Moving from a 2011 Macbook Air to a Surface Pro 2, thoughts?

[liam-ward]

Hello all,

This is very simple but I would like your thoughts. I currently have a 2011 Macbook Air, got it from new, and the reason I got it was for full portability at work and full desktop capabilities, however the time has come to upgrade it. I was originally thinking of getting a Macbook Air retina (if released this year) but the Surface Pro 2 has caught my eye.
I currently own, and love, a Nokia 1520 and I've had a few WP's before so I have dabbled in the ecosystem a bit.

What are you thoughts and is there anything you may suggest I consider?

 

[hopmedic]

I know I love my SP2. Far handier for toting around that my 15" HP that is now relegated to the desktop with a 3 1/2 year old battery. :wink:

 

[hopmedic]

Here's another Apple user turned SP2 user:
http://forums.windowscentral.com/microsoft-surface-pro-2/246837-7.htm#post2439857

 

[sd173]

Surface Pro/Pro 2/Pro 3 (I'm hoping they make a 3 with i7 this year) are the best computers/tablets/laptops I have ever used. I have the original Pro and in terms of performance (and many other things) it is AWESOME.

I've got Inventor Pro 2014 on it and the lag when using the program is so small it's almost unnoticeable. I had Inventor, all Office University applications, and Visual Studio 2013 all open and actively being used one day without any issues at all.

Then there's also the obvious things you'd see on advertisements about how it's great for portability, got a touchscreen, stylus, ports, and kickstand and all that stuff.

If you're going to get the Surface Pro 2 I suggest looking at the accessories, they make the user experience so much betterer. In my opinion, I think the Bluetooth Keyboard and Ethernet adapters are the most important accessories to get, if nothing else.

 

[liam-ward]

Surface Pro/Pro 2/Pro 3 (I'm hoping they make a 3 with i7 this year) are the best computers/tablets/laptops I have ever used. I have the original Pro and in terms of performance (and many other things) it is AWESOME.

I've got Inventor Pro 2014 on it and the lag when using the program is so small it's almost unnoticeable. I had Inventor, all Office University applications, and Visual Studio 2013 all open and actively being used one day without any issues at all.

Then there's also the obvious things you'd see on advertisements about how it's great for portability, got a touchscreen, stylus, ports, and kickstand and all that stuff.

If you're going to get the Surface Pro 2 I suggest looking at the accessories, they make the user experience so much betterer. In my opinion, I think the Bluetooth Keyboard and Ethernet adapters are the most important accessories to get, if nothing else.

I can get the 64GB Surface Pro (not 2) for ?350 with a touch case and a year of office. Would this be ok for general office use or would you suggest a Pro 2? ideally i would like a 128G but i need a long battery life, 5 hours +.

 

[MicrosoftFoLife]

I can get the 64GB Surface Pro (not 2) for ?350 with a touch case and a year of office. Would this be ok for general office use or would you suggest a Pro 2? ideally i would like a 128G but i need a long battery life, 5 hours +.

what does the GBs have to do with battery life? I have the Surface Pro 128gb and I get a good 5+ hours depending on what I'm doing. If its just word processing or coding, I get a full day. If its internet surfing or playing games, its closer to 5 hours.

 

[liam-ward]

what does the GBs have to do with battery life? I have the Surface Pro 128gb and I get a good 5+ hours depending on what I'm doing. If its just word processing or coding, I get a full day. If its internet surfing or playing games, its closer to 5 hours.

Sorry bad wording, been at work all day. Meant to say i'd like 128gb and a good battery life. Thanks for the info.

 

[sd173]

I can get the 64GB Surface Pro (not 2) for ?350 with a touch case and a year of office. Would this be ok for general office use or would you suggest a Pro 2? ideally i would like a 128G but i need a long battery life, 5 hours +.

I think that a 64 GB or 128 GB Pro would be fine for general office use, especially since there's those 128 GB SD cards now that you could add if you need more storage, although that wouldn't get synced with OneDrive, assuming you use OneDrive that is. I know you mentioned the Pro version but no matter what, don't get the RT - since that would technically also meet your needs.

If you're going to get the Touch Cover (it'll take some getting used to), you should get the Touch Cover 2 because even though the backlighting isn't needed all the time, it really helps in places like dimly lit cars and airplanes during the night. If there's any impact the type cover has on battery life, I'm sure it's nothing more than a few minutes.

 

[liam-ward]

I think that a 64 GB or 128 GB Pro would be fine for general office use, especially since there's those 128 GB SD cards now that you could add if you need more storage, although that wouldn't get synced with OneDrive, assuming you use OneDrive that is. I know you mentioned the Pro version but no matter what, don't get the RT - since that would technically also meet your needs.

If you're going to get the Touch Cover (it'll take some getting used to), you should get the Touch Cover 2 because even though the backlighting isn't needed all the time, it really helps in places like dimly lit cars and airplanes during the night. If there's any impact the type cover has on battery life, I'm sure it's nothing more than a few minutes.

Thanks for this. I was thinking about the micro SD card slot expansion as I own a couple of 64gb cards but the battery life could be a deal breaker, but its ?350 less......... I do use Onedrive but I only sync about 4GB to my laptop. I would REALLY love the power cover but you can't get it in the UK, can you?

 

[sd173]

Maybe if you know someone in the US you could give them the money for the Power Cover and have them order it and send it to you in the UK. I live in the US but I really don't like how MS and a lot of other companies don't sell products everywhere at the same time, even if there might be a valid reason behind it.

 

[liam-ward]

I don't get why they haven't released it everywhere either?

 

[MicrosoftFoLife]

Sorry bad wording, been at work all day. Meant to say i'd like 128gb and a good battery life. Thanks for the info.

yeah I really recommend the 128. You'll use 64 pretty fast. Unless you have an external HD.

 

[liam-ward]

Ohhh I have a new problem. I've found a 128GB surface pro 1 with free touch cover for about ?360, half the price of a pro 2. However the battery life is a problem as I am out of the house for 12 hours as a time aggggggg

 

[MicrosoftFoLife]

Ohhh I have a new problem. I've found a 128GB surface pro 1 with free touch cover for about ?360, half the price of a pro 2. However the battery life is a problem as I am out of the house for 12 hours as a time aggggggg

Well, you won't get 12 hours out of a pro 2 so either way, you'll have to charge at some point.

 

[sd173]

Ohhh I have a new problem. I've found a 128GB surface pro 1 with free touch cover for about ?360, half the price of a pro 2. However the battery life is a problem as I am out of the house for 12 hours as a time aggggggg

Well you won't be using it for the whole twelve hours right? You can always change the power settings in the control panel to get the most possible battery life out of the Surface Pro when/if you get it.

 

[liam-ward]

Well you won't be using it for the whole twelve hours right? You can always change the power settings in the control panel to get the most possible battery life out of the Surface Pro when/if you get it.

True but I would use it for quite a bit. I'm a Lecturer and would connect it to the projectors. Ideally I would prefer not to take a plug to and from work too.

 

[liam-ward]

Well, you won't get 12 hours out of a pro 2 so either way, you'll have to charge at some point.

After looking on the net am i right in thinking the pro 1 gives around 4-5 hours and the pro 2 6-8 hours? just wondering

 

[sd173]

After looking on the net am i right in thinking the pro 1 gives around 4-5 hours and the pro 2 6-8 hours? just wondering

I think that's what they said at the Surface Pro 2 release event and how it's advertised, bit I wouldn't know about the Pro 2 since I don't have one.

 

[MicrosoftFoLife]

After looking on the net am i right in thinking the pro 1 gives around 4-5 hours and the pro 2 6-8 hours? just wondering

Yes but you gotta remember that when you connect other devices you start using more power. So, connecting to the projector will use more power to use the USB or HDMI output or whatever you use. So you're not gonna get 8 hours out of it. And if you're using the WiFi that'll use more power.

With all this in the thought process, you'll have to take the power cord with you for the pro 2 as well. If it were me, id get the one that's a deal cause either way, id have to use my power cord.

That's just my thought process.

 

[sd173]

Yes but you gotta remember that when you connect other devices you start using more power. So, connecting to the projector will use more power to use the USB or HDMI output or whatever you use. So you're not gonna get 8 hours out of it. And if you're using the WiFi that'll use more power.

Oh yeah, I never realized that. You'll definitely need to take a power chord. The Nixon case on the Microsoft online store has a pouch with room for lists of accessories, including the charger and socket chord.