Three questions (Why did MS do these things?)

[Judgeless]

I am new to the device but I have a long history with computers and the Windows OS over the years. I read the forums looking for answers. I found that these 3 items are just broke and you can not do them.

1.) The type or touch keyboard with a built in magnet does not turn the display off when closed or turn the display on when opened or bring the device out of standby or hibernate. The only options are to put the device in standby when you close the keyboard or do nothing. Every laptop I have owned over the years let you set the device to turn off the display when the lid is closed. Or come out of a sleep mode when opened. I wonder why MS did this?

2.) Microsoft does not offer a magnetic snap on keyboard that is just a super thin cover to protect the display (no keys). Why not? It would cost nothing to build and they could sell it for a lot of money. I would by one.

3.) The photo view app will not allow pictures to load full screen. If they are lower then 1920x1080 you have to zoom in. That is foolish. I found an app in the MS store called Gallery HD that will load images full screen but it puts really ugly gray boxes next to the image? Black boarders would make so much more sense. Does anyone know of an app that will do this?

Thanks!!!

 

[GoodBytes]

1.) The type or touch keyboard with a built in magnet does not turn the display off when closed or turn the display on when opened or bring the device out of standby or hibernate.

The keyboards don't have any magnet beside the connector to the device. It uses an accelerometer to know if the keyboard is open or closed. When closed, the screen will turn off, and the device will go to sleep (unless changed in Windows settings), after a few seconds.

The only options are to put the device in standby when you close the keyboard or do nothing.

Correct.

Every laptop I have owned over the years let you set the device to turn off the display when the lid is closed. Or come out of a sleep mode when opened. I wonder why MS did this?

No. Unless your laptop is broken, the laptop is supposed to go to sleep when you close the lid, or to the setting you set. When you open the lid, the laptop remain in the defined state (sleep default), until you hit the power button.
Microsoft follow the same design, because that is what is standard with laptop computers, and in addition, it avoid your system turning on when carrying because the cover opened a bit.
When you press any key, or the Windows key on the device itself, or power button, it will wake up the device, if was set to sleep. This is like a desktop computer, and some laptops.

2.) Microsoft does not offer a magnetic snap on keyboard that is just a super thin cover to protect the display (no keys). Why not? It would cost nothing to build and they could sell it for a lot of money. I would by one.

The point of the device is to have the keyboard. It's a convertible device, not really a tablet only (too heavy). Hence why the camera is not great, as its not designed for you to lift 2lb and start taking pictures.

 

[horseflesh]

I would also really like a cover that's super thin, to protect the screen only--no keys.

 

[Philtastic]

No. Unless your laptop is broken, the laptop is supposed to go to sleep when you close the lid, or to the setting you set. When you open the lid, the laptop remain in the defined state (sleep default), until you hit the power button.
Microsoft follow the same design, because that is what is standard with laptop computers, and in addition, it avoid your system turning on when carrying because the cover opened a bit.
When you press any key, or the Windows key on the device itself, or power button, it will wake up the device, if was set to sleep. This is like a desktop computer, and some laptops.

This is actually incorrect in terms of having the screen merely turn off when the lid is closed and having the laptop wake up when you open the lid. I have also had lots of laptops that would wake from sleep if you just opened the lid. If you set lid closing to do nothing in your power settings, every laptop I have ever used has simply turned off the screen when the lid was closed. I don't think it's a big deal for the SP2 since the screen will turn off in 2-5 min anyway but I guess it would be nice if closing the keyboard would emulate this simple feature when I don't want to put it to sleep but need to close it up to move it somewhere or I temporarily closed it up to get on a bus, etc.

Back to the OPs question 1, closing the keyboard should, by default, put the SP2 into sleep and opening the keyboard should bring it out of sleep automatically unless it went into hibernate, at which point, you need to press the power button to wake it up. Not sure why that is with hibernate - I'd guess that the keyboard sensor is turned off during hibernate.

 

[Seneleron]

Quote Originally Posted by GoodBytes View Post
No. Unless your laptop is broken, the laptop is supposed to go to sleep when you close the lid, or to the setting you set. When you open the lid, the laptop remain in the defined state (sleep default), until you hit the power button.
Microsoft follow the same design, because that is what is standard with laptop computers, and in addition, it avoid your system turning on when carrying because the cover opened a bit.
When you press any key, or the Windows key on the device itself, or power button, it will wake up the device, if was set to sleep. This is like a desktop computer, and some laptops.


This is actually incorrect in terms of having the screen merely turn off when the lid is closed and having the laptop wake up when you open the lid. I have also had lots of laptops that would wake from sleep if you just opened the lid.

I was curious about this, because *I* remember always having to hit the power button, so five seconds ago I booted up my notebook and then shut the lid.

My results. . . After leaving it shut for about a minute and a half, when opened the computer woke up from sleep without having to hit the power button. My guess is having to use the button is a function of hybrid sleep [elevated power saving state] and hibernate [maximum power saving state.

THAT said, my guess is that there is limited functionality built into the proprietary connector the surface keyboard uses and/or MS sees this as a tablet first and considers that functionality "notebook" territory.
...which still makes no sense since the pro versions don't have the always on state that the [formerly] R/T tablets do, but why would anyone need THAT functionality either [for things like alarm clocks]

/shrug sometimes you just have to stop asking questions, blame it on consumer research groups and out of touch execs, and grab an ice cream

 

[CrippsCorner]

My Surface sleeps when the Type Cover is shut, but doesn't automatically wake again when opened... I have to hit the power button.

You can get the original Touch Cover pretty cheap now, I'd get that if you wanted just a cover on its own.

 

[GoodBytes]

This is actually incorrect in terms of having the screen merely turn off when the lid is closed and having the laptop wake up when you open the lid. I have also had lots of laptops that would wake from sleep if you just opened the lid. If you set lid closing to do nothing in your power settings, every laptop I have ever used has simply turned off the screen when the lid was closed. I don't think it's a big deal for the SP2 since the screen will turn off in 2-5 min anyway but I guess it would be nice if closing the keyboard would emulate this simple feature when I don't want to put it to sleep but need to close it up to move it somewhere or I temporarily closed it up to get on a bus, etc.

No, You are wrong.
That is not what I am seeing with my Dell and Lenovo systems. I just test it right now.

 

[skellington]

You crayyyyzzyy GoodBytes, I don't know if ALL laptops sleep/awaken automatically when the lid is closed, but all the ones I've ever owned do (including macbooks). In windows there is a setting for controlling that though.

I hate the number of bugs related to the cover and sleeping. It's so ridiculous. I just gave up and got rid of the cover. What is so damn hard about "sleep when the cover is closed, awaken when it's open?" Why can't MS get such a simple thing working reliably?

We also need a light on the edge of the SP to show when it's sleeping vs off, because you never know if the thing is hibernating or sleeping so you hit the keys and expect it to wake up but it doesn't and then eventually you think 'it must be hibernating or crashed' and then hit the power button.

 

[Devolver]

We also need a light on the edge of the SP to show when it's sleeping vs off, because you never know if the thing is hibernating or sleeping so you hit the keys and expect it to wake up but it doesn't and then eventually you think 'it must be hibernating or crashed' and then hit the power button.

this a hundred times, the SP2 is one of the least talkative machines I have owned, I'd love indicator lights to either switch on or turn of so I know what is going, like sleeping and so on. It seems like such a no-brainer, and has been a convention of laptops since forever.

I've given up on sleep mode, and resort to simply switching it off. I seldom can make it sleep with the cover, but it is random.

My Surface sleeps when the Type Cover is shut, but doesn't automatically wake again when opened... I have to hit the power button.

I wish I had this functionality, too often have I discovered a red hot surface in my backpack, after closing the lid, waiting 3 minutes and then putting it in.

 

[Judgeless]

The keyboards don't have any magnet beside the connector to the device. It uses an accelerometer to know if the keyboard is open or closed. When closed, the screen will turn off, and the device will go to sleep (unless changed in Windows settings), after a few seconds.

I did some research and you are correct. It uses an accelerometer to detect when the keyboard is at 180 deg and if your setting is set for it to sleep it will sleep. If you have settings set to ‘Do Nothing’ it will leave the display on for as long as you have ‘Turn off display’ in settings. Mine is set for 3 minutes on battery and 20 minutes on power. All existing laptops and tablets turn off the display when the lid is shut including the iPad. When you cover the display it turns the display off. This is a design flaw.

No. Unless your laptop is broken, the laptop is supposed to go to sleep when you close the lid, or to the setting you set. When you open the lid, the laptop remain in the defined state (sleep default), until you hit the power button.

My laptop is not broken. I have it set to not go to sleep when I close the lid. When I close the lid it turns of the display but keeps running. All laptops work this way.

The point of the device is to have the keyboard. It's a convertible device, not really a tablet only (too heavy). Hence why the camera is not great, as its not designed for you to lift 2lb and start taking pictures.

It is meant to be a tablet. It is not sold with a keyboard. The keyboard is an accessory. Having an accessory that just protects the display would be nice.

 

[Judgeless]

I would also really like a cover that's super thin, to protect the screen only--no keys.

Me too!!!

 

[Judgeless]

No, You are wrong.
That is not what I am seeing with my Dell and Lenovo systems. I just test it right now.

Your device is not setup correctly. Every laptop will turn the display off when you shut the lid and have 'Do Nothing' under 'Choose what closing the lid does' I have a Lenovo Thinkpad T420 that works that way right now.