Windows Surface Work-arounds and why it is worth it
Let me suggest some workarounds for Surface users and why it is worth it. Logos is pretty adamant that they are not going to improve the Surface 2/RT app. So if you are a heavy Logos user should you avoid the Surface? The Short answer is, no. First I am not an Apple hater. I have an iPad 1 and an Ipad 3, an iPhone, a Droid Maxx HD (blazing G4 hotspot) and the latest i7 MacBook Pro.
Now let me suggest workarounds and then why they are worth the effort.
If you are using your Surface on the same network with your desktop or laptop, install Splashtop on your RT and run Logos from your main computer remotely on your Surface. The app is really slick, and it is free. If you are wanting to run Logos remotely from a computer on a different network try Logmein. Logmein will require an easy regedit available at: http://community.logmein.com/t5/Ignition/Ignition-for-Windows-RT/td-p/87044
WHY IT'S WORTH THE EFFORT.
Apple and Android tablets are great for reading books and highlighting and annotating books in your Logos Library. But If you are writing a sermon in Word (especially if you are using your own sermon template) and building a PowerPoint file to go with it on IOS or Android -- forget it. With the Surface I can start a Sermon in Word using the same complex custom template I use on my desktop. I am a touch typist using the keyboard cover. I can then start PowerPoint. Next I split the screen to run both apps at the same time. Try that on an IPad. I then start Splashtop (Logmein Pro if if I am off network) and start Logos from my home computer. I am able to work with word and Powerpoint on a split screen in the Surface desktop mode and with the flip of a finger jump over to Logos and back to the desktop.
If you have ever trid to develop a beautiful PPTX file and then use an iPad to project it in a class or lecture setting, you know it is a disaster -- regardless of the program you use. But plug a mini HDMI adapter into your Surface 2 and connect to your projector and fire up PowerPoint and you will be amazed!!! I have projected PPTX files from a new i7 MacBook Pro, and iPad 3 and a Windows Laptop and non of them compare to the power and ease you have when projecting from the Surface 2. The way it instantly recognizes the optimal settings for the projector is smooth. And when you put PPT in projection mode the way it displays the presentation on the screen of the Surface is by far the best -- with screen and preview slides and tools to manipulate the display such as pointers etc. It is just amazing. Nothing comes close.
Two days after I purchased the Surface I was ready to take it back. But I am so glad I didn't. Check Youtube for tips on how the use the Surface. You will be amazed at what it can do.
The Logos Surface app is just a reader. If will not highlight, annotate or display the notes or highlights that you inserted in your Logos books on a different platform. So if you are just reading a book it is OK. But if you are planing to study a book, forget it.
PS the best Bible program for the Surface is PocketBible. It is very mature and easy to use. Plus if you purchased books for the Pocket Bible program for the old Windows CE PDA, Ipad, Iphone, Blackberry, or Android, they will import to your Surface.
Comments
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Good discussion, David. Orphan Annie needs all the help she can get.
You mention Laridian which I've had since who knows when. It's still my goto when our Pastor is moving along pretty quickly.
But they do one thing I wish Logos did .... you can copy over your personal books to your iPad using iTunes.
That functionality really makes life simple. I keep my analytics in color-coded tables by verse (similarity to other authors, which words don't fit, and what alternative words would fit, etc). So when our Pastor is targeting a specific phrase I can quickly check its stability.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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Agree that Laridian's Pocket Bible app is the best for Windows RT. In fact, it's the ONLY worthwhile Bible Study app that I've found for Windows RT. (And for the record, I've been using Pocket Bible for years - back to the old Pocket PC/Windows Mobile days). I'm pretty much a solid Mac guy (owning 5 Mac and iOS devices) but I got the Surface RT (original)) for a great price during Microsoft's "fire sale" and figured, "why not". Well I'm disappointed that Logos doesn't have a program that's even worth using on RT, but I also understand why. Shame that, but so be it.
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