back to article Microsoft's battery-boosting Surface slab cover to ship soon

Six months after launching the second generation of its Surface tablets, Microsoft says it is finally ready to begin shipping an accessory that it says can extend the battery life of the fondleslabs by as much as 70 per cent. The Surface Power Cover was announced during the Surface 2 launch but wasn't immediately available for …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Keyboard-wise, the Power Cover isn't much to write home about. It includes the same shallow keys and undersized trackpad as the original Type Cover, which are passable but suffer in comparison to dedicated laptop keyboards and trackpads. And unlike the more recent Type Cover 2, the Power Cover lacks lighted keys and only comes in black."

    Typical Microsoft, they miss the mark. They made the default cover slightly better but a follow-on uses the previous generations specs. If the cover currently sold has a back-lit keyboard than the enhanced version should as well.

    1. Doug 3

      then it would appear they have been working on this version for a very long time if it's based on the previous generation design. LOL

      You have to love how they mention 60% more runtime and 70% more runtime but don't specify what that runtime is supposed to be. This leads one to believe that once again the Windows based tablets are power hogs and require bulky and/or extra batteries. This reminds me of the old Compaq iPaq's which needed a huge battery pack stuck on it to use for a work shift.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        A battery cover is a pretty good idea, I would have really liked one for a recent business trip, no-one else has it (other than Nokia.) I have a Nokia 2520, sans power cover, and find that I get life expectancy broadly inline with the specs of 10hrs of heavy use (ie - running video for 10 hours). It is supposed to have 28day standby, I use it too much to confirm this, but see no reason to think it won't.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          I have a Surface 2 RT and see very similar battery life - in the region of 10 hrs. Certainly it is comparable to my old Samsung Note 10. Not bad considering that it has a better screen and runs faster.

      2. Kristian Walsh Silver badge

        "You have to love how they mention 60% more runtime and 70% more runtime but don't specify what that runtime is supposed to be. This leads one to believe that once again the Windows based tablets are power hogs and require bulky and/or extra batteries. "

        No, that's not how logic works. You can only reason from facts, not prejudices.

        Logically, the only things that one can be led to believe from that statement are:

        1. that the batteries in the Surface, and Surface Pro are of different capacities.

        2. the battery capacity of the Surface Pro is larger.

        And indeed, a quick use of the internet reveals this to be true: 42 Watt-hours for the Pro, and 31.3 for the ARM-based 2 model.

        And if you actually cared, you'd find the runtime figures here, but just like other makers' figures, these are single-task tests, in controlled circumstances:

        Pro 2 (Intel): 7h video playback;

        2 (ARM): 12h video playback.

        ( http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/products/overview )

        1. keith_w

          runtime

          I have a surface pro, and I certainly dont get 7h of video playback - it constantly requires me to charge it up after a couple of hours reading web pages such as this one.

          1. cambsukguy

            Re: runtime

            >I have a surface pro, and I certainly dont get 7h of video playback - it constantly requires me to charge it up after a couple of hours reading web pages such as this one.

            Then it's broken and you should tell them. They sent me a new Surface (RT) when it stopped charging (having previously sent me a free replacement charger). I didn't even have to ship the old one back until after I got the new one. Obviously, they take a credit card number just in case.

            When I say they, I assume you bought it from the website like I did. If not, they probably still offer the same support.

            I agree about the pricing mentioned elsewhere, accessories seem expensive to me (so are Apple and Nokia accessories it seems to me) but the service is tip-top.

  2. returnmyjedi

    Two hundred notes for that?! I could get a tumble dryer for the same price

    1. dogged

      Do you do a lot of typing on your tumble dryer?

      1. returnmyjedi

        If I fancy a cheap thrill at the same time: yes.

      2. TheOtherHobbes

        >Do you do a lot of typing on your tumble dryer?

        At least a tumble dryer is useful.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      WTF?

      And I can get a washing machine AND a tumbledrier for less than an iPad. So your point is?

      1. Hellcat

        And I can get a washing machine AND a tumbledrier for less than an iPad. So your point is?

        $200 is a lot of money for a keyboard + battery. You would need to be really desparate for extra life away from the wallwart!

        1. JC_

          @ Hellcat

          A spare battery for a Dell E7440 laptop, for example, is £100-£120 from Dell. Like you say, if it's important enough, people will pay it.

          Compared to the RAM & SSD upgrade prices for the Surface Pro (and most other tablets & phones), the keyboard is not that much of a rip-off.

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