Surface Pro 2: For College?

[Oliverspin]

Hello! I'm trying to decide whether to get the Surface Pro 2 for college. I have a couple options right now though:

1. Buy it now
2. Wait for the possible Surface Pro 3
3. Buy another tablet computer
4. Buy a normal laptop

Conditions:

1. Performance (I don't want a slow device)
2. Battery life (I need the device to last through a day of classes)
3. Usability (I don't want the device to be difficult to use, too big or too small)

Concerns:
1. What's the battery like? I hear it's better than 1st Gen but...
2. How is the screen/keyboard size for typing big papers?
3. Does it get hot?
4. How are the various keyboards to use?
5. Do you think it would work for a college student who would be writing papers, doing research, taking digital notes, etc.?

*I might get a desktop monitor and a dock to use the bigger screen

Thank you!

 

[Azurus]

Hey ! I had the same dilemma a month ago and I relaized I should wait for a surface pro 3
I currently have a windows 7 laptop and its working fine
Here are my reasons for waiting another year
new hardware with the newest specs and a possibility of the new USB they were talking about which resembles the current iphone charger. I think this would be pretty cool because it will allow the surface pro 3 to be even thinner and lighter and you need that as a college student ( I'm a college student too so I know )
secondly the surface pro 3 will be one step closer to the release of windows 9( or whatever you wanna call it ) or will even have windows 9 preinstalled on it. that's promising as it will have the OS which completes the "three screen vision" of Microsoft ( you will have to haver the xbox one and the WP9 to complete that vision)

 

[onlysublime]

battery life is not that great. You can't go a whole day of classes on a single charge. I can't go 8 hours of work on a single charge (unless I stay really light and use really simple programs like Notepad). I'm using Word, PowerPoint, and Reader (for PDFs) all the time. So if your lecture rooms don't have a ton of outlets, you'll have to be more cautious with battery life. Battery life is the only negative I have. With my older Surface RT, I could go a whole day without charging. What you can do to help out is dim the screen all the way down while you do your work/school stuff. The screen is the biggest draw on the battery.

Performance is awesome. Usability is awesome. the Type Cover 2 is awesome. You can definitely type those 30 page essays on it. The stylus is great for handwritten stuff/drawings. Anything I can do on my desktop, I can do on my SP2. I do my Photoshop on it too. I can do my programming on it. Now, I don't know about the latest Photoshop but my version of Photoshop is old and it doesn't support proper scaling or touch. So working on the SP2 screen is a bit tedious (so much zooming in and out; and the tool buttons are microscopic with desktop scaling at 125/150%).

View attachment 66181

I do have an army of adapters so I can plug in multiple devices and monitors.

It does get hot if you do CPU/GPU intensive stuff like gaming.

If you're using the machine to just do school work, the Surface 2 and the Surface RT are perfectly good as you can still do PowerPoint, you can still do Word, and you can still do most things. They just aren't PC replacements so no PC gaming, no PC programs, etc. No programming tools/software. No graphic design/CAD/video software (Premiere, Photoshop, Maya, AutoCAD, etc.).

But the Surface 2/RT machines will go the whole day on a charge. And they're smaller/lighter. So if you want one machine to do everything, get the SP2 (if you can afford it). I got my Surface RT for $189 on Black Friday and I've loved it since (even though it sucks for web browsing).

 

[MBytes]

Hello! I'm trying to decide whether to get the Surface Pro 2 for college. I have a couple options right now though:

1. Buy it now
2. Wait for the possible Surface Pro 3
3. Buy another tablet computer
4. Buy a normal laptop

Conditions:

1. Performance (I don't want a slow device)
2. Battery life (I need the device to last through a day of classes)
3. Usability (I don't want the device to be difficult to use, too big or too small)

Concerns:
1. What's the battery like? I hear it's better than 1st Gen but...
2. How is the screen/keyboard size for typing big papers?
3. Does it get hot?
4. How are the various keyboards to use?
5. Do you think it would work for a college student who would be writing papers, doing research, taking digital notes, etc.?

*I might get a desktop monitor and a dock to use the bigger screen

Thank you!

For a person that actually use the Surface Pro 2 for school, and stays at the library to study and not hit home, and treats school like work: 7h per day on average (sometimes 6h, sometimes 8h). The Surface Pro 2 is an amazing device for school. Can you say FAST? 'cause that is what you'll be getting. Amazing performance for programming, drawing, even CAD work on small project (I mean it is Intel integrated graphics, so we cant' get too existed, but should be enough for school projects). I also use my SP2 at work (software developer)

As for difficulty to use, that will depends on YOU and only you. I use a bunch of software that aren't high-DPI aware, meaning they look blurry when Windows DPI is above 100% (default out of the box Windows is set to 200% on the Surface Pro 2), and I need a maximum of work space, so I use the device at 100% DPI setting. Meaning text is small. If you have good eyes with or without glasses, you should be fine. I can perfectly see from a good distance. I know many tells me "how can you see?". Well I can, and I use the device for me, not for them.
Go at the store, change the DPI setting of Modern UI, and on the Windows desktop, and sign out and back in (no password on the demo unit at the store). It will look like that. Or if you just happened to have the Dell UP2414Q monitor on your desk, a 4K 24inch monitor, with Windows set at 100% DPI, the size of the text and images will about the same.

Battery life of the device varies between ~3h (gaming) to ~12h (read a document, wireless/bluetooth off, minimum screen brightness, all background programs closed, using Power Saver where you set the minimum and maximum power state to 0% to force the CPU at it's slowest speed (750MHz))
For me I get 7h most of the time with OneNote 2013, 8h if I do an effort to conserve power. Basically, if you plan to study for an exam, for extra long hours, then bring the charger. If you plan to open and close programs all day, or use a CAD software, or really program on the go, it won't last you 7h, but maybe perhaps a solid 5h. So again it depends on what you do. Also which software you use. If you want to use Chrome web browser and nothing else, be prepare to bring a car battery with you, as that web browser eats your battery life. Fire IE11 and Firefox, no problem, enjoy (although, Firefox takes a bit of a long time to start when using aggressive power setting like I mentioned, so it might be an issue if you open and close Firefox all the time. But once it is running performance is good).

The power of the Surface Pro 2 relies with the pen. This is what makes it the best device for school.
Why? Imagine taking notes in class, and then the professor shows/draws a diagram, or math equation, or draws a physics problem.. well... all I have to say is good luck with a laptop. As the time you copy it, class will probably be done, or more like that is what you would feel like as he professor would already be on a different topic. I had a laptop for 5 years for school, so I know very well. Over time you find tricks, and for math equation you just type the whole name of the equation symbol or do shortcuts by typing a few charters of the name, or just give up, and use paper and pen, for the entire class during the semester, or transfer it in your notes on your time after class.

With the Surface Pro 2, you can easily flip the device from laptop to tablet draw what you need to draw, and flip it back to laptop and continue to type, or just stick with pen as you wish.

The pen is excellent, it is, personally, the based pen technology I have ever used on these types of device (convertible system). I work for a number of years as IT as well (I am part time student), and I have used long selection of HP, Dell, and Lenovo convertible devices, and Sony devices and Android by trying them at stores, and doing deep research on the Surface Pro 2. They are all not great. Samsung note is the second best, but it runs on Android, so I can't run any of Windows software beside XBox Music, and that is all, as they are no viable alternative. The others are OK, I find the pen too small, or doesn't' track well, or you see the grid of the digitizer on the display, or uses a ****ty TN panel with a super low resolution, or the pen technology is junk or not very good, despite some having its strengths, like no calibration required based on how you position the pen when writing for maximum precision, and no reduction in precision and tracking on corners (it has poor performance, can't write small, and requires a AAAA (yes 4x A's, not 3), special battery, which is hard to find and pricy.

 

[Kebero]

Check out the Transformer Book T100. The updated model includes a 500GB drive in the keyboard dock and the battery is good for up to eleven hours (see the reviewed here and elsewhere). You can also get a USB 3 docking station to attach it to full size peripherals at your desk, including a large monitor.

 

[MBytes]

Check out the Transformer Book T100. The updated model includes a 500GB drive in the keyboard dock and the battery is good for up to eleven hours (see the reviewed here and elsewhere). You can also get a USB 3 docking station to attach it to full size peripherals at your desk, including a large monitor.

It uses an Atom CPU, small keyboard, doe snot use near full size keys as the Surface Pro 2, no pen.
In other words, it's more of a netbook that can be converted into a tablet. While the Surface Pro is a high-performance ultrabook that can be converted into a tablet.

So it depends on you. If you just web surf, and just use Word, and want to watch videos then yea, it's fine.
If you want performance to do more demanding task, and ensure a smoother experience, and want the pen, then it is not great.

All in all, it depends on your needs, and we can help you more, if we have moe information, like which program you are doing in College.

 

[Oliverspin]

Thank you everyone!
In terms of programs:
I would be using the basic Office suite online (Word, Powerpoint, Excel)

 

[xandros9]

Thank you everyone!
In terms of programs:
I would be using the basic Office suite online (Word, Powerpoint, Excel)

That's practically the lightest you can get. Any Windows tablet today worth its salt is capable. My laptop's hardware design dates back ~six years and is still capable in most tasks, Office included. (its a bit fat though)
The Surface Pro 2 is a powerful device for its class and is unlikely to let you down unless abused software-wise.

If I were in the market for a one-stop tablet for school today (I may want to ditch my current bulky laptop/diminutive, ironically-more-powerful tablet combo someday), the Surface Pro 2 and Dell Venue 11 Pro would be at the top of the list.

My concern would be longevity though those few years since the Surface Pro 2 is a highly respectable and solid computer, yet scores rather dismally in reparability. The Venue 11 has a replaceable battery which is really nice, but I feel lacks a bit in fit and finish. Worth noting both have extra battery keyboards. So the sting is taken off on the Pro.

I feel most other people have addressed your questions.

 

[onlysublime]

Check out the Transformer Book T100. The updated model includes a 500GB drive in the keyboard dock and the battery is good for up to eleven hours (see the reviewed here and elsewhere). You can also get a USB 3 docking station to attach it to full size peripherals at your desk, including a large monitor.

I don't recommend the T100 at all for any actual studying/work. It's good for what it is: a budget Windows 8.1 tablet. But the only thing I actually liked about it is better web browsing than the original Surface RT. And I also like that it's very light in pure tablet mode (with no attached keyboard). Other than those 2 features, I don't like the T100 at all. I own the Surface RT, the Transformer T100 (64 GB model), and the Surface Pro 2.

If I had to choose between the Asus and the original Surface RT (completely excluding the newer, faster, better Surface 2), I'd take the Surface RT. not in a complete holistic manner. but purely as a work/study machine.

Here are the problems with the T100 (especially for someone who does a lot of studying or a lot of work):

• The keyboard for the T100 is way too small to type for extended periods (tiny netbook keys).
• The screen is not bright even at the highest settings (and pales compared to the Surface RT, let alone the much better screen of the Surface 2 or Surface Pro/Pro 2).
• The tablet in the dock will tip over regularly because all the weight is in the tablet, not in the keyboard.
• The trackpad is horrible (so is the Surface trackpad).
• The dock is just cumbersome. When you have the Surface in hand, like when you're standing, it's really easy to take off the keyboard and put it away. Or you can wrap it around to the other side. it's really hard to take off the keyboard on the T100 midair. I always have to use two hands to separate the tablet and the keyboard dock with the T100 and it has to be on the table to do so. And it doesn't store away easily like Surface keyboard which is more portable.
• The USB port on the T100 is in the dock which is really inconvenient because every time I need to use the USB port, I have to dock it. Sure, you can get a microUSB to USB adapter but that's another dongle to worry about.

And while the bang for your buck is great with the T100, the build quality is really inconsistent. We bought 10 of the machines as Christmas gifts as rewards to employees. Two of them were DOA and had to be exchanged. Another one of them, the user got the power button stuck under the lip of the surrounding case and we had to use a box cutter blade to dig the button out from edge. Three of them stopped using the device because they didn't like the dock, the tiny keyboard, or the screen. It's a great value for the price for a full Windows machine but they really cut corners.

The software I would've loved to use on the Surface RT but can't (like Acrobat) don't run well enough on the Asus either and the screen on the Asus is smaller than the Surface. It's weird but the tiny difference between the Surface screen and the Asus screen is noticeable to the eyeball. Granted, the Asus is a little faster but in real-world usage, it's not a huge difference especially if your main goal is Office work. You can't run Acrobat. You can't run Photoshop. You can't run Premiere. You can't run Visual Studio (well, you technically can but it's not a good experience). You can't run any CAD software. So it kind of defeats the purpose of having "full Windows".



here's the tiny keys of the T100. netbook sized keys. there's virtually no chance of fast touch typing on this keyboard. it's for the hunt and peckers or children. Not only are the keys tiny, the resistance/stiffness is quite high and you have to expend more energy just to type. And because you have to strike harder to get the keys to register, combined with the fact that they're tiny, the error rate is really high. I'm not sure the picture tells the story. My fingers are actually barely able to stay on the key and actually often hang off the lower edge. So when you're trying to type 80-110 WPM (my speed range, after errors are accounted for), it drives you mad how little room for error there is on this keyboard. A lot of the employees we bought the T100 for complained all the time about the keyboard. They ended up hooking a traditional USB keyboard or a bigger Bluetooth keyboard. No one I know likes the tiny keys of the T100. You can speed type on the Type Cover 2. You can't on the T100 keyboard. Not even the petite girls can speed type on the T100 keyboard. There's no way you want to go 4+ hours of lecture typing on the T100 keyboard or writing more than half a page of an essay in a sitting.

I own these devices myself. It's very easy for me to compare them. I've bought 10 T100's so it's very easy for me to get first-hand accounts from each of the employees/friends. So when you've touched almost all 10 machines personally, you get a very good sense of the build quality. Not saying the T100 is terrible. But you do get what you pay for. for what the T100 costs, you get a lot of bang for your buck but it's not a machine you want to use an entire day and not a machine you want to depend on for work or school.

and 11 hours is really exaggeration. the only way to get even close to 11 hours is if you only watch movies, you turn down the brightness way down, you turn off bluetooth, you have max battery settings in the power savings settings, you don't do much work on the machine, etc. No one I know with the machine has gotten close to that besides the ones that just surf the net and listen to music.

 

[James8561]

I think you should hold out and wait for Surface Pro 3 since it's more than midway through SP2's life cycle.
no doubt SP3 will have much better battery since it will be based on broadwell. I think battery life is your only concern. the rest: keyboard, pen, performance, the Surface Pros all do admirably.

 

[onlysublime]

the thing is broadwell will not be out by the end of this year so no chance of a SP3 with broadwell in 2014. 2015 is more likely and also coincides with Windows 9.

 

[hopmedic]

Since there's a Surface event coming up in New York (next week? 20th?), I'd wait at least until then. But I love my Surface Pro 2. Without a doubt. used it a couple weeks ago at a SQL Saturday event, and while I only had the screen on when I was taking notes, by the end of the day (8:15 - 4:45) I had more than 70% of the battery left.

 

[Oliverspin]

Since there's a Surface event coming up in New York (next week? 20th?), I'd wait at least until then. But I love my Surface Pro 2. Without a doubt. used it a couple weeks ago at a SQL Saturday event, and while I only had the screen on when I was taking notes, by the end of the day (8:15 - 4:45) I had more than 70% of the battery left.

I'm glad the battery does well! How's the screen size for you? Is it hard to look at everything the way it's scaled down? How is typing with a keyboard that can move around freely instead of being a fixed piece?

 

[hopmedic]

I'm glad the battery does well! How's the screen size for you? Is it hard to look at everything the way it's scaled down? How is typing with a keyboard that can move around freely instead of being a fixed piece?

Well, for the screen size, I'm 46 years old and need reading glasses but haven't bothered going to the eye doctor (over-the-counter reading glasses do me no good), so I'm often leaning either closer to the screen or farther away, to focus, but that's my fault, not the screen's. If I had good vision, the screen would be great for me. Even so, I use this thing all the time at home, and at work when I'm bored because there's nothing to do, I break out the Surface. The browser is at 150% for me, YMMV. I haven't had any problem at all with the keyboard, but I'm not sure what you mean by "keyboard that can move around freely instead of being a fixed piece?" The battery is great, but I don't want to give any wrong impressions - I was not taking a lot of notes at that event, but I have used the Surface for something in the range of 6 or 7 hours of nearly constant (but light) use in the past. You're not going to get that if you're playing Asphalt 8 - I'm thinking I've run it dead in about 2 hours of playing that game, but when you're playing Asphalt 8, the PC is pretty warm and the fan is constantly running on high. Not that I ever waste that much of my time.... :wink:

 

[Oliverspin]

Well, for the screen size, I'm 46 years old and need reading glasses but haven't bothered going to the eye doctor (over-the-counter reading glasses do me no good), so I'm often leaning either closer to the screen or farther away, to focus, but that's my fault, not the screen's. If I had good vision, the screen would be great for me. Even so, I use this thing all the time at home, and at work when I'm bored because there's nothing to do, I break out the Surface. The browser is at 150% for me, YMMV. I haven't had any problem at all with the keyboard, but I'm not sure what you mean by "keyboard that can move around freely instead of being a fixed piece?" The battery is great, but I don't want to give any wrong impressions - I was not taking a lot of notes at that event, but I have used the Surface for something in the range of 6 or 7 hours of nearly constant (but light) use in the past. You're not going to get that if you're playing Asphalt 8 - I'm thinking I've run it dead in about 2 hours of playing that game, but when you're playing Asphalt 8, the PC is pretty warm and the fan is constantly running on high. Not that I ever waste that much of my time.... :wink:

Thanks! What I meant by "keyboard that can move around freely" was an attachable one vs. a normal laptop keyboard that is a part of the computer.

 

[hopmedic]

I like the keyboard. It would be better for lap use if there were more of a hinge, but I use a lap table when using it on my lap, so that resolves that problem. I don't use it as a tablet a lot, but when I do it's really nice to just flip the keyboard back or remove it. What I like most is the small size and portability.