Being pretty electrically ignorant, I am just wondering if it's possible to have a less bulky and heavy charger apparatus than the one supplied with the SP2? Perhaps one that didn't have the big clunky "black box" as part of it? That would sure be nice for travel, if such a thing exists.
Surface Pro 2 Charger
- Thread starter Sir Face
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You can use the Surface / RT 24W charger. It's less bulky, and lighter. It will charge slower but I haven't found it to be a problem.
You are going to have the black box no mater what you do. You need to convert Alternating Current (AC) from the wall, to Direct Current (DC), hence why it's called the Power Adapter, or more technically: Power Supply Unit (PSU).
The box does that. The box can be at the plug level like the Surface 1 and 2 adapters, or mid way like laptops and the Surface Pro 1 and 2.
The more wattage the power adapter can provide as its maximum ability, the bigger and heavier it will be.
The more efficient the power adapter is, the less heat the power adapter generates, however size may increase or decrease (usually decrease).
The box does that. The box can be at the plug level like the Surface 1 and 2 adapters, or mid way like laptops and the Surface Pro 1 and 2.
The more wattage the power adapter can provide as its maximum ability, the bigger and heavier it will be.
The more efficient the power adapter is, the less heat the power adapter generates, however size may increase or decrease (usually decrease).
I thought the 24w charger was much smaller and can be used, it appears to be mainly just a plug and a cord. Am I wrong. I thought I saw on the microsoft site where the 24w charger can be used and it stated as another poster has said, it justs charges slower. I exchanged an ipad air that I had for a week for the SP2 and one of the very few things I liked about the apple was the very small power/charging cord.
The iPad uses an ARM processor, which consumes between 1W to 10W (heavy load + charging)
The Surface Pro 2 needs 48W to operate (and charge). The Surface Pro 2 is also significantly more powerful system, and hence why it can drive the power of Windows, and your heavy demanding (if any) applications smoothly, and allows you to properly multi-task, and the the semi-multi-tasking of the iPad, all at the same time.
The Surface Pro 2 needs 48W to operate (and charge). The Surface Pro 2 is also significantly more powerful system, and hence why it can drive the power of Windows, and your heavy demanding (if any) applications smoothly, and allows you to properly multi-task, and the the semi-multi-tasking of the iPad, all at the same time.
daniielrp
Active Member
While I agree that the SP2 needs the power, why does the RT/Surface 2 charger still need to be as big. It's a ARM device like the iPad, so in theory could have a much smaller charger right?
I'm not familiar with the iPad charger, but the Surface chargers do not have holes for cooling, so they need to have a certain amount of surface area for sufficient cooling. In other words, a similarly constructed charger with the same wattage but less surface area would run hotter and that could lead to reliability issues.
Very true. I forgot about that.
The Surface 2 has fast charge, which means it require more power. The iPad was designed to be charged over 5V lane of the USB plug. The Surface 2 can't do this due to the fast charge.
In addition, Apple cheats. Like their MacBook Pro's. If you push the system to it's max, the charging speed is drastically reduced, to even a full stop. There was a generation of MacBook Pros several years ago where you could change the battery, where the system would throttle down if the battery was not in, while plugged in, as the power adapter could only deliver 85W and not 90W. Meaning it was drawing more power from the battery. So if you are pushing the system under heavy load for a lot time, you are were depleting the battery, and not charging it as you would expect as you are plugged in. But as those who actually use the Mac for intensive tasks uses the MacPro, or don't push the laptop to it's max continuously, and with a fan base that hides issues under the rug, it was not an issue that concern many or anyone.
The iPad power adapter is 12W, to support older iPads which were operating under 12W max (now 10W). The Surface 1 and 2, operated at 24W under heavy load and fast charging.
daniielrp
Active Member
The iPad charger is probably about half the size of an Surface 2 charger, pretty compact. The latest iPad(s) have a 42.5Wh battery, and the Pro/Pro 2 have a 42Wh battery.
Microsoft charge time for Pro 2 - estimated 2-4hrs from dead using 48W charger.
iPad 3/4 charge from dead - 7/8hrs using 12W charger.
Soooo... my guess is that using a much smaller charger like the iPad one would mean a very long charge time.
If anyone can find out the size of the Surface RT/2 battery, that could help the debate too
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stranger4all
Member
Agreed about the Ipad charger but if you check the Macbook Air charger which has similar processor and runs windows and mac os , its charger is still too compact compared to the SP2 charger and is easy for travelling , also if u can check see how the Apple guys have put an option to wrap the power cable around the charger only, SP2 guys should have thought of a better design which is more compact atleast the height should be reduced so as for easy fit in small 11" bags, and the cable could be retractable or some additional way to make sure you can travel with ease , the main use of this machine is for compact travelling with full performance this should be further improved in my opinion.
I had to change switch to a 2 pin market cable as the original one is too big for my carry case not like apple where the pins retract within the charger, in SP3 or in some additional add-on charger they can impliment these improvements.
The MacBook Air adapter is larger than the Surface Pro 2, it's basically moving thing differently. Also it doesn't have a USB charging port which also required room inside for the port.
But I agree, they should have a way to wrap the cables around. Having something like the Dell old power adapter where you can wrap the cables (both) around the power adapter itself, and have a rubber tie or sort which is attached to the power adapter to hold everything together is best.
Like so:
Ok, that person didn't do a great job, but you get the idea.
But I agree, they should have a way to wrap the cables around. Having something like the Dell old power adapter where you can wrap the cables (both) around the power adapter itself, and have a rubber tie or sort which is attached to the power adapter to hold everything together is best.
Like so:
Ok, that person didn't do a great job, but you get the idea.
