Pro 2 Power Cover Advice

[ret18057]

Hey all, just looking for some advice. I bought a Pro 2 with a type cover, and recently picked up a power cover. I am not (yet) a power user, but I had an RT Surface, and I was WOWED by the battery life (I know, apples and oranges). My question is, what do you guys think of the NEED for a power cover? I don't carry the cord around with me, and I have not really pushed the Surface yet to run it dry. I have gone several days with it in standby mode, and am happy with the battery life.

I got the type cover for $40 off, so I am trying it out, but I am not crazy about the thickness and weight the power cover adds (coming like I said from the RT with a touch cover). What do you experts think?? Anyone got any anecdotal testing information? Or just opinions?

Thanks

 

[jojoe42]

Hey all, just looking for some advice. I bought a Pro 2 with a type cover, and recently picked up a power cover. I am not (yet) a power user, but I had an RT Surface, and I was WOWED by the battery life (I know, apples and oranges). My question is, what do you guys think of the NEED for a power cover? I don't carry the cord around with me, and I have not really pushed the Surface yet to run it dry. I have gone several days with it in standby mode, and am happy with the battery life.

I got the type cover for $40 off, so I am trying it out, but I am not crazy about the thickness and weight the power cover adds (coming like I said from the RT with a touch cover). What do you experts think?? Anyone got any anecdotal testing information? Or just opinions?

Thanks

The only need I can think of is if you are a heavy user, but that said, most will either use the dock and/or plug their SP2 into a monitor and desktop setup. If you do a lot of on-the-go video editing in the CS suite, or perhaps some architectural renderings in ArchiCAD or SketchUp then those will require the power cover, as the SP2's battery life plummets to 3-5 hours of usage. Also travellers I guess might want the power cover (for long flights, or long transit wait times, it's more convenient to not carry the power brick). Otherwise I'm quite happy with the battery life too - it easily lasts through a day of school with battery to spare

 

[MBytes]

In my view the PowerCover is a great if:
-> You travel a lot and or plan to do a long trip with no power plugs in the plane
-> You do demanding work witch reduces the device battery life to an amount insufficient for you, and you want to extended it
-> It's been over a year or two, and your battery is old in the device, where it can't provide you with the needed battery life as it used to, a new device is too costly and the current one continues to fit your needs. (eg: see it as replaceable battery).

 

[NeoGrandizer]

I like the power cover as it keeps my SP2 alive for most of the day without needing another charge or running to an outlet. The only thing I hate about it is that the SP2 needs to be on to charge it. The power cover will not charge if the SP2 hibernates or is shut down. The other issue with the power cover is that the cover battery will deplete to 0 before switching to internal SP2 battery. Which is all contrary to what MS states on how the power cover should work when not charging and using battery power. It'll drain to a certain % then switch to internal SP2 battery, then switch back after another certain %. Nice image diagram of how it should work, but it doesn't work in reality. So far still no response from MS about this matter.

 

[PandaSPUR]

Just look at the pros and cons, see what applies to you.

Pros:
- Pretty much all-day battery life.
- (My Opinion) Typing/touchpad experience is better because the cover itself is so much more rigid.

Cons:
- Thicker
- Heavier
- No backlight.
- Only comes in grey

The only time the Power Cover bothers me is when I use the SP2 as a tablet (holding in one hand) but I could just take it off for those situations.
Lack of backlight doesnt bother me. And the extra weight is offset by not having to carry a charger.