Surface Pro 3

[Renzatic]

I never used the scroll bar. I just scrolled on a page by swiping up or down.

Yeah, that's pretty spastic. That's something I'd expect out of a cheap, $300 HP, but it's not exactly excusable on MS' own premium priced machine.

 

[JackieInCo]

Yeah, that's pretty spastic. That's something I'd expect out of a cheap, $300 HP, but it's not exactly excusable on MS' own premium priced machine.

Exactly. It's why I started checking out other laptops over the last few months. I doubt that I will be interested in the next Surface Pro.

 

[spinedoc77]

Yeah, that's pretty spastic. That's something I'd expect out of a cheap, $300 HP, but it's not exactly excusable on MS' own premium priced machine.

Exactly. It's why I started checking out other laptops over the last few months. I doubt that I will be interested in the next Surface Pro.

Why didn't you just scroll using the touchscreen and your finger? Was this in a particular app or desktop program? Even with desktop programs you can still scroll up and down inside the program just by sliding your finger up and down anywhere on the screen, taking away the need to even futz with the scroll bar. Honestly I find it infinitely more convenient than a non touchscreen laptop.

 

[JackieInCo]

Why didn't you just scroll using the touchscreen and your finger? Was this in a particular app or desktop program? Even with desktop programs you can still scroll up and down inside the program just by sliding your finger up and down anywhere on the screen, taking away the need to even futz with the scroll bar. Honestly I find it infinitely more convenient than a non touchscreen laptop.

I did use the touch screen to scroll as I said above. Scrolling using the touch screen kept bringing up the charms. I never touched the scroll bars, ever.

 

[spinedoc77]

This is true to a point. But in general, trackpads are, at best, pretty meh in Windows world. Maybe things'll improve with Win10, since MS is enforcing a standard set of gestures. But that still requires the OEMs to make a trackpad that's worth half a damn before it can be taken advantage of.



Since I'd be using the pen more often than not, I'm pretty dead set on getting a Surface at some point (or possibly iPad Pro depending). But if I were in the market for a good old fashioned regular laptop, it'd be a Macbook. Because of their trackpads, you don't even have to think about using it. You put your fingers on it, and it does what you expect it to do, smoothly and efficiently.


Contrast this with using a Windows 8 laptop, where I felt like I was putting my fingers through a particularly cruel game of Twister, and kept constantly calling up the charms bar by accident. It made me want to punch something.

Bleh, I could never go back to a trackpad after the freedom of having the entire touchscreen on my SP3 to navigate.

Why did you keep calling up the charms bar? I'm not seeing this in my use whatsoever unless I actively swipe in from the right.

----------

I did use the touch screen to scroll as I said above. Scrolling using the touch screen kept bringing up the charms. I never touched the scroll bars, ever.

Hmm that's odd, were you trying to scroll putting your finger actually on the scroll bar? In my experience you can just put your finger anywhere on the active screen you are trying to scroll and scroll that way, without having to touch the scroll bar. You shouldn't be anywhere near the trigger zone for the charm bar.

Actually I just tried it, even if I use my finger to scroll the actual scroll bar all the way on the right (which you don't need to do) it won't call up the charms bar at all. I have to purposefully swipe in from the right to call it up. It's fairly difficult to do unless you mean to call up the charm bar.

 

[JackieInCo]

Bleh, I could never go back to a trackpad after the freedom of having the entire touchscreen on my SP3 to navigate.

Why did you keep calling up the charms bar? I'm not seeing this in my use whatsoever unless I actively swipe in from the right.

----------



Hmm that's odd, were you trying to scroll putting your finger actually on the scroll bar? In my experience you can just put your finger anywhere on the active screen you are trying to scroll and scroll that way, without having to touch the scroll bar.

No. I never used the scroll bar. I just placed my finger near the top of the screen in the middle and scrolled down. It brought up the charms too many times.

 

[spinedoc77]

No. I never used the scroll bar. I just placed my finger near the top of the screen in the middle and scrolled down. It brought up the charms too many times.

I'm wondering if you had a defective SP3? I can put my finger all the way to the top and scroll up and down and not call up the settings bar, which I think you meant and not the charms bar. The only way to call it up was to actually start outside the screen, on the bezel and swipe down.

 

[JackieInCo]

I'm wondering if you had a defective SP3? I can put my finger all the way to the top and scroll up and down and not call up the settings bar, which I think you meant and not the charms bar. The only way to call it up was to actually start outside the screen, on the bezel and swipe down.

I doubt that it was defective. It seemed to start happening more and more over the past two months. Not sure if an update changed things but it's entirely possible.

Anyways, I'm done using it on a daily basis and have a 15" mid 2015 Retina MBP now. Much happier.

 

[spinedoc77]

I doubt that it was defective. It seemed to start happening more and more over the past two months. Not sure if an update changed things but it's entirely possible.

Anyways, I'm done using it on a daily basis and have a 15" mid 2015 Retina MBP now. Much happier.

It definitely sounds like it was defective, especially if it was getting worse, or possibly a misjudgment of where you finger was. In all the time I've owned mine it's NEVER functioned that way. To call up the settings bar my finger has to start on the bezel, outside of the screen and swipe down. I'm sitting here trying to reproduce it, and it's just not happening.

 

[Billy95Tech]

I really like the Surface Pro tablets, they are one of the best Windows 8 tablets out there.


But i won't be getting a Surface Pro tablet anytime soon because i am happy with my very powerful 11.6 inch Windows 8 tablet Acer Iconia W700(I5 Core).


I can see myself getting a Surface Pro tablet in the future.

 

[Macdude2010]

So I needed to buy a PC for a class that I am taking, so the tech geek in me went to the Surface Pro, I was going to wait for the 4, but I was able to snag an i5/8/256 at best buy for $944!

 

[Renzatic]

Bleh, I could never go back to a trackpad after the freedom of having the entire touchscreen on my SP3 to navigate.

Why did you keep calling up the charms bar? I'm not seeing this in my use whatsoever unless I actively swipe in from the right.

It depends on how you're using it. I still believe that if you intend to spend a lot more time on the keyboard than you will the pen, the SP, or really any Windows tablet, isn't the best choice for you. You're disregarding its main strength, while directly clashing against its biggest weakness. Having to reach up from the keyboard to the touchscreen is a lot more cumbersome than dealing with the screen exclusively, or using a trackpad while interacting with the keyboard.

As for calling the charms bar, this was while I was on a cheap laptop with a tiny trackpad. I kept my fingers pretty well centered, but I couldn't help but call the damn thing up no matter how I moved my fingers. It drove me absolutely up the wall.

 

[balamw]

I was able to snag an i5/8/256 at best buy for $944!

Good deal! Was it an open box?

B

 

[p3ntyne]

I just got a new rMBP and the force touch trackpad is a delight to use. It's super accurate, effortless clicking, and feels amazing with all the gestures.

While I agree that the trackpad is better on the MacBook Pro, you have to remember that it is a much bigger and heavier device (although it's still not that heavy).

On the SP3 or MacBook, the only solution would be to shrink it, or to have it look horribly out of proportion (where the keyboard and trackpad extends right to the end of the case, but the screen doesn't).

 

[spinedoc77]

It depends on how you're using it. I still believe that if you intend to spend a lot more time on the keyboard than you will the pen, the SP, or really any Windows tablet, isn't the best choice for you. You're disregarding its main strength, while directly clashing against its biggest weakness. Having to reach up from the keyboard to the touchscreen is a lot more cumbersome than dealing with the screen exclusively, or using a trackpad while interacting with the keyboard.

As for calling the charms bar, this was while I was on a cheap laptop with a tiny trackpad. I kept my fingers pretty well centered, but I couldn't help but call the damn thing up no matter how I moved my fingers. It drove me absolutely up the wall.

See, I never understood this point. Reaching out to the screen from the keyboard seems every bit as troublesome as taking your fingers off the keyboard and putting them on the trackpad. Actually the trackpad seems more troublesome because you need to perform fine movements to get the cursor where you want it, where with the touchscreen you just press what you need to press. I write a TON of reports on my SP3 and find it quite easy and intuitive to use the touchscreen, I also use a mouse and use a combination of touchscreen, mouse and keyboard. Trackpads are somewhat useless to me unless I have no other choice. For something like web browsing, looking at pictures, etc I would kill myself if I had to use a trackpad for any length of time, a touchscreen is just so incredibly intuitive for stuff like this.

I'm not putting down your needs at all, just different strokes and all. I'm sure you enjoy the larger screen and keyboard as well and probably don't need as much of a tablet as I do. The best of all worlds is probably a convertible tablet with a full size keyboard and a touchscreen, but then that would be much heavier than the SP3. After using a touchscreen as part of my "laptop" use there is no way in hell I would ever go backwards to not having one.

 

[Renzatic]

See, I never understood this point. Reaching out to the screen from the keyboard seems every bit as troublesome as taking your fingers off the keyboard and putting them on the trackpad. Actually the trackpad seems more troublesome because you need to perform fine movements to get the cursor where you want it, where with the touchscreen you just press what you need to press. I write a TON of reports on my SP3 and find it quite easy and intuitive to use the touchscreen, I also use a mouse and use a combination of touchscreen, mouse and keyboard. Trackpads are somewhat useless to me unless I have no other choice. For something like web browsing, looking at pictures, etc I would kill myself if I had to use a trackpad for any length of time, a touchscreen is just so incredibly intuitive for stuff like this.

It could be just because I'm not used to it, but I've done a bit of work in Pages and Numbers on my iPad, and there were times when I'd kill to have a trackpad or mouse, because reaching up to touch the screen felt so cumbersome to me.

I'm not putting down your needs at all, just different strokes and all. I'm sure you enjoy the larger screen and keyboard as well and probably don't need as much of a tablet as I do. The best of all worlds is probably a convertible tablet with a full size keyboard and a touchscreen, but then that would be much heavier than the SP3. After using a touchscreen as part of my "laptop" use there is no way in hell I would ever go backwards to not having one.

Actually, I'd prefer a tablet, because most of what I'd use it for is texturing and sculpting. But if I were in Office day in and day out, I'd prefer a Macbook style keyboard and trackpad. The form factor is better suited for that type of work in my opinion.

But you're right. The best of both worlds would be something like the Yoga with a Wacom style digitizer onscreen. It wouldn't have quite as many compromises, though I'd still think the SP line would be better for artwork, since it'll be thinner and lighter overall.

 

[spinedoc77]

It could be just because I'm not used to it, but I've done a bit of work in Pages and Numbers on my iPad, and there were times when I'd kill to have a trackpad or mouse, because reaching up to touch the screen felt so cumbersome to me.



Actually, I'd prefer a tablet, because most of what I'd use it for is texturing and sculpting. But if I were in Office day in and day out, I'd prefer a Macbook style keyboard and trackpad. The form factor is better suited for that type of work in my opinion.

But you're right. The best of both worlds would be something like the Yoga with a Wacom style digitizer onscreen. It wouldn't have quite as many compromises, though I'd still think the SP line would be better for artwork, since it'll be thinner and lighter overall.

Yeah, it definitely depends what you are doing. A mouse can be far superior to a touchscreen and is my choice of weapon when writing long reports. I'm also proficient in keyboard shortcuts and find they keep me from taking my fingers off the keyboard as much.

 

[Macdude2010]

Good deal! Was it an open box?

B

Nope, brand new.

 

[mmomega]

I've picked up an i5 128GB and (for me) all the pluses I have negatives. Not diving to deep into it, the battery just isn't great and it isn't horrible.
1 example, I'm installing Office 2013 and the battery has dropped over 10% just in this one action alone.
The SP3 was barely under 95% last night so I left it on my bar just to see if it used any battery over night and it was 75% this morning from it just sleeping all night.
The fan is very audible while just checking for updates.

Well so far after installing MS Office and Adobe Reader and 5 updates my battery has dropped from 75% to 59%.

I am wanting to put this into a work environment that will be used 5-6hrs but at this pace I'm not sure it can last an entire day on a charge which is very disconcerting.
I have to have Windows just due to the practice software we use is Windows only so my other option was getting an 11" MBA and installing Windows but I'm not sure battery life would be much better under Windows.

 

[sracer]

I've picked up an i5 128GB and (for me) all the pluses I have negatives. Not diving to deep into it, the battery just isn't great and it isn't horrible.
1 example, I'm installing Office 2013 and the battery has dropped over 10% just in this one action alone.
The SP3 was barely under 95% last night so I left it on my bar just to see if it used any battery over night and it was 75% this morning from it just sleeping all night.
The fan is very audible while just checking for updates.

Well so far after installing MS Office and Adobe Reader and 5 updates my battery has dropped from 75% to 59%.

I am wanting to put this into a work environment that will be used 5-6hrs but at this pace I'm not sure it can last an entire day on a charge which is very disconcerting.
I have to have Windows just due to the practice software we use is Windows only so my other option was getting an 11" MBA and installing Windows but I'm not sure battery life would be much better under Windows.

If you were installing Office the same day that you purchased it, it is quite possible that Windows was performing its indexing function. Plus system updates can take quite a bit of resources as well.

I recommend giving it another day or two and re-examine battery life and performance. In my experience with Surface devices, I would see approx. 2%/hr battery drain in connected standby.

 

[MozMan68]

Still loving my SP3 after almost a year of use. Windows 10 has reduced some of the functions I had before, but to be expected. I use mine primarily for work and it is awesome to travel with.

With that being said, I may give it to my youngest as he will need a laptop for school. I can then try out a MBP as my work is moving to "bring your own device" for computers as well which means I will be compensated for the purchase at some level.

 

[nordique]

I still have positives and negatives for my SP3

Overall, I like the device. Am a fan of the pen and One note. Terrible keyboard

I haven't had battery life issues however as a user above has experienced

 

[JackieInCo]

It definitely sounds like it was defective, especially if it was getting worse, or possibly a misjudgment of where you finger was. In all the time I've owned mine it's NEVER functioned that way. To call up the settings bar my finger has to start on the bezel, outside of the screen and swipe down. I'm sitting here trying to reproduce it, and it's just not happening.

I'm going to do a reset to factory soon. I tried using it last night not connected to the keyboard and it was nearly impossible. Charms kept coming up nearly every swipe.

 

[joeblow7777]

Still loving my SP3 after almost a year of use. Windows 10 has reduced some of the functions I had before, but to be expected. I use mine primarily for work and it is awesome to travel with.

With that being said, I may give it to my youngest as he will need a laptop for school. I can then try out a MBP as my work is moving to "bring your own device" for computers as well which means I will be compensated for the purchase at some level.

Do you mind elaborating on what functions Windows 10 hhas reduced?

 

[MozMan68]

Do you mind elaborating on what functions Windows 10 hhas reduced?

Most associated with the keyboard and awakening.

I may have something set improperly, but I can no longer swipe up on the trackpad to wake the unit. Only pushing the button on top seems to do it.