Surface Pro (2017) Discussion Thread

Well I'm a cheap fellow, so no LTE for me!

On another point, I finally got to the store to look at the new one yesterday. No real conclusions as it's hard to tell the difference with the SP4. Also played with the SB a bit and I think I'm staying with SP. I talked to the guy in the store and he told me the pen is delayed until August! Don't know if he really knows or made it up. I need a pen so not sure what I'll do about that. I guess I'll be getting the old one for the interim.

 

<<...I talked to the guy in the store and he told me the pen is delayed until August!..>>

...Time will tell, of course, but I wouldn't dismiss this comment just yet. Given that one of nSP's highlight features is that the inking lag is so improved, it's both puzzling and troubling that the demo units have hit the stores without the pens. Added to that, always in the past Microsoft has managed to field their demo units with complete sets of representative accessories (Dials, Keyboards, etc.) so this "lapse," IMO, is indicative of something significant. As I mentioned in an earlier post, it could be some prosaic issue like a supplier who ran into trouble making the pen barrels. But if an IC needed to be redesigned / corrected, that could take months. In that circumstance, a delay until August would be quite possible...

 

So what's the best option if I get a new SP on release day and really want to be able use a pen write away? I'm thinking buying on eBay a SP4 pen may be the best thing to do.

 

My advice is to get the Bamboo Ink while you wait for the new Surface Pen. Theoretically, the Ink will be able to access all 4096 pressure levels while the current gen Surface Pen won't.

 

...I would suggest the Bamboo Ink as well...

 

Does it support erasing like the Microsoft Pen?

 

It has a Bluetooth cap button like the Surface Pen, but it doesn't offer an eraser function.

 

I'm not an artist and will be primarily using the pen for taking notes in business meetings, interviews, etc.. I did use the eraser quite a bit when I tried the SP4 for a few weeks. Would you still recommend the Bamboo Ink over the SP4 Pen?

 

Yes, but I never use the eraser button. When I need to erase, I just switch to the eraser tool in whatever software I'm using.

 

Doesn't the second button on the barrell work as the eraser button?

Hope everything works fine with getting the new Surface Pro, because this Tuesday I'm sending the Book back to Amazon for the refund. The same day my Cintiq Companion is departing for its new home and the Vivotab Note is dead.
I'm left with no computer and just the iPad Pro!