Power Cover Available for purchase

[TheGeekNextDoor]

Buy Surface Power Cover - Microsoft Store

It is now available for pre-order. Just put one in the cart and checked out. The appear to have about 565 left for pre-order right now. Get it if you want it. Don't wait.

Bryan

 

[Laura Knotek]

Did they say when you'll get it shipped?

 

[MBytes]

March 19.
They are conflicting report on if it is backlit or not. But it looks like it won't be.

It will give a 60% increase in battery life for the Surface Pro 1 and 2, and 70% increase for the Surface 2.

 

[cschmach]

I just received my Microsoft Surface Power Cover pre-order from UPS about 30 minutes ago, and I'm typing this on it now. I can confirm it is not backlit. The F1 is now mute, F2 volume down, F3 volume up. It displays as 2 batteries (battery 1 & battery 2) when you click the battery icon in the task bar. It draws from the keyboard battery to keep the Surface at 100%, then depletes the Surface battery. Currently I am showing 100% on battery 1 and 40% on battery 2 (76% total on icon) for 13 hrs 14 mins remaining on balanced power setting with screen set to 75% brightness. It feels and reacts exactly like the Type 2 keyboard I had, but is thicker (I would say just under double the thickness). In comparison, I would say it feels just a little lighter than the actual Surface. So far, I am pleased with it; as the weight, thickness, and lack of backlighting do not bother me; as I wanted more power to make it through the day and then some.

Black Surface Power Cover for a 128 GB Microsoft Surface Pro 2

 

[NeoGrandizer]

I also received the cover today and MS shipped it yesterday. I don't have any comments about it yet. It came in as I was leaving for work and now I'm just letting it charge. Feels pretty sturdy in my hands. I really don't like the feel of the touch pad though. But I use the pen most of the time as well as my fingers.

Yeah, it's not backlit which is not a big thing for me either. Worked straight out off the box when connected to the SP2. I needed a little more power since I was killing the battery around 4 hours of use. But I think that was because I was setting up and trying to adapt to how 8.1 behaves.

Using it with Surface Pro 2 256GB model.

 

[andy roddy]

The lack of backlighting doesn't appear to make much sense. Regardless, can anyone post pics of the sides of the cover? Some questions for the early purchasers:

1) Does the have its own charging port so it can be charged independently of the Surface?
2) Does it happen to come with an extra charger? That would soften the $200 expense a bit.

Thanks

 

[NeoGrandizer]

@andy roddy
1) No. It can only be charged by being connected to the SP2. There is no separate charge port for the power cover. From my understanding, the SP2 will charge first to 80%, then the power cover to 80%, then the SP2 to full and then the power cover to full.

2) No extras, just the keyboard. That's all.

You only get a tiny LED dot light indicator for the Caps lock.

 

[andy roddy]

Thanks Neo.

IMO MSFT missed the mark on this on a few different fronts.

1) No backlighting
2) No way to charge the cover separately, so that you can't use the tablet for your work while the cover is charging, then attach it to recharge the SP2. Asus has been doing this for years with the Transformer series and it's a huge convenience.

 

[MBytes]

I don't understand your point 2.
Why would not not be connected to the Surface Pro ?

 

[andy roddy]

@MBytes,

Hypothetical example: let's say the SP2 and the dock are dying (less than 2 hours left). I need to use it as a tablet but don't necessarily need the KB, and I don't want to sit next to an outlet the whole time with a cord hanging off the tablet to charge it. I plug in the KB, continue using the tablet, and an hour later, the KB is charged and I can redock to recharge the SP2. My use of the SP2 is not interrupted, and I don't have to sit next to a charger while I'm using it.

I did this all the time with the Asus TF 101 and the KB dock, but I can't do this with the power cover.

 

[vertigoOne]

I wonder if the wireless adapter would charge the power cover? It has to be sending power to the keyboard since I have seen pics of it powering the backlighting on the type cover 2...hmmm.

 

[NeoGrandizer]

Interesting thought, but I highly doubt it. The wireless adapter has an internal battery of its own. Lighting a keyboard shouldn't take too much of a power draw from it. Powering a battery will and there is probably some regulator that may prevent it.

 

[NeoGrandizer]

Yeah, I definitely don't think the wireless adapter will charge the power cover adequately. My power cover was down to 12% yesterday night. Plugged in mains and shut down SP2 (for faster charge). That was around 1am. Wake up this morning and the SP2 was fully charged. But the power cover was only at 32%.

Put the SP2 in sleep mode and now the power cover is charging quickly and properly.

 

[Droidophobe]

I ordered mine yesterday, and now I'm wondering if it will fit into the folio style case that I use with my type cover. What is the difference in thickness?

 

[NeoGrandizer]

It's close to the same thickness as the SP2. Going from front panel screen to the beginning of the vents (a little shy of it).

Okay, not sure if I got a lemon or if I'm missing something. Doesn't look like my power cover is charging properly at all. I left it home to charge in sleep mode. When I left for work, Battery 2 was at 45%, but when I returned from work it was at 54%. I noticed the LED on the charge cord was not lit (no longer feeding power to the unit). It looks like it was charging, then stops for no reason. The mains was still properly connected, but no power going through it. The tablet was at 100%.

Not sure what's going on. I'll probably shut down the tablet tonight and check again in the morning.

 

[John20212]

While it would be useful to get the power cover for the Suface Pro, there are just too many design compromises at an inflated price tag.

Nokia's Power Cover for the 2520 cost just $150 and it includes 2 USB ports; while Microsoft has just the keyboard and costs $200 and they did not even bother putting backlight in as is standard on Touch/Type 2 covers, add to this the lack of color options and I really don't see the attraction of getting this thing unless you are really really desperate for that bit of more power, but even if you are I would either wait for a good discount or the 2nd gen version that does not compromise on features that are already in the normal covers.

 

[NeoGrandizer]

Okay just an update. The power cover will only charge when the SP2 is powered on. It will not charge when in hibernate or shut down. The power cover will also deplete to 0 before switching to internal SP2 battery. Which is contrary to how the power cover should work according to MS. Basically it should drain to a certain %, switch to internal SP2 battery to a certain %, switch back to cover to deplete completely, then the internal SP2 battery.

No word from the support person yet regarding this and the confusion caused by conflicting data posted on their sites.