No built in stylus holder?

[Krooked]

I confess I gave MS credit for more intelligence than they apparently possess in assuming they would not make a Surface Pro 2 so much like the Surface Pro 1. Yep they made it and yep it will fail.

It could have been great. They could have made it an amazing device for business users but instead they just put lipstick on the pig. The screen is too small, there aren't enough ports and there is nowhere for the pen. Fail, fail and fail. Don't fall into the trap of thinking, "Well I like it so it must be awesome!". True it meets your needs but it does not meet the needs of most business users because the form factor is all wrong. Is SP2 an improvement over SP1? Of course, but the competition has improved as well and for business users, offers better functionality.

This form factor is here to stay not because anyone is buying it, but because MS is proud and obstinate and doesn't know when to walk away. As I recall, MS kept making the Zune as well.

MS should have dumped the Pro line and focused on Surface 2 making it Bay Trail and full Windows. THAT would have sold.

Your earlier predictions of failure have failed. I suspect the only one who will continue to fail (regarding anything concerning this platform) is you.

Thankfully, no one has chosen you to lead the MS marketing team.

 

[godson594]

If they had been smart and gone with an 11.6" screen they would have had room to put the pen inside. I almost think that MS did not go with the bigger screen or a port for the pen simply because they had a bunch of Surface Pro cases they needed to use up. This tells me even MS isn't sure this device will sell and didn't want to commit to a full redesign in case it doesn't.

At this price point with an 11.6" screen I believe MS would have sold the hell out of this to business users. Sadly, 10.6" inches is simply too small for a true laptop replacement. Probably a reason all the other hot new hybrids are 11.6" or higher. A bigger screen would also have made room for a larger internal battery and another usb port with a thinner profile.

To me this oversight is a major fail.

I equate the Surface Pro 2 to MS scoring the tying touchdown with a second to play then missing the extra point to lose. It coulda been great, so so close but MS simply does not get it.

Is there any reason you don't just sell your Surface on Craigslist and go buy a different product? I come here to read about the Surface and you are almost in every thread with some kind of complaint. I understand not liking a product and being let down, but why stick around?

Sell it and move on to something that better fits your needs...

I've yet to find a perfect product too unfortunately. If the new Lenovo 12.5 would have had a detachable keyboard that might have met my needs...

 

[CrippsCorner]

MS should have dumped the Pro line and focused on Surface 2 making it Bay Trail and full Windows. THAT would have sold.

This is pretty much the complete opposite of what they were saying on The Verge, where I watched the Surface 2 live blog. Afterwards they discussed the event and said Microsoft should scrap the Surface RT line; no one's going to compete with Apple. And that they should concentrate on making the Surface Pro the most powerful tablet available. I mostly agree, but that's from personal preference really where I simply do not need a 'media consumption device'... I need a desktop replacement that's occasionally made portable.

 

[jnjroach]

As I spent time with the Surface Team, the like and are proud of what they're doing on the Pro line, but it is a business machine and it doesn't generate anywhere near the passion the have for the Surface 2. Watch the keynote and Panos Panay well up when talking about the Surface 2. This team is committed to the Surface 2 and believes it the best way to show case Windows 8.1 and Microsoft's Cloud Services.

 

[CrippsCorner]

As long as they keep on producing both I'll be happy. If they eventually stop the Surface Pro line, unfortunately I'll have to switch to a different manufacturer which I'd rather not have to do!

 

[mtalinm]

Even Panos Panay uses a hack to keep the pen on his Surface. At the Boston preview he showed me a Moleskine-type setup where the pen is harnessed to the side of the SP.

 

[lovemysurface]

Cheap solution for the Stylus problem

While it probably should have been built-in, here's what we came up with for a solution: Microsoft Surface Tip: April 29 - Love my Surface

 

[oion]

While it probably should have been built-in, here's what we came up with for a solution: Microsoft Surface Tip: April 29 - Love my Surface

Low-tech is sometimes best. I disagree that the stylus should have been stuck in the Surface chassis, though. Requoting myself slightly from another thread--

Giving the stylus its own silo would likely require a much thinner and less comfortable stylus in order to save as much space as possible in the chassis, since we're talking about miniaturization engineering and every bit of space counts. On top of that, the body design would have to be bigger than it already is, and some people complain that the Pro is already too chunky. Getting a sleeve with a pocket, or another case with a loop, or just clipping to something (because it has an actual clip)--better solutions without compromising the tight body engineering specs.

 

[rubaxter]

This is pretty much the complete opposite of what they were saying on The Verge, where I watched the Surface 2 live blog. Afterwards they discussed the event and said Microsoft should scrap the Surface RT line; no one's going to compete with Apple. And that they should concentrate on making the Surface Pro the most powerful tablet available. I mostly agree, but that's from personal preference really where I simply do not need a 'media consumption device'... I need a desktop replacement that's occasionally made portable.

iPad without iTunes is a failure, just like WindowsMobile and Windows CE were when MS had nothing like iTunes to convince the "blinking VCR brigade" they needed a handheld. And, yeah, I still have that Vadem Clio in a box, somewhere, but I'm not bitter... anymore.

Surface without "?" is a failure.

MS is going to have to convince people what "?" is, and they're going to have to spend some big bucks. That's particularly true now that Apple has defined themselves in ways MS couldn't think-outside-the-coffin enough to rush in (rush? as if) before Apple did, AND because the "blinking VCR brigade" tech-agnostic crowd is still with us, along with the emerging "my smartphone is my computer" crowd.

The burgeoning failure is that the "my smartphone is my computer" crowd may actually be right concerning the level of computing a functional member of society needs.

Too much of the Surface experience is merely repainted, old-timey tech (rocket fins will make them Chevy Impalas sell, I tellz ya) in search of a need, with the need being funneled down the path of 'normal' (i.e., yesterday's) computer usage instead of being driven by a back office looking for a breakthrough, ala the new Lotus 1-2-3. There's far too much of MS is herding cattle (and, not even trying to herd cats), as opposed to MS leading us to man the barricades.

Gad! the Revenge of Lotus as MS is now obsessed with return-on-investment, spreadsheet thinking, as Balmer's punishments for trying to lead with the Surface seems to indicate!

AND, finally on-topic, the Vadem Clio had a very nice stylus holder!

 

[Spaniard]

This is my sophisticated solution:

 

[T-Bob]

I have also had devices with styluses built in where the channel rubbed off enough of the stylus that it became loose and easily lost, which is the whole issue we are seeking to avoid.

Low-tech is sometimes best. I disagree that the stylus should have been stuck in the Surface chassis, though. Requoting myself slightly from another thread--

Giving the stylus its own silo would likely require a much thinner and less comfortable stylus in order to save as much space as possible in the chassis, since we're talking about miniaturization engineering and every bit of space counts. On top of that, the body design would have to be bigger than it already is, and some people complain that the Pro is already too chunky. Getting a sleeve with a pocket, or another case with a loop, or just clipping to something (because it has an actual clip)--better solutions without compromising the tight body engineering specs.

 

[Megalith]

Wear clothing with pockets or get a real bag.