I bought the Surface Pro 2 because I live far away from my compay. I have to spend an hour on the bus which is very boring. I like to view movies and videos so it is really great if I could enjoy them on the way. So, when I get the wages, I bought it.
At first, I was confusion that I can not play my Blu-ray movies, DVD movies and the videos I downloaded online. Then I googled online and found that
Pavtube can solve my problem. When I downloaded the trail version, the fast conversion speed and output quality attracted me. The most important is that it solved my pronlem to view videos on my Surface 2.
I hope my experience can help the people who have the same problem as me before.
Oh there are a bit better and free ways for this.
First thing first, you need to get a codec pack to complete Windows 8 built-in ones. This will allow you to play all sorts of videos formats perfectly.
The tricky thing is finding a good one. Many still live in XP area, where it replaces Windows codecs and tend to break stuff up for it to work. Then when it comes to uninstall it for some reason you are left with a broken Windows experience in the video playback. Its sad that we are in 2013, and the group of people working on many of these codec packs, simply don't care. To be fair, however, I haven't tried the latest and greatest codec packs of these bad ones, to know if they FINALLY took 5 min to read Microsoft documentation on how to do thing properly. In any case, I recommend the awfully name: Shark007 codec pack. Its 1 person that handles it, and he does a pretty darn good job. Even comes with a fairly easy to use control panel in the case you want to change things. There is also a 64-bit add-on codec pack that you install after, and that will not only allow you to use Windows Media Player 12 64-bit properly with your videos, but also enjoy thumbnail preview on supported formats.
The codec pack is specifically designed for Windows 7 and 8.
Shark007: Standard Codecs for Windows 7 and Windows 8
64-bit add-on: Scroll at the bottom of the page. If you don't see it, here is a direct link:
Download ADVANCED x64Components for Windows 7 and 8 - MajorGeeks
Now to get your blur-ray and DVD movies, check out MakeMKV (
MakeMKV - Make MKV from Blu-ray and DVD).
Alternatively, (for DVD only), you can use DVDShrink to backup a DVD movie into an ISO file. Windows 8 can load ISO files by double clicking on them. All you need is the Media Center pack of Windows 8 Pro, to get the DVD codec for Media Center (sadly it doesn't work on Media Player, you have to use Media Center). While not great, it is better than spending ~100$+ on a DVD codec pack and use a crummy video player. Alternatively to that (and free), you can use VLC player.
Hope this helps.
I don't have a Surface Pro 2 yet (trying to buy it, but sold out everywhere), but I would also try some small indie games. Most indie games are very original and fun, and they are graphically simple, it should not make your device struggle. Indie games, for those that don't know, are games made and published by independent small studios. They usually have no publisher. They usually cost 5-15$ when not on special, and give you a much more fun and complete gaming experience that you simply cannot get from a smartphone game. Some are funny, some are puzzle focused, some are about adventure, or skill, there is everything. A breath of fresh air from the big publishers taking 0 chances and releasing the same game, over and over and over again, because that is what sell.
You can find them at Steam (
http://store.steampowered.com/). A famous game store for PC, you simply buy and you download the game. Easy as making and eating an already made delicious apple pie.
If you are/used a gamer, and wish to play some good old games.. well you have GOG.com (Good Old Games), which is a small company, that goes to large length to bring back these old games by getting the original authors or publishers or current owner of the game and make it available. These old games are normally not playable on modern systems. But what they also do, is patch the game or do things to make it not only playable in today's system, but be sure to provide the same exact experience as the original game. If you have a trouble with a game, and their support team can't fix it, you get your money back. Games are mostly ranging from 5 to 15$ as well. Older games being cheaper, of course. Dig up an old classic, and enjoy!
), this is normal, because you use a ultra low voltage CPU. Basically it's stuck at ~800MHz, and is well very slow. Much like if you play a demanding game on the system, the CPU will stay at full speed of ~2.6GHz, and your battery life will be significantly short... maybe 3-4h at most for such a device.
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