Who is getting the new Surface 3?

[Steve Adams]

Ordered my two surface 3's. got the 64gb/4gb ram versions. One with red keyboard/pen and one with blue keyboard/pen.

I cannot wait to get them and all our apps and accessories set up. Also bought the dock so We are going to use a nice touchscreen monitor with the Microsoft designer keyboard/mouse combo. We are going to get some good set of speakers for the desktop as well.

We (wife and I), were sitting down the other day, and were talking. We travel a lot, and the surface 3 is the perfect size for travel, best form factor for magazines online etc, and able to do our media editing and consumption the best with the surface/Lumia products.

We just made up our minds then after dealing with mediocre asus products for the past year and a half. We went and ordered two surface 3s. DONE!

 

[Sleepy_ER_Dr]

I am going to order the S3 with 4GB of RAM and 128 GB storage capacity, the red keyboard and pen. I was waiting to check out the SP4 and see whether it was feasible to purchase that over the S3, but decided against it. For the longest while I have been using a Dell laptop which still runs vista....really old school. Time for me to try something different. Cant wait.

 

[Steve Adams]

You will love them. We have been using ours for 3 wks now and we love them. Fast, smooth and very slick!

 

[ryland Johnson]

One needs to be careful with the Surface range. There comes a point when some of them impinge on some seriously well spec'd lap tops.

I paid 500€ (normal non offer price is 600€) for the 2Gb RAM and 64GB SSD drive. The model with double that spec is another 100€ PLUS we then have to add 150€ for the key board and yet another 50€ for the pen. that adds up to 900€ for the higher specified model with key board and pen.....For that sort of cash I am afraid one can purchase some serious lap tops that are quality and far more powerful.

I truly like my little Surface 3 with its pen and older model key board that cost 50€! I think its one hell of a hybrid. I do think, however, one needs to be cautious when moving up the range especially with the prices of the new SP4 they can reach 3,000€!
Very unsure I would go that far.

Must again write the model I have is superb and the 'best' I have owned in the past 4 years and I have owned 10 hybrids-tablets.

Kind regards, Ryland

 

[xandros9]

One needs to be careful with the Surface range. There comes a point when some of them impinge on some seriously well spec'd lap tops.

I paid 500€ (normal non offer price is 600€) for the 2Gb RAM and 64GB SSD drive. The model with double that spec is another 100€ PLUS we then have to add 150€ for the key board and yet another 50€ for the pen. that adds up to 900€ for the higher specified model with key board and pen.....For that sort of cash I am afraid one can purchase some serious lap tops that are quality and far more powerful.

I truly like my little Surface 3 with its pen and older model key board that cost 50€! I think its one hell of a hybrid. I do think, however, one needs to be cautious when moving up the range especially with the prices of the new SP4 they can reach 2,000€!
Very unsure I would go that far.

Must again write the model I have is superb and the 'best' I have owned in the past 4 years and I have owned 10 hybrids-tablets.

Kind regards, Ryland

Well, you buy the Surface for form-factor, premium feel and flexibility - not raw horsepower since you can pick up bulkier laptops for that. You can go more powerful, but as far as the form-factor allows.

I dropped $800 USD approximately on my current ThinkPad Yoga. Its similar under the hood to a comparable-gen Surface but I could've gotten something for that money with lot better graphics than what this ones got. But I wanted something compact, a hybrid and with a pen. (and the discrete graphics-equipped ThinkPad Yoga 14 didn't offer that, same with other PCs my peers got.) So its all tradeoffs, of course the Surface isn't for everyone. (certainly isn't for me considering repairability and I personally don't value its qualities quite high enough to justify the price.)

 

[ryland Johnson]

Indeed so. The "Form factor" is the very reason I made the purchase.

I should also mention |I paid 60€ for a cover and 30€ for an armour glass screen saver.

My only point was one can very soon reach a point of diminishing returns with the surface range. Though the Smaller Surface is reasonably priced I am unsure if I could be tempted by the Pro range. I was not 'that' impressed with the Pro 3 in terms of bang for buck.

Hope you continue to enjoy your new Yoga, they are rather cool.

Ryland

 

[Steve Adams]

One needs to be careful with the Surface range. There comes a point when some of them impinge on some seriously well spec'd lap tops.

I paid 500€ (normal non offer price is 600€) for the 2Gb RAM and 64GB SSD drive. The model with double that spec is another 100€ PLUS we then have to add 150€ for the key board and yet another 50€ for the pen. that adds up to 900€ for the higher specified model with key board and pen.....For that sort of cash I am afraid one can purchase some serious lap tops that are quality and far more powerful.

I truly like my little Surface 3 with its pen and older model key board that cost 50€! I think its one hell of a hybrid. I do think, however, one needs to be cautious when moving up the range especially with the prices of the new SP4 they can reach 3,000€!
Very unsure I would go that far.

Must again write the model I have is superb and the 'best' I have owned in the past 4 years and I have owned 10 hybrids-tablets.

Kind regards, Ryland

Specs smchecs.

I have replied to you in another post regarding this. The specs of the surface 3 are perfect for 90% of users. Only gamers and people who do copious amounts of video editing will find the surface 3 not up to snuff. They just need to goto the surface pro 4 or book and you have a top notch experience. I don't care how much the surface line is, its the multiple form factor, best screen in the biz, and the all the rest what makes the surface great.

If you want 3 devices, then by all means go for it...once you add up the costs of buying a "better spec'ed notebook, a tablet that can do everything that your notebook can do (not available anywhere else than besides the surface, others try but its not as good), and a better spec'ed desktop, then you are above the cost of most every device in the surface lineup. Once you see the forest through the trees, then you will understand you are comparing buying one device against the surface when you should be comparing buying 3 devices against one surface.

 

[ryland Johnson]

Thank you for your reply. There is no real need to rant at me as if I was a school child. I understand very well the plus points of the Surface 3 that is why I purchased one. I am highly delighted with my purchase and pleased you are happy with yours.
Its nice to debate such matters in a healthy friendly manner rather than the confrontational fashion?
On a forum every opinion is just that, an opinion. I am simply adding to this interesting debate the fact that the top Surface Pro 4 will cost nearly 3,000€, add to that the keyboard (160.00€), screen armour glass protection (40.00€ to 50.00€?) plus travel case (80.00€?) and one should simply 'consider' ALL ones options, nothing more nothing less. Regardless of that cost I have every confidence the new Surface Pro 4 will be a superb device.

Regards, Ryland

 

[ryland Johnson]

Thank you for your reply. There is no real need to rant at me as if I was a school child. I understand very well the plus points of the Surface 3 that is why I purchased one. I am highly delighted with my purchase and pleased you are happy with yours.
Its nice to debate such matters in a healthy friendly manner rather than the confrontational fashion?
On a forum every opinion is just that, an opinion. I am simply adding to this interesting debate the fact that the top Surface Pro 4 will cost nearly 3,000?, add to that the keyboard (160.00?), screen armour glass protection (40.00? to 50.00??) plus travel case (80.00??) and one should simply 'consider' ALL ones options, nothing more nothing less. Regardless of that cost I have every confidence the new Surface Pro 4 will be a superb device.

Regards, Ryland

My post got hiccups lol

 

[Ferrr]

I have a Surface 3 LTE, purchased in October 2015 with all updates duly installed. On the screen appear random clicks, like if I was touching it (but I don't) at full speed, making appear menus, opening files, starting apps etc. making the device unusable.

I had reset the device to no avail.

Additionally, I experienced other problems:

- "Autorotate on" appears on the screen when working with the keyboard attached (so, not rotating at all) stopping the device for some seconds.
- A full charge needs 5-6h, with the device plugged in and switched off. If you want to work while charging the device, you will have a hard time: it charges extremely slowly (12h minimum needed) and in most of cases, if you have 2 or 3 "normal" (not very high energy consuming) apps open at the same time (outlook, word, edge), the device will keep on discharging, even plugged in.
- The device loses battery when on sleep mode at a very alarming pace (around 5% per hour)

I purchased the device in the US and I work in Russia. Now, with a worldwide guaranty, and in spite of having a filial in Russia, Microsoft asks me to ship the device, to pay for the shipping, to be delivered the new one in the US, and to pay the shipping again to my home in Russia...

And the screen problem is known since 3 years, with thousands of people complaining on forums.

Shame to Microsoft to keep on selling these crappy devices.

If you don't know how to make computers and how to deal with customers, please stay away and let others like Apple do that.

I deeply regret the day when I entered the Microsoft store to buy this piece of (s...).

 

[Ferrr]

I have a Surface 3 LTE, purchased in October 2015 with all updates duly installed. On the screen appear random clicks, like if I was touching it (but I don't) at full speed, making appear menus, opening files, starting apps etc. making the device unusable.

I had reset the device to no avail.

Additionally, I experienced other problems:

- "Autorotate on" appears on the screen when working with the keyboard attached (so, not rotating at all) stopping the device for some seconds.
- A full charge needs 5-6h, with the device plugged in and switched off. If you want to work while charging the device, you will have a hard time: it charges extremely slowly (12h minimum needed) and in most of cases, if you have 2 or 3 "normal" (not very high energy consuming) apps open at the same time (outlook, word, edge), the device will keep on discharging, even plugged in.
- The device loses battery when on sleep mode at a very alarming pace (around 5% per hour)

I purchased the device in the US and I work in Russia. Now, with a worldwide guaranty, and in spite of having a filial in Russia, Microsoft asks me to ship the device, to pay for the shipping, to be delivered the new one in the US, and to pay the shipping again to my home in Russia...

And the screen problem is known since 3 years, with thousands of people complaining on forums.

As per the charging problem, is due to use a mini-USB charged (designed for phones) for a computer, which is a major engineering fault. My new macbook with a USB C charger takes 1h10 min to fully charge the laptop.

Shame to Microsoft to keep on selling these crappy devices.

If you don't know how to make computers and how to deal with customers, please stay away and let others like Apple do that.

I deeply regret the day when I entered the Microsoft store to buy this piece of (s...).

 

[anon(4054009)]

I was in Best Buy last week looking buying a Surface 3. Both display models were doing exactly what you are describing. I didn't realize this was a common problem.

 

[LibbyLA]

I charged my Surface 3 last weekend before I went to visit my parents on Sunday. I also power it off rather than let it sleep. When I got it out yesterday to use it for the first time in almost a week, it was fully charged. I haven't timed the charging but I haven't had problems with it discharging while it was supposed to be charging. Just lucky, I guess.

 

[Steve Adams]

Thank you for your reply. There is no real need to rant at me as if I was a school child. I understand very well the plus points of the Surface 3 that is why I purchased one. I am highly delighted with my purchase and pleased you are happy with yours.
Its nice to debate such matters in a healthy friendly manner rather than the confrontational fashion?
On a forum every opinion is just that, an opinion. I am simply adding to this interesting debate the fact that the top Surface Pro 4 will cost nearly 3,000€, add to that the keyboard (160.00€), screen armour glass protection (40.00€ to 50.00€?) plus travel case (80.00€?) and one should simply 'consider' ALL ones options, nothing more nothing less. Regardless of that cost I have every confidence the new Surface Pro 4 will be a superb device.

Regards, Ryland

My post got hiccups lol

I am not ranting at you trust me! I was only pointing out that you have a device that does everything that 3 devices do!

 

[DALEcz]

Ferrr - the same thing happened to me too. I had like 20 phantom touches in a second (I could not do it so fast even with all ten fingers..) and I thought the S3 is done... As long as I am in similar situation as you - bought the device in the Czech Republic, but right now I am in Russia - I researched everything and fortunately found this topic: surface-3-phantom-touches.10018 (sorry you have to google it, I cannot post links yet), and also others on the internet. I downloaded the calibration tool: UNOOTH-P0112513-1082.EXE (google again), ran it, and it miraculously worked! I also had to press the display in one place in order to get rid of the ghost touches during the calibration, so I was really scared, but it helped. You might give it a try.

Battery issues - with the new update on, new battery driver and with the hibernation set on, it is quite ok - I would recommend to you to set the hibernation to 60-120 min (when you are on battery) according to your needs (it doesn't discharge at all when hibernated, but it takes a bit longer to wake up).

Hopefully this helps you as well...

 

[Steve Adams]

Maybe I will try the hibernate option. cool, thanks for that....