Surface 2 with LTE Coming tomorrow.

[GoodBytes]

Small recap of Surface news before, as there was none here:

Microsoft Surface line of product have picked up over time. It would seam that the second generation of Surfaces have really help boost sales. Microsoft earning report did show that sales of the Surface line (Surface 1, 2, and Pro 1, Pro 2, all together), have doubled (together). And the Surface Pro 2 and Surface 2 have been hard to find for months since it's release until recently. Clearly the much improved battery life of the Pro 2, and the much more powerful and refined Surface 2 have helped a lot. And most likely the very low cost Surface 1 and Pro 1 until stock ears out, helped as well. If I am not mistaken from my understanding of their quarterly results, the company is now making money.

News:

In 2 days from now (March 19), Microsoft will make available the PowerCover, a physical keyboard with a battery inside, designed to boost the battery life by up to 60% for the Surface Pro 1 and 2, and 70% the Surface 2 (not compatible with the Surface 1)

Today, Microsoft announces another news. The Surface 2 with LTE

The model will be equipped with 64GB SSD, and AT&T 4G LTE, and will be available for 679$ US. Like the normal Surface 2, it is powered by Nvidia Tegra 4, comes with Office 2013 Home 7 Student (includes Outlook), 200GB OneDrive (used to be called SkyDrive), the same digital front and rear cameras, 1080p IPS panel display, micro HDMI, and full size USB 3.0 port.

If you are interested, you can get it here: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/pdp/en_US/Surface-2/productID.286867200?WT.mc_id=surface_RTM_surface2

There is no information about a Pro 2 with LTE.

Source: http://blog.surface.com/b/surface/archive/2014/03/17/announcing-surface-2-at-amp-t-4g-lte.aspx

[LAwLz]

679 dollars with a Windows RT tablet and no keyboard is just too much if you ask me. That's not too far from Pro 2 territory which is far better.

Would have been better if they released the Pro 2 with LTE instead, but that might come soon (hopefully).

[SMURG]

I love my surface pro 2, but having spent £100 on the type cover, asking me to pay again for a power cover because i bought the device too soon kind of stings a bit. The non-pros just strike me as a pointless product really, and not one that LTE fixes. As @LAwLz says, you might as well buy the pro.

[GoodBytes]

I love my surface pro 2, but having spent £100 on the type cover, asking me to pay again for a power cover because i bought the device too soon kind of stings a bit. The non-pros just strike me as a pointless product really, and not one that LTE fixes. As @LAwLz says, you might as well buy the pro.

Agreed. The TypeCover 2 is indeed overpriceed (well I knew that before, it's fairly obvious, but no choice). Dont' get wrong, I like it. I think it's great, but it's not perfect, and not worth 130$ price tag. For that price, I expect an even better trackpad, a keyboard when when you flip on teh back and put it on the table, the keys don't touch the table (or the screen when closed) wearing the corner of the keys over time, and lastly the keys should not show wear or by far more durable.

However 200$ for the PowerCover is inline with laptop OEM manufacture batteries. Laptop batteries, (assuming your laptop battery is actually good, and gives you very long time of usage, like 7+h, and the system is pretty powerful) are around 150-200$. Same for keyboard doc from ASUS Transformer like devices. It is however, apparently, not backlit, which is a shame (I guess they need a reason for the PowerCover 2, or have too many keyboards of the TypeCover 1).

In any case, the way I see it, is that I'll buy buying it much later on, when I'll need a new battery for my Surface Pro 2. By which, I think the PowerCover 2 should be out, and be backlit. In any case, 200$ is better than another Surface Pro 2.

[Giddyguy]

I love my surface pro 2, but having spent £100 on the type cover, asking me to pay again for a power cover because i bought the device too soon kind of stings a bit. The non-pros just strike me as a pointless product really, and not one that LTE fixes. As @LAwLz says, you might as well buy the pro.

Yea i have the original surface pro and will be looking to buy the power cover in maybe a year to extend my battery life. However, I don't like that they replaced to rubber trackpad to a cloth touch sensitive one. That is a HUGE turn-off for me because i liked the 'surface' of the rubber one and clicky buttons. Hopefully Powercover 2 will go back to the original design or maybe get something like the macbook trackpad (which i love).

[GoodBytes]

You need to get some used to. I had to adjust mine to my liking (turned on enhance precision and increased speed (Mouse panel)), and it helped a lot. The trackpad makes sense when you realize that it doesn't collect finger marks eailly, so the finger experience is consistent. Its rubber and not cloth, you have fine movement. However, you do feel a resistance when you drag your finger along which does take some used to.

The lack of buttons feedback is annoying. You can tap on the touchpad to click, or tap with 2 fingers to right-click, and you have gestures. But when you need to click and drag.. this is a pain a bit, as you don't know how much you need to press, and I feel like I need to press far more than what I should be pressing if it was a normal button. It's a shame there is no option to adjust this.

[Sidiox]

I really hope that the Surface line is doing well. I love my Surface RT and I would I consider upgrading to the Pro2 if it has good battery life (I can get nearly 10 hours on my RT with moderate use). 

[JLCitadel]

If pro 2 LTE comes (and LTE means it's able to access internet based off cell service [ not sure ]) then I'll buy it.

[GoodBytes]

The Surface Pro 2 can give anywhere (based on my personal tests), ~3 to 12h.

That's the thing with the low voltage CPU. If you play a game, then everything is full powered, and you'll get 3h or so.

If you turn off wireless, Bluetooth, minimum screen brightness, and basically just read a document or something, expect around 12h.

Using the device for note taking with the pen, surfing the web, checking e-mail, chatting, expect 7-8h depending on the programs you use, with screen brightness at around 30%. Which I find it does a nice school day.