Surface Type Cover and Type Cover 2 comparison.

[HarkAtYou]

I used to have the surface type cover, apart from being nicer to type on, it had a smooth mouse pad, which was good as the touch cover made my spine shiver and fingers tingle running them over a rough fabric surface. Then when they announced that the Surface type cover 2 would have illuminated keys I thought brilliant!

I went to (not my local) John Lewis in High Wycombe (about 1hr40 away, but with traffic took around 8 hours to get there and back) as it was the only store in the country that had the type cover 2 in store. I could have had it delivered to my local John Lewis or Waitrose, but I wanted it now

Anyway, I gave my old keyboard to my other half as they bought a surface at John Lewis in Bristol last night (as I was in there looking for a type 2 cover).

Comparing the two covers today I have made this comparison.

Type Cover (Winner): All black
Type Cover 2: Looks like it has been left in the sun as the keys are black, but the surround is fabric and much much lighter, a dark grey.

Type Cover (Winner): Sooth comfortable almost leather feel surround.
Type Cover 2: Horrid fabric surround which feels terrible to the touch.

Type Cover (Winner): Smooth comfortable track pad.
Type Cover 2: Fabric covered track pad, which feels like someone running their nails down a blackboard.

Type Cover (Winner): Accurate feel, clicking mouse buttons.
Type Cover 2: No clicking buttons on mouse pad, unclear if you have clicked or not.

Type Cover (Winner): A fair bit of movement in the keys, nice to type with quickly.
Type Cover 2: Buttons have much less movement, or at the very least appear to have much less movement, (I don't have an accurate metric measuring device, but you can feel the difference).

Type Cover: No backlight,
Type Cover 2 (Winner): Backlight.

Type Cover: A microscopic bit thicker.
Type Cover 2: A microscopic bit thinner, not even noticeable. (DRAW)

Type Cover: Only available in Black
Type Cover 2 (Winner, if you like that kind of thing): Available in 4 colours, the only one I personally would buy being black. (As all the other colours are a bit feminine for my liking)

Because I really wanted the illuminating keys, I will be sticking some smooth plastic over the track pad to make it usable.

 

[HarkAtYou]

As a tip for anyone else not keen on the fabric feel of the track pad, the plastic on the box it comes in makes a good cover for the track pad and holds perfectly well with some double sided tape.

 

[chezm]

I love the fabric material that you consider horrid, i prefer it much more than the leather skin texture.

 

[berty6294]

I prefer the Type Cover 2 in every category lol

 

[omaropa]

Yeah, type cover 2 is way better than the first one. Got me a purple, I don't think it looks too feminine at all.

 

[MBytes]

Ralf Groene - Designing and engineering Surface 2 - YouTube

 

[rocketboy]

The backlighting wasn't worth the extra cash so I got a cheaper Type Cover.

Truth is I prefer a Bluetooth keyboard over any of the covers for around the house use. Also lots of times I find myself just detaching the cover entirely and using the onscreen one for dinking around on the web. I do wish that the function keys could be accessed without pressing Fn. This is a Surface PRO! People are likely to use software (not "apps") that map to F1-12. I hate having to do Fn and god forbid of you need to do a Ctrl-F5 or something since there's only a Ctrl button at the left and only a Fn button on the right. Instead I have dedicated keys to adjust the volume (redundant to the actual volume rocker switch on the unit of course) and invoke charms.

So I guess my point is Type Cover since it's the cheapest of 2 alternatives that both have a functional disadvantage vs. a traditional keyboard. Still it's better than not having any.

 

[xboxonthego3]

The only thing that bugs me a little is the mouse click. But it is usable. Everything else in my opinion the Type Cover 2 wins.

 

[Neibl]

Honestly I hate the type cover, it feels terrible to have the clicking keys on the back of the SP2 in tablet mode, while the device feels brilliant with no keyboard attached. I remembered the same with my RT device except with the touch cover being so much thinner it wasn't that bad and worth it to have the keyboard around often. Am I the only ones?

I'm debating returning the keyboard for the touch cover 2 and getting the power cover when it comes out instead. Or a touch cover in blue of the old on used on amazon for 50 bucks. Then again the backlit type cover is pretty awesome, especially with the bluetooth connector on it. I got the purple one and it looks great.

 

[xboxonthego3]

Honestly I hate the type cover, it feels terrible to have the clicking keys on the back of the SP2 in tablet mode, while the device feels brilliant with no keyboard attached. I remembered the same with my RT device except with the touch cover being so much thinner it wasn't that bad and worth it to have the keyboard around often. Am I the only ones?

I'm debating returning the keyboard for the touch cover 2 and getting the power cover when it comes out instead. Or a touch cover in blue of the old on used on amazon for 50 bucks. Then again the backlit type cover is pretty awesome, especially with the bluetooth connector on it. I got the purple one and it looks great.

If you don't like the feel of the clicking keys in tablet mode. Unclick the keyboard and rotate it and click it then no more feeling the keys. Also reduces wear and tear from bending the keyboard back that way.

 

[HarkAtYou]

The backlighting wasn't worth the extra cash so I got a cheaper Type Cover.

Truth is I prefer a Bluetooth keyboard over any of the covers for around the house use. Also lots of times I find myself just detaching the cover entirely and using the onscreen one for dinking around on the web. I do wish that the function keys could be accessed without pressing Fn. This is a Surface PRO! People are likely to use software (not "apps") that map to F1-12. I hate having to do Fn and god forbid of you need to do a Ctrl-F5 or something since there's only a Ctrl button at the left and only a Fn button on the right. Instead I have dedicated keys to adjust the volume (redundant to the actual volume rocker switch on the unit of course) and invoke charms.

So I guess my point is Type Cover since it's the cheapest of 2 alternatives that both have a functional disadvantage vs. a traditional keyboard. Still it's better than not having any.

You can, press Fn + Caps Lock and F1-12 will be the default, press Fn + Caps lock again and you will have volume etc as the default. (8.1 upgrade required)

You can also turn the type cover into a Bluetooth keyboard with a clip on accessory I believe.

 

[rocketboy]

You can, press Fn + Caps Lock and F1-12 will be the default, press Fn + Caps lock again and you will have volume etc as the default. (8.1 upgrade required)

You can also turn the type cover into a Bluetooth keyboard with a clip on accessory I believe.

Brilliant! Did I forget to RTFM? Where is this (and any other features) documented? This really bumps the utility of the type cover up a notch for me. Thanks for sharing!

 

[HarkAtYou]

I'm not sure, I read about that on one of the news updates on here. I don't know why I bothered remembering as it doesn't interest me, but I have one of those annoying brains that remembers useless information

Personally I don't use those keys as F keys or hot keys on the surface pro, I just use it as a tablet and to torrent whatever TV show I want to watch next

 

[berty6294]

The Type Cover 2 build quality feels 10 times better than the original. I love that the track pad is the soft material instead of the plastic, because the original type cover track pad was absolutely terrible! Every single thing the OP has experienced as a negative, I find as a complete positive!