Is a Surface Pro 3 still worth getting?

[Windows Central Question]

Hi there guys, hope y'all can help me with a little dilemma I'm having.

I'm looking to buy a new tablet, something for everyday use. Hoping to play some games and put a bunch of console emulators on it too.

Recently, Surface Pro 3 prices have gone way down from when it was first released, mostly because of the arrival of the new Surface Pro 4. The price of a top-of-the-line SP3 has gone waaaay down, and even then, it's still a hell of a device.

What I want to know is if getting a Surface Pro 3 is still worth it these days, especially considering the price drop, or if I should go ahead and get the Surface Pro 4. I actually put off getting an SP3 because I wanted to see if the next iteration would offer something significantly different, but besides the Skylake processor, they are basically the same device! From what I've heard though, the new SP4 is tons faster than the old model.

It's such a hard decision to make because it feels like they're purposefully holding back the really advanced updates like USB-C, LTE and the "smart bezel" technology for the Surface Pro 5.

TL;DR -- My mindset is to buy SP3 because it's cheaper now, but still powerful, skip the SP4 and get the SP5 (or whatever it will be called) when it's released. Good plan? Stupid plan? Need help guys!

 

[ParoleGA]

I'd say it is a good plan, but really depends on what you are looking for. I use an i5 SP3 for work, in a dock, every day. It handles everything I need it to, office apps (including Access), web browsing, email, etc. I did load up Civilization: Beyond Earth on it, and while it can run it at low settings, it does get thermal throttled pretty quickly, and pretty badly after a while. If you game much, the SP4 should have a bit better performance with the new CPU and improved cooling.

As an aside, I just saw a smoking deal for a full i5 SP3 setup (dock, Arc Mouse, etc.) in the market place. He has had it up for a while with no takers, but just bumped it again today. He may be willing to work an even better price than he currently has.

http://forums.windowscentral.com/ma...king-station-arc-touch-mouse-vga-adapter.html