Need help setting up my Surface Pro :)

[smoket22]

Hi All

Just got my surface pro today, and so far I'm loving it - however I could use some friendly advice on a couple of things.
If any of you could help with these issues, I'd really appreciate it

1. I'd like to some how setup my surface pro tablet "Metro" screen to be in sync with my Desktop PC metro screen. In other words, is there a function or a way I can set it up so any changes I make to my desktop pc metro screen, automatically happens on my tablet. I am indeed logging into both my tablet AND my pc with my Microsoft login ID.
As the tablet is brand new, perhaps there is a file I can simply copy from my desktop pc to my tablet which will automatically set everything up the same?

2. I have the tablet connected to the wireless router / home network, along with my desktop pc. I'd love to be able to setup my documents/pictures/videos folders to automatically sync (or have them shared?) basically any files I add, remove or change in those folders on my desktop pc, I want to happen on the tablet - and vice versa. What's the easiest way of achieving this?

3. And finally, I really want to use my surface at work for note taking, scheduling meetings, and so fourth. I'm looking for an application or program which would work just like a "Diary" with a method to create "to do lists" and have handwriting to text functionality. So during meetings I can make notes on the tablet, automatically turn the notes into text, then simply email the document to my work address.

As for the meetings / calendar function. My work pc has Outlook installed, and so does my Tablet. Is it possible to some how sync all my calendar activity on my work pc, with the calendar on my tablet (within MS Outlook) ?


I know there's a lot there guys, I've been thinking about these for a long time hehe.

Any advice, suggestions, hints or tips would be great!!!

Thanks guys
Tom

 

[mitchellvii]

#3, Well, OneNote obviously. The Modern UI version is free and really not bad for the price. The full Office version is obviously more robust but will cost you $10 a month if you get the full Office 2013 suite or about $80 if you buy it standalone.

 

[souldier]

1. Only the design options such as background color/image will sync. This even includes your desktop wallpaper. But the apps and how you arrange them have to be done manually as far as I know. In the Microsoft store you can swipe in from the top and pick "Your Apps" to see all the apps you have downloaded/purchased before

2. I think the best way to do this is use your sky drive on both devices and just make folders for pictures, documents, etc. You'd probably need more than 7gb of storage though. Other than this, I don't know if there is a way to do it so they live sync with each other.

3. One Note for sure. You can use the desktop version or the modern UI version

 

[tonyz3]

#2 Search the forum for home sharing or network options, i remember a few diff discussions and solutions about this which are all very easy to accomplish. best to search than me to explain. #3 One note as mentioned above. Calendar, contacts syncing same- search the forum. I have an exchange account with MS so everything syncs flawlessly even to my android tablet, win8 phone , DT and Surface pro. But i grabbed the office 2013 which was free for a yr when i bought my SP and i love it with the exception of not working correctly with IMAP accounts- Dam Google. Good luck with everything

 

[malberttoo]

#1 Not 100% sure about that, but I thought I saw someone complaining that that's what happened when they signed into multiple machines with the same Microsoft user account? (Not LOCAL account, but Microsoft account).

#2 As mentioned above SkyDrive, or DropBox, are your friends here.

#3 Also as mentioned above, OneNote will do this, but also the built-in (read: FREE) Journal application will let you take notes and save them, and will convert handwriting to text. Check it out before you drop the cash on OneNote, it may be just enough to fit your needs. The being said, though... NOTHING beats OneNote on a tablet. (Don't ask Microsoft about that though, they'll deny that the app even exists...).

Hope it helps.

 

[smoket22]

Thanks so much for all the suggestions so far guys.

Over the last couple of days, I've been trying out your suggestions. Thanks to your guys input, 1 and 2 is pretty much resolved, as I'm just using my Sky Drive which works fine for my documents and such. I've also just manually configured my
metro layout, so that's fine.

I guess 3 is the only one left which is bugging me. I've installed One Note (the full version) and have had a play around with it and Journal too. I've managed to configure One Note so I can have all my meeting notes and such organised, but I'm a bit rusty
with One Note, so I may need to do some online course to get more familiar with it. The two things I still can't figure out are:

1. I'd like to have a program which I can use as an electronic "Diary". Basically I need something that will give me 1 page per day of the year, where I can write notes and such in. So far in One Note and Journal, I can't seem to find the ability to have a "diary like" setup, Any ideas?

2. The other thing I also haven't been able to setup on either One Note or Journal, is "real time" handwriting to text feature. With both programs, you can write in handwriting, then convert to text afterwards - but ideally I wanted a real-time feature so it would automatically convert to text AS I write.

Any ideas guys? You've been really really helpful so far

Thanks again
Tom

 

[jnjroach]

For real time conversion you would need to use the input panel which is an option with the On Screen Keyboard, you're limited to 3 lines for input before you need to insert the text. For the Diary just create a notebook and open a New Page each day.

 

[malberttoo]

1. I'd like to have a program which I can use as an electronic "Diary". Basically I need something that will give me 1 page per day of the year, where I can write notes and such in. So far in One Note and Journal, I can't seem to find the ability to have a "diary like" setup, Any ideas?

Create a new Folder for your Journal, and inside that folder, each page becomes a new page for each day. Go to View> and turn on Ruled Lines to get lined paper. Like so...