Power Cover Is Close

[wowsher]

Just finished chatting with MS store and got this link:

Buy Surface Power Cover - Microsoft Store

It is listed as pre-order but so far it is in my cart but will not allow me to check out. It is listed at $199.99.

Anyhow I have been waiting for this and maybe others are as well.

wowsher

edit: I see this was posted on the general forum as well. Oh well "I should have searched first". Consider my hand slapped. Mod please delete if you want.

 

[hopmedic]

I'm quite disappointed at the price. Unless there's some serious improvement to the touchpad over the TypeCover 2, there's no way I'm spending that. I'm fed up with the touchpad moving the cursor while I type. MS should have involved Synaptics in designing this keyboard.

 

[vertigoOne]

Got mine pre ordered. Should tide me over awhile. Still very pleased with the performance of my Pro.

 

[wowsher]

Finally got my order to go thru this morning. My main reason for buying is the extra battery and the keyboard is a nice extra. I got mine at best buy for $499 so so not mind so much the price. I do agree that maybe it could have been closer to $150 since it has no backlight so seems like a type cover + battery instead of a type cover 2 + battery but I have no idea what the innards really are.

As for the touchpad moving the cursor is this a palm rejection issue or can you just turn off the touchpad?

 

[negative1ne]

i'll be getting one eventually.

you're buying it for the extra power. not for keyboard features.

later
-1

 

[vertigoOne]

My power cover just arrived this afternoon. Seems a little bulkier than my original type cover but not by much. Quite a bit heavier though, probably weighs as much as my dell venue 8 pro with a case. It is about what I expected. Hopefully they work in backlighting on the Power Cover 2.

 

[Moiz Mian]

I was so ready to buy this...but $200 is steep...and I feel like the weight completely negates the purpose of having a 1.9lbs Surface Pro :/ I think I'll tough it out with my touch cover and use those $200 towards a Surface Pro 3

 

[vertigoOne]

Left my Pro in standby overnight and still have 80% battery.

e: Left it on all day unplugged, used it for streaming music for a few hours, had 9% battery left when I finally plugged it in a few minutes ago. Now I just need to see how long it can last when I am actually doing something with it.

Interesting note, I have the Moko case from amazon for my Surface Pro and it still works great with the power cover. Eager to see how/if it works with my Freedom Case when it arrives.

Interesting note 2, the heavy backing of the battery behind the keyboard makes typing feel more natural and responsive especially on a lap! Nice little benefit that I hadn't considered.

 

[anon(7901790)]

I got my Power Cover yesterday. Huge battery boost! But it is also a significant weight penalty. Especially nice when I'm away from home or someplace to plug in. I wish it came in cool colors... like cyan so I can match my Icon's case.

 

[Derausgewanderte]

Could you clarify who much a "huge battery boost" is. I am still undecided.

on paper it is ~70% more (it adds ~23 mWh, while the Surface Pro 2 has ~42 mWh). It does add substantial battery life to my Surface Pro under moderate use and I am getting used to the weight. The rigid body of the power cover feels great when typing on the lap.

weight of power cover is 547g (1lb 3 1/4 oz).
weight of type cover (1) is 213g (7 1/2 oz.)
(measured with a digital kitchen scale, may be off a little)

 

[Brad and Ellen]

Could you clarify who much a "huge battery boost" is. I am still undecided.

We're in the same boat, undecided. Could you folks that have one give us the 5min review? One thing specifically would be how long did your Pro last before and now after.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Derausgewanderte]

23/42=55%, so not quite THAT much.

I know, the 70% is from MS site.
I was able to get 6-7hs. Now I get over 10hs with light to intermediate use. However, this is only possible with a tight power plan that somebody posted.

 

[Brad and Ellen]

I know, the 70% is from MS site.
I was able to get 6-7hs. Now I get over 10hs with light to intermediate use. However, this is only possible with a tight power plan that somebody posted.

Do you happen to have a link to that power plan post?

 

[Derausgewanderte]

Do you happen to have a link to that power plan post?

Here is the link. As said, it's fairly aggressive, but you can tailor it to your needs. If you indeed need higher CPU then change that number. It's a "recommended" plan after all. If I know the full CPU power of the i5 is not required (email, word processing, browsing) then the 50% is plenty for me.
For power work (adobe Photoshop, 3dsmax, and other high CPU hungry programs) it's easy to switch to the Balanced or other power plan.
All That Nerdy Stuff

 

[Brad and Ellen]

Here is the link.

Thanks for the info and the link!

 

[Moiz Mian]

23/42=55%, so not quite THAT much.

Some early impressions here:
just got my power cover

It's actually 32Wh. So 32/42=76%.

 

[Derausgewanderte]

It's actually 32Wh. So 32/42=76%.

guess there are different numbers floating around. HH83917 reports his as 27.5 mWh which would make it ~65%....