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New Surface Pro

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541–550 of 606 posts

Re: New Surface Pro

#541

Earlier quoted context omitted.

12" Macbook only comes with a Core M CPU and 8GB Ram max, the Surface Pro is much more capable than that, basically on Macbook Pro levels.

Depends on the exact model. The xps has an "i7" but it's pretty much just a core m with a few little extras. Remember, this is a fanless design so thermal throttling will be insane, just like on the macbook and the xps13.

Neither the Surface Pro i7 nor the XPS13 (not talking about the 1 in 2 XPS13) are fanless. Its the same class as the Macbook Pro 13 but Kaby Lake as opposed to Skylake allows for a fanless i5 Surface Pro.

Re: New Surface Pro

#542
post #439

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sitting here staring at my US keyboard and scratching my head. All of the Menu shortcuts align perfectly with the UK keyboard's iconography but not the US keyboard which opts for labels. And why do we have a key labeled both enter and return?

I noticed that in the US almost all signage uses text instead of symbols. For example, writing "No smoking" on a sign, where in Europe you would have a crossed-out cigarette. I don't really understand why this is done, since well-made symbols are also understandable for illiterate people or those not speaking the language.

Explain to me the difference between these three signs: 1. a bicycle on a blue circle, 2. a bicycle on a white circle outlined in red, and 3. a bicycle on a blue square.

On the other hand having to read all that in text while you're riding by isn't very reasonable either. Complex signage is only as good as your knowledge of it, which maybe is why passing a driving test in Europe is so much harder; it requires knowledge we just get from being able to read in the US.

Re: New Surface Pro

#543
I made an account just to provide some balance to the glowing reviews about the Surface Pros, and to see if I'm the only one here that feels this way. I own a Surface Pro 3. I want to like it but a few things ruined it for me.

TL;DR: Unless they redesign the charger and make the touchscreen resilient to cracks, I won't be buying another Surface in the future.

Complaint #1: Am I the only one here super frustrated by the design of the SP3's (and SP4's) charger? Specifically, the magsafe-like plug. It frays right where the cord meets the plastic plug and short-circuits. You can actually see the spark inside the plastic piece that connects to the computer, and the LED indicating it's connected to power will flicker on and off. I've owned two cables now (the original and the replacement I got for this issue) and it's happened on both. There's a thread here about this: http://www.surfaceforums.net/threads/power-cable-fraying.108...

The result is I have to be very careful when it's plugged in, because if I move and shift the cable, it might short-out and the computer shuts off (and it resets my Surface's time, too). Also, annoyingly, sometimes the LED in the plastic magsafe plug indicates it's connected to power, but when I connect it to the Surface the Surface says "plugged in, NOT charging" (emphasis mine).

Microsoft recalled the power cords due to the AC power plug, but not the magsafe connector. So when I contacted Microsoft about the recall, they sent me the part that plugs to the wall, which was not the problem. I've tried reinforcing the connection with electrical tape, and that helps to a very limited extent.

Complaint #2: A month into owning the SP3 I dropped it and the screen cracked. This broke the touch screen (the Surface thinks I'm repeatedly tapping where the screen is cracked.) I had to disable the touchscreen drivers to make the Surface usable, so now the tablet functionality is all gone, which is a bummer because I bought it in part for reading and videos. And, even with the drivers disabled, when the computer boots up from power off, it often waits indefinitely at the screen with the word "Surface" unless I "massage" the area where the screen is cracked. This behavior (and recommendation to massage the screen) is documented in this reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/4vmimv/surface_pro....

Dropping it was my mistake, but I wish the Surface's touchscreen was more resilient/better able to handle cracks. iPads and iPhones seem much better off in this respect.

Complaint #3: Occasionally, the Surface will turn itself back on when I've pressed the power button to turn it off. The result is I'll come back to use the Surface later and the battery will be totally dead. I'm 85% sure that it's not me hitting the power button to turn it back on, especially because my power settings are such that, if it's sitting idle for 5 minutes, it should go to sleep.

I really like the Surface in a lot of ways, but the issue with the power cable and the fragility of the touchscreen make me unlikely to buy another Surface, and make me hesitate about recommending a Surface to a friend.

Re: New Surface Pro

#544
post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried a bluetooth headset but it had enough extra latency to throw me off (I play rhythm games sometimes). In theory my wifi's fast enough for copying data to/from my phone, but I don't think it offers an easy way to do that (and my camera doesn't have wifi at all).

> In theory my wifi's fast enough for copying data to/from my phone I could HotSync my Treo over Bluetooth 10 years ago and it was an effortless two-way sync with reasonably good conflict resolution. It amazes me that nothing quite gets that right these days.

Maybe something like that would be usable for text or sound, but transferring a video over bluetooth is paniful.

Re: New Surface Pro

#545
post #451
post #395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Detail worth knowing: under the EU warranty the first year is covered by the manufacturer, the second by the reseller. If you buy a MacBook outside an Apple Store, after the first year you're supposed to bring it back to the place you bought it. There is even a difference between ordering it online through apple.com and buying it at the brick and mortar Apple Store as those are legally not the same. In practice thoug…

plain wrong. there is a 2-year warranty within 6 months the seller needs to actually prove that it worked correct. after that you (buyer) need to prove it. there is __never__ a warranty (under law, the manufacturer can make a special guarantee like apple care of course) between the manufacturer and the buyer (at least in the eu and might change if seller == manufacturer) the warranty is always between the _seller_ an…

EU directives are in practice no different to national law. Sure, countries can refuse to enforce them but they can refuse to enforce their national law as well. If we are at that stage all bets are off. "Can enforce" sounds like this is optional which it is really not. Courts refer to EU law just like they do to national law.

Re: New Surface Pro

#546
post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They fixed the logic board of my 3 year old Macbook Pro. They quibbled at first, but agreed to do it free of charge after I quoted the EU legislation.

I'm confused, you quoted the 2-year support requirement and they then fixed your 3-year old laptop?

Some countries, including the UK, have longer requirements in national law.

Re: New Surface Pro

#547
post #41

One import thing with all Surface laptops that most people don't know: > Support is limited to the country you purchased the device in. Eg: - If you buy an Apple laptop, and need a repair, they'll fix it if it's in warranty, regardless of where you are. - If you buy a Microsoft laptop, and need a warranty repair done in a different country, Microsoft won't help you. I purchased a Surface Book (which I love) in a Micr…

> - If you buy an Apple laptop, and need a repair, they'll fix it if it's in warranty, regardless of where you are. Not true. That is only for the iPhone. The Macbook has only national warranty.

I've had my MacBook Pro, US bought, fixed in India. Within the 1 year warranty period. No charge! (F1 INFO SOLUTIONS & SERVICES PVT LTD) This was not an Apple Store/Center, but an Authorised Service Center.

Re: New Surface Pro

#549

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah and slow down every time connection is a bit slower or you want to search something across whole project. Very often I am doing search trough all files directly in Sublime and I can do that because I am restricted only by throughput of my SSD and CPU.

If you're searching across a whole project, the server is footing the brunt of that. it's only sending back the results. That's not usually a lot of data, so your connection would have to be in the kilobits to be that big of a burden.

This is simply not true. If you search using external application, all the work is done locally, not server site. During the search Sublime have to open EVERY file, search for word and then close it. That's a lot of data going back and forward. Of course search can be done using server tools like grep, then the search will look just as you said, server will do all the work and then return result. There are two problems with that approach, first this is not as nice user experience as it is in Sublime, second: server (usually VPS) is in most cases slower than my dev machine, because not everybody works with multi cpu behemoths.

Re: New Surface Pro

#550
post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mouse, headset, keyboard, gamepad, bluetooth receiver, USB sticks, and yes a phone charger. I have no intention of replacing any of these things until they break, that could be a long, long time.

This is exactly the same things people were saying when USB 1.0 arrived, yet somehow people managed to switch.

Doesn't mean those people were wrong at the time. I was still using a serial port until 2012, still using a PS/2 keyboard until 2014. So I was right not to buy a USB-only PC in 2010, even though I've now switched to one.
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