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Second Generation Products / Accessories - Love, Like, & Hate?

hypokondriak

New Member
So curious what everyone thinks that received their stuff today? Here is some of what I love, like, & hate:

Love:

-Surface 2 size, feel, & speed: I haven't opened my Pro 2 yet and I'm coming from the Pro 1. I really love the performance I'm getting out of the Surface 2 given the size. The slight texture of the back along with lack of fingerprints is 2 thumbs up.

-Backlight Keyboard / Stiffness: The backlight keyboard and stiffness of the Type 2 is just what was needed. For owners of past generation Type, the issue with the keyboard flexing and keys going awkward in the lap is solved.

-WiFi Keyboard Adapter: Kind of expensive, but I travel a lot so I think this adapter is great. Adds hardly any bulk, I can plug the S2 into HDMI, and then easily control it across the room.

-Two position kickstand: Microsoft thank you for listening. I really like the new angle and it all feels very solid / premium. I think another angle or 2 could still be nice if it can be done without compromising design integrity.

Like:

-Type 2 Keys: Anyone that used the Type 1 will surely notice a difference, just slightly awkward because the keys feel like they are stopping too quick on me. I'm also making a lot more typos. I'm fairly certain I just need to get used to it and this will be water under the bridge.

-Speakers: The speakers are not great yet, but the Surface 2 speakers sound a lot better than the speakers on my Surface Pro 1.

-Two Finger Scrolling: Finally works! This was terrible on my Type 1 keyboard and I'm glad it works on the new Type 2. Obvious it's a bit of a tradeoff (see my hate below)

Hate:

-Trackpad feel: All of the improvements above make it easy to take this one and live with it, but the feel of the felt or whatever surface they have on the trackpad is quite meh. I don't understand why companies aren't pushing toward the gold standard - glass multi-touch.

-Trackpad charms gestures: I have a whole thread on this but it's probably my least favorite part of the whole experience. It's so stinking annoying because if you miss the trackpad slight not only does it throw a charm, but it also moves your cursor from where it was to the start button. Given the trackpad feels the same as the area outside the trackpad whoever picked these materials obviously didn't spend a ton of time testing this.

---

Anyway that's what comes to mind. I have not opened my Pro 2 yet, and I'm not sure I will. The few desktop apps I need anymore I can access through Remote Desktop or Citrix. If there was one app I wish they'd let me install that would probably be Chrome browser.

This is absolutely the most well rounded tablet I've ever owned. Yes it has flaws and Microsoft needs to get closer to perfect in my opinion to really shake things up, but I think if they had a "Surface Challenge" similar to the Bing/Google Challenge a lot of people's opinions would change vs the iPad or Android tablets at similar pricepoints.

Well done Microsoft, but push even harder.
 

oion

Well-Known Member
Quite a few, actually--but mainly quick "unboxing" type stuff with some light usage. :p

http://www.surfaceforums.net/forum/microsoft-surface-pro-2/6332-personal-review-surface-pro-2-a.html
http://www.surfaceforums.net/forum/microsoft-surface-pro-2/6339-first-impressions-sp2.html
http://www.surfaceforums.net/forum/microsoft-surface-2/6317-surface-2-reviews-videos.html (My comments about Surface 2 is on page 5.)
And probably some others scattered around the other threads.

I agree that the shorter keystroke is noticeable, but I think I can adapt. The non-felt backing is great, but I wish it was... smooth leather. I have not tried the trackpad gesture things (I so rarely use the trackpad that I disabled it on my RT).

I'm still in the process of setting mine up and tweaking, however, but it'll be ready for a real-world test soon...hoping to do Nanowrimo on it.
 
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