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Surface 2 and Pro 2 |OT| Lap it up

E

EatinOlives

Member
Peasant Princess-King said:
FOR PEOPLE INTERESTED IN USING THE SURFACE PRO FOR ART:

I bought a Surface Pro recently to use it as an art pad; to sketch and create more complex works in a digital, portable hub. I have the keyboard and a wireless adapter so it won't have to be tied to the computer and the Arc Mouse. For software, I recently purchased Clip Studio Paint X (Manga Studio 5x, but for digital download) and I have played around with the Fresh Paint app it came with. I have had really good experiences so far and the OS isn't hard to learn at all. It is most definitely a manageable size to pick up and sit on your lap or to place in front of you. I am waiting for case and bag to carry it around to come in, so I haven't brought it out of the house yet.

The Fresh Paint app, while not fully functional, was really fun to mess around with and the emulation of traditional media was spot on! I have had a lot of experience with colored pencils and the way it textured and layered on top of one another was uncanny. Really fun, though, I hope it will be developed more.

Here is a drawing I did tonight as an exercise and as a means to feel out the Clip Studio software's basic painting function. Had a lot of fun! I am really excited to delve more into this software, for more complex work, storyboarding, and comic book paneling. C:
Click to expand...

Really sweet drawing!

What's your opinion on SketchBook Pro? I tried the trial and really liked it but I haven't bitten on the full version yet and I'm still interested in other options. I tried ArtRage but it simulated a real-life canvas+paint thing too much. I'm not interested in the fancy paint color mixing in real time, even if it is pretty impressive.
 
L

LukasTaves

Member
Nero3000 said:
"Wireless Display Adapter for Surface" hit the FCC:

https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/repo...mFrame=N&application_id=624873&fcc_id=C3K1628

Whoever was asking for a good miracast adapter, got their wish
Click to expand...
Oh, that's great!

Usually how soon accessories hit stores after being FCC approved?

SRTtoZ said:
You're talking about the Surface 2 right?

I didn't install anything yet minus all the updates when I got it a couple weeks ago. I open Metro IE or Desktop IE and go to hbogo's website, sign in and start watching Game of Thrones, about a minute in (when it buffers to full HD) it starts stuttering slightly and the speakers begin to crackle. Keep in mind the speakers don't crackle when I watch any of the HD videos I copied to my microSD so I know its not a hardware issue.

There is a HUGE thread here

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/.../cd2cc7bb-4572-4122-8a57-9843d1a5c366?page=22

And people have returned up to FOUR surface 2's and still have issues. This is mind boggling to me.

Edit: I exchanged it anyway because when I went to refresh it I got a BSOD. Fantastic.
Click to expand...

Oh, sorry, i thought you mentioned the pro, not RT. My mistake.
 
Z

Zaraki_Kenpachi

Member
Is there any way to make the autocorrect less infuriating? Trying to spell a name and having it autocorrect like 3 times in a row makes me really want to throw this piece of shit. Types "vanek" changes to vane, backspace to turn back to vanek. Press period, autocorrects to vane again, backspace deletes period but doesn't fix from vane. Doesn't matter if I tap to end of word, backspace, etc.. It just doesn't want to accept certain words. How can their autocorrect be this incompetent?
 
L

LukasTaves

Member
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
Is there any way to make the autocorrect less infuriating? Trying to spell a name and having it autocorrect like 3 times in a row makes me really want to throw this piece of shit. Types "vanek" changes to vane, backspace to turn back to vanek. Press period, autocorrects to vane again, backspace deletes period but doesn't fix from vane. Doesn't matter if I tap to end of word, backspace, etc.. It just doesn't want to accept certain words. How can their autocorrect be this incompetent?
Click to expand...

Been there a few times... I usually have more luck with crtl+z than erasing the correction and typing again.
 
Z

Zaraki_Kenpachi

Member
LukasTaves said:
Been there a few times... I usually have more luck with crtl+z than erasing the correction and typing again.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I'll try that. The lack of an x or anything to make it stop is horrible. I've never seen such a controlling autocorrect system in my life. It's usually bearable but when you have to add punctuation after the word you're typing it just goes into this death grip that will never ever let you type your word. It's insane.
 
Sikamikanico

Sikamikanico

#1 Dad
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
Hmm, I'll try that. The lack of an x or anything to make it stop is horrible. I've never seen such a controlling autocorrect system in my life. It's usually bearable but when you have to add punctuation after the word you're typing it just goes into this death grip that will never ever let you type your word. It's insane.
Click to expand...

Tap the word before it can autocorrect, then carry on typing as normal. Should work.

In other news, picked up South Park Stick of Truth for my Surface Pro 2 - runs it at 1080p and looks great. No framerate issues or slowdown so far, was in stitches on the train this morning - would recommend picking it up for some great portable gaming. :)
 
W

Walshicus

Member
Picked up a 32gb Surface 2 yesterday. Loving it so far! Bunch of work colleagues have been converted based on the Office implementation.

Anyone try San Andreas on RT yet?
 
W

Window

Member
Got a Surface Pro 2 a couple of months ago an have been pretty happy overall barring the atrocious touchpad and the rare inexplicable reboots when I attach the type cover. Started using OneNote for my lectures and wow is it just fantastic. I can't seem to figure out how to tag sections of images (such as say a couple of lines of an imported pdf file which I think is treated as an image). Anyone have any idea?
 
R

Raxious

Member
So I just made a recovery USB on my Surface Pro, and now I'm considering deleting the recovery partition.

However, it tells me that:

"You can clear some drive space by deleting the recovery partition, but you won't be able to refresh or reset your PC again without the recovery drive."

Now what do they mean by refresh / reset? Does it mean that in order to start up the tablet I need the USB on me at all times?
 
S

sca2511

Member
Raxious said:
So I just made a recovery USB on my Surface Pro, and now I'm considering deleting the recovery partition.

However, it tells me that:

"You can clear some drive space by deleting the recovery partition, but you won't be able to refresh or reset your PC again without the recovery drive."

Now what do they mean by refresh / reset? Does it mean that in order to start up the tablet I need the USB on me at all times?
Click to expand...

I believe it means you can't reset your PC to a new or fresh state after you delete the recovery portion.
 
NeOak

NeOak

Member
Raxious said:
So I just made a recovery USB on my Surface Pro, and now I'm considering deleting the recovery partition.

However, it tells me that:

"You can clear some drive space by deleting the recovery partition, but you won't be able to refresh or reset your PC again without the recovery drive."

Now what do they mean by refresh / reset? Does it mean that in order to start up the tablet I need the USB on me at all times?
Click to expand...

It means that you'll need the USB drive to restore to factory settings.

Win8 can do that without having to format and reinstall.
 
R

Raxious

Member
Ok, so unless something actually happens with the tablet I won't be needing the USB. Great, then I can store it and delete the crap from my Pro.
 
F

Feep

Banned
I was hooked up with a Surface Pro 2 (256 GB/8 GB) today...thanks, Microsoft! I had the old Pro, so I'm gonna lend that one to my employee so he can draw pretty artz.

Love:
Dual-stage kickstand. Oh my God. So good.

Iris GPU: this is unnerving impressive for a little tablet. The opening sequence of Portal 2 ran fine at 1080p on medium settings (though it did chug a bit upon seeing the first pair of portals). Dropped it down to 720p because the pixel density at this screen size doesn't matter *that* much, and it's mostly 60 FPS all the way through.

Might be imagining this, but are the speakers louder?

And, of course, battery life that isn't abjectly awful.

Not love:
The type cover 2's trackpad doesn't physically click. I like clicks! HUMANS LIKE CLICKS MICROSOFT

The new, studier backplate is sort of nice, but it's not worth the additional thickness, IMO. Backlighting is cool, I guess?

NBD, I can just stick with my original type cover.

Really amazing machine, even if it's only an incremental upgrade. I know reviews tend to toss out this abstract "not an amazing laptop, not an amazing tablet, lives in limbo" nonsense, but it's hard for me to imagine going back to either form factor in the future. Type covers and kickstands need to take off. I love this thing. = D
 
X

Xplatformer

Member
Sir Fragula said:
Picked up a 32gb Surface 2 yesterday. Loving it so far! Bunch of work colleagues have been converted based on the Office implementation.

Anyone try San Andreas on RT yet?
Click to expand...

If you bite the bullet let me know how your experience is. I'm not a fan of the lead characters in any of the GTA series, so I don't normally play them. I'm considering San Andreas only because there are so few "real" games on the RT/Windows Phone platform.
 
C

Chance Hale

Member
Anyone else with a Surface Pro 2 and an Xbox Music subscription running into issues with downloads? I haven't hit the device limit and can stream as much as I want but trying to download the albums always leads to errors. Really frustrating. Error code: 0xc00d36b2 (0x80070035)
 
A

Azulsky

Member
Feep said:
Iris GPU: this is unnerving impressive for a little tablet. The opening sequence of Portal 2 ran fine at 1080p on medium settings (though it did chug a bit upon seeing the first pair of portals). Dropped it down to 720p because the pixel density at this screen size doesn't matter *that* much, and it's mostly 60 FPS all the way through.
Click to expand...

I thought the highest CPU available is the i5-4300U model, if so then its "only" HD4400 graphics. Iris are only packaged on i7 SKU's and there is no low TDP model (U series) of that part. The highest performing GPU on the i5 U series is the HD5000(which is basically underclocked Iris 5100) in the i5-4360U but I cant find any information on that SKU being used on any consumer parts yet.

Are their Iris/Iris Pro equipped models(numbered 5100/5200)??? I was under the impression they were waiting for the Broadwell refresh before doing that due to the extra power requirements of those parts.

Sorry for throwing out all those numbers I have been eyeing the Surface for a while now.
 
G

Ganondolf

Member
Azulsky said:
I thought the highest CPU available is the i5-4300U model, if so then its "only" HD4400 graphics. Iris are only packaged on i7 SKU's and there is no low TDP model (U series) of that part. The highest performing GPU on the i5 U series is the HD5000(which is basically underclocked Iris 5100) in the i5-4360U but I cant find any information on that SKU being used on any consumer parts yet.

Are their Iris/Iris Pro equipped models(numbered 5100/5200)??? I was under the impression they were waiting for the Broadwell refresh before doing that due to the extra power requirements of those parts.

Sorry for throwing out all those numbers I have been eyeing the Surface for a while now.
Click to expand...

MacBook's have the HD5000. not sure if there is an upgrade option to iris model

EDIT: just looked MacBook Air Says HD5000 & MacBook Pro says Iris on the tech spec section.
 
A

Azulsky

Member
Ganondolf said:
MacBook's have the HD5000. not sure if there is an upgrade option to iris model

EDIT: just looked MacBook Air Says HD5000 & MacBook Pro says Iris on the tech spec section.
Click to expand...

After some more reading it looks you get Iris(5100) on some i5 U series SKU's. Seems like the only other company to use those so far are the Asus Zenbooks. I feel like this would be pretty choice on the next model surface, especially if there are any plans to move closer to 400ppi.


But it still looks like the Surface Pro 2 is stuck at HD4400 unless there is a SKU above the i5 4300U that is available.

Still seems to be conflicting data though on Notebook check they make it sound like you can get Iris with the i5-4200U which doesnt line up at all.
 
F

Feep

Banned
Azulsky said:
I thought the highest CPU available is the i5-4300U model, if so then its "only" HD4400 graphics. Iris are only packaged on i7 SKU's and there is no low TDP model (U series) of that part. The highest performing GPU on the i5 U series is the HD5000(which is basically underclocked Iris 5100) in the i5-4360U but I cant find any information on that SKU being used on any consumer parts yet.

Are their Iris/Iris Pro equipped models(numbered 5100/5200)??? I was under the impression they were waiting for the Broadwell refresh before doing that due to the extra power requirements of those parts.

Sorry for throwing out all those numbers I have been eyeing the Surface for a while now.
Click to expand...
Oh, maybe I was wrong. Still EXTREMELY impressive, though.
 
J

Jayayess1190

Member
Azulsky said:
After some more reading it looks you get Iris(5100) on some i5 U series SKU's. Seems like the only other company to use those so far are the Asus Zenbooks. I feel like this would be pretty choice on the next model surface, especially if there are any plans to move closer to 400ppi.


But it still looks like the Surface Pro 2 is stuck at HD4400 unless there is a SKU above the i5 4300U that is available.

Still seems to be conflicting data though on Notebook check they make it sound like you can get Iris with the i5-4200U which doesnt line up at all.
Click to expand...

The i5's in the 13.3" MBP Retina's and Zenbooks are 28W. The i5's in the Surface are 15W. Also with Broadwell, Intel will be able to have higher clocked cpu's with higher clocked gpu's, in Haswell it is a trade off.
 
M

markot

Banned
Its nice that... A year or so since 8 came out, we still don't get a keyboard pop up auto for desktop mode on tablets. And that the keyboard is one of the worst I've used on any os.

Windows is still so far behind as a tablet os, and its not even keeping up as the other two begin to lap it.
 
L

LukasTaves

Member
markot said:
Its nice that... A year or so since 8 came out, we still don't get a keyboard pop up auto for desktop mode on tablets. And that the keyboard is one of the worst I've used on any os.

Windows is still so far behind as a tablet os, and its not even keeping up as the other two begin to lap it.
Click to expand...

My keyboard auto pops for chrome and office (and more importantly, it auto hides in those too). But everything else is manual.
 
C

captive

Joe Six-Pack: posting for the common man
Feep said:
I was hooked up with a Surface Pro 2 (256 GB/8 GB) today...thanks, Microsoft! I had the old Pro, so I'm gonna lend that one to my employee so he can draw pretty artz.

Love:
Dual-stage kickstand. Oh my God. So good.

Iris GPU: this is unnerving impressive for a little tablet. The opening sequence of Portal 2 ran fine at 1080p on medium settings (though it did chug a bit upon seeing the first pair of portals). Dropped it down to 720p because the pixel density at this screen size doesn't matter *that* much, and it's mostly 60 FPS all the way through.

Might be imagining this, but are the speakers louder?

And, of course, battery life that isn't abjectly awful.

Not love:
The type cover 2's trackpad doesn't physically click. I like clicks! HUMANS LIKE CLICKS MICROSOFT

The new, studier backplate is sort of nice, but it's not worth the additional thickness, IMO. Backlighting is cool, I guess?

NBD, I can just stick with my original type cover.

Really amazing machine, even if it's only an incremental upgrade. I know reviews tend to toss out this abstract "not an amazing laptop, not an amazing tablet, lives in limbo" nonsense, but it's hard for me to imagine going back to either form factor in the future. Type covers and kickstands need to take off. I love this thing. = D
Click to expand...
i'm in the same boat. After having it for a little more than a week, its great. It's easily replaced my macbook pro. And now im going to sell my ipad and it will replace that. I especially enjoy being able to set it in my lap and read websites or gaf on it. Whereas i would constantly have to hold the ipad.

Got lightroom and photoshop on it, runs great. As i mentioned before, in this thread or another. I love the live tiles, got them all configured for my sports and news. The weather app is awesome, i love the historical weather data and other features in it. They sync with my work windows 8 desktop and my windows 8 HTPC.
 
NeOak

NeOak

Member
Tangeroo said:
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Surface-Power-Cover/productID.298465700

Power Cover up for pre-order on MS Store. $199.99.
Click to expand...

giphy.gif
 
M

MooMoo

Member
Argh I don't know if I should jump on the power cover or just wait for the next iteration of Surface Pros. If the thing was backlit I'd be all over it. Have there been any rumors for what the next Surfaces will be like?
 
NeOak

NeOak

Member
MooMoo said:
Argh I don't know if I should jump on the power cover or just wait for the next iteration of Surface Pros. If the thing was backlit I'd be all over it. Have there been any rumors for what the next Surfaces will be like?
Click to expand...

10.6" screen, option for cover attachments, Windows 8.1.

:p
 
F

f0lken

Member
MooMoo said:
Argh I don't know if I should jump on the power cover or just wait for the next iteration of Surface Pros. If the thing was backlit I'd be all over it. Have there been any rumors for what the next Surfaces will be like?
Click to expand...

Hopefully an 11.6" screen in the same body size (well thinner and less heavy), I think they can reduce the bezel without meaningful impact on the usability
 
W

Windu

never heard about the cat, apparently
brotkasten said:
WPCentral got a scoop and leaked the Surface 2 LTE SKU.

Surface 2
64 GB
AT&T 4G LTE
$679.00

http://wpcentral.com/surface-2-lte-att-priced-679-64-gb-photos

Microsoft's clearly insane.
Click to expand...
I was about to say they were following Apple's insane prices but the iPad Air 64 GB with LTE is....$829. Both prices are insane, but holy shit apple.

edit: Normal iPad Air 64GB is $699 so I guess you can see where the Surface price comes from.

I guess it will be:

32GB LTE $579 (ipad $599) (ipad lte $729)
64GB LTE $679 (ipad $699) (ipad lte $829)
128GB LTE $779 (ipad $799) (ipad lte $929) nvm, there is no 128 gb model of the surface 2. stupid microsoft.
 
Warnen

Warnen

Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
Ordered a surface pro 2 512, with power cover hitting next week looks a good time. Should have it tomorrow.
 
The Faceless Master

The Faceless Master

Member
Windu said:
I was about to say they were following Apple's insane prices but the iPad Air 64 GB with LTE is....$829. Both prices are insane, but holy shit apple.

edit: Normal iPad Air 64GB is $699 so I guess you can see where the Surface price comes from.

I guess it will be:

32GB LTE $579 (ipad $599) (ipad lte $729)
64GB LTE $679 (ipad $699) (ipad lte $829)
128GB LTE $779 (ipad $799) (ipad lte $929) nvm, there is no 128 gb model of the surface 2. stupid microsoft.
Click to expand...

why even make a 32GB LTE model?
 
E

Epcott

Member
A month ago, I came home from work to find my Surface Pro (original, not Surface 2) blue screened in Recovery with no way out... with a statement:

"Blah blah blah, hey man, File: \BCD, Error code: 0xc0000034, you need that recovery tool you made (at least I hope you did you sorry bastard) because the boot.is.fucked."


I don't have a recovery tool.

I chatted with MS tech support. They told me to try some things that didn't work. They tell me I'm out of warranty. I told them I had it less than a year. They tell me "So... pay us $320 to exchange." I'm like, "Hey, I don't have that kind of cash", and they say... " Oh, we totally understand. Hey, I have a deal for you. Hows about you pay us $300 instead? Cool? You wanna start that exchange now?"

Sooooo, after disconnecting... not before telling them I don't have cash to pay for a known issue with their faulty hardware, I began to wonder... Is there a way to download a recovery drive for Surface pro from the internet? Where could I find one?

Chat person told me I'm screwed because I'd need one for my Windows 8.1(64bit). But somewhere online, someone has to have an image of it that I can download. Right? :(
 
W

Windu

never heard about the cat, apparently
Epcott said:
A month ago, I came home from work to find my Surface Pro (original, not Surface 2) blue screened in Recovery with no way out... with a statement:

"Blah blah blah, hey man, File: BCD, Error code: 0xc0000034, you need that recovery tool you made (at least I hope you did you sorry bastard) because the boot.is.fucked."


I don't have a recovery tool.

I chatted with MS tech support. They told me to try some things that didn't work. They tell me I'm out of warranty. I told them I had it less than a year. They tell me "So... pay us $320 to exchange." I'm like, "Hey, I don't have that kind of cash", and they say... " Oh, we totally understand. Hey, I have a deal for you. Hows about you pay us $300 instead? Cool? You wanna start that exchange now?"

Sooooo, after disconnecting... not before telling them I don't have cash to pay for a known issue with their faulty hardware, I began to wonder... Is there a way to download a recovery drive for Surface pro from the internet? Where could I find one?

Chat person told me I'm screwed because I'd need one for my Windows 8.1(64bit). But somewhere online, someone has to have an image of it that I can download. Right? :(
Click to expand...
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/18309-windows-8-windows-8-1-iso-download-create.html
 
L

Lucius86

Banned
I just received a firmware update, anyone know what this one is about? The support link just directs me to a generic page (SP2).

Edit: Never mind, Googling 'Surface Pro 2 March Update' yielded plenty of results. My SP2 got stuck at 'getting devices ready' on reboot - after disconnecting the Type Cover 2 and rebooting, it zipped through this stage second time around.

Looking at the 'Setup' Event Viewer log yields plenty of successful installs with no fails, so looks like we're all good. Seems a few people on Reddit having the same issue - try disconnecting your cover first before updating and see what happens.
 
F

f0lken

Member
Surface Pro, Xbox one with Titanfall ad possibly a lot more have 20% discount on the MS online store if you put the promo code "1"
 
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