I had hoped by the time of writing this update to have been able to report my successful migration to the Surface Pro as my main work device. Alas, I cannot. Some anticipated and some unanticipated snags have stalled my adoption programme for now.
Firstly, the DVI-I to DVI-D and VGA splitter eventually arrived and was tested.
As an aside, this was ordered from the .ie version of a UK web site. Now admittedly, shipping was free and it was a sub-€20 item, but nevertheless, there was a claimed 3-5 day delivery time. When the 5 days came and went I enquired and was pointed to an information page that stated 3-5 days was an average and it could, with the free service, take up to 15 working days! This from the UK-the inner island!
So, it was with some irritation that I waited and lo, as I began to write this very morning, the item arrived-a full 12 working days later. I have had items sent with free shipping from Hong Kong that arrived quicker.
Anyway, I immediately connected up the devices and set about trying to configure. So, from the miniDisplayPort, I had a mDP to DVI adapter, into which I connected the DVI-I to DVI-D and VGA splitter. I then connected up a large 610mm (24") DVI monitor and a smaller 482mm (19") VGA monitor, both LCD/LED.
On the Surface Pro, I selected devices from the Charms menu and it recognised a second screen, but alas, not a third. Even going into the various settings in the control panel, I could not get a signal to the VGA monitor at all. I also tried to connect the VGA monitor directly to the larger monitor via the VGA cable, daisy chain style, but alas, it still could not get a signal. I have not given up entirely on this, but it would seem that I may have to give up on a dual monitor output from the miniDisplayPort 1.1a socket.
However, this was not the only snag. As I assembled and installed all of the applications I required on the Surface Pro, I wanted to configure Outlook as my main mail, calendar and contacts client. As we use Google Apps Mail, this requires the Google Apps Sync tool to be installed. No problem I thought, as I went to the download page and found that it was indeed Windows 8 64-bit compatible. However, on downloading and installing, the MSI throws up an error saying that install could not be completed.
Even with a service whereby the install log can be parsed for errors, nothing enlightening was discovered. Without this tool, it is difficult to get the proper level of capability with Outlook and so, I am stalled.
This is a bit disappointing as I had hoped to have the machine fully configured as my main machine by now as I am on the road next week.
Having established that the Surface Pro has more than enough horsepower and now storage to be my main machine, I am a little dismayed to be held back by something as simple as an incompatible synchronisation tool from Google for the latest version of the de facto standard desktop operating system.
The lack of multiple displays from the single miniDisplayPort 1.1a port I can live with, as a 600-odd mm display gives enough acreage to work with, but the lack of full capability of mail, calendar and contacts in Outlook is a breaker for now.
Humph!
Ltd
