A colleague at UBC wrote to say that she was going to get a Microsoft Surface Pro. She asked if I had any thoughts or advice. I’ve had my Surface Pro for four months. Here is what I replied.
Surface Pro 64 or 128
The 64 is $899. The 128 is $999. I got the 128. For me this meant NOT having to manage space on the hard drive, or to think about using an extra memory card (that could have saved me $40 but would have meant a lot more thinking in terms of managing space). If I had to do it again, I would make the same decision.
You probably don’t need a display adapter for presentations
The Surface Pro uses a Mini DisplayPort for connecting to a projector. This is the same as most MacBooks. This means that you probably don’t have to buy an adapter to connect to projectors if there is a connection that supports MacBooks. I understand that these are pretty common on campus. If you routinely connect your portable devices a monitor, that’s a different matter and you will need some kind of display adapter.
Keyboard Cover
I would definitely get a snap on cover – it is very convenient, protects the screen and reduces the sense of urgency around buying a special case for the Surface. If you get a Surface snap on cover, spend the extra $10 and get the Type Cover – I find it to be much more usable than the Touch Cover. I have both and I use the Touch Cover too, but the Type Cover is better for touch typing.
Cases and bags
If you have any kind of simple case that you can use now, don’t spend money on anything else until you’ve lived with your new Surface Pro for awhile.
Extended Warranty and Accidental Damage Protection
Consider getting Microsoft Complete
Sally is discussing. 
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Sally 10:48 am on December 17, 2014 Permalink |
1. What did you think was the most valuable thing that happened for you today?
– introduction to JavaScript and jQuery (including the background and some basic understanding of how JavaScript and jQuery works)
– links to resources such as caniuse.com
2. What did you learn from that?
– some best practices in using JavaScript when authoring a webpage
3. What will you do with that knowledge?
– I hope to be able to make sense of the JavaScript that has been implemented in our current SITS work; and to be able to remember to think of best practices when I try to use JavaScript
Questions?
1. Now that we’ve had our second session, what do you want to know?
– To delve deeper into the use of JavaScript; and to create JavaScript that would be applicable to SITS webpages (i.e. the student and staff facing portals)
2. What could we have done better?
– As you mentioned at the beginning of the class, the expectation of the 2-day course was to give us an introduction of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript; and to lead us to the place where we know what we know instead of not knowing what we don’t know…I feel that the 2-day course has accomplished that for me 🙂 Now, it’s more about trying to apply our knowledge in practice.
Thanks again for leading the 2-day course!