• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

bVisual

  • Home
  • Services
    • How Visio smartness can help your business
    • Visio visual in Power BI
    • Visio Consulting Services
    • Visio Bureau Services
    • Visio Training and Support Services
  • Products
    • Visio Shape Report Converter
    • SS Plus
    • LayerManager
    • visViewer
    • Metro Icons
    • Rules Tools for Visio
    • The Visio 2010 Sessions App
    • Multi-Language Text for Visio
    • Document Imager for Visio
    • multiSelect for Visio
    • pdSelect for Visio
  • Case Studies
    • Case studies overview
    • Using Visio in Education for GIS
    • Visualizing Construction Project Schedules
    • Visio Online Business Process Mapping
    • Nexans Visio Template
    • CNEE Projects, WorldCom
    • Chase Manhattan Bank
  • News
    • Recent news
    • News archive
  • Resources
    • Articles➡
      • ShapeSheet Functions A-Z
      • Comparing Visio for the Web and Desktop
      • Customising Visio Shapes for the Web App
      • Key differences between the Visio desktop and web apps
      • Using the Visio Data Visualizer in Excel
      • Using Visio in Teams
      • Creating Visio Tabs and Apps for Teams with SharePoint Framework (SPFx)
      • Designing Power Automate Flows with Microsoft Visio
      • Innovative uses of Visio Lists
    • Webcasts ➡
      • Visio in Organizations
      • My session and other Visio sessions at MSIgnite 2019
      • Power up your Visio diagrams
      • Vision up your Visio diagrams
      • The Visio 2010 MVP Sessions
    • Visio Web Learning Resources
    • Books➡
      • Visualize Complex Processes with Microsoft Visio
      • Mastering Data Visualization with Microsoft Visio
      • Microsoft Visio Business Process Diagramming and Validation
      • Visualizing Information with Microsoft Visio
  • Blog
    • Browse blog articles
    • Visio Power BI articles
    • Visio for Web articles
    • A history of messaging and encryption
  • About us
    • About bVisual
    • Testimonials
    • Bio of David Parker
    • Contact Us
    • Website Privacy Policy
    • Website terms and conditions
    • Ariba Network
You are here: Home / Visio / My Surface Book 2 video connections

Published on December 19, 2018 by David Parker

My Surface Book 2 video connections

IMG_2888 (Edited)

I was tidying up my office recently, and came across an old magazine cover that I was on back in 1992. In those days, I was a consultant for a company called Isicad, and I am working on a £30,000+ Unix workstation. I have a small monitor for the Unify database on the left, and a large CRT monitor the CAD system, and a tablet with a stylus for interaction with the drawing. I also had more hair than I do now, which probably started going when I turned up to do some demos in Milan on a workstation that was supplied by the German arm of the company … only they didn’t leave a built one … just loads of boxes with parts, and that also included the circuit boards! I had to build it afresh whilst being instructed over the phone, and with my foot firmly hooked around the radiator because I didn’t have an earthing strap! Well, that picture started me thinking about my current workstation, which is a £3,000 Microsoft Surface Book 2, and how I have to connect to video displays nowadays!

I have been through many Windows Servers, PCs and laptops since 1992, but I think I had my first real desire for a particular model when I was over in Redmond for a conference and tried the Surface Book 2. I wanted one, but I had to wait for it to become available in the UK months later, and then a further few months because I wanted the 15″ screen with a Performance Base. I convinced myself that I needed that particular specification because of my continuous use of graphics, particularly with Visio. I was probably correct about that, but I honestly don’t detach the screen very much at all. So, I have the Surface Pen for freehand work on the screen, which I do use now and then, and the Surface Dial, which I only use for scrolling web pages and the audio volume. Maybe one day I can use it Visio… I also have a Microsoft Designer Bluetooth Mouse, which I like because I am allergic to the rubber wheels on most mice, but this one has hard plastic.
The Surface Book 2 is supplied with a power adaptor that has another USB-A port to add to the two USB-A ports on the left, and one USB-C on the right of the base. Well, I couldn’t connect to any external monitor or to a wired ethernet cable, so I forked out for a Surface Dock, which is a monster with a power adaptor and a separate hub with 4 USB-3.0 ports, 2 Mini Display Ports, 1 audio out, and 1 Gigabit ethernet port. I have been stopped several times at the airport with this unit because it looks very suspicious to the border officers when it goes through the X-ray!
So, if I am traveling and want to connect directly to an external monitor, I have two choices. I can take the Surface Dock, a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI, and an HDMI cable, or I can take the Surface power adaptor and a USB-C to HDMI cable that I bought from Uni Accessories via Amazon! You can see the difference below, and I can feel it in my laptop bag too!


The USB-C to HDMI cable works well, has a good length, and a useful band to keep it tidy. Of course, I can’t attach two external monitors like I can do the Surface Dock, but then I can really only use two effectivley … and I can use my iPad for music.

IMG_2911


I like the monitor on the left from LG, because I get more screen real estate than I do on my already quite large laptop screen. I initially bought a cheap Mini DisplayPort adapator to fit into the Surface Dock, but it causes screen flicker, so I ended up buying the more expensive Microsoft MiniDisplay Port to HDMI adaptor, which works much better.
I added to the complexity recently because I bought an Acer Windows Mixed Reality headset in anticipation of the forthcoming immersive experience in Visio. I tried connecting it to the Surface Dock but it looked like I was viewing a kaleidoscope. So, I immediately returned the headset to Acer saying it must be faulty … only to find the new one they sent me had the same problem. So, I did what I should have done initially and searched the web, and found that I needed to connect it to the USB-C port, situated by the power connector on the right-hand side … and also to one of the USB-A ports on the left-hand side. So, I needed a USB-C to HDMI adaptor, which works, but there is quite a stretch to get the other part of the headset cable into the opposite side of the base.

 
It does work, but it is not a long term solution, so I have signed up for a soon-to-be-released USB-C hub from the same company. Then I should be able to connect both the parts of the headset cable into it, with ports to spare!

Related

Filed Under: Hardware, MixedReality, Visio Tagged With: Microsoft, SurfaceBook

About David Parker

David Parker has 25 years' experience of providing data visualization solutions to companies around the globe. He is a Microsoft MVP and Visio expert.

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. Handy USB-C Hub for Surface Book 2 | bVisual - for people interested in Microsoft Visio says:
    February 6, 2019 at 9:23 am

    […] recently wrote about the video connections that I use with my Surface Book 2, and this included the almost impossible connection with my Acer Windows Mixed Reality headset. […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Recent Posts

  • Fixing dimensions of 2D shapes
  • Merging Linked Data from Similar Tables
  • Smart Radio Buttons and Check Boxes in Visio
  • Using Button Face Ids in Visio
  • Grid Snapping Revisited

Categories

Tags

Accessibility Add-Ins Connectors Containers Data Export Data Graphics Data Import Data Visualizer Educational Excel GraphDatabase Hyperlinks Icon Sets JavaScript LayerManager Layers Legend Link Data to Shapes Lists MSIgnite MVP Office365 Org Chart PowerApps PowerBI PowerQuery Processes Setup and Deployment Shape Data Shape Design ShapeSheet ShapeSheet Functions SharePoint 2013 SQL Teams Validation VBA Video Visio Visio 2007 Visio for the Web Visio Online Visio Services Visio Viewer Webinar

Footer

bVisual Profile

The UK-based independent Visio consultancy with a worldwide reach. We have over 25 years experience of providing data visualization solutions to companies around the globe.

Learn more about bVisual

  • Amazon
  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Search this website

Recent posts

  • Fixing dimensions of 2D shapes
  • Merging Linked Data from Similar Tables
  • Smart Radio Buttons and Check Boxes in Visio
  • Using Button Face Ids in Visio
  • Grid Snapping Revisited

Copyright © 2025 · Executive Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in