A Little Poll: Are You A Power Cover Person??

[Nuspieds]

I'd buy it in a heartbeat were it backlit.

I would certainly make use of that extended battery life due to the fact that I like to have my screen at maximum brightness all the time. However, my main use case for the extended battery life is on my cross-country trips, where the airplane does not have any power outlets. I make most use of the backlight during my cross-country trips and am certainly not willing to give it up.

Like the docking station without gigabit Ethernet, for me it is not worth buying and I'll hold off until they produce v2--which, I presume (hope) will include the backlighting.

 

[LuckyL]

Absolutely no interest for this from me. The SP2 battery life already takes you a long way so I don't see a real Need. But even if you have a SP1, the Power Cover is too thick and expensive. The fact that it has no backlit keys makes it almost useless for on-the-go scenarios like long haul flights at the same time the dimensions make it harder to handle.

I'd rather spend less money on an external battery that would give me more power and I would not have to compromise on anything.

 

[Davidmc99]

I too have a small business and I'm often on the road. I'm always near a main power source and I have an AC power source in my car (I can't justify paying MS's over-priced car-charger), I plan to wait until I have a chance to see how much weight this PC adds to my device. The lack of a backlit keyboard makes it an optional keyboard instead of a daily "must-have" keyboard. I often use my SP2 at night. So, no. This PC moved from being a "I will order immediately" to wait to see at my local MS store.

I also agree with Sir Face, the backlit keys are essential on those long overnight flights. And for me, those dark areas in a server room.

 

[Davidmc99]

$199 bucks is a little steep especially since I already bought a type cover 2. I can get a 26000mAh for 89 bucks on amazon:

Amazon.com: Intocircuit® Power Castle PC26000 26000mAh External Battery Pack/High Capacity Power Bank charger for Laptops, Notebooks, Netbooks, Tablets and Smart Phones. Compatible with HP, Dell, Toshiba, Acer, Samsung, Sony, Gateway Laptops; Google

So, did you also get a special USB cable to charge the SP? I could not find out the actual weight of this 26,00mAh battery, what is the weight?

 

[Dayton]

I recently picked up a white Touch Cover and found that I quite like it as it makes my SP2 even more portable than it is with my Type Cover 2. So with that in mind going for a half pound cover isn't too appealing even with the battery benefit, especially since the keys aren't backlit. However, it probably depends on what one's habits are, for a person who has to spend a lot of time at airports and on planes the power cover would be ideal.

 

[godson594]

I don't need it being I don't work "mobile" for long periods of time. I DO think it would have been nice to keep the backlighting at a slight ding to max amount of juice it can give tho'

And at this point I would wait to see what problems the early adopters find with it.... My lesson with Microsoft has been learned :X

 

[mtalinm]

You betcha. My guess is that they are using the type cover 1 chassis, which has *much* better keys (I keep fatfingering things on the type cover 2). Backlight is a small bummer but I'd rather have the volume keys on the keyboard.

 

[Sir Face]

You betcha. My guess is that they are using the type cover 1 chassis, which has *much* better keys (I keep fatfingering things on the type cover 2). Backlight is a small bummer but I'd rather have the volume keys on the keyboard.

So, the Power Cover has a volume control key on the keyboard?? Man, that would be great. Where are you getting these little nuggets anyway?

 

[jrapdx]

So, the Power Cover has a volume control key on the keyboard?? Man, that would be great. Where are you getting these little nuggets anyway?

Try here: Buy Surface Power Cover - Microsoft Store

It doesn't give all details, but the key layout looks just like the TC2. I'd assume the same functions, but some may be not be obvious. Or maybe they just recycled the TC2 image, and not showing a picture of the real PC layout.

 

[Cenotaph]

I was hoping for colors and backlighting, so I'm going to hold off for now.

 

[wseverino]

So, did you also get a special USB cable to charge the SP? I could not find out the actual weight of this 26,00mAh battery, what is the weight?

Says the total weight is 1.47lbs. I ordered the cable with it for $1.00

 

[CrippsCorner]

So, the Power Cover has a volume control key on the keyboard?? Man, that would be great. Where are you getting these little nuggets anyway?

The Type Cover has these too?