5 ms·

It's a nice toy. I have the big bad 8gb RAM, 500gb SSD that work paid for. As a pretty much exclusively .net/visual studio dev, the experience for development

by bbarn 12y ago

It's a nice toy. I have the big bad 8gb RAM, 500gb SSD that work paid for. As a pretty much exclusively .net/visual studio dev, the experience for development, while the machine is powerful enough to handle it, is utterly abysmal. Visual Studio and SQL server (which uses the VS shell) does not support touch screens in any sensible or usable way. I'm not asking for gesture rich smart windows here, just being able to scroll a text editor with one finger. Every other MS app on there seems ok, just not the VS based ones. Nothing but text selecting when you're expecting to scroll. The physical keyboard is too flexible and cramped to use on your lap - despite all the marketing videos claims, and probably my single biggest annoyance is that when that physical typecover is installed, it still pops up the soft keyboard every time you touch a textbox, anywhere. That, and if your soft keyboard isn't set up right, many times it will take maximized or docked left/right windows and resize them, only to leave them resized once the keyboard goes away again. So while I love to hear people say it's good for "creating content", as long as that content is a drawing, that might be true, but if that "content" is any kind of written work, spreadsheet, or coding task, it's almost useless. Also, the version of OneNote that comes with it is so handicapped that it also borders on useless. For the price of these things and the advertisement of having Office on them, the pared down versions were a big disappointment.

stinos 12y ago
Your complaints in the first paragraph, while valid, come from trying to use VS and/or other text input tools with touch - (correct me if I'm wrong). I'd be interested to also hear about your experiences with using it 'normally'. I.e. if you just put the surface+keyboard on a desk or your lap and treat it as a laptop without using touch, how usable is it for VS and the likes?
- FlyingLawnmower 12y ago
  I doubt my development experiences are as intense as the OPs (I'm still a student), but it works just fine for me "normally" for all of my dev needs. I spent the extra $200 and grabbed a 27" monitor to help out at home, which accelerates productivity a lot though. It's good enough to do homework and small programming assignments on the go, but I really appreciate extra screen realestate when making android/wp apps.
- bbarn 12y ago
  That's what I meant to say with the part about the flimsy/flexible typecover. It's quite tough to type using it on a lap, and the touchpad isn't very easy to use either. I tried the combo of typecover and pen - that was closest to most usable, but still just fell short. The other problem is that you're trying to balance a small (in width) stand between two legs, which practically meant squeezing my thighs together to not have it fall between them. It's decent enough on a table top though, if used like a traditional laptop and you have a mouse or are patient enough with the pen.
  - stinos 12y ago
    Thanks for the info. I always had the impression the type cover was meant to be the proper 'lap' counterpart of the touchcover in that it would be sturdier etc but appears that is not the case. Thats not so nice. Still in the market for one though, I think. Let's see what the Surface Pro 4 brings :]
gcb0 12y ago
> scrolling with one finger even on a regular touch pad you can't scroll with one finger. on a text editor is pretty much rather move the cursor/select with one finger
gcb0 12y ago
thanks. your comment about keyboard showing up even when you have a physical one will save me time. won't even bother to see the device now.
- codeulike 12y ago
  Well, what he describes has never happened to me.
  - gcb0 12y ago
    dammit. best buy here i come.
codeulike 12y ago
re: soft keyboard popping up. I've never had this problem, but I've heard its a bug in chrome on surfaces (I'm using Firefox). Are you talking about textboxes in web pages, or textboxes in VS? edit: also the SP line was never advertised as having office on it. But I agree the presentation of the differences between earlier surfaces was confusing.

by bbarn 12y ago

stinos 12y ago

Your complaints in the first paragraph, while valid, come from trying to use VS and/or other text input tools with touch - (correct me if I'm wrong). I'd be interested to also hear about your experiences with using it 'normally'. I.e. if you just put the surface+keyboard on a desk or your lap and treat it as a laptop without using touch, how usable is it for VS and the likes?

FlyingLawnmower 12y ago
I doubt my development experiences are as intense as the OPs (I'm still a student), but it works just fine for me "normally" for all of my dev needs. I spent the extra $200 and grabbed a 27" monitor to help out at home, which accelerates productivity a lot though. It's good enough to do homework and small programming assignments on the go, but I really appreciate extra screen realestate when making android/wp apps.
bbarn 12y ago
That's what I meant to say with the part about the flimsy/flexible typecover. It's quite tough to type using it on a lap, and the touchpad isn't very easy to use either. I tried the combo of typecover and pen - that was closest to most usable, but still just fell short. The other problem is that you're trying to balance a small (in width) stand between two legs, which practically meant squeezing my thighs together to not have it fall between them. It's decent enough on a table top though, if used like a traditional laptop and you have a mouse or are patient enough with the pen.
- stinos 12y ago
  Thanks for the info. I always had the impression the type cover was meant to be the proper 'lap' counterpart of the touchcover in that it would be sturdier etc but appears that is not the case. Thats not so nice. Still in the market for one though, I think. Let's see what the Surface Pro 4 brings :]

gcb0 12y ago

> scrolling with one finger even on a regular touch pad you can't scroll with one finger. on a text editor is pretty much rather move the cursor/select with one finger

gcb0 12y ago

thanks. your comment about keyboard showing up even when you have a physical one will save me time. won't even bother to see the device now.

codeulike 12y ago
Well, what he describes has never happened to me.
- gcb0 12y ago
  dammit. best buy here i come.

codeulike 12y ago

re: soft keyboard popping up. I've never had this problem, but I've heard its a bug in chrome on surfaces (I'm using Firefox). Are you talking about textboxes in web pages, or textboxes in VS? edit: also the SP line was never advertised as having office on it. But I agree the presentation of the differences between earlier surfaces was confusing.