Comic strip artist Mike Krahulik, better known as Penny Arcade’s Gabe, was an early adopter of Microsoft’s Surface Pro — writing favorably about the original version of the tablet last year from the perspective of an artist who uses a digital pen in combination with Photoshop and sketching programs.
Krahulik is already using the new Surface Pro 3, on loan from Microsoft, and he writes in a new post that he likes many of the new features of the tablet, including the larger, 12-inch screen and an updated kickstand that allows him to position the device on a desk in a more natural drawing position.
However, he’s struggling with other aspects of the experience, most notably the company’s decision to move the physical Windows home button to the right-hand side of the Surface in landscape mode. This was designed to get the Windows button out of the way of the new Type Cover keyboard when it attaches to the screen for greater stability in the lap.
But as a right-hander, Krahulik’s hand rests naturally on the new location of the Windows button when he’s drawing, which means he found himself being repeatedly and inadvertently getting kicked out off his program to the Windows Start screen.
A change in a setting stopped the program from exiting to the Start screen, but Krahulik still feels the haptic buzz under his hand if he brushes the button when he’s drawing.
Separately, he’s also having problems with the performance of his tablet, which has a Core i5 processor. (The highest-end version has a Core i7.)
Microsoft is working with Krahulik and promising to address the situation, using him as a test case for artists on the Surface Pro 3. But in the meantime, he’s stopping short of giving the product his endorsement.
“So my honest opinion right now is that I’m frustrated with the device,” he writes. “It’s so close to being perfect that the problems it has feel especially maddening. If it just performed a little better! If they just hadn’t put that button right there! Grrrr.”
Read his full review of the Surface Pro 3 on Penny Arcade.
