Accessories

[rockface]

The next order of business is how we will accessorize our new surface's.

TYPE COVER:
I picked up an SP4 keyboard on Amazon for $55. Interested if anyone who purchased the new type cover knows of a compelling reason to spend an extra $100

PEN:
Not being an artist, I purchased a used SP4 pen off Amazon (for $38) and felt it should be good enough for notes and the like... What are your thoughts on using the old pen.

DOCK:
Did not want to skimp on this and purchased the official MS dock off Amazon. I really like the idea of a single magnetic connector driving power, display, external hard drive, desktop keyboard and mouse. So, this ensures it can switch from mobile device to desktop mode very easily.

MOUSE:
Found a Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse for $50 on Amazon.

CASE:
Went with the Tomtoc Case because it keeps things compact, yet has room for the power cord and arc mouse.

What are you doing?

 

[Afy]

Personally I don't seem the need for the mouse. But some people do like them. I haven't used an external mouse for a few years now. The mouse pads on the newer machines whether the SP or stuff from Dell seem just fine to me.
I can't argue with your other decisions, if they work for you. Congratulations..

Personally I am waiting for the i7 SP to become available, along with the pen so that I can go play with them at John Lewis here in the yUK, before deciding on what to get next. Currently its a toss up between the Porsche Book One, the SP, the HP Spectre 15 x360 and the Surface Book.
Am wary about the Spectre am not convinced about HP. Probably also need to look at the Dell offerings, though I do have a XPS 15.

 

[convergent]

I already had the dock, so will be using that with an Asus 27" 4K display in my home office.

I ordered the new keyboard and pen... might as well have the whole new experience. I am upgrading my desktop keyboard/mouse that I use when at my desk. Ordered the Logitech K810. I will probably get the Arc mouse too, but haven't decided on that yet. The SP will be in studio mode when at my desk, dedicated to OneNote note taking.

 

[rockface]

It was nice to have a case and all the accessories on hand before the SP arrived yesterday. Finding deals on older models of the pen, Arc mouse and type cover saved $196. It's a little odd, but the new type cover has no "INS" button while the version purchased from Amazon does.

ARC MOUSE:
The older Arc mouse connected right away, but did not work. After deleting it from the device manager, re-pairing and re-booting, it started working perfect.

PEN:
The older Pen also had problems at first. The Pen worked but the eraser button click failed. After deleting it from the device manager and re-pairing it - all is good.

OFFICE:
My day job allows lets employees buy MS Office 2016 for $9.99 - this is a no-brainer! The SP comes with a cut-down version of OneNote, and does not let you uninstall it after installing MS Office 2016. You will need to manually configure you eraser click, and tablet desktop to use the new version.


I've planned a business lunch today, where I will be using the new SP to take notes for the 1st time.

 

[convergent]

The version of OneNote that comes with the SP is called OneNote App vs. OneNote 2016 that is part of office. It is not a cut-down version. It does some things that you can't do in OneNote 2016, particularly as it pertains to using the pen. For some reason, Microsoft has created two versions of the same application that have differing function sets. You will likely use them both... that's what I do, and I let OneDrive for Business and OneDrive keep the two versions synced.

When I'm at my desk, I have the SP tilted way back and use it as dedicated not taking. I have OneNote App full screen open on it and use it with the pen. I also have OneNote 2016 open and on the external display. It has better organizational functions, but doesn't have the native pen functions.

Also, if your day job uses Office 365, with each license you are entitled to install Office on 5 devices. So you don't need to buy a license for the SP if that is the case. You can install it straight from the Office365 (at work) site.

 

[rockface]

Interesting, After poking around in the app, i found how to add notebooks created in Onenote 2016. THANKS!