Potential First Time Owner

[Deleted member 11423]

Here is a picture of an Acer Aspire 5733 running Windows 8.1 Pro that I've borrowed.

When I close the lid, the screen turns off and I can still remote desktop into it. When I open the lid the screen instantly turns back on.

 

[oion]

Here is a picture of an Acer Aspire 5733 running Windows 8.1 Pro that I've borrowed.

When I close the lid, the screen turns off and I can still remote desktop into it. When I open the lid the screen instantly turns back on.

Ah, I see. The actual settings for lid closure is "do nothing"--so that must be a hardware switch in the laptop hinge. I'll see what my Surface does with that setting, then, as it looks like a hardware behavior.

Update: Oh hey.

So I set the option "When I close the lid" to "Do nothing" and closed my Type cover. The screen turned off! Well, learn something new every day. Then opening the cover, the screen instantly turned back on to where I was. I have a Surface 2, but there's no reason why the Surface Pro/other Surface don't behave the same.

 

[Deleted member 11423]

Ah, I see. The actual settings for lid closure is "do nothing"--so that must be a hardware switch in the laptop hinge. I'll see what my Surface does with that setting, then, as it looks like a hardware behavior.

Update: Oh hey.

So I set the option "When I close the lid" to "Do nothing" and closed my Type cover. The screen turned off! Well, learn something new every day. Then opening the cover, the screen instantly turned back on to where I was. I have a Surface 2, but there's no reason why the Surface Pro/other Surface don't behave the same.

That's very good news.

 

[Deleted member 11423]

I mentioned I also wanted the Surface Pro to be my desktop and scaling in my OP. The article here talks about blurry Windows rendered at one scale level then moved to another. What I want is to only use my VE228 monitor when connected at my desk and the scaling to automatically change from 150% to 100%. And when I unplug the mini DP cable for the scaling to return to 150%.

 

[deldalton]

As I don't have a Touch or Type cover yet I was keen to try and switch off the display, if I knew I was only going to be putting it down for a few moments but wanted to try and save on battery life. So, I tried changing the Power button to "Do Nothing" hoping it would still at least turn off the display. It didn't work. The button now "does nothing".

 

[ALLCAPS]

I have mine set to "do nothing" when I close the lid, and the screen stays on when I close the type cover. Are you sure the screen is turning off on yours? I can peek in the gap and see the screen is still on. Maybe the backlight on yours just autoadjusts to a very low level? Do you have any other settings changed? Curious as to why our two are working differently.

Also keep in mind that the Surfaces all wake from sleep in less time than it takes to fully open the screen on most laptops, so I don't see why this is a big detriment.

 

[oion]

As I don't have a Touch or Type cover yet I was keen to try and switch off the display, if I knew I was only going to be putting it down for a few moments but wanted to try and save on battery life. So, I tried changing the Power button to "Do Nothing" hoping it would still at least turn off the display. It didn't work. The button now "does nothing".

Unless you require processes to run in the background, your situation is best served by setting the power button to sleep and "don't require a password" for faster access. The wake-up time from sleep is instant anyway.

I have mine set to "do nothing" when I close the lid, and the screen stays on when I close the type cover. Are you sure the screen is turning off on yours? I can peek in the gap and see the screen is still on. Maybe the backlight on yours just autoadjusts to a very low level? Do you have any other settings changed? Curious as to why our two are working differently.

Also keep in mind that the Surfaces all wake from sleep in less time than it takes to fully open the screen on most laptops, so I don't see why this is a big detriment.

My screen definitely turns off with the cover closed. (CP > Hardware and Sound > Power options > "Choose what closing the lid does" > Do nothing) You did remember to select "save changes," right? Otherwise, if ours are set up the exact same way, I have no idea why it would be different; mine is a Surface 2 with Type 2 cover.

I believe the OP wants the Surface to remain "awake" for background processes to run; that's certainly the only time when you'd want only the screen to turn off.

@OP: About the multiple screen scaling, I have no idea, though. There are other threads about that.

 

[deldalton]

Unless you require processes to run in the background, your situation is best served by setting the power button to sleep and "don't require a password" for faster access. The wake-up time from sleep is instant anyway.

Okay. I'll give that a shot. This is my first Windows 8 (.1) computer/device and I've always been against putting machines to sleep but perhaps Windows 8.1 handles it much better.

 

[ALLCAPS]

It is very nearly instant. Even waking from hibernation like three seconds, and raw cold boot is like five.

 

[oion]

It is very nearly instant. Even waking from hibernation like three seconds, and raw cold boot is like five.

I prefer hibernation over sleep for mobile devices, but the hidden option isn't even available on Windows RT 8.1. On Pro (and other full Win8.1 machines), you have to enable it for the option to appear on the newfangled right-click Start button (and probably the charms menu>power).

 

[jnjroach]

Hibernation will take a toll on your SSD though...and Windows RT uses S0iX (Connected Standby) and hibernation will defeat the whole purpose of that power state.

 

[oion]

Hibernation will take a toll on your SSD though...and Windows RT uses S0iX (Connected Standby) and hibernation will defeat the whole purpose of that power state.

Ooooh, did not know that. Thanks. That explains the whole "no hibernate" thing---and Surface Pro doesn't have connected standby? But it has an SSD.