Fiddling with the magnetic power charger cord

[SeaSurf]

No I still have to look and aim.

Therein lies much of the problem for all or at least most of us. One needs to be looking closely and aim fairly precisely to get this done each time. Try plugging it in in the dark or when looking elsewhere and be prepared to kill several minutes. In contrast I can plug in for charging my other devices pretty much blind folded.

 

[souldier]

You're right it is a problem. The method I am proposing though will at least make things a bit easier and faster. Video will be up soon

 

[souldier]

[video=youtube;tspubAhMsy0]http://youtu.be/tspubAhMsy0[/video]

 

[ArnoldC]

No can see, private.

 

[plasm0]

[video=youtube;tspubAhMsy0]http://youtu.be/tspubAhMsy0[/video]

Thanks for the video.... appreciate the efforts
your method works when you have the Surface turned to the side so there is visualization of the port, but most of the time
my Surface is facing straight ahead of me, and don't have room on my table to turn the Surface at all, and need to plug the cord in
while looking at the screen straight on... even with tactile touch, it's tough to do...

 

[J515OP]

With a tiny bit of practice it is easy to do without looking. You can also do the same thing getting the long edge in first and rotating towards the parallel edge (instead of placing the tip first and tilting in along the length) since it is a smaller motion than laying it in tip to tip length wise, though that works well.

The real key is rotating the tip across this short section towards the back of the Surface. We are conditioned to plug things in perpendicular but because of the angles on the edges of the Surface you are not plugging the tip in perpendicularly. Instead you have to rotate the tip so that the metal bar is slightly facing the front of the Surface. Look at the cord while it is properly plugged in and you can see this. It is hard to explain but easy to see once you look for it.

It is not intuitive because we are expecting to have the bar facing straight left with its flat sides parallel to the screen but really the face of the bar is pointing towards the front of the device a little. The worst part is that the way the tip and slot are designed it actually will rest in the slot solidly in a perpendicular fashion and feel like it is plugged in but it wont be charging. Simply rotate the back plastic edge of the tip away from you and towards the back of the Surface and it will lock into place properly and start charging.

This also makes it very difficult to plug in properly when the Surface is lying on its back because you almost have to come up from underneath it. I find I have to stand the Surface up on its bottom edge to get it to plug in if it is lying on its back.

 

[Kiwibru]

Betcha they change it in the next revision...it shouldn't have to be such an extended finger exercise. Expected to see a finger creature show up and do weight room exercises! Off to the finger gym...

 

[J515OP]

I think all they really need to do is round the edges of the tip and make the tip a little wider and it will slip right in. The sharp edges tend to catch too much instead of slipping in and the slot is a little too narrow.

Rounded:



Sharp:

 

[Soylent]

The worst part is that it scratches the paint easily. If you aren't carefully placing the magnetic plug into the slot and it slips across the side, it will cause a scratch

 

[Wayne Orwig]

After only owning the SP for one week, I noticed a lot of scratches on the side near the power connector. Getting the connector attached is always a struggle. I just took a fine stone, like used for sharpening a knife, and beveled the square edges of the connector. Now it goes right in place. Before, it had to be perfectly aligned to get it inserted and the constant fighting had resulted in scratches near the connector.

 

[Sim2k]

When you've seen your child pick up your surface pro and run across the room with it still plugged into the wall, you definitely appreciate the magnetic version when it simply pops off.

 

[Rvacha]

FYI... I couldn't stand it any more so I used a metal file and rounded the edges of my connector a just a wee bit. I took off so little it is hard to even tell visually but when I run my finger on it I can tell its rounder than stock. This has significantly eased getting it to snap in place If I had to put a number on it I would say 50% easier than stock