Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival

June 29, 2016 1:56 AM

I have just ordered a Surface Book (low end - i5, 8gb/128gbSSD) and I have a few questions for those that own or use one.

1. I'll be carrying it in a backpack. What sort of cover should I get for it? (links appreciated)
2. Do I need a screen protector?
3. Is it worth keeping my mid-2011 27" iMac and 2012 iPad 3 just for the bigger/smaller nature of both respectively? If I sell both I can offset 1/3 of the Surface cost (I bought outside my budget but can deal with that).
4. Has anyone discovered a cabled way to connect an iMac and a Surface?
5. Any other tips or tricks to ravishing my new lover?
6. If you really truly ruly consider that I have made a mistake in ordering this machine, please speak up now or forever hold your truthiness.

posted by Thella to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

3. Does the iMac allow other devices to use its monitor? If so it's worth keeping for that (my surface pro spends most of its time plugged into its dock, which connects to a monitor).
posted by notyou at 5:17 AM on June 29, 2016

Re: 4...What is your reason for cabling the Surface and iMac together? To use the iMac screen? Or for file access? If the former, I'm not sure you can. If the latter, you should be able to set the iMac to broadcast its own wifi network and fileshare from it.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:37 AM on June 29, 2016

Your iMac can boot into Target Display Mode and be used as an external monitor for your Surface, so long as the Surface provides an external monitor connection you can convert to Mini Display Port somehow or other. My department provided a 27" iMac in grad school, and I used it as a big ol' display. My laptop was a 15" Macbook Pro so all I needed was a mini displayport <> mini displayport cable; I'm unfamiliar with Surface but I bet you can make it work.

I forget the exact key combination to start/switch the iMac in target display mode, but I know it's written up on Apple support.
posted by Alterscape at 7:48 AM on June 29, 2016

Maybe this applies to you? Free Xbox One with Surface Book purchase... I also read they're going to open it up to non students at some point.
posted by Huck500 at 8:38 AM on June 29, 2016