08-16-2019, 03:00 AM
Because I favor Windows, after much anxiety and research, I pulled the plug on on a 13.5 Surface Book 2 last November & couldn't be happier.
My biggest concern was how would the PDF sheets I created in my music notation software look on the screen versus the 8.5" X 11" sized sheets in my binders because, I didn't want anything smaller.
After much experimentation before buying the tablet and accounting for the scaling done by the PDF creation in the music notion software, what I discovered is if I create PDF leadsheets with a smaller left & right margin, with the 13.5" screen size & 3:2 aspect ratio of the Surface Book 2; when MS is set to full screen I am looking at the same size sheet as I did in my binders.
The other anxiety I had was with battery life on just the tablet portion which is all I intended on using when performing. The revelation was, cut the display brightness to about 65% (perfectly adequate for viewing) and I can get 4 - 5 hours on a fully charged tablet, maybe more but I haven't needed any more.
Of course if I used it with the keyboard attached it would be about double that or I could plug the tablet in while using it.
I'll add that I've had absolutely NO issues with the Windows 10 version of MobileSheets or the Companion which I have installed on a Windows 7 desktop.
Is the Surface Book 2 pricey, absolutely and especially so when you buy it specifically for sheet music but I am glad I went this route versus anything else.
My biggest concern was how would the PDF sheets I created in my music notation software look on the screen versus the 8.5" X 11" sized sheets in my binders because, I didn't want anything smaller.
After much experimentation before buying the tablet and accounting for the scaling done by the PDF creation in the music notion software, what I discovered is if I create PDF leadsheets with a smaller left & right margin, with the 13.5" screen size & 3:2 aspect ratio of the Surface Book 2; when MS is set to full screen I am looking at the same size sheet as I did in my binders.
The other anxiety I had was with battery life on just the tablet portion which is all I intended on using when performing. The revelation was, cut the display brightness to about 65% (perfectly adequate for viewing) and I can get 4 - 5 hours on a fully charged tablet, maybe more but I haven't needed any more.
Of course if I used it with the keyboard attached it would be about double that or I could plug the tablet in while using it.
I'll add that I've had absolutely NO issues with the Windows 10 version of MobileSheets or the Companion which I have installed on a Windows 7 desktop.
Is the Surface Book 2 pricey, absolutely and especially so when you buy it specifically for sheet music but I am glad I went this route versus anything else.