface RT and was fine with it until I realized there are some x86 programs I'll need for work.

Fine, so I ordered a Surface Pro 128GB. In the mail I received a Surface RT 64GB. After two weeks of trying to get that one returned and exchanged, I said fuck it and got a full refund I then sold the 32GB RT.

I then I try to buy a Surface Pro 2 128GB from Amazon and instead of that, got a Surface Pro 128GB from a third-party seller. Instead of battling the return/exchange piece as I'm going on a trip in a couple of days, I got a partial refund for the Surface Pro, which didn't include a stylus and ended up paying $570 for it.

I then had to work with the seller to help them determine what a Pro 2 vs a Pro looks like as they had paid for 2's from their vendor and ended up with the original Surface.

The knowledge on all sides (and part marketing's fault) is low and, to be honest, it is kind of difficult to tell them all apart if you just throw a glance at them.

Ultimately, I have a Surface Pro 128GB that works just fine, but holy hell if it wasn't annoying to deal with.

/rant over.

Yikes. What a nightmare. Aside from the additional kickstand setting, this is the easiest way to tell them apart:

sp2-logos.jpg


The SP1 has the Windows 8 logo. The SP2 has the word Surface on the kickstand instead.
 
Yikes. What a nightmare. Aside from the additional kickstand setting, this is the easiest way to tell them apart:

sp2-logos.jpg


The SP1 has the Windows 8 logo. The SP2 has the word Surface on the kickstand instead.

Yeah, I had no problems figuring it out within 2 seconds of opening as I tried to push the kickstand the extra distance with no problem. It's certain sellers that seem to have a problem. For average Joe, you'd think they would make slightly more obvious. You know, like a big 2 on the back or something. :)

570 for a used P1 with no stylus..yikes.

I honestly don't care about the stylus at all. If you know of somewhere where I could get it cheaper, let me know! It seems to be the standard price for a refurbished model from where I've looked. I'm all about saving a buck!
 

DopeyFish

Not bitter, just unsweetened
Two things I don't get about the Surface line.

1. Why is the keyboard so damned expensive?

2. Why can't I install other programs (especially other web browsers) on Windows RT?

keyboard is expensive because its a mechanical keyboard and kind of complex due to miniaturization.

RT uses an ARM CPU.

even if they opened up the desktop to 3rd party programs, they'd all have to be optimized and recompiled for the arm instruction set.

there are web browsers on the way for the windows store, though. Firefox being one of them. How it will compare to the desktop version in terms of feature set is anyone's guess.
 

BlindRage

Member
I have really been wanting to get one of these for two reasons:

1) I don't have a tablet and I do want one. (Don't need it though, laptop/phone suffice)

2) I wanna play the win8 games to add to my gamerscore. Just debating if it's worth it
 

I'm an expert

Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
Yeah, I had no problems figuring it out within 2 seconds of opening as I tried to push the kickstand the extra distance with no problem. It's certain sellers that seem to have a problem. For average Joe, you'd think they would make slightly more obvious. You know, like a big 2 on the back or something. :)



I honestly don't care about the stylus at all. If you know of somewhere where I could get it cheaper, let me know! It seems to be the standard price for a refurbished model from where I've looked. I'm all about saving a buck!

Saving a buck is probably what got you in the giant mess. Why I went new for my P1 when the price dropped for the holidays, too much bs that can happen used with a product like this. I think you can use any wacom pen on it, but if you don't care about the stylus, whatever.
 
Saving a buck is probably what got you in the giant mess. Why I went new for my P1 when the price dropped for the holidays, too much bs that can happen used with a product like this. I think you can use any wacom pen on it, but if you don't care about the stylus, whatever.

True. I set myself up for this mess, but I've honestly never had that many issues trying to get one thing. Either way, I ended with what I needed. Now spending this money in the first place was not what I wanted...
 
keyboard is expensive because its a mechanical keyboard and kind of complex due to miniaturization.

RT uses an ARM CPU.

even if they opened up the desktop to 3rd party programs, they'd all have to be optimized and recompiled for the arm instruction set.

there are web browsers on the way for the windows store, though. Firefox being one of them. How it will compare to the desktop version in terms of feature set is anyone's guess.
I could understand the Type Cover, but the Touch Cover not so much.

Regardless, I've found some ridiculously cheap bluetooth keyboards on Amazon that I'll probably get instead.


That is good news about the web browsers. Hopefully the Firefox will have sync or can at least import their desktop bookmark files.
 

hwalker84

Member
Since the December update my 64GB Surface 2 has been on the fritz. Battery seems worse. Random shutdowns not reboots. IE only showing 3-4 tabs even though more than are open (cannot scroll to the others unless you close enough tabs).
 
Since the December update my 64GB Surface 2 has been on the fritz. Battery seems worse. Random shutdowns not reboots. IE only showing 3-4 tabs even though more than are open (cannot scroll to the others unless you close enough tabs).


I'll never understand how a closed ecosystem like the Surface RT platform can have such varying system stability issues.
 

Returners

Member
Does anyone tried both Sony Tap 11 and the Surface Pro extensively? Any consensus?

I have SP1 and might want to upgrade and the Tap 11 caught my eye. That machine is sexy.
 

trinest

Member
Does anyone tried both Sony Tap 11 and the Surface Pro extensively? Any consensus?

I have SP1 and might want to upgrade and the Tap 11 caught my eye. That machine is sexy.

Haven't used it, but Sony tax probably isn't worth it, and the Surface is probably in the end the better package.
 
How big a difference is the model with the 8 GBs of ram? The specs make it so that I wouldn't really be playing any games on it anyway so I doubt I could be as multi-tasking intensive as I am on my desktop. Assume there's no possible way to add ram later? 3/400 dollars difference is just a lot for something so generally cheap.
 

cool_dude

Banned
Finally got a surface pro 2. They were sold out at the Microsoft store in San Diego, so I got the 128gb one at Staples, who gave me a $25 Microsoft store gift card. I then drove back to the super crowded mall to buy the Pro 2 Type Cover....and they were sold out of that too!

Guess I'll order it online whenever more are available. Loving the Pro 2 so far.
 

ksdixon

Member
What's the cheapest I can get a 128GB Surface Pro 1 for? I only seem to find £500-650, and the 128GB Surface Pro 2 is only about £750 itself.
 

I'm an expert

Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
What's the cheapest I can get a 128GB Surface Pro 1 for? I only seem to find £500-650, and the 128GB Surface Pro 2 is only about £750 itself.

If you're trying to get the cheapest P1, just grab a 64 gig. You can fix the memory issue (if a few gigs really are an issue..) easily and for cheaper.
 

Alx

Member
Just bought a Surface Pro 2 as a self-present. Everything is great right now, although I noticed that the new stand is lacking the characteristic "click" of the first ones. That's too bad, it's a small detail but I really like that sound each time I stop using my RT.
 

ksdixon

Member
running out of hard drive space.

Ah, yeah I suppose I could always sling an SD card in there. HDD space isn't as needed as it previously was since I no longer have loads of TV Shows downloaded, now that I have found out how to unlock all Netflix regions.

Just a bit annoyed that the prices for 64GB and 128GB SP1 and SP2 are all so close. Should make the SP1 skus much cheaper to get people into the ecosystem at low prices. At the moment I'm struggling to get the money together, and I'm a Surface fan, normal people won't pay those kind of prices (£500 approx).
 
I visited best buy and played with the sp2 again and waiting for the day when I can afford one. I've gone back and forth on it and the cintiq companion.

I want to be able to use all my windows programs on the device as well as do my illustration work on it. I don't have a cintiq desktop tablet. I suppose if I did I wouldn't want this as much.

But portability and support are big to me.
I'll need to run photoshop, manga studio pro, sketchbook pro and some programs for publishing

It will essentially be my portable studio.

Feasible? I'm upgrading from a motion computing tablet with zero battery life left and inability to run photoshop. I need the upgrade.
 

NeOak

Member
I visited best buy and played with the sp2 again and waiting for the day when I can afford one. I've gone back and forth on it and the cintiq companion.

I want to be able to use all my windows programs on the device as well as do my illustration work on it. I don't have a cintiq desktop tablet. I suppose if I did I wouldn't want this as much.

But portability and support are big to me.
I'll need to run photoshop, manga studio pro, sketchbook pro and some programs for publishing

It will essentially be my portable studio.

Feasible? I'm upgrading from a motion computing tablet with zero battery life left and inability to run photoshop. I need the upgrade.

Surface Pro has 1024 levels of pressure and a 10.6" screen, the Cintiq Companion has 2048 levels of pressure and a 13.3" screen.

Gabe from Penny Arcade uses a Surface Pro for drawing on the go, which should give you something to read about:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/2013/02/22/the-ms-surface-pro

http://www.penny-arcade.com/2013/10/28/surface-pro-2
 

Ganondolf

Member
I have noticed that my surface pro 2 has a recovery partition but it seems to be empty. when I went to make a backup it said the partition is too small (8gb required).

so is their any reason to keep the partition? or should I merge it with the main partition and keep a backup on a usb stick?

Capture_zpsb52e8f4e.png
 

NeOak

Member
I have noticed that my surface pro 2 has a recovery partition but it seems to be empty. when I went to make a backup it said the partition is too small (8gb required).

so is their any reason to keep the partition? or should I merge it with the main partition and keep a backup on a usb stick?

Capture_zpsb52e8f4e.png

It's hidden to Windows, but the recovery data is there.

If you need the space, you can move the recovery image to a USB drive and then merge the partition with the main.
 

Ganondolf

Member
It's hidden to Windows, but the recovery data is there.

If you need the space, you can move the recovery image to a USB drive and then merge the partition with the main.

thanks, thought it was strange. I don't need the space so I will leave it as it is.
 

luxarific

Nork unification denier
Hi everyone - think I'm going to buy the 256 gb version for my Dad for his bday. Anyone know if there are any good deals going on for that version? Cheapest I've found so far was Best Buy.
 

maeh2k

Member
Hi everyone - think I'm going to buy the 256 gb version for my Dad for his bday. Anyone know if there are any good deals going on for that version? Cheapest I've found so far was Best Buy.

Don't know of any deals, but are you sure your father would profit from 256GB/8GB? If he doesn't do anything demanding you could save some cash by going with the 128GB/4GB version.
 

luxarific

Nork unification denier
Don't know of any deals, but are you sure your father would profit from 256GB/8GB? If he doesn't do anything demanding you could save some cash by going with the 128GB/4GB version.

Yeah, he keeps his tech equipment until it drops and I want to future proof a bit by getting an 8GB version. As it is, I'd prefer the 512 GB version, but it's just too expensive, given that the type cover isn't included. Speaking of which, is there any place online that is selling those things (for not a huge mark-up)?
 

Animator

Member
[QUOTE="God's Beard!";94891873]It's a nicer screen and the surface pro is really small. The price is irrelevant, the cintiq is just a better drawing tablet. Which should be obvious. It's a 13HD that doubles as a laptop.[/QUOTE]

I returned my Cintiq Companion and picked up a SP2 instead and can't be happier. I am doing everything from sketching to sculpting to maya modeling and animation on it.

Cintiq Companion is a waste of money in my opinion. Wacom needs to stop half assing the specs and put some horsepower in there for the money they charge. SP2 ran every app I threw at it better than the Companion for half the price.
 
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