How Secure is Your Keyboard Pen Loop?

[malberttoo]

As I said earlier, IMHO the perfect solution would just be a slot you could put the pen clip through. The whole pen doesn't need to be stowed away, just clipped on. I'd even settle for a slot on the back we could hook it on to.

I said something similar in a different thread. Basically a loop with one side of a plastic plug-in type fastener, like what's on your backpack that straps around your waist. The male side.

All four sides of the SP3 would have the slot, or female end, that the loop would snap into. In this way you could snap the pen holder in any side you choose, or switch locations as your needs change.

I really need to draw this out to be more clear...

 

[mitchellvii]

I actually like the cloth loop.

What I wish is that they had put the usb and mini displayport at the bottom right instead of the top. That way my cables coming from them would be flat on the desk and not up in the air looking all funky.

 

[Liam2349]

If MS doesn't eventually (as in the next Surface) find a way to incorporate the pen storage as part of the tablet build itself, via a hole in the top from where it can be ejected/extracted, thus not altering the tablet form factor at all, I will consider that an epic fail on their part. I now it's tough to get all of this performance into this form factor, AND then expect them to cram a pen inside as well, but they'd better find a way to it.

It would be a nice feature, but don't forget the pen is actually thicker than the Surface, so there is no way it would fit. Making a thinner pen could sacrifice the experience a bit. Personally I'm really happy with magnets.

 

[FlySwatter]

I use to complain about the very same thing. No pen silo, no pen garage, WHAT are they thinking!? On the SP1 and SP2 it's a valid complaint.

But on the SP3, and every device after it... where are they supposed to put it, with the pen being thicker than the SP3?

Every SP that comes after this will probably be incrementally thinner and thinner, so I have pretty much realized we'll probably never see a pen silo on the Surfaces.

It would be a nice feature, but don't forget the pen is actually thicker than the Surface, so there is no way it would fit. Making a thinner pen could sacrifice the experience a bit. Personally I'm really happy with magnets.

"Laws of Physics, my old nemesis... we meet again!" I could personally easily use a smaller pen, as I write with regular ones daily (pencil diameter ink pens), but I concede that the current size seems to be a popular diameter for most users out there.

However, I will end with this: Microsoft figured out how to flatten a mouse for storage, then un-flatten it into a curved surface that is comfortable to use. There's a solution for this; an engineering solution of the type that can make a mouse flat.

 

[jnjroach]

I used some indoor/outdoor double sided tape to more permanently adhere the loop to the cover.... no issues since I did it in June. My wife's and Son's has worked with the default.

 

[mitchellvii]

Folks, if your pen loop is falling off the felt, just put it on the case behind the volume rocker. It doesn't block anything and it is rock solid on there.

 

[Liam2349]

"Laws of Physics, my old nemesis... we meet again!" I could personally easily use a smaller pen, as I write with regular ones daily (pencil diameter ink pens), but I concede that the current size seems to be a popular diameter for most users out there.

However, I will end with this: Microsoft figured out how to flatten a mouse for storage, then un-flatten it into a curved surface that is comfortable to use. There's a solution for this; an engineering solution of the type that can make a mouse flat.

Flattening a mouse is completely different to making a pen with an adjustable diameter. Maybe there is something they can do, but not without sacrificing the quality of the pen.

 

[Liam2349]

Folks, if your pen loop is falling off the felt, just put it on the case behind the volume rocker. It doesn't block anything and it is rock solid on there.

Personally I'm not a fan of that look, and it would always be.in my way there. I'm pretty content with the magnets.

 

[jbowden]

I do not use the pen loop. Bad design.

 

[FlySwatter]

Flattening a mouse is completely different to making a pen with an adjustable diameter. Maybe there is something they can do, but not without sacrificing the quality of the pen.

I don't disagree with your statement. I'm suggesting, there's an out-side-the-box solution that hasn't been thought of. The flat mouse broke the paradigm of a mouse with a static form factor. A similar paradigm shift that has not yet been perceived can resolve the current method of just sticking the pen somewhere on the exterior of the computer or keyboard.

 

[~X.T.~]

I don't think this was intentional design, but the AAAA battery inside the active pen is perfectly positioned for me to do this when on the move.

Works like a charm when I'm in lectures and need to keep the pen somewhere. It even attaches and comes off with a satisfying 'click!'

Note that this work better tip-side up as it concentrates the weight at the bottom.

The magnetic connection isn't SUPER secure, but it does the job well enough that I use it as my main method of storing the pen, even when putting it in and taking it out of my messenger bag.

I never even bothered unwrapping the pen loop since I discovered this.

 

[Moonsurface]

How could the pen fit nicely in the body though when its nearly the same thickness as it..... I personally love the feel of the pen as it does feel like a real pen. So much so I nearly wrote on the screen with a biro when I picked it up by accident yesterday.