Battery choice

[bmclachlan]

When the SB is running on battery, is it possible for me to chose to first consume battery from the keyboard battery in order to preserve the clipboard battery if and when I detach the chipboard?

 

[flar]

It already does that by default. The keyboard battery is always preferred for discharging.

And if you read the graphs in the Anandtech review, while the default charger is strong enough to charge both at maximum rate, if you use a lower wattage charger then they'll also give priority to the clipboard battery when charging back up...

The Microsoft Surface Book Review

The one thing it can't do is to recharge the clipboard from the battery in the keyboard (in case you plan to disconnect it again later and want to maximize undocked battery time). The only way to charge the clipboard is to plug the system in.

 

[bmclachlan]

Thanks. You also answered my additional question about re-attaching the clipboard to get some juice from the keyboard battery. That would be a nice enhancement if technically possible.

 

[mtmowl]

I recall reading that they didn't set the clipboard battery to recharge from the keyboard battery because it would cause a heat problem, which would require more heat dissipation capacity, therefore more size or weight. Sounds reasonable to me.