One thing I keep on think is what happen if the Surface Pro 3 battery die out, can I still using it by plugging it?
One thing I notice from time to time is if my Surface Pro 3 has empty battery and I tried to on it by plugging the power cable to it, it will not boot directly. I have to wait around 5 min and then it can. Even that also has issue, when I try to login, and the battery indicator show 0%, it will shutdown again. I have to wait a bit and restart again the device.
My suspect is that the device rely on the battery to power up and if there is not enough power to power the devices, it will cause issue. Or another way of thing is that the power that juicing the device doesn't provide enough power to start the device.
Whatever the reason are, I can only sure of it when the battery is totally die out on me.
Showing posts with label Surface. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Surface. Show all posts
Saturday, 17 August 2019
Friday, 16 August 2019
Surface Pen and Screenshot
My Surface Pro 3's cheap OEM cover keyboard doesn't have functional Print Screen button which is a problem for my usage. I tried to use the Send Screenshot to OneNote which they said can direct save a screenshot on OneDrive folder. But the method doesn't work and I don't want to use OneNote. Most of my usage is offline mode and I don't have that huge bandwidth to do synchronize.
Now I found a workaround using some coding.
I need to install a software called Greenshot and set the new HotKey to screenshot full screen to Ctrl+D which a hotkey that I seldom use.
Then there is some scripting to do.
Open a notepad and type:
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WshShell.SendKeys "^d"
Then save it as filename.vbs
After that we will create a batch file that run the scripts.
start "filename.vbs"
and save the file to filename.bat
Double click on the .bat file to test the code. If it work, then we will create an exe file using iexpress.exe
In your C:\Windows\System32\ folder, there is a file called iexpress.exe.
Right-click it an Run as administrator.
Create a new SED and select "Extract files and run an installation command."
Add the script you want, and make sure that on the next screen, you set the install program to cmd /c [your_script.bat] where [your_script.bat] is the script file you want to execute. If you don't do this, windows will try to use Command.com (the old version of Command Prompt) which hasn't been in use for quite a while.
Select preferences (you might need to select "Store files using Long File Name inside Package), set an output path (to the .exe file you want to create), and select "No restart".
Click next and you should have your .exe!
Just a note, this file actually only acts as a wrapper for your script, and the script itself actually gets executed in a temp folder created on execution (and deleted afterwards), so make sure you don't use any relative paths.
After all is done, place your exe file to a suitable folder. Open the Setting->Devices->Pen & Ink
At the bottom of Surface Pen setting for double or single click. select open with classic app and brows to the exe. Once done you can test it.
So now I can do a direct save screenshot by clicking my Surface Pen.
Now I found a workaround using some coding.
I need to install a software called Greenshot and set the new HotKey to screenshot full screen to Ctrl+D which a hotkey that I seldom use.
Then there is some scripting to do.
Open a notepad and type:
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WshShell.SendKeys "^d"
Then save it as filename.vbs
After that we will create a batch file that run the scripts.
start "filename.vbs"
and save the file to filename.bat
Double click on the .bat file to test the code. If it work, then we will create an exe file using iexpress.exe
In your C:\Windows\System32\ folder, there is a file called iexpress.exe.
Right-click it an Run as administrator.
Create a new SED and select "Extract files and run an installation command."
Add the script you want, and make sure that on the next screen, you set the install program to cmd /c [your_script.bat] where [your_script.bat] is the script file you want to execute. If you don't do this, windows will try to use Command.com (the old version of Command Prompt) which hasn't been in use for quite a while.
Select preferences (you might need to select "Store files using Long File Name inside Package), set an output path (to the .exe file you want to create), and select "No restart".
Click next and you should have your .exe!
Just a note, this file actually only acts as a wrapper for your script, and the script itself actually gets executed in a temp folder created on execution (and deleted afterwards), so make sure you don't use any relative paths.
After all is done, place your exe file to a suitable folder. Open the Setting->Devices->Pen & Ink
At the bottom of Surface Pen setting for double or single click. select open with classic app and brows to the exe. Once done you can test it.
So now I can do a direct save screenshot by clicking my Surface Pen.
Friday, 9 August 2019
Surface Pro 3
I was once praising this device as excellent but too pricey. But fate had let me own one with free, I just need to purchase the super slim cover keyboard. I thought I was the most lucky guy in the world but....
Not long after I own the device, Windows 8 and 8.1 has a lot of issues which make the device useless. It is very not touch mode friendly. Not so much apps that support touch.
Then I upgrade to Windows 10 and nightmare start to happen. The cover keyboard die out. I have search a lot of forum for the issue and it appear that it is a common issue that Microsoft ignore. Then the highlight of the issue, the battery drain after shut down. The back of the device keep warm even you have shut down the device. There is no solution for this issue.
A lot of people report the matter but no official fix from Microsoft.
So with draining battery after shutdown, the device is technically can be certified as desktop. It lose its portability. With no keyboard and faulty battery, the device is worst than a normal traditional laptop.
I was once tried to impress my friend who own MacBook with the devices but Microsoft kill themselves with these issue.
Throughout the year, I just leave it in dust hoping that Microsoft can issue a fix for it but one can only hope. I also notice that the same issue for Surface Pro 3 also happen to the rest of future release devices.
Now, even I want to send to repair, Microsoft have ended the repair for the device. I cannot repair the device even I want to pay around RM1.3K. But luckily I didnt, as I read some reports that the same issue keep happening even the refurbished unit. Some already paid a few times end up the same issue.
For a device with 64Gb, it is a scam in current year as the update for Windows is getting larger. I once join the Windows Insider Program and each update will consume around 20Gb. It always keep a backup version that eat up your storage. And without the backup, you will lose the ability to restore your Windows if anything happen, but to be honest, when you need to restore your Windows, you might have a huge chance of unable to restore it as the restore process encounter error which end up you performance a clean reinstall of Windows.
I don't know when I will throw away the device. As comparison, if you use it to read comic, it lack the proper app to read the comic. If you use it to read Magazine, it lack the touch features to navigate the page, Edge is still weak in pdf reading. I was so shocked that it cannot restore the last page you viewed even though this should be the basic feature for any document reading apps. As usual, Microsoft tried to set it as default pdf reading apps that cannot function properly.
As media consuming device, the weak battery cannot allow you to watch in long duration. The battery is only lasted around 3 hours Maximum and you have to charge from time to time which end up kill your battery quicker.
Their strong sales for this device is the Surface Pen that luckily it still ship with the device, unlike currently you have to purchase separately. As input, it does what it does but don't expect Wacom or Apple Pencil level performance when came to drawing as not much apps can support it properly. How ironically. GIMP cannot support it properly, Krita keep getting hang. Others seem very lag and the latency is very noticeable. Drawing in quick will cause the phantom drawing.
Overall, Surface line is just a better design laptop/tablet but not in performance.
The road is still far and with iPad OS in the horizon, the Surface line is going to have a huge impact. iPad OS is what Microsoft have envision since Surface 1.
Not long after I own the device, Windows 8 and 8.1 has a lot of issues which make the device useless. It is very not touch mode friendly. Not so much apps that support touch.
Then I upgrade to Windows 10 and nightmare start to happen. The cover keyboard die out. I have search a lot of forum for the issue and it appear that it is a common issue that Microsoft ignore. Then the highlight of the issue, the battery drain after shut down. The back of the device keep warm even you have shut down the device. There is no solution for this issue.
A lot of people report the matter but no official fix from Microsoft.
So with draining battery after shutdown, the device is technically can be certified as desktop. It lose its portability. With no keyboard and faulty battery, the device is worst than a normal traditional laptop.
I was once tried to impress my friend who own MacBook with the devices but Microsoft kill themselves with these issue.
Throughout the year, I just leave it in dust hoping that Microsoft can issue a fix for it but one can only hope. I also notice that the same issue for Surface Pro 3 also happen to the rest of future release devices.
Now, even I want to send to repair, Microsoft have ended the repair for the device. I cannot repair the device even I want to pay around RM1.3K. But luckily I didnt, as I read some reports that the same issue keep happening even the refurbished unit. Some already paid a few times end up the same issue.
For a device with 64Gb, it is a scam in current year as the update for Windows is getting larger. I once join the Windows Insider Program and each update will consume around 20Gb. It always keep a backup version that eat up your storage. And without the backup, you will lose the ability to restore your Windows if anything happen, but to be honest, when you need to restore your Windows, you might have a huge chance of unable to restore it as the restore process encounter error which end up you performance a clean reinstall of Windows.
I don't know when I will throw away the device. As comparison, if you use it to read comic, it lack the proper app to read the comic. If you use it to read Magazine, it lack the touch features to navigate the page, Edge is still weak in pdf reading. I was so shocked that it cannot restore the last page you viewed even though this should be the basic feature for any document reading apps. As usual, Microsoft tried to set it as default pdf reading apps that cannot function properly.
As media consuming device, the weak battery cannot allow you to watch in long duration. The battery is only lasted around 3 hours Maximum and you have to charge from time to time which end up kill your battery quicker.
Their strong sales for this device is the Surface Pen that luckily it still ship with the device, unlike currently you have to purchase separately. As input, it does what it does but don't expect Wacom or Apple Pencil level performance when came to drawing as not much apps can support it properly. How ironically. GIMP cannot support it properly, Krita keep getting hang. Others seem very lag and the latency is very noticeable. Drawing in quick will cause the phantom drawing.
Overall, Surface line is just a better design laptop/tablet but not in performance.
The road is still far and with iPad OS in the horizon, the Surface line is going to have a huge impact. iPad OS is what Microsoft have envision since Surface 1.
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