New Surface pen worth it?

[haberd]

Any insight into latency on SP3?

 

[TunedM52]

Lost the pen to my two week old Surface Book Performance base.. I write a lot in my classes in OneNote, the latency was a major issue when I had my SP4, same with the SB. But the lack of a clip was the deal breaker. I went on eBay and got a new in box black SP4 pen for $45.

Why Microsoft... I hated the annoying lag from taking notes quickly. But i would hate losing a $100 a lot more... It's just clip! Like a real pen! This ain't no pencil ??????

 

[BigtheFatTiger]

I emailed a couple Microsoft guys (Peter Bright at Arstechnica and the guy at AnandTech). They pretty much said the same thing.

The new pen will perform better than the old pen in terms of latency after a firmware update (no timeframe for when that firmware will be released) on the Surface Pro 4. But even after an update, the latency of the pen will still not be as low as the latency of the new pen when paired with the new Surface Pro. So if you demo the new pen on the new Surface Pro at the store and then buy it and go home and try it on your SP4, you might be a little disappointed.

Tilt will also supposedly come with the firmware update.

But they have no clue about whether the increased pressure sensitivity will ever reach the SP4.

I thought pressure sensitivity had to do with the internals of the pen? The pressure sensors are inside the pen and have nothing to do with the sensors in the screen of the tablet. If OneNote or other apps can already distinguish between low pressure and high pressure what's the hold up on the SP4? If Windows can detect different pressure levels why would this have anything to do with a firmware update?

Just curious.

 

[ClintRo]

I wonder if one of those cheap pen clips would work on the pen...

 

[convergent]

I don't find the magnet/clip thing to be a problem. I've been using it now for almost 3 months. The magnet is very strong and carrying it around without a case it sticks fine. When I put it in my Everki bag, I put it in a sleeve first that has a slot for the pen and Surface Arc mouse. But even if I leave it magnetically attached, its not going anywhere if it falls off, and its never fallen off so far.

 

[bulls96]

Ended up paying $45 for a sp4 pen on ebay. That's about half the price of the new one.

 

[kulbokas]

over a year ago post but wondering if you still have that extra pen?