Microsoft Surface Pro – Max Possible Battery Life?

[needspractice]

I have a tough question for all you tech junkies out there. I was really leaning towards the Latitude 10 but something keeps holding me back because I just can’t stand lag and I really do not want to dump 700 bucks into something that is just going to lag on Office.

Here’s the deal. I would get the Surface Pro if there was absolutely anyway to milk 8 to 9 hours of battery life out of it. Is that possible in anyway? Before you go crazy and say no I will be strictly using it for Microsoft Onenote and Web browsing for online classes.

Basically I will be using it all day between 5 classes with no outlets because my classes are 15 minutes apart. Do you think this can be done with turning everything to ultra-low settings like display, and disabling extras in the operating system?

I will be taking notes through class all day on one note because I want to eliminate paper and pen. I am stuck between a rock and a hard place because if I get the Latitude I know the battery life will be there but I will be frustrated with lag. If I get the Surface I know the performance will be there but I will be fighting for battery life.

I can’t believe we are here in 2013 still fighting with this problem, any suggestions?

 

[Nebor]

There may be an external battery coming for the surface pro...

 

[ChronoReverse]

Wait for Haswell. I'm pretty sure 8 hours should be possible then.

 

[TheStu]

I have a tough question for all you tech junkies out there. I was really leaning towards the Latitude 10 but something keeps holding me back because I just can’t stand lag and I really do not want to dump 700 bucks into something that is just going to lag on Office.

Here’s the deal. I would get the Surface Pro if there was absolutely anyway to milk 8 to 9 hours of battery life out of it. Is that possible in anyway? Before you go crazy and say no I will be strictly using it for Microsoft Onenote and Web browsing for online classes.

Basically I will be using it all day between 5 classes with no outlets because my classes are 15 minutes apart. Do you think this can be done with turning everything to ultra-low settings like display, and disabling extras in the operating system?

I will be taking notes through class all day on one note because I want to eliminate paper and pen. I am stuck between a rock and a hard place because if I get the Latitude I know the battery life will be there but I will be frustrated with lag. If I get the Surface I know the performance will be there but I will be fighting for battery life.

I can’t believe we are here in 2013 still fighting with this problem, any suggestions?

We aren't still fighting with this problem, both the Latitude 10 and the Surface Pro have made equal but opposite design compromises.

You say you want to use it for school, what does that mean, notes and such? What are you studying? Is there any chance that a Nexus 10, iPad 4, or Galaxy Note 10 would fit the bill at half the cost of the Surface Pro?

 

[lopri]

Here is a suggestion from experience: Do not buy into hype in a haste.

I understand the excitement of beginning a new semester w/ a shiny new device, but let's be honest here: No one stops you from using good old paper and a pen. Sure it's not going to be easy to convert it to electronic form but the notes you're taking during the class are.. well, let's just say they will only serve you temporarily.

I am not saying that you shouldn't get a nice device. I am saying that you should take time. See what your classmates carry - you're bound to see some. Check those out. Wait a little until the hype passes. You can see a better picture once dust settles.

Again, there is nothing wrong with paper and a pencil in the mean time.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I haven't touched a Dell Latitude 10. But have used a Samsung Ativ Smart PC 500T and currently using the ASUS Vivo Tab Smart ME400. Yes, the Atom is a bit slow. But I am actually quite impressed with how well Office 2010 and 2013 runs. I installed 2010 on my Samsung and it ran quite smooth, I didn't feel lag. I'm not an power Office user though working with massive Excel spreadsheets or anything, mostly just in Outlook. But Outlook ran great and Word and Excel files opened up just fine and feel smooth. I'm running 2013 now on my ASUS tablet and it's working great too. So the Atom seems to be plenty for running Office.

Only performance complaint I really have is playing back 1080p videos mostly sucks. I'm just using VLC or Zoom player. There are people on other tablet forums that have written a lengthy guide involving loading custom codecs and making tweaks to get 1080p video to play smoothly, so the device seems to be capable if you are willing to work at it, but I'm too lazy to mess with that so far (I may give the guide a try eventually).

Chrome is a little laggy on the desktop though. I use Chrome mostly, it's still fast enough that it doesn't bug me too much. But IE in Metro is much faster and smoother.

Overall I'm quite pleased with the performance. Best I can call it is "sufficient", but I'm okay with that since it lasts me all day.

So my vote is for the Dell Latitude 10. Microsoft has already come out and said the battery life of the Surface Pro would be half that of the Surface RT. So I guess we are looking at around 4 to 5 hours. You might be able to squeeze a day out of that with low brightness and throttling the CPU a lot. But I don't really know.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Also you might want to take a look at the Lenovo Tablet 2 if you haven't. You mention note taking and I think I heard you or someone say the Dell has a pen, but I don't see a slot for the pen on the tablet. The Lenovo has a pen and a slot built into the tablet for the pen.

 

[needspractice]

@Nebor

I do not think I still want to get the Surface Pro even if they have an external battery. I’m looking for pure mobility and to keep my book bag as light as possible.

@ChronoReverse

I agree I think Haswell will have 8 hours of battery life and better performance like the current i3 i5 but you know what I do not think I want the slightly larger form factor because I believe you are still going to need a fan cooling system and I do not want that. I want strict mobility with least amount of moving parts as possible.

@TheStu

I guess you’re right; a person just has to decide what compromise that want to make. Performance or battery, I just feel you shouldn’t have to decide that in 2013. They should already have both on the market by now.

I want to use it strictly for school. I take 5 classes all on the same day with 15 minute breaks in between, no time for charging. All I want to do is use the pen to take detailed notes clearly in class for long lectures and access my online web material at the same time. I do not want to worry about battery life at all because I will not be next to a charger. Also full windows instead of Android or RT is a must because I want to become a master on Onenote, I love the Office Products.

@lopri

That is some sound advice for sure. I was beginning to try that but it is so darn hard to catch people in between classes with only 15 minute breaks. Also no one in class is using a stylist so that kind of scares me because I do not think the technology is there yet. Am I jumping the gun to early wanting to get rid of paper and pen when the technology hasn’t caught up yet? I hope not.

@Ravynmagi

Man, you have always given super advice. And now I think I am sold. The Lenovo ThinkPad 2 I think is the perfect device. Check out YouTube videos with the built in stylist it seems amazing. They really tried to make that Digitizer an important part of that Tablet, it’s very responsive and convenient. Have an amazing battery life and incredible design and form factor with its even amazing optional case. That is exactly what I am looking for very sleek, incredible case for viewing and protection as well as sleekness, and a great pen. The only thing I am nervous about is the battery not being replaceable and wondering how long these batteries will last; but come to think about it about when the battery dies you will need a new device anyhow.

You have read a lot of my posts. What do you think? Do you think this will crave my appetite for a while for office onenote and long battery life with I-pad like experience?

Best,
Needspractice

 

[needspractice]

@Everyone

Thank you all for your help! I bought the Dell Latitude 10! Main reason why is because of the support for the "Wacom Digitizer Feel" the absolutely latest Digitizer that is out. You can only order it from Wacom and the Latitude supports it. And the fact the Latitude has an extended battery and power output on its USB.

For everyone that is having trouble with the stylist try the Wacom "Feel"

Best,
Needspractice