1st gen v 2nd gen WOA

Douglas H

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I'm curious how much Windows on ARM has improved in the last year. Why I'm asking is now that we are on the cusp of 2nd gen chips, first Gen hardware is getting very interesting price wise. Does a Miix 630 or HP envy work better today than a year ago because of improvements at the OS level?

And while I'm at it, would you take the Miix 630 at $528 or the Envy x2 at $700?

Thanks
 
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Douglas H

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Creating my own echo chamber here... So I bought the Envy X2 for $699. I'm hoping it works well enough. I was suckered by the looks which I think are brilliant. If I waited for a snapdragon 850 or cx it would just be a new product and therefore too expensive. I have a more powerful I7 surface pro 6 for work which I hammer pretty hard nd it goes and goes...except battery which good, is not great. At home I could use my work computer but I like to have a bit o separation between home and work...so there you have it. My surface pro 2, which I'm typing this on is still a workhorse, is going strong after 6 years. But time for something shiny and new. My home/casual use case... Web browsing, net flix, music. I think the envy x2 will manage it fine.

But my question remains, to anyone who might think they know, has W10S gained in efficiency since its launch...better performance? Emulation? X64 support? Similarly, has the X2 firmware or software improved in the past 12 to 16 months since its launch?

Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any thoughts.
 

Drael646464

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Thanks Drael, this is what I was assuming but it seems almost impossible to find any actual data on this. As far as I can tell you can't even filter for in on the windows store.

That's annoying. I know some browsers like firefox and opera did. And I think fruity loops have (music composiition). They do list chipset compatibility in the store, but if you can't filter for it, that really sucks. Perhaps there's a list out there somewhere, or at least a few mentions in an article here.
 

Douglas H

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Given all the recent buzz about the new iterations of snapdragon for woa pc and the new Samsung launching AND the pretty positive WC reviews of the envy x2, the miix 630 and others, I have to say I was hoping to get a comment or two from someone at WC... I'm sure its on the way, right?
 

Douglas H

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Last year's technology, today. I knew going in that this was bargain hunting through first generation stuff right when the good stuff was about to hit. I am not disappointed.

Ok, so here's the update--I know everyone (or no one) is waiting anxiously for an update. First of all, some context. I live and work outside the US and therefore ordering hardware is difficult on almost every level. As I am currently on an annual visit to the US I had ordered the Envy X2 prior to my arrival and have now been using it for two days.

Start-up of the machine out of the box was fine but did give me some concern while it was still updating--As expected, it had 2-3 rounds of windows updates, defender and of course dozens of app updates. So... the rounds of updates took probably 2+hours. The downloading was fast but the OS updates were painfully slow--what can you expect, it is an SD 835. The real concern came in with video playback not working in Edge. The video screen would either be green or black...I was starting to look through the documentation for returning... but after the last update everything was working...mystery not solved but problem vanished.

Windows hello is fast and almost un-noticeable--it just works.

The hardware is beautiful and solid. Look and build quality of the tablet is an A. To get an A+ it would be a couple of ounces lighter but it looks and feels fabulous. HP really puts out some nice equipment and this will look nice next to my Elite X3... (yes, I'm one of those clinging to the past for a while longer).

Screen is beautiful from almost every aspect. and for those of you that want to type in the bright sun...this will get you there--it gets really bright. I would give it an A+.

Keyboard is ok but feels a bit plastic-y when typing--I would give it a B- where I would give the Surface Pro keyboard a B+. There is some flex but really not too much--the keyboard just does not feel quite top notch. Having said that, I could easily see myself typing a few dozen pages without any problem.

Pen works great--I'm not an artist but have become used to using pen for notes in meetings--marking up PowerPoints or just notes in OneNote. FYI--if OneNote is too heavy give a look to Bamboo Paper. As a basic note taking app it is well suited for a light device. Pen score: A (but no serious artwork or boundary-pushing from my use cases)

And now...the final big-ticket item: Battery Life. Wow! A+. I'm not a professional reviewer so no video playback loops and no quantitative testing...but 24 hours in and its at 80%. Clearly not running the whole time but stand-by power is excellent and browsing/reading utilization is really battery-sipping. Battery life: A+.

So, should you get one? Up to you...there are bargains out there and they will only get cheaper through the end of the year. I'm sure a new wave of 8cx and others are about to launch which will push these down further.

Apps: All windows store apps. I have not upgraded from S Mode. I'm using (in no particular order) Edge, Office, Bamboo Paper, Skype, One Drive, Photoshop Express, To Do, Whiteboard, Audible, Translator and the usual onboard apps

Final thoughts: I got this knowing that my (personal, not work/professional) use case is light consumption--reading and Net Flix but not serious apps requiring heavy computing power. That said, I suspect this is the case for a LOT of people--even some who don't admit it.


It is a nice machine and is working very well. I am not disappointed in the least...I'll let you know in a couple of weeks if the initial good impressions hold up.
 

Douglas H

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Question about S Mode versus full fat Windows 10: Is full Windows 10 inherently more resource intensive or is it solely dependent on the apps? I could see upgrading to enable occasional use of win32 apps--even if slow when using those apps--as a fall back option. I would not want to degrade the current performance that I am having with store apps which is quite good.
 

Drael646464

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Question about S Mode versus full fat Windows 10: Is full Windows 10 inherently more resource intensive or is it solely dependent on the apps? I could see upgrading to enable occasional use of win32 apps--even if slow when using those apps--as a fall back option. I would not want to degrade the current performance that I am having with store apps which is quite good.

I'm not an expert, but I think it's mostly the containerized apps, and also the lower amount of services they run. However, when I first learnt about windows s, I heard that there was a slightly lower amount of windows background services, but I'm not sure if that panned out or not.

Unfortunately, I don't think enough people have done real testing on this, to know for sure. The accepted wisdom is that it's apps, but I just don't know. You'd have to check with someone who's had a real play with it.

I would ask a new question, new thread, in another forum area, like perhaps surface go, or something see what others think.
 

Drael646464

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So if not a single person answers does that mean it is a stupid question? Wrong forum? Any hints?

It's not the most active forum in the world. But people will go off the thread title, and in this case, it's not about that specifically. It's a cover of the book thing. If you post in another section, with a title that's about going from windows s to windows 10, or which apps are compiled for ARM, you might have a bit more luck.

Honestly as well this ask dan section is kind of dead. IDK if dan ever reads this subforum, I think he spends more time on twitter. I don't think it's a stupid question.
 

Douglas H

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Well, to be honest, I'm not surprised. This site seems more concerned with selling products than anything else.

Dan and team--suggest to delete the Ask Dan forum if it is routinely ignored.
 

Douglas H

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My final contribution here on this topic, written from my Envy X2 in S Mode:

The device continues to perform well and has been used in the past 3 weeks for browsing, You Tube and Netflix as well as some minor updates to an Excel worksheet (tracking my progress towards retirement--woohoo!). I have zero complaints on performance (perhaps low expectations?) and the device works well and still looks fabulous. I am not one of those who will face an early death if forced to live without Chrome and Snapchat. The apps from the store, many from Microsoft, work well and as expected.


Two issues about Windows in S Mode from my brief experience: 1. KB4512509 breaks the store and several store apps--importantly Skype is one of these. I've found threads on how to fix this and tried unsuccessfully to do so. Uninstalling the update seems to bring it back to a functional state with no complaints. Security updates continue as expected. 2. I'm on 1803 and when I check for updates (after Windows reminds me that 1803 will soon be out of service) neither 1809 or 1903 are coming--it tells me that "your machine is not ready for 1903 yet" so something like that. I've also tried to check for updates with, and without, KB4512509.


Almost Final thought: Is S Mode even a thing? Or is it just a short-term bridge to some new Lite OS--whatever that will be?

Last Point: Close down this damn Ask Dan forum. Reading through, there are lots of interesting threads and comments but super limited comments from moderators and almost none from the elusive Dan. Closing it would channel new posts to more appropriate topical forums.

Thanks
 
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