Surface Pro 3

[Cnasty]

I decided to pre order the surface 3 today... I need a tablet for college but i also wanted the small form factor from the ipad mini which i have previously owned. I was very undecided but wanted to give the surface a try. Knowing that i can return it with no restock fee before 14 days helped a lot

Please posts your thoughts!

I am in a never ending conundrum of trying to sell my iPad Air 2 to get a SP 3 or the Surface 3.

 

[ssl0408]

Renzatic is correct, the Microsoft Store is offering a special on the SP3. Best Buy also has the SP3 on sale as well as a promotion going on where you can get $200 towards the purchase of an SP3 if you trade in a tablet. (They previously had a deal where they'd automatically give you $50 trade-in on any tablet and another $150 toward the purchase of an SP3).

I've been spending some extended time with my Acer Aspire Switch 11 and unless something amazing happens re:S3/SP3/SP4 I will continue to on with the Switch 11... hard to beat an 11.6" HD tablet w/keyboard dock for $449.

Then there's the Groupon for the Surface Pro with the Power TypeCover for $515.

Is the surface pro Groupon offer considered a good deal? Isn't that the first generation surface pro? I'm looking to purchase something like this but I'm wondering if it's a better idea to buy the current surface 3 that's being released May 5th.

 

[ravenvii]

Please posts your thoughts!

I am in a never ending conundrum of trying to sell my iPad Air 2 to get a SP 3 or the Surface 3.

Maybe you can sell yours for cash, then use that cash to buy mine?

 

[sracer]

Is the surface pro Groupon offer considered a good deal? Isn't that the first generation surface pro? I'm looking to purchase something like this but I'm wondering if it's a better idea to buy the current surface 3 that's being released May 5th.

Yes, that's for the 1st gen Surface Pro. The major downside to it was the poor battery life... that is why the inclusion of the Power TypeCover makes it worth considering.

 

[Cnasty]

Maybe you can sell yours for cash, then use that cash to buy mine?

It's been on the marketplace for a while. Np luck

 

[gadgetgirl85]

Just wondering if anyone has used a SP 3 on a train?

 

[diamond.g]

Just wondering if anyone has used a SP 3 on a train?

I have used mine on the VRE. But the VRE doesn't currently have WiFi access.

 

[gadgetgirl85]

I have used mine on the VRE. But the VRE doesn't currently have WiFi access.

How does it go - could you do work on it? as in having it on your lap/seat?

 

[diamond.g]

How does it go - could you do work on it? as in having it on your lap/seat?

It was alright, clearly the unit is top heavy. I prefer to use the onscreen keyboard, so I can retain as much usable space on my lap as possible.

 

[Even Longer]

It was alright, clearly the unit is top heavy. I prefer to use the onscreen keyboard, so I can retain as much usable space on my lap as possible.

Same for me: when not at some kind of table, of flat surface, I tend to use onscreen keyboard instead of type cover as well.

I have also discovered a very handy app called "TouchMe Gesture Studio", where you can configure any kind of gestures, like 2-finger-swipe up for virtual keyboard to come up and 2-finger-swipe down for hiding it. Really a hidden gem, and its a shame, that MS didn't come up with something similar as well.

 

[balamw]

After two months with the SP3 I still find the kickstand as more of a hindrance in "laptop" mode with the keyboard than a feature. I still prefer my Macs as "lap" computers, and the iPads as tablets.

However, I do find it possible to get "real work" done on a plane with the SP3, by removing the keyboard and using the kickstand to fold it almost flat. It's slower than the keyboard, but works for the tiny tables or my lap. That's not possible with a laptop.

B

 

[Michael Goff]

Just removed Windows 10 and put Ubuntu on. The only annoyance is the keyboard, but I might find more as I use it. Wish the on screen keyboard was better. Theb again, I haven't updated to 15.04 yet.

 

[maflynn]

Just removed Windows 10

I'm about to remove windows 10. I stand by my prior statements of windows 10 being amazingly stable for a tech preview but there seems to be two bugs that are affecting overall usage. For some reason when I try to change the scaling, nothing happens, dialog boxes and what not are bigger (or smaller) but generally the stuff I need to alter are unchanged. Plus when I go back in there, its back at 200%

Second issue is for some reason I couldn't connect to my companies wifi, it just refused the connection. I'm not sure if this is a win10 issue or some other security certificate. I suppose I'll find that out when I go back in with it. Most of the time I don't need to bring in my SP3 to the office as I have my other computer there but during meetings its good to have.

 

[Cnasty]

I am going to buy one today. Any particular place worth buying over the other?

I have a 10% coupon for Best Buy and I know Microsoft does 10% as well. Both within miles away so no big difference location wise.

Anyone having a better deal I am missing than the other?

Looking at the I5 one.

Does Best Buy stack movers coupon and education discount anyone know?

 

[Michael Goff]

I'm about to remove windows 10. I stand by my prior statements of windows 10 being amazingly stable for a tech preview but there seems to be two bugs that are affecting overall usage. For some reason when I try to change the scaling, nothing happens, dialog boxes and what not are bigger (or smaller) but generally the stuff I need to alter are unchanged. Plus when I go back in there, its back at 200%

Second issue is for some reason I couldn't connect to my companies wifi, it just refused the connection. I'm not sure if this is a win10 issue or some other security certificate. I suppose I'll find that out when I go back in with it. Most of the time I don't need to bring in my SP3 to the office as I have my other computer there but during meetings its good to have.

I'm guessing you're not then loading Ubuntu onto it, though.

 

[maflynn]

I'm guessing you're not then loading Ubuntu onto it, though.

Nope, back to windows 8.1 I've used Ubuntu and its good, and I also liked Fedora but both platforms just didn't have the apps and tools needed for me to work with.

 

[Cnasty]

Another question, I am replacing my macbook air base model 2014. Is the 4gb ram surface pro 3 a fair comparison or should I get the 8gb.

It's a 250 difference so pretty large and was thinking of the 4gb but wanted some feedback.

 

[maflynn]

I have the 8GB option mostly because of the apps I run. I think its safer to over provision a configuration then try to shoe horn yourself into a configuration.

What apps are you running, that will largely define which model meets your needs the best.

 

[Cnasty]

I have the 8GB option mostly because of the apps I run. I think its safer to over provision a configuration then try to shoe horn yourself into a configuration.

What apps are you running, that will largely define which model meets your needs the best.

Biggest one is OOTP which is a baseball statistical type program. Other than that just Spotify and vpn for work etc. I wonder if the 8 gb will help the vpn better when doing work that way

 

[WrenFGun]

Biggest one is OOTP which is a baseball statistical type program. Other than that just Spotify and vpn for work etc. I wonder if the 8 gb will help the vpn better when doing work that way

FWIW, OOTP works great on my SP2 with 4 GB Ram. I wouldn't worry about 8 GB for your needs.

I'm a long time MAC user but my goodness is the SP line amazing. Perfectly good enough to be a laptop and a desktop, and the snap feature is something I probably wouldn't live without.

 

[Cnasty]

FWIW, OOTP works great on my SP2 with 4 GB Ram. I wouldn't worry about 8 GB for your needs.

I'm a long time MAC user but my goodness is the SP line amazing. Perfectly good enough to be a laptop and a desktop, and the snap feature is something I probably wouldn't live without.

Great to hear! I use that program so much so was worried about that. I'm excited to take the plunge as I sold my macbook air locally but nervous because it was such a steady device. I am looking forward to the flexibility of the sp3 and better screen as well.

 

[sracer]

Great to hear! I use that program so much so was worried about that. I'm excited to take the plunge as I sold my macbook air locally but nervous because it was such a steady device. I am looking forward to the flexibility of the sp3 and better screen as well.

Yeah, RAM is usually not the issue with Windows tablets, but storage. I wouldn't recommend anything less than 128GB.

 

[Cnasty]

Yeah, RAM is usually not the issue with Windows tablets, but storage. I wouldn't recommend anything less than 128GB.

128 it is. It's cheaper so I was wondering if worth the 8gb upgrade or not as its pretty pricey.

That's good to hear and I think coming from the macbook air 4gb is equivalent and won't miss a beat. The 8gb would be a big upgrade and nice but pricey.

 

[sracer]

128 it is. It's cheaper so I was wondering if worth the 8gb upgrade or not as its pretty pricey.

That's good to hear and I think coming from the macbook air 4gb is equivalent and won't miss a beat. The 8gb would be a big upgrade and nice but pricey.

I can confirm that you won't miss a beat. I have a 4GB/128GB 11" MBA and a 4GB/128GB Aspire Switch 11. Except for the footprint creep of Windows, there's plenty of memory and storage for what it does.

 

[gadgetgirl85]

I have a slight issue with mine - I find my bluetooth mouse/keyboard stop working after awhile and I have to reset the SP to get them working again. Is this normal?