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Surface 2 and Pro 2 |OT| Lap it up

G

Gazunta

Member
Am absolutely loving my Surface Pro 2 in the few days I've owned it so far. Just a couple of quick questions if anyone can help me out with some things -

1) The screen brightness keeps changing for no apparent reason while I'm working on it - I'm obviously covering up some kind of sensor while I'm drawing...but is there a way to disable it? I'd like to just manage the screen brightness manually, it's OK Microsoft I'm a big boy with pull up pants.

2) It kinda took me by surprise just how noisy this thing is - and by that I mean Windows, not the machine itself. Beep! BONG. TING! all the time while I'm moving files around or installing software. I guess it's normal for a Windows set up but feels weird in a tablet environment. Is there a way I can minimise the sound effects without turning the sound off all together?

3) OK this will sound weird, but has anyone else had problems with Photoshop forgetting the Feel drivers after it recovers from Sleep mode? I feel like whenever I open the Surface back up and jump straight back into Photoshop (CS3) the mouse cursor is on the opposite side of the screen of wherever the pen is. I reinstall the Feel drivers and its fine.

4) I installed Google Chrome last night on the desktop but...is it kinda blurry for anyone else? I feel like the text is sharper on IE. But...but my beloved Chrome :/

5) OK this is an odd request. But is there any keyboards out there that has, like, 4 or 5 keys on it at most? I'm not even really sure what I'm asking for (otherwise I'd Google it, ha) but I'd love a tiny little "thing" that I can use to switch between my most frequently used Photoshop actions without having to use the keyboard. Drawing directly on the glass is LOVELY, but the keyboard kinda gets in the way. I'm very used to drawing with my right hand on a tablet / Cintiq while my left hand hovers over a keyboard so I can press Ctrl-Z every three seconds.
 
I

I'm an expert

Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
Your number 2 question took me back to 1995..have you really never changed/turned off sound effects in Windows ever?
 
NeOak

NeOak

Member
Gazunta said:
1) The screen brightness keeps changing for no apparent reason while I'm working on it - I'm obviously covering up some kind of sensor while I'm drawing...but is there a way to disable it? I'd like to just manage the screen brightness manually, it's OK Microsoft I'm a big boy with pull up pants.
Click to expand...
Nope. That can't be disabled. Sensor is next to the front facing camera, to the right when you are facing the camera.

Gazunta said:
2) It kinda took me by surprise just how noisy this thing is - and by that I mean Windows, not the machine itself. Beep! BONG. TING! all the time while I'm moving files around or installing software. I guess it's normal for a Windows set up but feels weird in a tablet environment. Is there a way I can minimise the sound effects without turning the sound off all together?
Click to expand...
System sounds. You can disable the ones you like.

Gazunta said:
3) OK this will sound weird, but has anyone else had problems with Photoshop forgetting the Feel drivers after it recovers from Sleep mode? I feel like whenever I open the Surface back up and jump straight back into Photoshop (CS3) the mouse cursor is on the opposite side of the screen of wherever the pen is. I reinstall the Feel drivers and its fine.
Click to expand...
Probably CS3, but i dont use Photoshop so i can't say. Try a demo of CS6 maybe?

Gazunta said:
4) I installed Google Chrome last night on the desktop but...is it kinda blurry for anyone else? I feel like the text is sharper on IE. But...but my beloved Chrome :/
Click to expand...
Give IE a chance. You'll like it.

Gazunta said:
5) OK this is an odd request. But is there any keyboards out there that has, like, 4 or 5 keys on it at most? I'm not even really sure what I'm asking for (otherwise I'd Google it, ha) but I'd love a tiny little "thing" that I can use to switch between my most frequently used Photoshop actions without having to use the keyboard. Drawing directly on the glass is LOVELY, but the keyboard kinda gets in the way. I'm very used to drawing with my right hand on a tablet / Cintiq while my left hand hovers over a keyboard so I can press Ctrl-Z every three seconds.
Click to expand...
You can get a small bluetooth keyboard and use that or use something like those game focused pads that have 15 keys.
 
A

AnkitT

Member
Gazunta said:
Am absolutely loving my Surface Pro 2 in the few days I've owned it so far. Just a couple of quick questions if anyone can help me out with some things -

1) The screen brightness keeps changing for no apparent reason while I'm working on it - I'm obviously covering up some kind of sensor while I'm drawing...but is there a way to disable it? I'd like to just manage the screen brightness manually, it's OK Microsoft I'm a big boy with pull up pants.

2) It kinda took me by surprise just how noisy this thing is - and by that I mean Windows, not the machine itself. Beep! BONG. TING! all the time while I'm moving files around or installing software. I guess it's normal for a Windows set up but feels weird in a tablet environment. Is there a way I can minimise the sound effects without turning the sound off all together?

3) OK this will sound weird, but has anyone else had problems with Photoshop forgetting the Feel drivers after it recovers from Sleep mode? I feel like whenever I open the Surface back up and jump straight back into Photoshop (CS3) the mouse cursor is on the opposite side of the screen of wherever the pen is. I reinstall the Feel drivers and its fine.

4) I installed Google Chrome last night on the desktop but...is it kinda blurry for anyone else? I feel like the text is sharper on IE. But...but my beloved Chrome :/

5) OK this is an odd request. But is there any keyboards out there that has, like, 4 or 5 keys on it at most? I'm not even really sure what I'm asking for (otherwise I'd Google it, ha) but I'd love a tiny little "thing" that I can use to switch between my most frequently used Photoshop actions without having to use the keyboard. Drawing directly on the glass is LOVELY, but the keyboard kinda gets in the way. I'm very used to drawing with my right hand on a tablet / Cintiq while my left hand hovers over a keyboard so I can press Ctrl-Z every three seconds.
Click to expand...

1. Disable adaptive brightness in the power settings (click the battery in the taskbar and venture your way up to the advanced settings where you can find this setting)
2. I dont know where this is but there is a toggle to disable those sounds (probably in change PC settings thing when you hit the settings charm)
3. Dont know about this issue but have you tried calibrating the pen?
4. https://superuser.com/questions/683115/hidpi-issues-in-windows-8-1-chrome-spotify
http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chrome/0eSSJK9heeg
5. Dunno.
 
S

Special C

Member
Sometimes randomly the swipe from right to bring up the charms stops working until I reboot. Anyone else have this problem?

Edit: seems to disable all swiping, can't swipe up in IE to bring up address bar either.
 
M

maeh2k

Member
Gazunta said:
5) OK this is an odd request. But is there any keyboards out there that has, like, 4 or 5 keys on it at most? I'm not even really sure what I'm asking for (otherwise I'd Google it, ha) but I'd love a tiny little "thing" that I can use to switch between my most frequently used Photoshop actions without having to use the keyboard. Drawing directly on the glass is LOVELY, but the keyboard kinda gets in the way. I'm very used to drawing with my right hand on a tablet / Cintiq while my left hand hovers over a keyboard so I can press Ctrl-Z every three seconds.
Click to expand...

Maybe there are some 3d mice that work for that use case. Some of the fancier ones might be a bit pricey (no idea) and I don't know how they work in Windows and if you can freely reprogram the buttons.

3dmouse.png
 
S

sca2511

Member
Special C said:
Sometimes randomly the swipe from right to bring up the charms stops working until I reboot. Anyone else have this problem?

Edit: seems to disable all swiping, can't swipe up in IE to bring up address bar either.
Click to expand...

This happens randomly on my Type Cover 2. Gestures just stop working until I reconnect it.
 
SRTtoZ

SRTtoZ

Member
So I'm quite new to the whole surface thing, and I just got a Surface RT for a family member since they are so cheap right now and I'm very very impressed with the layout and feel of everything. I've been doing some research into the pro series and I'm wondering what the real world difference is like with the Pro vs Pro 2. The pro 2 is a solid $400 more so is that enough to warrant the price difference? I'm mainly looking at it for a slight laptop/tablet replacement, light gaming, movies, netflix, HBO go, but i'd still have an iPad mini for my real tablet needs while I also have a powerful PC for my 'bigger than a laptop' needs.
 
I

I'm an expert

Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
In my opinion, for your purposes, you don't even need the thing. If you have a full fledged desktop and a tablet already.. I dunno what the point of a Pro is. But, hell, if you want it, go with the 1. It sounds like you'll never really be on the move or away from an outlet with it. There's no doubt the 2 is better, but the battery is really the only giant difference. There's other differences, and they're for the most part all "better," but the battery alone doesn't warrant the cost. I use it as a portable work machine and it can go for 6+ on a full charge. If you do any sort of media on it you will definitely not go more than 4 hours on a full charge.

However, like I said in the other thread, if gaming is really something you want this thing for.. then don't get the 1.
 
J

jagowar

Member
SRTtoZ said:
So I'm quite new to the whole surface thing, and I just got a Surface RT for a family member since they are so cheap right now and I'm very very impressed with the layout and feel of everything. I've been doing some research into the pro series and I'm wondering what the real world difference is like with the Pro vs Pro 2. The pro 2 is a solid $400 more so is that enough to warrant the price difference? I'm mainly looking at it for a slight laptop/tablet replacement, light gaming, movies, netflix, HBO go, but i'd still have an iPad mini for my real tablet needs while I also have a powerful PC for my 'bigger than a laptop' needs.
Click to expand...

If you are keeping the full pc then the normal surface is good enough for you. What the surface pro is used for is replacing both your tablet and pc/laptop. With the coming desktop dock it really will be very powerful but I am going to wait for the 3rd gen surface pro which hopefully will be thinner and lighter like the Surface RT and add LTE to the mix. That would be my ultimate device.
 
L

Lucius86

Banned
SRTtoZ said:
So I'm quite new to the whole surface thing, and I just got a Surface RT for a family member since they are so cheap right now and I'm very very impressed with the layout and feel of everything. I've been doing some research into the pro series and I'm wondering what the real world difference is like with the Pro vs Pro 2. The pro 2 is a solid $400 more so is that enough to warrant the price difference? I'm mainly looking at it for a slight laptop/tablet replacement, light gaming, movies, netflix, HBO go, but i'd still have an iPad mini for my real tablet needs while I also have a powerful PC for my 'bigger than a laptop' needs.
Click to expand...

I done a few videos on the Surface Pro 2 in gaming situations - it does well, but I worry it won't run any PS4/XB1 ports too well in the future. You can easily drop the resolution with minimal visual impact because of the DPI of the screen. If you have a desktop for proper gaming, a SP2 is pretty good as a small form gaming machine. The main benefit is definitely the increased battery life though. Oh and the two position kickstand!

http://www.lukecjdavis.com/surface-pro-2-real-world-review/
 
SRTtoZ

SRTtoZ

Member
Wow, thanks for the quick replies everyone. Ill check out your site and some of you may be right, I might be REALLY looking for the Surface 2 instead of the Pro. Gaming is probably on the bottom list of priorities from a laptop/tablet since I'm running an x79 desktop with 680 SLI, and a PS4, so I do all my gaming at home. It just would have been *nice* to maybe go on vacation and have WoW on the go, but again, not a deal breaker. Seriously though, does anyone know what technology goes on behind the display? This is the best 720p screen ive seen on a tablet/laptop. Even when I zoom all the way in on the browser the text is razer sharp.
 
L

Lucius86

Banned
SRTtoZ said:
Wow, thanks for the quick replies everyone. Ill check out your site and some of you may be right, I might be REALLY looking for the Surface 2 instead of the Pro. Gaming is probably on the bottom list of priorities from a laptop/tablet since I'm running an x79 desktop with 680 SLI, and a PS4, so I do all my gaming at home. It just would have been *nice* to maybe go on vacation and have WoW on the go, but again, not a deal breaker. Seriously though, does anyone know what technology goes on behind the display? This is the best 720p screen ive seen on a tablet/laptop. Even when I zoom all the way in on the browser the text is razer sharp.
Click to expand...

I believe this is Microsoft's 'cleartype' technology. It is pretty awesome for text.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ClearType
 
A

Anton Sugar

Member
Got my 1st gen Surface RT last night! I bit on the refurb $180 deal the other day, seeing as I am frequently taking my work laptop home for non-work related writing and work, haha.

It was SUPER slow when I first got it, but then I realized it was downloading 45 (!) updates, along with apps. Once all that was taken care of (about an hour of waiting), its much better. Now waiting for my type cover to be delivered.

There was a video in the old Surface thread about the Surface RT and some dude who was showing why he loved it and all the things you can do with it. Anyone have a link to that? I can't find it.
 
I

I'm an expert

Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
He's definitely a power user taking full advantage of the thing. Sadly most people would not be willing to do what he does, even if we know just how simple it is for remote desktop or whatever.
 
A

Anton Sugar

Member
I'm an expert said:
He's definitely a power user taking full advantage of the thing. Sadly most people would not be willing to do what he does, even if we know just how simple it is for remote desktop or whatever.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I just want to make sure I have very few "why did I think I couldn't do that" moments with this, these vids are great.
 
G

Gazunta

Member
Thanks everyone for your great responses, it's really helped me figure my way around this machine :)

I've definitely warmed towards IE on this thing and I'll try CS6 soon (I really do need to upgrade at some point anyway)...and I'm going to tinker with Mobile Mouse on my iPhone to see if I can use that as a mini keyboard ("gaming keyboard"! That's the google search term I was after, thanks!).

Anyway - quick question. I have "Find my iPhone" installed and set up on all my iOS devices, is there anything similar for the Surface Pro? Coz I am so paranoid about losing this precious thing :)
 
L

Lucius86

Banned
Gazunta said:
Anyway - quick question. I have "Find my iPhone" installed and set up on all my iOS devices, is there anything similar for the Surface Pro? Coz I am so paranoid about losing this precious thing :)
Click to expand...

That's a good shout, alas I am not aware of this feature. Heck, it's even in Windows Phone, the software infrastructure is there to implement relatively quickly.

We should be so lucky though.
 
L

LukasTaves

Member
#1542

I have a touch cover v1 and a wedge keyboard for my Surface... I pretty much only use it when I need to type on my lap, but it's not very great because the cover is kinda soft and bends a little...

Sooo, I've been thinking into upgrading to one of the new covers... I've tested the v1 type cover and didn't liked the key presses very much (the ones in the wedge keyboard are pretty much perfect for my tastes), but the type cover has some slightly bigger keys like the arrows... And it would be best if I could just use a cover whether I'm actually working, or just need to type a quick text...

I 've grown used to type with the touch cover, but two things are really cumbersome using it: The cover, is recognized by the system similarly as the on screen keyboard. So it triggers the auto correction for stuff that aren't triggered when actually using a normal keyboard (like some weird capitalization), and using the arrows on the touch cover to edit text are really painful...

So, how improved each cover is compared to their predecessors? Should I just ditch the touch cover and go for the type 2?
 
A

Anton Sugar

Member
Cripes. You can use the new type cover with the original Surface RT? If I had known that (aka if I had been smart enough to research), I would have shelled out the extra $30 and gotten one. Backlit keys is enough of a reason for me.
 
M

Mairu

Member
Has MS said anything about when the Power Cover is coming yet? I noticed on the Store website it now has a price tag at least... $199
 
I

I'm an expert

Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
How bad is the battery for SP1? I have a $100 giftcard for bestbuy and this is really calling my name...
Click to expand...

It's not that bad at all. I got used to putting the thing to sleep often and it can last for an entire day of on and off with basic work stuff. It's really any video and audio for a while that kills it, but I don't use it too much for that. If you're always near an outlet, it's not worth it to pay almost double for the 2.
 
Z

Zaraki_Kenpachi

Member
I'm an expert said:
It's not that bad at all. I got used to putting the thing to sleep often and it can last for an entire day of on and off with basic work stuff. It's really any video and audio for a while that kills it, but I don't use it too much for that. If you're always near an outlet, it's not worth it to pay almost double for the 2.
Click to expand...

NeOak said:
4-5 hours for the SP1 vs 6-7 for the SP2
Click to expand...

If it's 4-5 that's fine since I would get the power cover when it eventually comes out anyhow but that's pretty close to what my macbook pro which it would be replacing clocked in at when I got it. I might be ordering one later tonight.
 
Z

Zaraki_Kenpachi

Member
The Faceless Master said:
hrm....... damn, i am so tempted!!!






does that work with the original Surface Pro?
Click to expand...

I could have sworn it was reported when it was announced that it would work with both surface pros just like all the other covers but maybe someone else could weigh in with more info. I'd be shocked if it didn't work after all the covers work.

Edit: Well there you go, thought it did.
 
NeOak

NeOak

Member
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
I could have sworn it was reported when it was announced that it would work with both surface pros just like all the other covers but maybe someone else could weigh in with more info. I'd be shocked if it didn't work after all the covers work.

Edit: Well there you go, thought it did.
Click to expand...

Both have the additional power connectors. I had a 256GB Surface Pro (the Business version) and i have now a 256GB Surface Pro 2.
 
Z

Zaraki_Kenpachi

Member
NeOak said:
Both have the additional power connectors. I had a 256GB Surface Pro (the Business version) and i have now a 256GB Surface Pro 2.
Click to expand...

Nice, I guess I'm getting this then. What's the cheapest way to get a cover to hold me over until they finally decide to release the battery cover?
 
A

Anton Sugar

Member
So I am having trouble with the Bing smartsearch "app" built into W8.1 As in, it doesn't work--if I let it search by default "Everywhere" it just hangs at a white page, saying it's searching, then it fails and says something is wrong with my connection, try again, etc.

Any ideas? I did a search and couldn't find any solutions... I'm considering doing a refresh to see if that fixes it, but is this a common issue with a fix?

Surface RT btw.
 
L

Lucius86

Banned
Anton Sugar said:
So I am having trouble with the Bing smartsearch "app" built into W8.1 As in, it doesn't work--if I let it search by default "Everywhere" it just hangs at a white page, saying it's searching, then it fails and says something is wrong with my connection, try again, etc.

Any ideas? I did a search and couldn't find any solutions... I'm considering doing a refresh to see if that fixes it, but is this a common issue with a fix?

Surface RT btw.
Click to expand...

That's a new one, sorry not experienced it!
 
B

biRdy

Member
Anton Sugar said:
So I am having trouble with the Bing smartsearch "app" built into W8.1 As in, it doesn't work--if I let it search by default "Everywhere" it just hangs at a white page, saying it's searching, then it fails and says something is wrong with my connection, try again, etc.

Any ideas? I did a search and couldn't find any solutions... I'm considering doing a refresh to see if that fixes it, but is this a common issue with a fix?

Surface RT btw.
Click to expand...

I would try a refresh never heard of this problem. Though before you do make sure it isn't nothing wrong with your connection, can you use the app store and browsers with no problems?
 
A

Anton Sugar

Member
Yup, everything else works just fine. I'll give a Refresh a shot, thanks.

What's weird is if I change it from "Everywhere" to something else like "Bing Images" it works fine.

EDIT: Refreshed and search still didn't work. I decided to just try some things and disabled the "search while on metered connection" option in PC Settings. Search worked! I then went back and re-enabled it, and Search still works.

I'll take it. Overall, having a good experience with the RT, though its "age" shows at some points when loading certain programs or pages. Still, for little over $200 for the tablet and type cover, I'm very happy and it does everything I need it to!
 
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