Surface 3 for grad school?

[Because Racecar]

I'm considering a surface 3 for grad school. Anyone have experience with it taking notes in engineering classes? I'm torn between the surface 3 for the smaller size and portability, or the SP3 for power. I have a laptop that is pretty good for most things, but the note taking is not going to work without a digitizer, I think.

 

[Because Racecar]

I should also ask, has anyone run MATLAB/Octave on their S3? Also, I will probably need to load a linux partition for some of the simulation software I use. I figure I can load it, but perhaps without some of the functionality in place.