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Liberating my Surface with Linux Mint
(mangotek.eu)
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this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2025
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Just an FYI. I just went through a giant debacle doing this. Surface pro 8 top of the line 32gb ram model. DO NOT expect the touch to be phone or daily driver ready. Text box keyboards do not pop up or if they do its so delayed in typing that you'll give up using it. ZERO 3rd party software closes the gap, onboard or any other keyboard that is virtual won't help. Stick with the Folio or keyboard and mouse and your good. Linux is no quite there for touch support atleast not Mint.
The battery life will be a few hours at best even tweaked to hell for energy savings. It will get hot under any real usage beyond browsing and a handful of tabs. Especially while charging and using.
I tried the new Dell 2 in 1, the Surface pro 8, I ended up back on a laptop its just smoother and easier and the overall hardware is better including battery. I was wanting this to work so bad. The slate concept seems good on paper but not IRL. There's a reason they haven't gained as much traction in the market as you'd expect.
This is all totally fine as I already have a laptop for daily use. I’m primarily interested in the digitizer for things like notes and drawing.
Yeah...I bought the Dell too. It also bothers me that the camera module is still not compatible. Even though they're supposed to be intel-made.
What I did was I bought a new Opal Tadpole and plugged it right in and it is one of the smallest clip on 4k webcams you can buy. If not the true smallest. I used it once. Otherwise new in box if your interested. I'd take 100 for it. It's really small so it stays out of the way. Only reason I'd part with it is because I switched away from the surface pro 8 where I needed it and back to a dell laptop and distro where I no longer need it. Used literally once. New with box.
Lol...I just bought a more generic logitech cam. And I recently tested an insta360 Ace Pro2, and when hooked via USB it can act as a webcam. I use this one when traveling, so I could just put it on a tripod-selfie-stick combo next to the laptop. But good to know that one works too. I'm stuck with a Dell 2 in 1 that I thought wouldn't have this issues...but it still does. As I bought second hand, might be harder to sell.