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Anyone else using a Surface Pro 2 with Lightroom

tashley

Subscriber Member
I found that I was always taking my iPad as well as a mac pro or MacBook air on trips, and so, given how useless I find Lightroom Mobile's first iteration I took the plunge yesterday and bought a Surface Pro 2 with 256gig/8gig.

Installed Lightroom, which is sometimes quite fast and sometimes quite slow. The interface can be very frustrating (scrolling and touch sensitivity aren't always predictable) but overall it is somewhat useful and will go on my next trip as my only 'device' other than an iPhone. I can't get my A7R to read a micro SD card in an adaptor though, which is a bore.

Anyone else had any experience and have any tips to share?
 
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tashley

Subscriber Member
Update: this Surface pro thing is the worst dog I have owned! Mine is now just over 24 hours in my ownership and having installed LR, Spotify, Sonos and Facebook, it simply crashes, freezes, doesn't wake, needs restarts constantly and is generally a total time hog and productivity thief. Tomorrow it gets returned to the pound and my foray into windows land ends. Such a pity: it has great potential....
 

MrSlezak

New member
I have a Surface Pro 2, same config on storage & RAM - had it for going on six months and its my travel box with Photoshop (not a Lightroom user). Only real issue I had was getting use to the different between it and my Cintiq for stylus use.

I'd buy another one in a heart beat if I needed a second utlrabook class system. Surface Pro 2 seem to be the same specs as any other Core i5-based ultrabook on the hardware end and maybe it is my experience is abnormal, but I've not had any problems I can think of.
 

tashley

Subscriber Member
Thanks for telling me that. As a result I have done a system Refresh, getting rid of all the applications I had installed and then only re-installing Lightroom. Now everything works perfectly, same sort of speed or a touch faster than a current Macbook Air, and is entirely satisfactory.

I do hate that Windows is so prone to system conflicts and that drastic actions are needed to find them, and were i looking for a general purpose system i wouldn't dream of it, but as a pure way of doing Lightroom on the move with the added benefit of tablet like web browsing and email, it is pretty good - as long as I don't install all my other stuff. I have Sonos and Spotify on my phone in any event so no biggie.

Now if I could just work out how to do a right-click with the awful trackpad, and how to get networking to allow file sharing with my Mac Pro, I'd be all set. In any event, I have decided to keep it. So - Thank You!
 

cunim

Well-known member
Tim, I feel the same way when I use a Mac. Hatehatehatehate. However, there is some merit in what you say. My IPAD, much as I detest its user interface, is very ... smooth. It wakes instantly, updates my email almost instantly, rarely freezes and is generally predictable in what it is going to do. I have one because it runs a particular app that is essential to me and it does that app very well. Absent that, I would not own an IPAD. Whazzat - you mean you can't organize photos in subdirectories without a 3rd party app? Arrgh.

In contrast, the SP2 has the general characteristics of a PC. It is powerful, flexible, cost effective, and runs real software I find important. However, the details are lame. Random examples: It can take a full minute or so before my email is updated. The track pad is a joke, apps are crud, the display is not nearly as good as the latest retina, swipes feel clunky, the magnetic pen holder and charging port were designed by a chimpanzee, etc. I have had no problems with freezing so I suspect that is something particular to your setup. USB3 is essential. C1 works fine, as does Outlook, Excel, Word and so forth. Mind, I have not tried to run LR on the SP2.

Peter
 

tashley

Subscriber Member
Peter, isn't the touchpad terrible?! Right clicking doesn't work at all unless you use the two finger tap method. It all feels rather un thought out compared to an apple device. I can forgive the folder structure on an iPad because that's not really what it is for... but a useless trackpad is a nightmare. But I quite like the display for first pass Lightroom work: it has the same resolution I print at so, issues of colour and gamut aside, it is a great way of getting accurate opinions on sharpness and so on.
 

MrSlezak

New member
Now if I could just work out how to do a right-click with the awful trackpad, and how to get networking to allow file sharing with my Mac Pro, I'd be all set. In any event, I have decided to keep it. So - Thank You!
Good to know the system refresh helped. I hope you end up liking yours more as time goes on; next to the Panasonic Let's Note J series I think this is my favorite.
 

tashley

Subscriber Member
I'm slowly 'getting there' with it... have sorted a lot of issues and though an Apple doesn't throw the sort of crap at you, at least I now have it largely done and working as I want. I think it was a app store Facebook app that screwed it all up but there are plenty of other suspects! But I am growing to really like using LR on it - so much so that I am tempted to plug it into a monitor and use it large, because the stylus is a nice way of working, especially with local adjustments. It's a bit heavy to use as a tablet but for short periods while travelling it saves taking a laptop and a tablet, and I can use my iPhone to create a personal hotspot if I need the internet. Pretty cool!
 

MrSlezak

New member
But I am growing to really like using LR on it - so much so that I am tempted to plug it into a monitor and use it large, because the stylus is a nice way of working, especially with local adjustments.
I purchased a mini-displayport cable (Monoprice.com has them pretty cheap) and the Surface Pro 2 can drive my 30" monitor a 1600x2560 with no problem.
 
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