Solved Documenting my first experience with the Surface Pro 2

[Der Snoober]

Only a few more hours...then it's 21st of October! My order still stands on the status "send off at the 21st". I haven't found out yet if this means "we will give it to the UPS overnight so they will ring your doorbell on the 21st". Or that it means "the UPS will pick up the package at our warehouse on the 21st and will deliver it to you on the 22nd".

Since I live all by myself and I'm at the office during daytime I would normally miss the UPS man. Here they only deliver during office hours (and I'm not allowed to recieve private deliveries at the office). But.... I can also work from home via a VPN connection. So, I will not go to the office tomorrow and work from my house. If the package doesn't arrive on Monday it must arrive on Tuesday. So I've already arranged that I'll be working from home that day to.

In other words ==> no change to miss the UPS man . I'll let you people know when I've got the Surface Pro 2.

Greetz,

Rover

Have fun, I got the Surface Pro 2 weeks before they announced the Surface Pro 2 .
Still love it I bought it instead of a laptop for going back to school and it is great. Running Office 365 on the Surface and at home with Skydrive makes the transition from Surface to desktop seamless except I keep poking the desktop screen. I also like the pen that comes with the Surface Pro.
Enjoy the Surface Pro 2, Congratulations on the anniversary at work!

Hi Hopper,

That's to bad man...buying the Surface Pro just two weeks before the announcement of the Surface Pro 2. Great to hear though that you like it. The way you are using the Surface is like I'm planning to use mine. Instead of a laptop and as addition to my desktop computer.
Hehehe, I guess the screen of my desktop can make its feet wet and prepare for some poking here . I'm already used to using a pen, I don't have a mouse but use a Wacom tablet, so that transition should be seamless.

Do you have some specific additional software installed onto your Surface Pro?

As the former owner of a Surface RT, Surface Pro and current owner of a ThinkPad Tablet 2 I have to admit to having Zero interest in the Surface Pro 2. Its essentially an overpriced Laptop with a tiny screen and a MEH form factor. The Asus ZenBook Prime would be where I put my money. The surface IS a tablet but you have to pay extra to get things to make it a laptop again. This makes no sense to me. The ZenBook, to me, is a better buy.. Just my 2cents.

Everyone thinks they want a tablet, but they really want both a tablet and a laptop... I just don't see the SP2 doing any better than the SP, but I could be wrong. The dock and the battery keyboard, two things that should have been around from the beginning are not available until 'sometime' in 2014. The dock seems to be a bit of an after thought as it clamps into the unit from the sides rather the unit having a data spine that allows it to be docked ala' ThinkPad Tablet 2 or other devices that were designed to dock.

Wow...you really must have money enough , Machistmo ==> owning a Surface RT, Pro and Thinkpad Tablet 2.

As far as your comments about the Surface Pro 2 being an overpriced laptop I have to disagree. In my opinion its something between a tablet and a laptop. It is as manageable as a tablet. But then with the computing power and flexibility of a laptop. There lies the power of this unique concept! :thumb:
You see...not everywone wants to have a tablet and a laptop. There are plenty of people around who have a desktopcomputer (or a laptop for that fact) as their main pc and are looking for something more manageable when they are on the road. A laptop is simple not handy due to the clamshell design. An ordinary tablet means giving up the computing power and more important, you can't install whatever you like.

 

[Tepid]

Just to add my own 2 cents...

yeah, the Zenbook is a laptop, not a tablet.
there is a huge difference, No comparison.

The Surface Pro Tablets are extremely functional.
Even more so than a full sized laptop.

No matter how many times this needs to be said,,,, I will say it again
You can not compare a true Surface Pro type tablet to any laptop, iPad, Chromebook, etc.

They are in no way the same or even close to being the same thing. Hell, they are in a different dimension to get technically extreme about it.

A laptop can be cumbersome, even a small one, in certain situations.
iPad and others can't do what a Surface Pro Type tablet can do. Not even close. Or even Remotely close. Sorry, talk about over priced something?
There is your over priced tablet. Ridiculous.

The price for a Surface Pro is very well justified for what you get and the full on flexibility.
I do everything on it that I can do on my laptop and desktop.

Are there limitations? Sure, it's not a one size fits all thing,, no desktop, laptop or tablet is. One size fits all Does not exist.
But for the power, flexibility, being able to do everything I can do I my 1764, and actually more to be honest, my Surface has a better graphics card actually.

I'll take the surface (and I do, almost everywhere I go) over my laptop, or any of the other over priced, limited use, play toys out there.

Example,,, Full blown Office 2013 or 2010 or 2007 (i don't recommend 2003 anymore)
How about running Visual Studio 2012 and programming when you have some down time?
Tether to my WP8 Lumia 928 and look up code and learn some things sitting in some lobby or restaurant or riding in a car on a long trip. Lot easier than a clam shell laptop.
Work on a Doc or Excel or whatever and upload to skydrive or send out as an email.

Yes, just some of the things that can be done on a Surface Pro with absolute ease.

 

[Der Snoober]

Too bad :shock:. It seems that my tablet isn't coming today. Haven't recieved a track&trace code yet. The order still has the status "send off as the 21st" on the Microsoft Store site.

I would seem that the UPS man will not ring my door bell until tomorrow .

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Sorry to hear that, Rover! Hang in there!

 

[Der Snoober]

Just a quick update before going to the office (change monitors that is ). Last night I've recieved two emails from Microsoft ==> The packages have been send and are right now at UPS Apeldoorn and are going to be delivered to me today!

Tonight you can expect a post of my first impressions.

Greetz!

 

[Der Snoober]

Yeah!!! Party time . Two hours ago my doorbell rang and there he was...the UPS man with two packages from Microsoft. All for me .

The Surface Pro 2 and Type Cover 2 where very well packed. Using not too much packagematerial, but still looking like it would protect the contents well enough during transport.

After opening the package the contents where very well packed as well.

After unpacking the Surface Pro 2 the assembly of the Type Cover 2 was easy. I didn't need the manual to figure out how it is supposed to be connected to the Surface.

And after connecting everything it looks like this.

Well... That's it for now. I will continue playing with it and ofcourse customizing the software. I will tell you more about the neat things I can do with it in a day or two.

Greetz,

Rover

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Very nice! Looking good! Good for you, Rover!

 

[Tepid]

hmmph... congrats.

 

[Der Snoober]

Two days later ....and I'm LOVING the Surface Pro 2!!!

As you've read above the Surface Pro 2 arrives last tuesday. Since then I've done a lot of things with it. After unpacking and logging on for the very first time I started configuring the software. Because I'm running Windows 8.1 on my desktop and I did log on the Surface with the same Microsoft Account the basic settings were already there. Little things like menu colour (not entirely unimportant ) and the sequence of tiles were configured without any action from my side. Very nice!

Then I started installing the additional software I wanted to install. Here is a list of the software I installed so far:

• Office 2010 Professional (I use my 2013 licence on my desktop)
• Adobe reader (I chose the special app instead of the dekstop version)
• DU Meter
• Google Earth
• Hardware monitor
• iTunes
• Keepass
• Notepad++
• Steam
• VLC Media player
• Winzip
• A lot of apps (i.e. my bank, some news, tv guide)

After the installation I started using the Surface Pro 2. After a day or two I can make some remarkable findings.

First of all the fact that I'm using the desktop modus a lot, and I mean a lot, less then on my dekstop! I myself am surprised by this. Microsoft really did a great job in making the appversions of, for example IE, touch proof. It turned out I'm now only using the app version of IE instead of the desktop version. The same goes with Skype and a lot of news app. On my desktop I'm more proned to use the dekstopversions of IE and simply visit the news site. On my Surface I only visit the dekstop modus to use Windows Explorer and browse the files on my dekstop via the network.

Second of all the power that comes with this device. I'm a Civilization addict since the very first version. The mega uber cool thing is that the Surface Pro 2 can easily run Civilization V!!! That's so sweet folks. Being able to play a couple of turns from my bed before going to sleep! Ok...this has a side effect ==> the 'one more turn syndrome' (Welcome to Civilization Anonymous!)


What I also found out is that I can use the 'remote desktop' app to remotely take control of my desktop. The sweet thing is that this goes two ways. From my desktop I can remotely take control of my Surface Pro 2. Do you see the faces before you when say some friends are visiting and using the Surface Pro 2 and suddenly the screen goes to black


As a last post I've got one more tip about the Surface Pro 2. Since it is a device likely to be used a lot 'on the road' it will be wise to activate Bitlocker. Standard bitlocker is not activated!

Good evening to you all and if you have any questions....let them come!

Rover

 

[Dark Rider]

Good review so far But.. how does it work for gaming? You mentioned you use Steam.. I don't use Steam.. what steam games have you tried and how well did they run? ( asking in case my friend from my other thread decides to try the Surface 2 Pro version.)

Personally I'm looking at the cheaper but more laptop like hybrid, the Asus Transformer Book T300. According to this website, The Verge they have very similar specs though the T300 is more powerful in system ram, 8 gig ddr3 and has larger storage.. a 256 ssd. ( the Asus also has a higher resolution rear facing camera than the Surface 2 pro) The comparison article between the two says they use the same graphics inside, so your info would interest me also.

Here is the comparison page for the Surface 2 pro and the T300 Microsoft Surface Pro 2 vs. Asus Transformer Book T300 | The Verge

 

[Tepid]

See this post for Skyrim Screenshots on Surface Pro

http://www.eightforums.com/tablet-touch/34083-first-person-shooter-games-tablet-pc.html

 

[Der Snoober]

Good review so far But.. how does it work for gaming? You mentioned you use Steam.. I don't use Steam.. what steam games have you tried and how well did they run? ( asking in case my friend from my other thread decides to try the Surface 2 Pro version.)

Personally I'm looking at the cheaper but more laptop like hybrid, the Asus Transformer Book T300. According to this website, The Verge they have very similar specs though the T300 is more powerful in system ram, 8 gig ddr3 and has larger storage.. a 256 ssd. ( the Asus also has a higher resolution rear facing camera than the Surface 2 pro) The comparison article between the two says they use the same graphics inside, so your info would interest me also.

Here is the comparison page for the Surface 2 pro and the T300 Microsoft Surface Pro 2 vs. Asus Transformer Book T300 | The Verge

Good to hear you like the review so far, Dark Rider.

I've looked into the link you posted. It looks like these two devices are much alike. Personally I wouldn't go for the Asus Transformer. It's significantly greater in size then the Surface Pro 2. For me that would be oversized and not practical as a tablet computer. If I would want to have a 13,5 inch or bigger machine I'd buy an Ultrabook laptop.

As far as your questions about gaming on the Surface Pro 2. I usually game on my desktop computer. I don't play that many different games anymore (did when I was 10 years younger though ). The only game I still find worthwhile playing nowadays is the Civilization franchise. I've been playing Civ sinces Civ1 so I would call myself a real Civ addict.
I did install Steam on my Surface Pro 2 in order to be able to play Civilization V on it. Just a couple of turn before going to bed, or if I'm in a trafficjam or in the train. I let the software decide which graffic settings the game will use (always worked fine for me). It sets the graffic settings somewhere between medium and low. I'm still quite surprised by the performance while playing Civ V. The only sideeffect is that after playing Civ for about 4 hours the battery is empty.

Greetz!

Rover

 

[Der Snoober]

See this post for Skyrim Screenshots on Surface Pro

http://www.eightforums.com/tablet-touch/34083-first-person-shooter-games-tablet-pc.html

Thanks for the post Tepid. Very interesting!

 

[pparks1]

I cannot believe they didn't come up with a stylus holder yet for this thing. I have a surface pro and having that pen loose is a real pain. I have to keep my eye on it 24x7.

I'm not surprised you don't use classic desktop as much as what you thought you would. On this small is a screen at such a high resolution, the classic desktop is not very optimal. The new apps are far better suited for this device.

 

[Der Snoober]

I cannot believe they didn't come up with a stylus holder yet for this thing. I have a surface pro and having that pen loose is a real pain. I have to keep my eye on it 24x7.

I'm not surprised you don't use classic desktop as much as what you thought you would. On this small is a screen at such a high resolution, the classic desktop is not very optimal. The new apps are far better suited for this device.

Hi pparks 1,

you know the Surface Pro 2 has got a stylus holder? I can magneticly click it into place at the side of the tablet. It connects where you also can connect the power adapter to charge it. I guess this is an improvement they made on the Surface Pro 2 version.

 

[pparks1]

The first version has the magnetic clip too. But you cannot leave the pen attached when you charge, so when you unclip it, you have to set it aside and that is where I find myself most likely to misplace it. I wish it had a cut out where you could slide it inside the device like many handhelds which have a stylus.

 

[Der Snoober]

Ah...I see what you mean there. Fortunately the protected casing I've order for the Surface comes with a penholder in it. But I see your point where it would have been great to have the stylus slide into the tablet instead of the magnetic clip.

 

[mertzi]

Hello! If you find the time can you do a battery test with screen on the lowest brightness and only do light stuff like internet browsing (including a little youtubeing) and maybe some writing. I want to know the longest possible screen on time with the lowest brightness. I haven't been impressed with the reviews so far considering battery life. Around 6,5 h is what most reviews have claimed and that isn't enough for me but that's on 50% brightness.

 

[Der Snoober]

Hello! If you find the time can you do a battery test with screen on the lowest brightness and only do light stuff like internet browsing (including a little youtubeing) and maybe some writing. I want to know the longest possible screen on time with the lowest brightness. I haven't been impressed with the reviews so far considering battery life. Around 6,5 h is what most reviews have claimed and that isn't enough for me but that's on 50% brightness.

Hi Mertzi,

I will do a battery test for you. It will take some time, but I think you can expect some conclusions by the end of the week.

Greetz,

Rover

 

[HippsieGypsie]

How are things going with your new Surface Pro2?

I'm wanting to get this: www.eightforums.com/showthread.php?t=34645