Surface Devices

[Dave245]

You will master Windows in no time. Also remember to ask a question on here no matter how simple it seems. We have all had them I promise.

So far i'm using it alongside my iMac, i'm finding it pretty good at the moment. I like MacOS and Mac's in general, but i've last started to like the Surface lineup as well. Who's to say both can't be used

Thank you, i will keep that in mind. I do have a question, yesterday i used the ability to draw and write on the web (via Edge i believe) but once i saved it, i couldn't find it in OneNote (which is where i saved it). I highlighted a page or two and taped the save button and then OneNote.

 

[derekamoss]

So far i'm using it alongside my iMac, i'm finding it pretty good at the moment. I like MacOS and Mac's in general, but i've last started to like the Surface lineup as well. Who's to say both can't be used

Thank you, i will keep that in mind. I do have a question, yesterday i used the ability to draw and write on the web (via Edge i believe) but once i saved it, i couldn't find it in OneNote (which is where i saved it). I highlighted a page or two and taped the save button and then OneNote.

Hmm, mine defaults to quick notes notebook so I would check there.

 

[SDColorado]

So far i'm using it alongside my iMac, i'm finding it pretty good at the moment. I like MacOS and Mac's in general, but i've last started to like the Surface lineup as well. Who's to say both can't be used

Thank you, i will keep that in mind. I do have a question, yesterday i used the ability to draw and write on the web (via Edge i believe) but once i saved it, i couldn't find it in OneNote (which is where i saved it). I highlighted a page or two and taped the save button and then OneNote.

Mine saves to OneNote under the Quicknotes heading.

 

[LeeW]

Can anyone clarify this for me on the Surface Book 2.

The tablet part has a battery as does the base. Suppose I drain the tablet part, can I connect it to the base and it will charge the tablet from the base so I can detach it again later? I had an Asus transformer years ago that did this and it was great on the go.

 

[SDColorado]

Can anyone clarify this for me on the Surface Book 2.

The tablet part has a battery as does the base. Suppose I drain the tablet part, can I connect it to the base and it will charge the tablet from the base so I can detach it again later? I had an Asus transformer years ago that did this and it was great on the go.

The tablet part is constantly being charged from the base as long as the two are attached. The base is pretty much just a keyboard, dGPU and big battery. Whenever you re-attach it will begin to charge the tablet part again. You can also connect the power cable directly to the tablet part if you will be using it stationary and don't wish to have the base attached. You can just plug in the base to the power cord to recharge it too if you don't wish to carry the base and want to recharge it.

Not the clearest of photos, but this one courtesy of Surface Book tips, shows how you can connect power directly to the tablet.

 

[derekamoss]

Can anyone clarify this for me on the Surface Book 2.

The tablet part has a battery as does the base. Suppose I drain the tablet part, can I connect it to the base and it will charge the tablet from the base so I can detach it again later? I had an Asus transformer years ago that did this and it was great on the go.

If you are getting it more for the tablet portion, I recommend the Pro over the book. I mostly use just the tablet portion and when I upgraded from my Pro 4 to S Book 2 i thought I was making a good decision because the tablet was bigger and lighter... Also the hidden SD card slot I miss alot Honestly I really regret doing this. The trade offs just arent worth it. If i could I would have bought a pro 6. I have my pro 4 and book 2 and have to force myself to use the book 2 almost.

 

[SDColorado]

If you are getting it more for the tablet portion, I recommend the Pro over the book. I mostly use just the tablet portion and when I upgraded from my Pro 4 to S Book 2 i thought I was making a good decision because the tablet was bigger and lighter... Also the hidden SD card slot I miss alot Honestly I really regret doing this. The trade offs just arent worth it. If i could I would have bought a pro 6. I have my pro 4 and book 2 and have to force myself to use the book 2 almost.

Agreed. Book 2 is the better laptop of the two 2-1's if a laptop is a primary use. More RAM, more storage, fairly good dGPU. But the tablet portion is fairly large and battery life not that great.

The Surface Pro is more portable, the battery lasts longer as a tablet, you can recharge the device with a 12v charger in the car. I love my Surface Pro, but I do also have my 15" MBP. If I had to decide on just one mobile device, it would be a hard decision.

 

[xraydoc]

The tablet part is constantly being charged from the base as long as the two are attached. The base is pretty much just a keyboard, dGPU and big battery. Whenever you re-attach it will begin to charge the tablet part again. You can also connect the power cable directly to the tablet part if you will be using it stationary and don't wish to have the base attached. You can just plug in the base to the power cord to recharge it too if you don't wish to carry the base and want to recharge it.

Not the clearest of photos, but this one courtesy of Surface Book tips, shows how you can connect power directly to the tablet.

I'm not sure that this is entirely true. I don't think the base will recharge the tablet batteries. The base will certainly power the computer when the tablet batteries are depleted, but I don't think the base will recharge the tablet.
But you can certainly recharge the tablet like shown above. I do it often to my machine.

 

[SDColorado]

I'm not sure that this is entirely true. I don't think the base will recharge the tablet batteries. The base will certainly power the computer when the tablet batteries are depleted, but I don't think the base will recharge the tablet.
But you can certainly recharge the tablet like shown above. I do it often to my machine.

As long as the base isn’t also running on battery it will. But perhaps I misunderstood the question and that is what was being asked?

If the power adapter is plugged into the base, you can charge the base and tablet at the same time, or you can plug the power adapter directly into the tablet and charge just that, or you can use two separate adapters and charge them separately.

But I believe if the base is on battery power, it will not charge the tablet.

 

[LeeW]

Scenario to be clear:

In the morning the base and tablet are fully charged. I am out all day at a workshop and use the tablet for presenting, it dies. What I wanted to understand is that if I put the tablet back on the base without being connected to mains power, will it transfer charge from the base to the tablet over time so I can then start using the tablet again? That is what the Asus Transformer used to do.

This is not something I would do on a regular basis, just wanted to know if it would be another advantage. But, keeping it attached to the based and just flipping it over would work and it takes that worry away.

I am looking for strong overall battery life. Nothing I have seen on the surface Pro 6 reviews/test indicate better than 5 hours. That to me, is poor for a portable.

 

[SDColorado]

Scenario to be clear:

In the morning the base and tablet are fully charged. I am out all day at a workshop and use the tablet for presenting, it dies. What I wanted to understand is that if I put the tablet back on the base without being connected to mains power, will it transfer charge from the base to the tablet over time so I can then start using the tablet again? That is what the Asus Transformer used to do.

This is not something I would do on a regular basis, just wanted to know if it would be another advantage. But, keeping it attached to the based and just flipping it over would work and it takes that worry away.

I am looking for strong overall battery life. Nothing I have seen on the surface Pro 6 reviews/test indicate better than 5 hours. That to me, is poor for a portable.

If you are talking about putting it onto the base, without it being connected to mains, then I do not believe it will charge the tablet from the base while the base is on battery.

My understanding is that this function was not included due to the battery cycles/wear it would create for the base battery to be able to do so.

The Surface Pro definitely can’t match the Surface Book 2 for overall battery life, not much can. There is a lot of battery backed into the two parts. But the Surface Pro will last several hours as a tablet, since its entire battery is in the tablet. Surface Book 2 has a prettty short battery life as a tablet, when detached from the base.

 

[LeeW]

Tough one, the shorter battery life on the SP6 is making me cautious, but the SB2 is likely overkill despite the long battery. I like the idea of both for the level of utility beyond that which a standard laptop provides.

And that keyboard on the SB2, I recommend Tim and Jony go try it out to understand What a keyboard should be like on a laptop.

 

[SDColorado]

Tough one, the shorter battery life on the SP6 is making me cautious, but the SB2 is likely overkill despite the long battery. I like the idea of both for the level of utility beyond that which a standard laptop provides.

And that keyboard on the SB2, I recommend Tim and Jony go try it out to understand What a keyboard should be like on a laptop.

The keyboard on the SB2, reminds me of what the Apple keyboards used to be like. I really don’t care for the 2016+ butterfly keyboards, even putting the reliability issues aside. With the poor reliability added to an already poor design, they are a mess.

The better choice between the two will really depend on the primary usage. I love my Surface Pro, but I also have a 15” laptop, so I don’t need it to be that. Nor do I need to run it on battery more than a few hours, before I can plug it in to a wall outlet or am traveling by car and can plug it in using the 12v plug I purchased.

But if I was looking for one of the two devices to replace both the Surface Pro and my 15” MBP, that would make for a tough decision and a lot of it would be down to how much I planned to use it like a laptop vs tablet, do I want the smaller size for air travel, etc.

 

[xraydoc]

Scenario to be clear:

In the morning the base and tablet are fully charged. I am out all day at a workshop and use the tablet for presenting, it dies. What I wanted to understand is that if I put the tablet back on the base without being connected to mains power, will it transfer charge from the base to the tablet over time so I can then start using the tablet again? That is what the Asus Transformer used to do.

No, I'm 99.99% sure it will not. You can of course reattach & flip the screen over and use the tablet with the base attached for its battery, but it won't recharge the tablet portion.

The SB2 tablet only gets around 2.5 hrs on its internal battery, so if you plan on using it as a tablet primarily, the SB2 may not be the machine for you.

 

[Queen6]

Scenario to be clear:

In the morning the base and tablet are fully charged. I am out all day at a workshop and use the tablet for presenting, it dies. What I wanted to understand is that if I put the tablet back on the base without being connected to mains power, will it transfer charge from the base to the tablet over time so I can then start using the tablet again? That is what the Asus Transformer used to do.

This is not something I would do on a regular basis, just wanted to know if it would be another advantage. But, keeping it attached to the based and just flipping it over would work and it takes that worry away.

I am looking for strong overall battery life. Nothing I have seen on the surface Pro 6 reviews/test indicate better than 5 hours. That to me, is poor for a portable.

No on my Gen 1 SB the tablet only charges when the power cable is attached. Makes sense as batteries charging batteries isn't a great idea. Reversing the display both batteries are used, although it can be a little unwieldly. Better off with the SP6 as the charger is smaller, and adds up to a smaller package over all, unless notebook usage is primary.

Personally I've an Acer Switch 5 and it has a miniscule proprietary charger and can be charged via USB C which was one of it's draws. Acer advertises 10.5 hours for the Switch 5, realistically 7 hours if one is careful. Switch 5 is not I the same class as the SP6, being more industrial and less refined, it works for me as I wanted a W10 tablet form 2in1 that sat between the Surface GO and SP6.

What made me laugh about the Acer is the charger is truly tiny, yet it came with a standard heavy duty 13 Amp extension cable, which weighed twice as much as the charger itself Swapped it for a flat style cable with a US plug at a fraction of the weight What amazes me is the Switch 5 was just $650 USD with the detachable backlit keyboard and pen, USB C, USB A and a microSD Card slot, can even upgrade the SSD Credit where credit is due, only thing I need to do above and beyond was use a specific calibrated icc file for the display and it's HDR

Q-6

 

[LeeW]

I am running on my Windows PC all of this week to get a proper feel for it again (when I am not working) then I will make a decision by Friday and get something purchased. Installed the new Microsoft Edge Browser, that is actually and surprisingly very good.

 

[derekamoss]

I am running on my Windows PC all of this week to get a proper feel for it again (when I am not working) then I will make a decision by Friday and get something purchased. Installed the new Microsoft Edge Browser, that is actually and surprisingly very good.

Yeah the new edge browser has been surprisingly good so far

 

[LeeW]

I am running on my Windows PC all of this week to get a proper feel for it again (when I am not working) then I will make a decision by Friday and get something purchased. Installed the new Microsoft Edge Browser, that is actually and surprisingly very good.

So I bought the SurfaceBook 2, 13.5", 8GB ram, 256 GB SSD, i5 8th Gen. With my daughter's student discount I paid about 250 less than the 13" MBP with student discount that I returned with a broken keyboard. Quite pleased with it, love typing on it and the versatility is great.

 

[derekamoss]

So I bought the SurfaceBook 2, 13.5", 8GB ram, 256 GB SSD, i5 8th Gen. With my daughter's student discount I paid about 250 less than the 13" MBP with student discount that I returned with a broken keyboard. Quite pleased with it, love typing on it and the versatility is great.

Nice, if you have any questions hit me up. First thing I always do is register it online and then go to https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/surfacerecoveryimage and download the recovery image so its always available. Since it's a good size download it sucks having to wait for it when u need it. Not saying you will need it a lot either. Most of the time when Ive had to use it is me being over confident in my PC Skills or because I am a sucker to join the Windows Insider Program if they drop a really want feature. IE. Light mode in 1903 lol.. couldn't resist after 6 months of me saying I'm never going to do an insider build again. Turns out 1903 has actually been the most stable build I have run of windows 10 so far.

 

[cullenl87]

Any surface book 3 rumors? Will we ever see a 15" surface laptop?

 

[kazmac]

I miss owning a Surface product. I know I have been flip flopping because of my Windows skittishness: but after yesterday’s iMac debacle, I realize I miss owning a Surface. I loved the SL2 and the 15” SB2.

I keep thinking about them and that the SL2 would be a good starter for me (with a wired mouse) . I might look into that after my money is refunded. I do not think a SB is good for me now since there may be refreshes in October.

 

[derekamoss]

I miss owning a Surface product. I know I have been flip flopping because of my Windows skittishness: but after yesterday’s iMac debacle, I realize I miss owning a Surface. I loved the SL2 and the 15” SB2.

I keep thinking about them and that the SL2 would be a good starter for me (with a wired mouse) . I might look into that after my money is refunded. I do not think a SB is good for me now since there may be refreshes in October.

Haha having buyers remorse, remorse. As I have said, it takes a little time to fully appreciate the Surface line. I don't think I would even go back now if they had a Surface equivalent with MacOS on it now.

 

[xraydoc]

I miss owning a Surface product. I know I have been flip flopping because of my Windows skittishness: but after yesterday’s iMac debacle, I realize I miss owning a Surface. I loved the SL2 and the 15” SB2.

I keep thinking about them and that the SL2 would be a good starter for me (with a wired mouse) . I might look into that after my money is refunded. I do not think a SB is good for me now since there may be refreshes in October.

iMac debacle?

 

[Queen6]

iMac debacle?

Sales issue in store, not a hardware thing.

Q-6

 

[kazmac]

Best Buy has Surface Laptop 2, Surface Pro 6 and Surface Book 2’s on sale for this holiday weekend.

Of course, my money is still tied up...