Windows Journal

Windows Journal is a legacy application released in 2002 when the first version of XP for Tablet PC was released. Since them it has been present in all the newest Windows releases. So why I'm mentioning now? Well, because no everybody knows that it supports ink (handwriting).

A simple and easy to use little application forgotten on time.

FYY Ultra Slim Smart Cover Stand Case

If you are looking for a good case to protect your Surface Pro 3 and are not a heavy touch keyboard user then this is the perfect case. You can still using the keyboard without removing it from the case and even carry the device around with the keyboard covering the display and the case front cover in the back of the tablet but you wont be able to close the case with the touch keyboard connected. I'm a heavy Tablet user that writes all my documents, emails, etc, using the pen so for me this case is the perfect match to my habits. The product quality is good. The package mentioned a loop for the pen but I could not find any, that's the main reason why I'm not giving the 5 stars.

 

This is the 3rd case I have tested and so for my preferred and the price that I paid including shipping was less than $10! They are on sale for $2.99 (regular price $39.99)

 

Exact Microsoft Pro 3 case short review

I recently bought the Exact Case for the Surface Pro 3 at an extremely low price:  less than 3 dollars!.

The case qualify is not bad but is not top of the line either. I like the fact that it includes an elastic band as a handler in the back that will allows you to hold the Tablet second with one hand.

There an two minor problems with this case, the first one is the top of the case cover the vents and as result the SP3 can get hotter than normal. So I modified it cutting a hole in the case like it's shown in this picture.

That increased the air flow up to a decent level.

The second issue was the case leaving very little space in the right side to execute the gesture to call the right side charm.  So I had to cut the case in that area leaving more room to do the gesture without accidentally touching the Windows button. The below picture shows how this change  looks like.

Summarizing: with these modifications you can have a decent case for less than 10 dollars  including shipping.

Windows RT: The sky is the limit

I have seen a lot of debate about what can be done and what can not be done in a Surface running Windows RT.   Today I found this article that shows the endless possibilities of these machines: a Security System all built around a Surface RT.

Netgear AC1900 R7000 a good router for the SP3

This is something that I thought I was going to get on Christmas but that I ended buying it on Ebay for $125

Netgear AC1900 R7000 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00F0DD0I6?tag=pccounselor-20&linkCode=sb1&camp=212353&creative=380553)

Pros

a) Works with the SP3, without any issues

b) My home Wifi speed easily is twice what I had before using the dual band Asus asus rt-n56u

c) Better range

Cons

a) The VPN configuration requires to disable IPv6

b) The whole configuration only covers the most simple features or parameters.

Conclusion

A router with a very good performance that uses the latest WiFi technology.

WD TV live now with Miracast support

WD added Miracast support to its WD TV Live media player. This means that you can project your Surface PRO 3 screen to any TV connected to one of this players. I have two of these players and I was able to connect my Surface PRO 3 to them without any problems.

Microsoft new TV commercials

Microsoft has released 3 new TV adds:


As you can see they are very aggressive:

Like this other one:

CCleaner, a must have

I have been using CCleaner since it was first released more than 10 years ago and still today I consider it a must have application.

One of the options on it that I use a lot is the Registry cleaner.   Every time that I uninstall any software I run this option and every time I end finding a lot of junk left there by the removal process.

About the 1.7 billion dollars lost

 

The online press is always ready to talk negatively about Microsoft. For example, now all they are mentioning is about the 1.7 billion dollars in lost that the Surface line is causing to Microsoft. They are calling it the “Surface Damage”. The problem that I have with this is that they are taking the number and converting it into something that it’s far from the reality. And here in why:

·       Every new business or new product starts with negative numbers. Putting it simple, you need to invest to make money. It’s not right to compare the Surface with the iPads because the iPad is up to certain point a sub product that delivered from the iPhone and the iPhone was at the same time a sub product of the iPod. So the investment in R&D were very low. In another hand we have Apple, a hardware company, against Microsoft, a Company that for the first time started to make their own PC.

·       The first year of the Surface was full of Research and changes. And part of that Research was about finding the market demand and the price sweet spot and for that MS paid $900 million. Then in the second year we have the cancellation of the Surface Mini when it was almost at the release to the market point. This last change triggered by another change, a new CEO.

·       The above chart shows clearly a tendency to a positive gross margin. The cost of revenue is becoming lower and the revenue almost doubles the one from the previous year. All this is good. It’s not the time of abandoning the project like some pages have mentioned, on the contrary, the numbers show that Microsoft is doing well and that soon they will get profit from this line. All they need to do is keep going in the right direction avoiding costly mistakes.

·       According to some analysts, the Surface PRO 3 is selling better than the two previous versions.

Microsoft entering the PC market has been like a blood transfusion to a very sick patient, the PC Market. And Microsoft depends on this market to sell its Operating System and the Office Suite. So for Microsoft the Surface Line is more than how much money they make directly from this product but part of an ecosystem that feels the benefit of having its own hardware line. This is the point that is missing on those pages “preoccupied” for Microsoft future.

 

 

There is not a better companion

Recently my bad feeding habits followed during my entered life put me in the hospital and I took with me my Surface Pro 3.

 

So this post is about my experiences with this machine during my recovery period.

Most of the USA Hospital have free Wifi service for patients and visitors. The Surface Pro 3 connected to this service without any problem and with a decent performance, enough to use Netflix at SD resolution, check my emails, read the news, etc.

Thanks to the new location of the speakers and the super high quality screen watching HD movies was a nice experience. The sound quality is a lot better than the achieved in my old Surface 2.

The very low weight of the PRO 3 helped me a lot. But the feature that to me was the most important was the stand.  The fact that I could open it at almost any imaginable angle increased the usability of this machine to a level hard to imagine unless you are in this same low mobility condition like the one I was.

I have been using Tablet PCs, UMPCs, laptops and every type of tablet currently in the market, including iPads, for a long time and I can say without any doubt that none of them would have been able to do a better job than the Surface Pro 3.