Continuum Day1

[midnightfrolic]

I just received my free Display Dock from Microsoft. Pretty slick. Here's what I've found so far. You did need your own HDMI or DISPLAY cable. I'm using an HDMI cable. Both video and audio goes to my TV. Yes, I use a 32" 1080p as my monitor. Why? It supports audio also.
EDIT: My current conclusion is, it'll do I a pinch if you have no other alternatives. Keep an ultrabook handy. The ultrabook is worth it's weight in gold. Get a cell plan with tethering. It's not even worth getting that new portable screen shell to dock the 950XL into. You have to carry all that weight + more in cables, chargers, adapters, etc. Those items will add up to more weight and space and more frustration than the ultrabook, not to mention much less power. Not sure how it is so sluggish since the 950 XL is supposed to have an OCTAcore (8 Cores!!!) Quad A57 + Quad A53. Does that mean the CPU is Quad A57, and the GPU is quad A53? I thought it had the Adreno 530 for graphics. Hopefully Microsoft can clean up all these annoying issues that adds up to a less than tolerable experience.

1) My Choetech 3rd party charger does not work with the Display Dock, apparently it's incompatible. It even has the same output, 5V/3A. Had to use the included power adapter inside the Display Dock box.

EDIT: I believe the USBc to USBc cable may be the culprit. It may not support some communication protocol for Continuum, especially HDMI video. I used the power adapter that came with the Display Dock and the Choetech USBc cable from the 950XL to the Display Dock. Even though the docks gets power, USB KB/Mouse powers up, Continuum would not work. Seconday display does not work.

2) The experience is what's described in the Continuum vids. Only UWA Continuum ready apps work on the secondary display, mostly core apps and those newly created UWA apps. The new version of Windows Central works

3) Apps work similarly to how it's on the phone. If you navigate/open to a new app, the previous app is paused. So any video/audio are paused. Except Groove still works as well as any other video/audio apps designed to run in the background

4) The phone does not go to the lock screen, it's always on. Display does not dim automatically. Phone gets very warm. If you push the power button to turn off the screen, it disables everything, including Continuum, so your secondary display goes off and audio stops, such as Groove.

EDIT: The phone will eventually to to lock screen, but not sure how long it takes. I came back from dinner to find the phone auto locked. Had to unlock the phone and Continuum continued up. Secondary display came back up with what I was doing.

5) Mouse and Keyboard works great, even when using the phone as a touchpad, it does not cause the mouse cursor to jump or mouse to stop working. RIGHT-CLICK does work on the mouse. If your keyboard has the context menu button like mine does (aka mouse right-click button), it also works. But it appears slight differently, horizontal instead of vertical and only shows symbols for certain options.

6) Start Menu on secondary screen shows your phone's Start screen exactly as shown (small tiles, larger live tiles, tile position, etc) , without the wallpaper and in your chosen color theme

7) Live tiles in the Start Menu does work for apps that are UWA and designed to work in Continuum, such as the new Windows Central app. But they work better if you just look at your phone’s Start screen

I’ll add more as I continue to use Continuum. If anyone has any other experiences, please share. I understand it’s a work in progress by MS.
Just a note. I tried several times writing this in the new Windows Central app in Continuum secondary display. The comment window does not allow you to scroll through your comment using the mouse nor keyboard. I tried moving the mouse, selecting text up or down, keyboard D-pad, pageup, pagedown. Nothing works. Had to write it in MS Word mobile then copy/paste it into the comment. If any Windows Central devs read this, hopefully, you can get on this bug? I’ll try to submit feedback as well.

 

[zei20t]

in reply to 4:

My phone goes to sleep after (actually i dont know how long it is) and then both screens turn off.

generally, all the applications i had open in continuum are closed, and i have to re-open them again.

is this not normal?

 

[midnightfrolic]

in reply to 4:

My phone goes to sleep after (actually i dont know how long it is) and then both screens turn off.

generally, all the applications i had open in continuum are closed, and i have to re-open them again.

is this not normal?

Actually mine does go to sleep while not in use, but not sure how long. I came back from dinner to find it locked. It came back up like I had it when I unlocked the phone. Continuum popped up again where it was. Had to start Groove playback again.

 

[midnightfrolic]

8) Scrolling in Edge on the secondary display is a real chore most of the time. It's extremely sluggish.
EDIT: Edge flat out sucks on Continuum. Web browsing is very slow. Any more tabs beyond the first one makes the web browsing experience slow to a crawl. Scrolling can take anywhere from 15 seconds to several minutes to respond. Possible due to ads on the page. All the more reason for adblockers. And edit HOSTS file.
EDIT2: Invoking Edge will often times cause Groove playback to stop inexplicably. Opening new tab, going back and forth between Edge and other apps can cause Groove to stop as well very often. Or just navigating in the same tab will cause random Groove stoppage, if you can even browse any websites at all with all those ads and content.

9) The 950XL passes audio and video through the dock and into my TV via HDMI. When I powered on my bluetooth sports earbuds, the phone automatically paired up with it, but Groove playback stops. I would need to stop playback, then start it up again. On ocassion, Groove would continue to play and automatically pass the audio to the bluetooth earbuds. It also happens in reverse. If playback is working the bluetooth device and I powered it off, Groove stops playback. I would have start playback again. It would then pass the audio back through the HDMI cable to the TV. Sometimes playback does not work. I'd have to select a different song and play it.

10) Current apps that I use that are Continuum ready, aside from Core Windows Mobile Apps: Facebook, Facebook Beta, Antutu Benchmark v6, Winbeta, new Windows Central, Perfect Weather Universal, Uber, Wifi Scout, American Express, Dailymotion, DeviantArt, Fhotoroom, Field Medic, PBS Video, PicsArt, Pic Collage, The Guardian

 

[midnightfrolic]

11) Apps that you use to create transparent tiles on the Start Menu cannot be invoked by Continuum. You'd have to to go to the All Apps list and start them up from there.

12) Cortana is still glitchy as hell. On my bluetooth earbuds, she does not respond. Or does not pick up your query. Causes Groove playback to stutter VERY VERY badly for duration she pops up, which could be 5-7 seconds. Real buzz killer. Does not stutter as much via HDMI to my TV, but also doesn't listen very well either.

 

[peter leung 10586]

i started using continuum since nov 2015 and i am a heavy user of continuum. i use my 950xl to replace desktop pc in office. the most frequently used apps are word, excel, calendar, mail, onedrive, edge, ..etc. sometimes app crashed when switching from one app to another. for example you type a document in word, switch to edge to search something, then switch back to word to continue your typing, the word may occasionally disappear. sometimes the phone hangs when i unplug it from the dock. overall continuum is stable and satisfactory.