[Electronics-Talk] Seeking Advice from Someone who Owns or Uses a Microsoft Windows Surface Tablet.

[Aaron Spears]

Hi.


My first thought is to make sure you know that one of the surface units 
doesn't have a headphone jack. I believe it is the surface go, the model 
that has an ARM SoC in it instead of an Intel or AMD x64 processor.


Second, I'm mostly tempted to just recommend the surface laptop. I don't 
really have any good use cases for a tablet as a blind person, so I 
think a small and lightweight laptop would do the trick just fine. It's 
always the decision of the person with the money though. If you do get a 
tablet, my recommendation is the Surface Book which attaches to a 
keyboard dock that it comes with. Surface pro does offer a keyboard 
case, but it has sloppy leather hinges, at least it did last time I 
checked. It uses magnets to hold the base of the tablet next to the 
keyboard but it has like a kickstand on its rear that basically means it 
doesn't have a normal hinge that lets you move it around in laptop mode 
without having to worry about it staying solidly in the form you have 
it. The surface book and Surface laptop both have normal frictioned 
hinges and you can walk around with them and not have them fall apart on 
you. Just the Surface Book you can pull the screen off and have it as a 
tablet if you desire. It attaches with magnets, but once attached it 
works just like a regular laptop allowing you to open the screen extra 
wide and not have it fall off, or have it most of the way closed on the 
keyboard assuming the hinge has enough resistance not to go all the way 
closed and it'll stay connected and behave like a laptop would in that 
same situation. the surface laptop I don't recall if it is a 2 in 1 with 
a folding screen or just a simple laptop. Either way, they're 
lightweight and attractive.


Microsoft Surface line are generally expensive though especially if you 
want to spec them out a bit. they wind up costing more than high end and 
very famous Lenovo business ultrabooks like the X1 Carbon Gen10.


I would politely steer you away from Dell, HP, Acer and Gateway for the 
time beeing as they all have various sound card and keyboard issues.


Speaking of keyboards, the Surface Book has an fn key toggle that 
changes behavior of the function row. I believe you double press the fn 
key to change what the function keys do. I also believe the Surface 
Laptop does the same thing.


Mostly I'd recommend against Surface Pro, you get stuck treating it like 
a tablet. Surface Book is better if you must have a tablet, as it'll act 
the way a laptop would as far as the Hinge goes which as a blind person 
will be the vast majority of the time in all likelyhood. Also you can be 
weird and put the tablet onto the keyboard dock backwards so that the 
screen faces away if there's some reason to do such a strange thing. At 
least the one surface book I have any experience with, which is not the 
latest model, permitted that.












Cheers:
Aaron Spears, AKA Valiant8086 General Partner at Valiant Galaxy Associates "we make (VERY GOOD AUDIOGAMES) for the blind comunity" http://valiantGalaxy.com

On 6/5/2022 8:21 PM, Humberto Avila via Electronics-Talk wrote:
> Howdy Everybody.
>
> I hope you had an amazing weekend thus far. In my neck of the woods, it is currently raining very frequently which is very rare for this time of year for this region here in Washington State. :)
>
> Anyways, I would love to pick the brain of a blind person or people that is, or has been; currently using a Microsoft Surface Tablet. A friend who also is my local AT specialist for my local blindness VR agency recommended I try out a Windows surface tablet, for the kind of workflow and routines / lifestyle I currently have.
>
> I have never seen a Windows surface tablet, and yes, I'm a big tech guru, and an AT trainer myself, and that's something I eventually would like to have in my bucket list. But I've never come across an opportunity to use, explore or learn one.
>
> In researching all the specs and aspects of Surfaces on the Microsoft Web site but I was actually a bit overwhelmed with sooooo many choices they have, and customizations. I hear they have convertable tablets that work as both laptops and iPad-style device, I feel like I need to go hands-on and touch the many options physically though.
> If anyone has any experiences with these amazing gadgets I would really appreciate hearing what kind of model(s) and type(s) that you use. I'm mainly looking to use it for work related tasks, Zoom meetings, all aspects of work communications, and for using while travelling on Uber, paratransit, or buses, with my Braille display connected through Bluetooth.
>
> Thanks for such advice kindly in advanced, and looking forward to learning more.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Humberto
>
>
> “Be kind; for everyone you meet is fighting a really hard battle.” — πλατο
>
>
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