The Surface Go 10" and Access Office 365

[Mike375]

The little thing is amazing.

However, couple of things to be done.

By default Office 365 now downloads 64 Bit. At first my Access stuff would not run. On one of my Toshiba Porteges (3 years old) I uninstalled Office 365 and downloaded Office 365 again and everything ran perfectly.

HOWEVER, it downloaded 32 Bit to the Portege. Maybe being 3 years old or what had been on it before.

Back to the Surface Go. Uninstalled Office 365 and downloaded again but specified 32 Bit. All my Access stuff then ran perfectly.

All my Access files are .mdb and Access option is set to make Access 2000.

The little Surface go is amazing. You wonder at how much can come out of something so small. The kick out stand that can be set at any angle is just great. I bought different adaptors for the USB-C port. The charger has a separate port.

I have ordered a Hub that has USB-C outlet USB, HDMI and VGA. At the moment I have single USB-C to USB adaptor and USB-C to VGA adaptor.

How good is the Surface Go. I have just ordered a second one. Can't say much more than that. I just love the little thing.

PS. A bit slower than Toshiba Porteges with M5 Intel processor but one of those things where you need them side by side. Does not feel slow using it.

If your are thinking about getting an iPad Air 3 or iPad Pro 11", forget them. If you have one of those iPads, then throw them out and get Surface Go, do yourself a favour

 

[isladogs]

Just wondering how much MS paid you for this glowing advert!

In the interests of balance, I'll just say that I've purchased a Linx1010B Windows tablet about 4 years ago.
I installed Office 2010 because I prefer it but Office 365 runs fine as well.
It was a fraction of the price of a Surface Pro and has a detachable keyboard (which I rarely use) and its still going strong.
They also do a 12" version.
My only regret is that with hindsight I should have purchased a version with more RAM

 

[Gasman]

I bought a 10" Acer netbook a few years ago, to use on holiday.
I used it for one year and went back to my 17" laptop, mainly due to my eyesight.

I use the netbook now mainly for diagnosing on the car.?
Perhaps for the odd weekene away if that ever happens.

My old bosses have surface pros (bigger than 10") and two large screens, one on either side to work on when in the office.

 

[Mike375]

Just wondering how much MS paid you for this glowing advert!

Don't be a dill.

 

[Mike375]

I bought a 10" Acer netbook a few years ago, to use on holiday.
I used it for one year and went back to my 17" laptop, mainly due to my eyesight.

I use the netbook now mainly for diagnosing on the car.?
Perhaps for the odd weekene away if that ever happens.

My old bosses have surface pros (bigger than 10") and two large screens, one on either side to work on when in the office.

I use external monitor.

Personally and I stress "personally" I find the 10" perfect because with the external monitor it makes no difference but a big difference once separated from monitor.

I have monitors set so only the monitor displays and they are 1366 X 768 and 18.5"

 

[isladogs]

Don't be a dill.

Is that an Oz term like we use dipstick here?

The point was valid - if you were a new member it would probably have been deleted as spam and led to a ban.

 

[Mike375]

Is that an Oz term like we use dipstick here?

The point was valid - if you were a new member it would probably have been deleted as spam and led to a ban.

Are you serious?

My report is very glowing and that was driven by a couple of other people who have watched the thing. However, I don't think you fully read my report as I highlighted some potential problem areas.

Also, I have been a member here for quite a bit longer than the date would indicate and due to account issues. From memory I think from around 2004.

Surely it would be better to discuss the pros and cons of the machine rather than the bullshit you are sprouting. We have The Watercooler and Political forums, maybe you got lost.

 

[isladogs]

Are you serious?

My report is very glowing and that was driven by a couple of other people who have watched the thing. However, I don't think you fully read my report as I highlighted some potential problem areas.

Also, I have been a member here for quite a bit longer than the date would indicate and due to account issues. From memory I think from around 2004.

Surely it would be better to discuss the pros and cons of the machine rather than the bullshit you are sprouting. We have The Watercooler and Political forums, maybe you got lost.

Yes I'm serious. Mods delete multiple instances of spam each day and ban the perpetrators as appropriate.
As you aren't a new member I merely provided a bit of balance.
No need for you to get abusive.

FWIW, I also think the Surface Pro is a very good machine but it is very expensive and for many purposes, cheaper alternatives are sufficient

 

[Mike375]

If you think my post was spam then so be it.

 

[Mike375]

One limitation I found relates to a large USB Hub I have which has 13 USB outlets. Each port can be turned off or on individually.

Presently 7 ports are use. The first port for a wireless mouse receiver, second for a printer, third for a scanner, fourth and fifth for external hard drives, sixth for external CD ROM drive and seventh for receiver for wireless keyboard. The USB Hub has an AC Adaptor but I have never needed it.

Plugging it into the Surface Go it ran everything except for the seventh port which is the receiver for the wireless keyboard.

The Surface Go has a single USB-C port and I have an adaptor for USB-C to USB.

However, its USB-C port is not used for charging as it has a separate port for charging. As a side note some USB-C hubs have a USB-C outlet on the Hub but it won't backwards, that is, you can't use the USB-C port outlet in the Hub as a part for charging.

 

[AccessBlaster]

You really think Microsoft is buying influence with Mike375? Everybody and their brother is hocking their apps, webpages and YouTube including yourself and this is what you focus on? Lol.

BTW if I use the $ sign in the word Micro$oft does that mean I'm being influenced by Oracle? Just asking.

 

[Mike375]

A couple of interesting things with speed tests against the Toshiba Porteges which are 3 years old and have the Core M5 processor.

On battery power only the Surface Go is just a touch quicker in both start up and running some lengthy procedures in Access. With charger plugger into both the Portege is a bit faster. Maybe the Porteges have more "battery saving" in their design.

When both use the external monitor and where the computer screen itself is not on, removed from the equation, both the Surface Go and Portege are faster. I has this feeling the last few days as the Surface Go was running about 50/50 on its screen and the monitor only. So today timed it. The differences (and same for the Porteges) as like 15 seconds instead of 20 seconds or 7 seconds instead of 10 seconds and so on.

I assume the increase in speed using the monitor and cutting out the computer screen is because the monitor is a 240 volt deal for its power and so leaves more resources for the computers to do their thing. My knowledge on hardware is very poor so this is a guess.

 

[isladogs]

Mike
If you want to compare the two machines processing some lengthy tasks, you could try one or more of the examples here: Speed Comparison Tests

 

[Mike375]

Mike
If you want to compare the two machines processing some lengthy tasks, you could try one or more of the examples here: Speed Comparison Tests

Some pretty fancy stuff there.

One thing I have noticed and in particular where Access is opening Word, inserting data into Word Bookmarks and saving as a Word doc to a folder is the time taken is never the same.

Also an SSD compared to mechanical disk but where the computer with mechanical disk has a faster processor can give varied results.

When I first got the Tosbiba Porteges a bit over 3 years ago I also got a pair of Toshiba Satellites with the i5 and of course mechanical disk whereas the Porteged are the SSD and the slower Intel M5 processor.

In the above process where Word docs are being created the Porteges were faster. HOWEVER, if you ran the process again then the Satellite was quicker and would happen every time. I assume somethings and pathways remain in memory and disk access speed did not count as much when you ran the process a second time. Both are 4gb RAM.

As a side note. I don't know if others do this but I have found making Access for people the ideal situation is to give them a computer with the Access program on it and nothing else on the computer and I have the identical computer. That way when we are on the phone we are both looking at the identical things and I know there is potential problems cause by other programs. Hence the pair of Toshiba Satellites mentioned above and the replaced a pair of i3 Toshiba Satellites.


.

 

[isladogs]

Though not their primary purpose, the various tests are very useful for benchmarking different machines.

I've never had the luxury of having clients running identical computers to me. The best I can do is have multiple VMs available for testing purposes

 

[Mike375]

Though not their primary purpose, the various tests are very useful for benchmarking different machines.

I've never had the luxury of having clients running identical computers to me. The best I can do is have multiple VMs available for testing purposes

I started using a pair of identical computers many years ago. Nearly everything I make and have made is very heavily based of producing Word docs and also with coloured letterheads and to a lesser extent Excel. If there is trouble with the application the odds are 99% the problem will be in the Access/Word operation.

I won't make anything unless they have Office 365. If they don't have it and want to make something then only if they get Office 365.

No doubt those tests are good for benchmarks. However, how something is used can make a big difference. I had a first generation iPad Pro 12.9 and an iPad Mini 4. A mate of mine also has a Mini 4 and the iPad Pro 9.7. For both of us the only difference we could see was the screen size. However, they were used for Netflix etc. looking up Google and email. I am sure if you did other things then the iPad Pros would be well in front.

 

[isladogs]

Of course different machines will be better in certain areas and worse in others. A wide variety of tests would be needed to make any meaningful comparison.

As for distributing apps, I have clients running everything from A2010 through to A2019/365 with both 32-bit and 64-bit in each version. Thankfully I no longer have anyone running A2003 which does simplify development and testing.

 

[Mike375]

I have Access 2003 on one of my Porteges which also has Office 365. It is for my own use as there are things I prefer with 2003.

They are no trouble together. You just right click on the file and on of the menu items is Open With and you have the two different Access logos.

My favourite Access might be 2003 or 2000, can't remember but when conditional formatting was introduced.

I still much prefer the appearance and use of Access 95 through to 2003. Although a lot of Access 95 coding will fall apart if the data base is run in Access 97 or later.

I think it might have been Bob Larsen when he was around who said for someone first starting Access that 2007 or later was easier to learn than 2003 and earlier.

 

[pbaldy]

Interesting that you find the performance good. My wife is thinking about a new laptop and I discounted the Go because of the Pentium processor, which struck me as antiquated. Maybe I need to take another look at it. That said, the screen is probably smaller than she'd like.

 

[pbaldy]

My favourite Access might be 2003 or 2000, can't remember but when conditional formatting was introduced.

I believe CF was introduced with 2000.