8+ Readers in comparison

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Hmmm.. I never see this light bulb. However, I don't run a surface.. I run in a VM for testing purposes.

BOb

It seems to have something to do with passwords/logins.
When trying one hour ago, I couldn't make it appear on my own...

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Hmmm.. I never see this light bulb. However, I don't run a surface.. I run in a VM for testing purposes.

BOb

That's what it looks like.
Pic1: The "light bulb", when logging in for example.
Pic2: The "light bulb" when pressed.
Pic3: The "light bulb" more closely.
Pic4: Normally, instead of the "light bulb", the onscreen keyboard does show the smiley symbol.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

That's what it looks like.
Pic1: The "light bulb", when logging in for example.
Pic2: The "light bulb" when pressed.
Pic3: The "light bulb" more closely.
Pic4: Normally, instead of the "light bulb", the onscreen keyboard does show the smiley symbol.

Hmm... looks like it is turning something on and off. Is the password occluded in one state and visible in the other? Does pressing it again turn it back into a sun?

BOb

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Hmm... looks like it is turning something on and off. Is the password occluded in one state and visible in the other? Does pressing it again turn it back into a sun?

BOb

The password can be made visible by touching an eye symbol right within the text field, next to the password entered.
Switching the "light bulb" on and off doesn't change visibility of the password.
Pressing it again turns it back into the "sun".

After hearing from HarryT, that it appears in login fields (I hadn't been aware of that. I've seen it from time to time, but didn't track the circumstances), my initial thought was it might switch on and off the password tracking.
Meaning: Sun = password gets stored. Switched off = you have to re-enter the password.
Or something like that, as the pressed button looks somewhat like a record/stop button.
But this can't be it: In the login field for example the password can't be stored anyway...
Strange...I don't find any explanation anywhere. But what to google? "Sun symbol on Windows 8 touchscreen keyboard"?

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

The password can be made visible by touching an eye symbol right within the text field, next to the password entered.
Switching the "light bulb" on and off doesn't change visibility of the password.
Pressing it again turns it back into the "sun".

After hearing from HarryT, that it appears in login fields (I hadn't been aware of that. I've seen it from time to time, but didn't track the circumstances), my initial thought was it might switch on and off the password tracking.
Meaning: Sun = password gets stored. Switched off = you have to re-enter the password.
Or something like that, as the pressed button looks somewhat like a record/stop button.
But this can't be it: In the login field for example the password can't be stored anyway...
Strange...I don't find any explanation anywhere. But what to google? "Sun symbol on Windows 8 touchscreen keyboard"?

You can try posting your question on www.surfaceforums.net.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

The surface pro 2 looks like a great machine. But, if you want a tablet... for only a tablet the iPad Air is probably a better choice. And at 1lb it is probably light enough to use as a full time reader too... (granted the Paperwhite is a bit less than 1/2lb.)

However, if you want a single device that can be a laptop, tablet, desktop the Surface Pro 2 is an excellent choice. With the dock I expect it would be even sweeter, but I have no idea how much that will cost. You can get a USB dock like this one http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008N06I2I/...=IY74KPNAWE9C7 . the nice thing about it is it isn't specific to the Surface Pro 2, but bad thing about it is it isn't specifically made for the surface pro 2.

Whether to upgrade from Surface Pro to Pro 2 is probably a personal choice. The Pro 2 does come with two years of 200GB of Skydrive space, which would cost you $200 if you paid for it out right. It also comes with free international Skype calling.. which is nice if you use Skype for that. The 75% increase in battery life is probably the biggest reason to upgrade. So, if you are a road warrior and take a lot of long flights you will probably certainly want to upgrade. Granted, you could get the battery keyboard thing, but that will also add a few pounds to your carry on.

My biggest issue is.. I want a device I can use while watching TV (I do most of my "work" on my desktop with dual 24inch monitors and 16GB of RAM). I currently have a 13inch macbook. I'm not sure if I could replace it with a 10inch device... that just seems too small. So, I will probably get an ultrabook with a 13/14inch screen. I'd really like a mac book Air or Pro, but probably can't justify spending that much if all I do is surf the web while watching TV.

I guess none of this has to do with "E-Book Readers" but I am happy with my Kindle Touch and while I would like the new Paper White 2 I'd rather put that money to a new laptop or tablet.

BOb

Yes, the small screen size and the battery life was the reason I didn't get the Pro. 10.6" are not very usable in laptop mode for anyone older than 40. Well, my Sony is hardly any heavier and has a 13.3" screen. But you have to love the Surface Pro 2's design. Perhaps I should follow in MgMueller's footsteps and get all of them.

[HarryT]

I am considerably older than 40, and find the Pro very nice to use. I use it with the screen "magnification" set to 150%.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I am considerably older than 40...

Me too.
45.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

The password can be made visible by touching an eye symbol right within the text field, next to the password entered.
Switching the "light bulb" on and off doesn't change visibility of the password.
Pressing it again turns it back into the "sun".

What the button does is enable/disable the "flash" of the keys while typing. I assume it only shows up during password field entry so it would make it harder for someone to see what keys you are typing while putting in your password.

BOb

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

You can try posting your question on www.surfaceforums.net.

Posted here http://www.surfaceforums.net/forum/m...-keyboard.html
Thanks for the tip!

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

What the button does is enable/disable the "flash" of the keys while typing. I assume it only shows up during password field entry so it would make it harder for someone to see what keys you are typing while putting in your password.

BOb

Just checked.
That's it!
I'm impressed!
Thanks a lot.
Still: In my opinion, that's not self-explanatory and should have been described somewhere.
As much as I love my Surface Pro: Re. marketing and "teasing", Google Chromebook Pixel really shines. They show a pretty impressive demo app right on the start.
Anyway...Problem solved, Kudos to you!

[HarryT]

Thanks, Bob! I would never have figured that out - sometimes it's the simple things that are the hardest to work out.

[mgmueller]

I didn't expect the 8GB version before the end of this year.
So I've ordered the 128GB/4GB version instead, to have it "now".
But now I've ended up with both, the 256GB/8GB 6 weeks ahead of schedule...

The 3DMark, the only Benchmark I have from the Store shows:
256GB/8GB 10% faster than the 128GB/4GB and this another 10% faster than the Gen1 128GB/4GB.
I would have expected more from the 8GB. But we'll see...
I'll use the 256GB version for data-intensive stuff, for example my dozens of GB of Zinio magazines.
I'll use the 128GB version more productively.
And I'll keep my 128GB Gen1 purely for the fun stuff...

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I'm really coveting one of those new MacBook Airs with the Haswell cpus... they say 12 hours now, for the 13inch. Me want!

BOb

For now, personally I won't buy any Apple products anymore.
I can live with the ugliness of iOS7 on my iPhone4s, as I don't bother much about smartphones anyway.
But now they've kind of killed my beloved MacBook Air!
OS X Mavericks -to me- is a disaster:
a.) The same ugliness as with iOS7. In Safari: Light grey links on dark grey background? WTF!?!?!
b.) I frequently loose WiFi. I've found quite a few similar reports about the beta of Mavericks.
c.) Performance suddenly is sluggish.
d.) Tons of details. Just one example:
I have the mail client in the background and another app in front of it.
An email pops up.
I want to click the email and write an answer.
But: The email client is in the background. I can click as much as I want, it doesn't get active.
First I have to click the mail client, for example the upper border. Then, when the email client has become active, I can click the email.
May not seem a biggy, but details like that really kill productivity.
A shame, I really did love my MacBook Air before.
For now, I'll stick to my Surface Pro(s) for professional tasks and use my MacBook Air only as my client for iTunes to watch movies and TV shows on the sofa...

Just my personal experience of course.
But for now, I've lost my interest in Apple.
No problem of course, still lots of opportunities to spend my bucks. Google Glass, the NVIDIA tablet, ...

[kacir]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

OS X Mavericks -to me- is a disaster:
...
Just my personal experience of course.
But for now, I've lost my interest in Apple.

Wait until you see what they did to the good old Pages word processor on OSX.
They have dumbed it down to match the iOS version.
They did this with all iWork suite.

DO NOT update anything before you read some forum posts on the subject. But not official Apple forums where "politically incorrect" posts are deleted.