Since it’s packing an i5 processor, it should be no surprise that the Surface Pro gets warm. That’s the disadvantage of having a powerful processor in a tablet form factor.
But you know what? With the cold snap felt here in the mid-west this year, I found it could actually be a huge advantage – as a personal heater.
You think I’m kidding but I’m not…… I figure computers are supposed to make our lives better, right?
So why not take full advantage of its warmth?
Surface Pro gets Warm: A Personal Heater? Really?
Unlike other laptops the Surface Pro/Pro2 doesn’t have a lid. If you have a coat with a large inside pocket (like me) that can accommodate it, you can leave it fully powered on and generating heat while you’re out in the cold.
(I wear my fleece with the Surface as my middle layer and put a heavier coat over top.)
The Surface Pro will work as a heater for a little more more than 3 hours straight and you can get closer to 5.5 out of a Surface Pro 2. In practice, though, it doesn’t matter since I wouldn’t recommend trying to heat yourself for more than 10-15 minutes at a time and you can always recharge your battery between trips outside anyway.
Let me tell you, it really helps to keep me warm. So, to help you take advantage of this outside-the-box usage for your Surface Pro/Pro2 I came up with these tips:
- Change your power settings to run full power without going to sleep
- Run a somewhat intensive program. I was using Halo: Spartan Assault but if you didn’t want to spend any money on it, try Dungeon Hunter 4 for free instead.
- Turn down the sound. People tended to give me weird looks the one time I forgot and explosion/gunfire sounds were coming from my coat.
- Spin up the app you’re going to heat with about 5 minutes before going outside if you can.
- Don’t do this for extremely long periods of time.
At this point, I know some of you think this is silly and some of you are thinking “Hmmm…. it’s pretty nippy out there. I’ll have to give it a try.”
I know for a fact that I found it to be really helpful in keeping me comfortable in below zero temperatures, while I was walking outside between meetings last week.
If nothing else, I hope you got a chuckle from this idea.
Tim
