Surface Pro 3 - Torn!

[soulreaver99]

Did OP stick with the Surface Pro 3?

Despite some of it's quirks, it is still an amazing device. Maybe ahead of it's time. However, it has been the best travel companion in the months of owning it. I leave my iPad and MacBook at home while having a full working desktop PC on the go. Another plus is not having to take the Surface out of the bag at airport security since it's considered a "tablet"

 

[Ryan0751]

Did OP stick with the Surface Pro 3?

Despite some of it's quirks, it is still an amazing device. Maybe ahead of it's time. However, it has been the best travel companion in the months of owning it. I leave my iPad and MacBook at home while having a full working desktop PC on the go. Another plus is not having to take the Surface out of the bag at airport security since it's considered a "tablet"

OP here: I did end up keeping it!

I added the dock, it can now live on my desk right under my other monitors, kind of acts like a 3rd display using Synergy with sharing the mouse and keyboard.

I had put Windows 10 tech preview on it, and ran into a bunch of problems (locking up, etc). I ended up reverting to 8.1 for the more tablet like experience.

It's been pretty nice, I love using it in the kitchen for recipes with the kickstand too.

 

[JamesMike]

Did OP stick with the Surface Pro 3?

Despite some of it's quirks, it is still an amazing device. Maybe ahead of it's time. However, it has been the best travel companion in the months of owning it. I leave my iPad and MacBook at home while having a full working desktop PC on the go. Another plus is not having to take the Surface out of the bag at airport security since it's considered a "tablet"

How has its durability been when traveling?

 

[Ryan0751]

How has its durability been when traveling?

Been ok. I purchased a Belkin sleeve for it, which is nice and thin. Protects the Surface when tossing it in my backpack (which has a laptop section too). I did also put a tempered glass protector on it, mainly because of the use of the stylus (I figure why not).

 

[soulreaver99]

How has its durability been when traveling?

Solid when traveling. Also helps having the Microsoft Complete extended warranty for peace of mind

 

[JamesMike]

Solid when traveling. Also helps having the Microsoft Complete extended warranty for peace of mind

Especially with the traveling. I travel 'to not so nice places', and things can get a bit rough on equipment.

 

[soulreaver99]

Really great reviews for those considering the Surface Pro 3. Talks about actual real world uses instead of focusing too much on specs and benchmarks: http://www.zdnet.com/article/surface-pro-3-why-my-clamshell-laptop-is-history/ and http://winsupersite.com/surface/surface-pro-3-six-months-later

 

[maflynn]

Really great reviews for those considering the Surface Pro 3. Talks about actual real world uses instead of focusing too much on specs and benchmarks: http://www.zdnet.com/article/surface-pro-3-why-my-clamshell-laptop-is-history/ and http://winsupersite.com/surface/surface-pro-3-six-months-later

I think those are good reviews and certainly do touch upon the short comings of the SP3 and what is good about the SP3.

So far my SP3 is my main machine in my current setup, but I may change things around, i.e., go back to my rMBP for some tasks and use the SP3 for work related stuff (accessing/using a windows machine makes my life easier for work). Mobility wise, the Sp3 is still the best, I'd rather be traveling with a "tablet" then the laptop

 

[JackieInCo]

Back in December, there was an OS update that affected the battery life on my SP3. I was getting 8-9hrs usage on one charge and it was cut down to 6.

I restored my SP3 yesterday and got my amazing battery life back. Battery Bar shows I've had this thing on for 9.20 hours now and I'm at 30% battery.

I did backup everything first before restoring and Windows automatically downloaded all my app store apps and restored settings on bootup after restore so I was happy about that. I am loving my SP3 again!

 

[azure247]

The surface design is way better than a traditional laptop. Why? Traditional laptops builds up heat on a surface like the bed or carpet floor so the fan ends up roaring after awhile and it gets really hot. I cannot find a reason to go with a macbook or laptop because the surface beats everything it can do. The only compromise is the smaller trackpad and flat keys but its easier to touch the screen so its not really a compromise.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

I just got a surface pro 3. An i5 8gb 256SSD. Love the screen and the touch etc.

But I'm having to get used to windows again. Why oh why oh why doesn't outlook not windows 8.1 provide a unified view of the mail inbox. I've got about 14 email addresses and it is just ridiculous to have to go into each by themselves.

Coming from OSX it never crossed my mind to check it. I tried thunderbird but that is not only useless with touch it is also hung on me twice now. It is not a reasonable alternative.

Any suggestions for a good email client that is touch aware?

 

[maflynn]

I've got about 14 email addresses and it is just ridiculous to have to go into each by themselves.

I'd venture a guess that most people don't have so many email addresses so that type of functionality isn't high on MS' list.

You can set each inbox as a favorite, so you have a single place to click on each one, but that's as good as you'll get.

I haven't used it in years, but check out postbox, they may offer something that you're looking for.

 

[grandM]

You will get used to the software, honestly it's not that much of a learning curve. Also Windows 10 is very near and that is supposed to be an incredible leap in merging desktop and tablet functionality, and it's a free upgrade.

Free for a year that is. After this year you must pay for that "free" upgrade.

 

[maflynn]

Free for a year that is. After this year you must pay for that "free" upgrade.

But as long as you upgrade to Windows 10 within that year its free. Its not like you end up paying for anything after upgrading to win10. MS has in past heavily discounted upgrades for the first year, so this is a nature (and welcome) progression.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

I'd venture a guess that most people don't have so many email addresses so that type of functionality isn't high on MS' list.

You can set each inbox as a favorite, so you have a single place to click on each one, but that's as good as you'll get.

I haven't used it in years, but check out postbox, they may offer something that you're looking for.

So how do other business people operate? I am absolutely shocked by this.

Postbox user interface is terrible for touch.

I must admit the story is getting rapidly worse. It is such a disjointed experience on windows. Contacts and calendaring can't be synched in a single place. If you want them in the touch interface you are limited to just a couple of cloud providers with no carddav or caldav support, but even then it doesn't make it accessible to desktop applications. So various apps have to have all their own sync with a proprietary cloud provider with all the duplication that comes with it.

Man oh man, I didn't think OSX was that far ahead of Windows. None of this is an issue. There is only one copy and provided system wide and unified mailbox are there for everything

Such a shame as the hardware is great but windows just sucks in a disjointed way it approaches these things.

 

[grandM]

But as long as you upgrade to Windows 10 within that year its free. Its not like you end up paying for anything after upgrading to win10. MS has in past heavily discounted upgrades for the first year, so this is a nature (and welcome) progression.

So if a windows7 user now upgrades, he won't have to pay anything? This year, next year or the year after?

 

[sracer]

So if a windows7 user now upgrades, he won't have to pay anything? This year, next year or the year after?

That appears to be correct. Microsoft's wording was a bit awkward and in their Windows 10 presentation they muddied the waters talking about "Windows as a service".

 

[maflynn]

So if a windows7 user now upgrades, he won't have to pay anything? This year, next year or the year after?

If the user upgrades to windows 10 the day after it rolls out, he's all set. We have no idea what it may cost about any future versions of windows, i.e., windows 11 but if you have a machine and you download and upgrade it to windows 10, you'll get free updates to that version, i.e., patches/security updates.

As sracer, some of the verbiage is not all that clear but that's my understanding. A free windows 10 upgrade does not mean you get a free windows 11 (or what ever they'll call that version), it just means you can upgrade to win10 for free