[RESOLVED] Surface Pro 2

[dclamp]

I know szblahmanny has one and from his posts seems to like it. Anyone else have a surface pro 2 and like it?

Once my tax return comes in I will be in the market to buy a windows based laptop or tablet. It is practical for development? I wont be writing code full time, but i want to have the option to do it in my spare time. Pros/Cons?

Thanks

[jmcilhinney]

I don't have one so I can't give a full run down but I will say that one of the pros is the fact that it is a full-on PC in a tablet form-factor so you do get a lot of power in a small package but one of the cons is that it's not actually a proper laptop, so using it in your lap requires it be used as a tablet, which is not great if you want to type a reasonable amount. I'm not aware of a dock for the Surface Pro 2 that will stand it up at the usual laptop angle. When I was looking for something with a touchscreen, I wanted something that I could actually use as a laptop. There are more choices these days and there are some that will separate the screen from the keyboard completely, but I ended up with the Dell XPS 12 and am very happy with it. The screen pivots all the way around so you can use it as a tablet, although it's considerably heavier than a genuine tablet. It's an i7 Ultrabook so you get all the power of a full-sized laptop too. One thing I like a lot is that, because of the pivoting screen, you can use it with the screen folded back over the keyboard but tilted up part way, so the screen faces you at about 45 degrees and you don't have to hold it up the way I see so many tablet users doing.

[dclamp]

Just looked that up. I would probably like that much better since its a better hybrid of tablet/laptop. Also seems that the Microsoft Store is having a deal with the Del XPS12

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/..._Tablet_021714

I also like the idea of separating the screen from the keyboard. My friend has an ASUS Transformer but thats a little small for me.

[jmcilhinney]

Just looked that up. I would probably like that much better since its a better hybrid of tablet/laptop. Also seems that the Microsoft Store is having a deal with the Del XPS12

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/..._Tablet_021714

I also like the idea of separating the screen from the keyboard. My friend has an ASUS Transformer but thats a little small for me.

That's a very cool offer. I would have jumped at that if it was available at the time I bought mine. I was looking for something that would allow the screen to be separated but everything around at the time was running RT on an Atom. There seem to be one or two options available now that provide that functionality with grunt though.

[dclamp]

I went into the Microsoft Store today to buy the Dell XPS12 with the Tablet. They didn't have any in stock. I think this is a sign.

[jmcilhinney]

I went into the Microsoft Store today to buy the Dell XPS12 with the Tablet. They didn't have any in stock. I think this is a sign.

A sign of what? Had they not received any or had they been so popular that they ran out?

[dclamp]

A sign that perhaps I'm rushing into a purchase. I tend to be an impulsive buyer.

However I AM impressed with both the Dell XPS12 as well as the Dell Venue 8 Pro tablet. I can get them both for $989 + tax. Thats a pretty good deal in my book. They didn't have it in stock at the store nearest me, so I will be going to the one in south county tomorrow... later today...

[szlamany]

I've used my SP2 on my lap - it works. I actually has "two angles" to the back plate to make it work better then the older model when put on your lap.

I've used it on an airplane to and from Chicago over the weekend - created web pages - wrote SQL sprocs.

Got the touch keyboard attached to it - it's a cover to the glass when folded.

I recently set it up as a full-blown IIS server so that I can demo hand-held Samsung tablets connecting to a demo web site I'm creating.

Shaggy has one...

[dilettante]

A sign that perhaps I'm rushing into a purchase. I tend to be an impulsive buyer.

Easy trap. Just take your time to think it over. A week or three from now won't hurt anything.

[dclamp]

Easy trap. Just take your time to think it over. A week or three from now won't hurt anything.

Well the trap worked. I am currently typing this from my XPS12.

The resolution on this screen is amazing. I got the XPS 12 plus the Dell Venue 8 Pro Tablet out the door for $1071.23. The XPS12 goes for $1199.99 on Dell's website. Thank you student discount.

[jmcilhinney]

Well the trap worked. I am currently typing this from my XPS12.

The resolution on this screen is amazing. I got the XPS 12 plus the Dell Venue 8 Pro Tablet out the door for $1071.23. The XPS12 goes for $1199.99 on Dell's website. Thank you student discount.

Awesome. I hope it suits your needs because it really does mine and I'd have been very happy to get the Dell tablet as well, which looks really good in the reviews I've seen. I think I ended up paying about AU$1600 for mine, but I did max out everything spec-wise. The one issue I've had is that the trackpad is good enough but not great. From what I've read, it's more a software issue than hardware and it did improve noticeably when I upgraded from Windows 8 to 8.1. I always tap to click and I use the left button as a middle click and I still find that it registers two clicks sometimes, e.g. middle-click on a browser link and two new tabs open. Other than that, I'm very happy with the whole package.

[dclamp]

Awesome. I hope it suits your needs because it really does mine and I'd have been very happy to get the Dell tablet as well, which looks really good in the reviews I've seen. I think I ended up paying about AU$1600 for mine, but I did max out everything spec-wise. The one issue I've had is that the trackpad is good enough but not great. From what I've read, it's more a software issue than hardware and it did improve noticeably when I upgraded from Windows 8 to 8.1. I always tap to click and I use the left button as a middle click and I still find that it registers two clicks sometimes, e.g. middle-click on a browser link and two new tabs open. Other than that, I'm very happy with the whole package.

So far I am really liking it. I have noticed a few small issues with the trackpad, but I think I can get over them really easy by training myself to use it differently. Also I noticed the trackpad page scroll is more Touch-screen style than traditional scroll up to go up, down to do down. I am already used to that.

I also opted for the i5 instead of i7, so the cost was a little less. Thanks for the suggestion on the XPS, I think I will really like it.

[jmcilhinney]

Also I noticed the trackpad page scroll is more Touch-screen style than traditional scroll up to go up, down to do down.

I think that it's configured that way because it has a touchscreen and they want the gestures to match but you can change that in the configuration if you want. I have another laptop and a wireless keyboard with a trackpad so I want them all to work the same way.

[dclamp]

I ended up turning off the one-finger and three finger gestures for the trackpad. They caused the side panels to pop out or would switch windows. The three-finger gestures caused it to scroll to the top or bottom when I didn't want it to, not to mention when I was using 2 not 3 fingers.

I just updated to 8.1 and I downloaded the new touchpad drivers.

[Lord Orwell]

there's a setting for synaptic touchpads that reverse the scroll direction. We recently bought a toshiba sattelite convertible laptop. Screen detaches. The performance was sub-par though. You get what you pay for and it was $500. We took it back and got a core i-5 Acer with a touch screen. It's the best of both worlds. I just wish the screen flipped around like they do on the xps, but the system is plenty fast. It's actually faster in some tasks than my aging phenom-ii pc, and has more memory, although the video isn't as good. It is however good enough and runs every game i have on steam plus all touch games through bluestacks android emulator.

[dclamp]

Having it for (almost) a week, I really like it. I turned off the inverse scrolling as well as most of the touch gestures except scroll. My Macbook Pro touch pad worked really well, and the gestures worked perfectly. With the XPS, the touch pad got confused thinking there were more fingers on the pad and wouldnt work correctly. After turning the 3 & 4 finger gestures off, it works fine.

I also found an old laptop mouse I used to use on my old netbook. Works fine for what I need, although i might buy a bluetooth one so I dont use up 50% of my USB ports.

[Lord Orwell]

did you try adjusting the touchpad sensitivity? there's a setting on synaptics pads for that

[dclamp]

Yeah, It didnt do much for me. Turning off the gestures was easier, I didnt use them anyway.

[creamtown]

You could pick other laptop/tablet brand. I know that Surface 2 Pro is really great, but other manufacturers besides Microsoft also make many decent quality laptop/tablets too, like Sony, Lenovo, Asus, etc.