Microsoft Surface

Did they take your old Surface 3 back?

Hmm, the trackpad on my SP4 type cover has started to not track smoothly. It's hit by moving across the screen as if it's ignoring input or something, even though the OS is a fresh install in the past month. Maybe I've been using it too much in tablet mode to notice it before, but has anyone else recently started having issues?

@stupidhaiku. Yes, they took the broken device and indicated it would be erased and recycled. Not as nice as having an actual certificate of destruction, but I've got no data on there of any value anyway, so I'm unconcerned.

@Kurrelgyre I had many issues with the trackpad over the years. But, they've always seemed to be solved with a good shot of compressed air, rubbing alcohol, and a microfiber cloth. I'm a neat freak that way and clean all of my equipment at least once a month.

The only problem I've had with my trackpad is spurious left clicks. I use a trackball for gaming.

Currently enjoying the back catalog of GoG. Strategy games work well.

That is a pretty good deal... And it highlights what I'm now worried about - possibly planned obsolescence by Microsoft. When I asked my IT department why they weren't offering Surface tablets, they said it is because there are almost zero options for repair. Microsoft won't certify anyone to work on them, so if something goes wrong, they would have to send the device back to MS for service. I bought my i7 Surface and paid the premium price because I thought it was built to last awhile - otherwise I would have paid half as much for something only a bit heftier. Now I'm not so sure...

Not exactly the same thing, but I still have and occasionally use my Surface Pro 1. My daughter uses it more these days since work bought me a Pro4. I also still have a Pro 2 that is functional but has shattered glass on the screen (the actual display is untouched). In a pinch I can crank it up and just run it with a mouse plugged in. I haven't messed with a repair on that one yet, since screen replacement is north of $500. Having someone certified to work on them is only useful within the warranty period. Lots of places out there can do out of warranty work, but it's going to be expensive because taking the thing apart is a day long task in itself (search youtube for surface pro disassembly instructions. Seriously). If the machine is still within warranty or extended warranty period you either send it out to MS repair or take it to an MS store. Most of the time they just send you a replacement. Honestly it's no harder to work on than an iPad. You have to get past the adhesive holding the thing together before

We have about a dozen or so Pro 4s and some Books that we support where I work (post-grad school). The only time I've ever looked into actually disassembling one was for a Pro 1 out of warranty with a cracked screen.

Make sure you register the thing on Microsoft's support site for warranty work.

They're good machines. I have yet to regret my personal purchases or my school purchasing them.

I have a Pro 1 that is still in heavy use. Only issue with it would be the 128G storage. It has been a fantastic device.

We also have two Pro 3s and a Pro 4. One pro 3 has been replaced due to screen issues. The refurb unit went bad and they replaced it with a brand new one without any issue. Since then, no problems.

The Pro 4 has been fantastic, but has developed a screen issue at the bottom. The warranty lasts through Jan 18, so will look to do a warranty replacement then.

We always pay for the "complete" warranty and have been very pleased with the support. Given my experience with laptops that saw heavy use, the pro 3 and 4 have been as durable and have much stronger support and warranty coverage than we saw on mostly hp laptops we used prior.

I had to dig for this thread a little bit so I hope it's fine that I'm bumping it.

Here's the deal:

I'm a chemical engineer (jobless but just graduated) and this last semester I had a teacher absolutely berate me because of my bad handwriting and how long it took took him to grade my work. What I'm wondering is if the surface can help me out with that.

What I'm envisioning is that by handwriting on a surface I can use the handwriting to typing conversion feature to make it legible, but then also have the freedom to write diagrams etc.

Are there any engineers or other technically employed people who might shed some light on this idea? Can i actually make quality engineering work this way?

Also, is there a cheaper way I could do this? Are older surfaces just as good at recognizing handwriting? What about other tablets?

Thanks!

Have you already moved to the engineer standard of always writing in capitalized letters?

Is that really a thing?

Personally, as an engineer (mechanical and then software) with a medical doctor's level of bad handwriting, I'd suggest you get better at typing and text editing software. It's easy to include drawings into documents created in MS Word, for example, and PDF is a ubiquitous format across most operating systems nowadays.

As for the Surface, guess what I'm using right now?

Yay I found another Chem E on the forums.

My only suggestion would be writing practice like grade school. Getting a tablet to recognize what you are writing is a great way to learn what you are doing wrong, but the tablet (MS Surface in this case) will learn your style.

Repetition is the only way to change something like this, but rest assured... now that you are out of school no one cares as almost everything is typed on a computer.

I dont know if the surface pro 4 is more reliable but my pro 3 died twice. After the second time we replaced that with a Lenovo Miix and to be honest it's at least as good. I think the screen isnt as impressive as the new surfaces but that's about it. Bonus, they use Wacom pen tech and for my use it feels nicer to use and it's more configurable.

LeapingGnome wrote:

Have you already moved to the engineer standard of always writing in capitalized letters?

FiveIron wrote:

Is that really a thing?

My dad is a retired automotive electrical engineer of 30+ years. With the exception of his signature he ALWAYS writes in ALL CAPS.

This includes Christmas cards.

Is writing by hand actually a thing in any industry anymore?

Docjoe wrote:

Is writing by hand actually a thing in any industry anymore?

Yes?

T-Prime wrote:
LeapingGnome wrote:

Have you already moved to the engineer standard of always writing in capitalized letters?

FiveIron wrote:

Is that really a thing?

My dad is a retired automotive electrical engineer of 30+ years. With the exception of his signature he ALWAYS writes in ALL CAPS.

This includes Christmas cards.

Same with my dad, civil engineer though (and his signature is also all block caps)

Also, briefly tried some handwriting on a Pro in the MS store and it didn’t work well for me. Maybe in time I could tighten it up but my handwriting is pretty sloppy. That and the pen on glass was odd. It would take some time to get used to the smoothness of it. I could see it being really nice for art though.

I'm really hoping that the next generation Surface Pro goes all-in with USB-C and Thunderbolt 3. The notion of using the Surface with a desktop video card when docked at my desk really appeals to me.

I really like the form factor of the Surface Go but I've read mixed things of the Windows experience. Seeing them in person makes me want one, just seems much more practical than the bigger form factor I had (SPro 4). Anyone have one?

LeapingGnome wrote:

I really like the form factor of the Surface Go but I've read mixed things of the Windows experience. Seeing them in person makes me want one, just seems much more practical than the bigger form factor I had (SPro 4). Anyone have one?

I like it for size and portability but it's very slow in comparison. I use it for web surfing and a jigsaw puzzle game and it gets laggy sometimes.

I can definitely tell that the Go is slower, but its portability means it's usually the one that gets to tag along just in case I should need something that runs Windows. Plus, the USB-C charging is just really handy.

I've been eying the Surface Go, likely the 8gb/128 SSD version to try to mitigate some of that slowness. Mostly I want it for web, writing, and budgeting, maybe some basic streaming. I like the ideas of the size and easy portability. But I'm still wary about performance. I'm not looking for it to be a beast. I have my desktop for any actual heavy lifting.

Yellek, Kurrelgyre, which models do you have?

That's the same model I have. And like Kurrelgyre it's become the one that goes with me everywhere.

It's also the one I have.

Thanks. Can’t imagine running with only 4gb on the lower models. I mean It’s been a long time since I had a machine with only 8gb. I imagine that’s probably the bottle neck, modern browsers being the ram hogs they are. I’m still back and forth because of the price, but I love the idea of the size.