Surface Laptop 2 questions

[windowstomac]

Thanks. Yes, I did see a link that said it had to go on before Outlook which is just great when all of Office 365 comes preinstalled! Having downloaded and indexed year's worth of Exchange email I don't think I'll be bothering now, I'll just access it from the browser. Definitely some huge irony in the fact the single thing I've had an issue with was from Apple.

Been doing the setup for about 8 hours, haven't copied all docs over yet as I'm going to take the opportunity to have a clear out but right now I'm pretty happy with where it's at. When I've had to go back onto my MBP to look something up it's frustrated me and my enter key is getting worse already.

My earlier sadness at moving away from Apple is being replaced by relief right now. My wife has an aging iPhone SE so if she's up for it I may even give her my nearly new XR and defect completely. Never would have imagined this happening...

 

[SDColorado]

I believe that the pre-installed Office is OK being there as long as you don’t go and set it up first. But I may have just deleted it, rebooted, setup iCloud and then installed Office 365 since we have a family subscription.

But yes, two of the things that work the poorest are iCloud and iTunes. That’s OK though, only use iTunes to sync my phone to get photos off of that and use One Drive on my Surface and my Macs, so I really don’t miss either.

I may be doing the same here soon. 5th 2018 MBP and 5th with an issue. I have a call scheduled for Monday with Apple Executive Relations. If I get lucky enough where they will allow me to return this one after 2 months, there are some nice alternatives out there.

 

[csurfr]

I may be doing the same here soon. 5th 2018 MBP and 5th with an issue. I have a call scheduled for Monday with Apple Executive Relations. If I get lucky enough where they will allow me to return this one after 2 months, there are some nice alternatives out there.

Do let us know how it goes. Mine has been in for repair since the 24th and still has yet to be completed. I have been talking to a senior advisor who 1) has no idea what is taking so long, and also 2) will absolutely not call me on the phone. I called and left a message asking him to please call me about the status and I get an email reply saying “how about I call you next week?” This goes back and forth three or four times. He will email (and replies quickly I might add) but absolutely refuses to make a phone call.

I feel like when this thing gets returned that I’m going to do my best to ditch it and move to something else.

 

[windowstomac]

I had a call from Exec Liaison today after sending my complaint email to Tim Cook's email address. They have arranged for me to call DHL for collection and have promised me a brand new one. Unfortunately due to the fact it's custom spec it's a two week lead time from when it gets back to them, so it would still be useless from a business continuity perspective if I hadn't gone out and bought something new to work on in the meantime.

In other news I'm nearing the end of my first full work day using a Surface Laptop 2, and my first day using Windows in many years, and it's been way smoother than I expected. Little bumps in the road as one would expect, but none as irritating as trying to work with a flaky MBP keyboard.

When I finally get my replacement MBP it will be a major dilemma which becomes my daily driver...

 

[SDColorado]

I had a call from Exec Liaison today after sending my complaint email to Tim Cook's email address. They have arranged for me to call DHL for collection and have promised me a brand new one. Unfortunately due to the fact it's custom spec it's a two week lead time from when it gets back to them, so it would still be useless from a business continuity perspective if I hadn't gone out and bought something new to work on in the meantime.

In other news I'm nearing the end of my first full work day using a Surface Laptop 2, and my first day using Windows in many years, and it's been way smoother than I expected. Little bumps in the road as one would expect, but none as irritating as trying to work with a flaky MBP keyboard.

When I finally get my replacement MBP it will be a major dilemma which becomes my daily driver...

Sounds like your call went better than mine. Mine was pretty much as a waste of time. They thanked me for the time it took to email them. Suggested if I had any additional issues to provide feedback on their website and assured me that it would be repaired under Apple Care. Nothing really useful there other than acknowledging how they could understand how I would be frustrated being on machine #5 and still having problems. Apparently amused about how smashing the "e" key repeatedly until it worked again "fixed" this one. Oh well. Didn't expect much, got what I expected

 

[windowstomac]

Oh dear, that's a bit rubbish :-(

I went back on mine today, need to get a backup and do a few things before I wipe it to send it in. My E key is only acting up about 1 in 40 times now but Enter now hardly pushes down. That seems to have changed despite it being unused and protected in a sleeve case! I can't help but think there's much more to this keyboard problem than dust / debris, and wonder if there's a heat element to it.

I've got on really well working on the Surface today. In fact I had an unexpected issue with one of my sites and ended up having to do hours of work with tons of browser tabs and lots of copy/pasting etc. To be honest it all felt very smooth and I'm really surprised how quick I've acclimatised to Windows.

As for what I do with the MBP once I eventually get it back...I'm torn now really. I think I'd be scared to start using it as my main machine again in case I found myself in the same situation. It's about the time it all takes to deal with backing up, wiping, restoring to something else, then all over again when it comes back.

I might fall out with the SL2 in which case everything could change, but right now it feels like the MBP is held together by spiders webs by comparison!

 

[kazmac]

Sounds like your call went better than mine. Mine was pretty much as a waste of time. They thanked me for the time it took to email them. Suggested if I had any additional issues to provide feedback on their website and assured me that it would be repaired under Apple Care. Nothing really useful there other than acknowledging how they could understand how I would be frustrated being on machine #5 and still having problems. Apparently amused about how smashing the "e" key repeatedly until it worked again "fixed" this one. Oh well. Didn't expect much, got what I expected

Oh, poo. I was rooting for you to receive a refund.

Sorry to hear that it went as you expected, -which in this case - is not saying much.

Oh dear, that's a bit rubbish :-(

I went back on mine today, need to get a backup and do a few things before I wipe it to send it in. My E key is only acting up about 1 in 40 times now but Enter now hardly pushes down. That seems to have changed despite it being unused and protected in a sleeve case! I can't help but think there's much more to this keyboard problem than dust / debris, and wonder if there's a heat element to it.

I've got on really well working on the Surface today. In fact I had an unexpected issue with one of my sites and ended up having to do hours of work with tons of browser tabs and lots of copy/pasting etc. To be honest it all felt very smooth and I'm really surprised how quick I've acclimatised to Windows.

As for what I do with the MBP once I eventually get it back...I'm torn now really. I think I'd be scared to start using it as my main machine again in case I found myself in the same situation. It's about the time it all takes to deal with backing up, wiping, restoring to something else, then all over again when it comes back.

I might fall out with the SL2 in which case everything could change, but right now it feels like the MBP is held together by spiders webs by comparison!

Glad to hear the SL2 is juggling your workload flawlessly. Sorry to hear about your MBP. I hope they fix it.

Windows is a-okay on my SL2 as well.

What bowser does everyone use on their Surface? I am acclimating to Edge, but may install Firefox.

 

[SDColorado]

Oh, poo. I was routing for you to receive a refund.

Sorry to hear that it went as you expected, -which in this case - is not saying much.


Glad to hear the SL2 is juggling your workload flawlessly. Sorry to hear about your MBP. I hope they fix it.

Windows is a-okay on my SL2 as well.

What bowser does everyone use on their Surface? I am acclimating to Edge, but may install Firefox.

Yeah, the bit about finding it amusing and chuckling that I mashed the "e" key repeatedly until it worked again was a bit worrisome. But I didn't expect them to actually do anything other than place a "feel good" call to let me know Apple read my email and Apple "cares," and they didn't disappoint. I said in an earlier post that I find Apple customer service to be bull**** these days and this call was right along those lines

As for browsers. I generally use Edge on my Surface Pro, but I have used Opera and now Vivaldi when on battery. I find they are less resource intensive and delivery better battery life than Firefox and definitely better than Chrome. More often then not, I am using my Surface Pro on battery.

 

[kazmac]

Yeah, the bit about finding it amusing and chuckling that I mashed the "e" key repeatedly until it worked again was a bit worrisome. But I didn't expect them to actually do anything other than place a "feel good" call to let me know Apple read my email and Apple "cares," and they didn't disappoint. I said in an earlier post that I find Apple customer service to be bull**** these days and this call was right along those lines

As for browsers. I generally use Edge on my Surface Pro, but I have used Opera and now Vivaldi when on battery. I find they are less resource intensive and delivery better battery life than Firefox and definitely better than Chrome. More often then not, I am using my Surface Pro on battery.

I agree with you re: Apple customer service, like everything else they’re doing lately...it needs a serious rethink and fix, fast. The reaction you received sums up the very unprofessional attitude and arrogance of the brass. Even if I didn’t take a similar wash with that iPad Pro, I’d still feel that way.

Thanks for the Vivaldi tip, never heard of that Browser.

 

[SDColorado]

I agree with you re: Apple customer service, like everything else they’re doing lately...it needs a serious rethink and fix, fast. The reaction you received sums up the very unprofessional attitude and arrogance of the brass. Even if I didn’t take a similar wash with that iPad Pro, I’d still feel that way.

Thanks for the Vivaldi tip, never heard of that Browser.

Yeah, Apple Customer Service used to be the envy of the industry and one of many reasons you would gladly play the “Apple Tax” with a smile and a knowing nod. But that has slowly eroded over the years, much like their QC.

Pretty much nobody has heard of it, but it is a project of the guy who founded Opera. He sticks with a theme

Digital Trends dubbed it the best browser you have never uses hahaha. This review was of v1.1 though. Current is 2.2

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.di...owser-best-web-browser-youve-never-tried/amp/

Some updated details on 2.2

https://vivaldi.com/press/releases/vivaldi-2-2-focus-on-details/

 

[kazmac]

Yeah, Apple Customer Service used to be the envy of the industry and one of many reasons you would gladly play the “Apple Tax” with a smile and a knowing nod. But that has slowly eroded over the years, much like their QC.

Pretty much nobody has heard of it, but it is a project of the guy who founded Opera. He sticks with a theme

Digital Trends dubbed it the best browser you have never uses hahaha. This review was of v1.1 though. Current is 2.2

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.di...owser-best-web-browser-youve-never-tried/amp/

Apple: exactly. The reason why I stood by Apple for two decades was they had my back when things went south, now they’re happy to let me fall on my back.

I was very intrigued/impressed by the YouTube promo video for Vivaldi. I’ll download it tomorrow. Thanks

 

[SDColorado]

Apple: exactly. The reason why I stood by Apple for two decades was they had my back when things went south, now they’re happy to let me fall on my back.

I was very intrigued/impressed by the YouTube promo video for Vivaldi. I’ll download it tomorrow. Thanks

Yeah, they made you feel as though you were part of the Apple Family. The customer service experience was much more personal and they made you feel that they valued your loyalty as a long time customer. Now they chuckle about the bad luck of having 5 machines with issues and having to mash the keyboard to get a key to work. They are a changed company.

I started using Vivaldi on my Macs since I don't really care much for Safari and later installed it on my Surface Pro as well.

 

[Queen6]

Yeah, they made you feel as though you were part of the Apple Family. The customer service experience was much more personal and they made you feel that they valued your loyalty as a long time customer. Now they chuckle about the bad luck of having 5 machines with issues and having to mash the keyboard to get a key to work. They are a changed company.

I started using Vivaldi on my Macs since I don't really care much for Safari and later installed it on my Surface Pro as well.

TBH by the 3rd I'd would have been pursuing a refund, not just Apple. Just smacks of poor design and or poor QA/QC, odds of getting 5 in a row with defect would be astronomical if the produce was solid I the first palace, worse still your not in isolation...

Q-6

 

[SDColorado]

TBH by the 3rd I'd would have been pursuing a refund, not just Apple. Just smacks of poor design and or poor QA/QC, odds of getting 5 in a row with defect would be astronomical if the produce was solid I the first palace, worse still your not in isolation...

Q-6

Well, the previous 4 all had issues within the return period so I had my money back. The mistake was giving it back to Apple and trying my luck again with the extended holiday return period. This one is the longest I had one last without and issue and was kind enough to wait about 2 months. Now, of course, I am beyond the return period for this one. I should have quit while I was ahead.

 

[windowstomac]

What bowser does everyone use on their Surface?

Chrome...and putting up with the resource and power usage...I hang my head in shame for being so set in my ways

While we're sharing recommendations, I'm very impressed with MailSpring as a mail client, and I tried about five...

 

[kazmac]

Yeah, they made you feel as though you were part of the Apple Family. The customer service experience was much more personal and they made you feel that they valued your loyalty as a long time customer. Now they chuckle about the bad luck of having 5 machines with issues and having to mash the keyboard to get a key to work. They are a changed company.

I started using Vivaldi on my Macs since I don't really care much for Safari and later installed it on my Surface Pro as well.

Apple: an understatement, sadly.

Vivaldi: I will add to my iMac as well. Not a fan of Safari either (was still using it only because my Logitech keyboard Caps lock key was visible in Safari (no Caps lock light) and no other browser.

Considering how infrequently I use my iMac now might as well have a decent surfing experience.
[doublepost=1549368718][/doublepost]

Chrome...and putting up with the resource and power usage...I hang my head in shame for being so set in my ways

While we're sharing recommendations, I'm very impressed with MailSpring as a mail client, and I tried about five...

Thanks for Mailspring.

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

Glad to hear the SL2 is juggling your workload flawlessly. Sorry to hear about your MBP. I hope they fix it.

Windows is a-okay on my SL2 as well.

What browser does everyone use on their Surface? I am acclimating to Edge, but may install Firefox.

I use Edge 80% of the time (because it uses little resources and is responsive). If I need a plugin Edge does not support I start Chrome. But reading these posts I might take a look at Vivaldi as well

 

[Queen6]

Edge & TOR here, might have a look a Vivaldi. One is light weight and handles pdf schematics nicely, the other ensures anonymity, connectivity & privacy regardless of network and geographic location.

Q-6

 

[kazmac]

I downloaded Vivaldi. Wow, the settings alone are pretty deep. The pages reload quickly and it's an interesting experience (scrolling is somewhat choppy using touch (my touchpad is turned off on my SL2).

i like it and will alternate between Vivaldi and Edge.

I am really enjoying the SL2, and thus far, Windows is very smooth. So far, the SL2 is the best piece of tech I've bought in some time.

 

[OdT22]

<snip>

I am really enjoying the SL2, and thus far, Windows is very smooth. So far, the SL2 is the best piece of tech I've bought in some time.

Great to hear that! My own copy continues to impress me daily. Best purchase I've made in many years.

 

[_Kiki_]

Part of Microsoft Complete agreement

What is not insured?

•  Products that are intended for Commercial use;
  
  
•  Pre-existing conditions;
  
  
•  Wear and tear or gradual deterioration of product
  
  performance;
  
  
•  Cosmetic damage including marring, scratching and
  
  denting, unless such cosmetic damage results in
  
  loss of functionality;
  
  
•  Any claim for the restoration of software or data,
  
  or for retrieving data from your product;
  
  
•  Any service of the product that is covered by a
  
  warranty, other service policy or insurance; and

 Accessories and peripherals that are not provided

by Microsoft or were not included in the original sale of the product.

For claims for a Surface a deductible of £49.00 per claim is applied.


Where am I covered?

 The country in which you purchased Microsoft Complete.



So, that means if I purchase device for a company use, the Microsoft Complete it's a total waste of money,
other thing if I move to other country I will lost coverage MS Complete, so it's not an international coverage, I'm only asking because I don't have MS Complete on my device

My SL is currently in warranty repair (problem with burn in on the screen), I hope the replacement will be fine, there is no hardware service in UK, so device was sent to the Germany according to official instructions from MS to company called iQor
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQor
https://www.iqor.com/press/contact-center-expands-iqors-technical-customer-service-operations-in-bydgoszcz-poland
looks like the main European HQ is located in Poland

 

[Queen6]

Part of Microsoft Complete agreement

What is not insured?

•  Products that are intended for Commercial use;
  
  
•  Pre-existing conditions;
  
  
•  Wear and tear or gradual deterioration of product
  
  performance;
  
  
•  Cosmetic damage including marring, scratching and
  
  denting, unless such cosmetic damage results in
  
  loss of functionality;
  
  
•  Any claim for the restoration of software or data,
  
  or for retrieving data from your product;
  
  
•  Any service of the product that is covered by a
  
  warranty, other service policy or insurance; and

 Accessories and peripherals that are not provided

by Microsoft or were not included in the original sale of the product.

For claims for a Surface a deductible of £49.00 per claim is applied.


Where am I covered?

 The country in which you purchased Microsoft Complete.



So, that means if I purchase device for a company use, the Microsoft Complete it's a total waste of money,
other thing if I move to other country I will lost coverage MS Complete, so it's not an international coverage, I'm only asking because I don't have MS Complete on my device

My SL is currently in warranty repair (problem with burn in on the screen), I hope the replacement will be fine, there is no hardware service in UK, so device was sent to the Germany according to official instructions from MS to company called iQor
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQor

Microsoft has a different plan for commercial use and it's more comprehensive than the home users. Some members have have disused and have the same cover.

Q-6

 

[SDColorado]

So, that means if I purchase device for a company use, the Microsoft Complete it's a total waste of money

If you purchase a device for company use, you are best off with Microsoft Complete for Business, which is a commercial service contract, rather than the Complete for Personal use. But I am not sure if it is still restricted only to the country in which you purchased the coverage.

 

[_Kiki_]

Microsoft has a different plan for commercial use and it's more comprehensive than the home users. Some members have have disused and have the same cover.

Q-6

If you purchase a device for company use, you are best off with Microsoft Complete for Business, which is a commercial service contract, rather than the Complete for Personal use. But I am not sure if it is still restricted only to the country in which you purchased the coverage.

that's correct,
I found some packs

Microsoft Complete for business extended service agreement - 2 years - Pricing Type: Commercial
£195.41 inc VAT ~ $253.29
£162.84 ex VAT ~ $211.07
https://www.ballicom.co.uk/microsoft-w47-00004-.p1242010.html

Microsoft Extended Hardware Service Plan extended service agreement 3 years - carry-in - Pricing Type: Commercial
£85.16 inc VAT ~ $110.38
£70.97 ex VAT ~ $91.99
https://www.ballicom.co.uk/a9w-00035-microsoft-extended-hardware-service-plan.p1208544.html

Microsoft Extended Hardware Service Plan extended service agreement 3 years (this is probably for private users)
£85.16 inc VAT ~ $110.38
£70.97 ex VAT ~ $91.99
https://www.ballicom.co.uk/microsoft-a9w-00074-.p1377987.html

So looks like if I purchase Microsoft Extended Hardware Service Plan service agreement 3 years
I can extend my warranty up to 3 years from original date of purchase/activation

 

[SDColorado]

that's correct,
I found some packs

Microsoft Complete for business extended service agreement - 2 years - Pricing Type: Commercial
£195.41 inc VAT ~ $253.29
£162.84 ex VAT ~ $211.07
https://www.ballicom.co.uk/microsoft-w47-00004-.p1242010.html

Microsoft Extended Hardware Service Plan extended service agreement 3 years - carry-in - Pricing Type: Commercial
£85.16 inc VAT ~ $110.38
£70.97 ex VAT ~ $91.99
https://www.ballicom.co.uk/a9w-00035-microsoft-extended-hardware-service-plan.p1208544.html

Microsoft Extended Hardware Service Plan extended service agreement 3 years (this is probably for private users)
£85.16 inc VAT ~ $110.38
£70.97 ex VAT ~ $91.99
https://www.ballicom.co.uk/microsoft-a9w-00074-.p1377987.html

So looks like if I purchase Microsoft Extended Hardware Service Plan service agreement 3 years
I can extend my warranty up to 3 years from original date of purchase/activation

With the Complete for Business, you should be able to extend up to 4 years, unless it is different in the UK? I have 4 years + Accidental Damage on my Surface Pro, still cost less than AC+ and without the exorbitant "co-pays."