M3 sp4 vs Surface 3

[kelton]

There are clear benefits to the lowest SP4 (with the M3) over the Surface 3 (with the atom processor): totally different SSD drives, for instance.

But it would be fun to really see the differences between those processors on these devices.

I'm a big fan of fanless designs...or anything with limited moving parts.

The Surface 3 can be had for $700 (keyboard, pen and all).
They both have the same amount of RAM (4gb)
Both have light weight processors

It will be a while before YouTube reviewers begin making this variety of comparison video, but it's an interesting one, to me.

How much performance do you get for the extra $350 dollar price difference?

side note: I wish we could just say goodbye to fixed, 4gb PCs with no option to upgrade RAM.

 

[anon(5327127)]

Gosh! We'll all soon find out when people post reviews so, until then, who knows!

 

[Renzatic]

I took back my Surface 3 to get the SP4 M3, and you can definitely tell a difference while in applications. From a few discussions I've had on another forum, raw benchmarks show it to be at least 3x as fast as the Atom x7. It's a better performing chip with higher memory bandwidth, and an SSD that absolutely blows the S3 out of the water. Going by raw scores, it pegs out more towards the i5 in the SP3 than it does the Atom. Not quite as fast as the former, but surprisingly close.

So yeah, I'd say it's worth the extra $350.

 

[ti-ta-topf]

Here you can see some benchmark comparisons:
atom x7 vs. m3: Microsoft Corporation Surface 3 vs Microsoft Corporation Surface Pro 4 - Geekbench Browser
i5 vs. m3: Microsoft Corporation Surface Pro 4 vs Microsoft Corporation Surface Pro 4 - Geekbench Browser
But besides that I would prefer core-M because of the faster storage (PCIe 3.0 vs. eMMC)

 

[PuckCowboy]

Renzatic,

What are your thoughts on portability? Screen, etc?

I use my Surface 3 mainly as a consumption device, reading comics, web browsing, watching videos through my home entertainment system, etc.

I tried playing around with S3 vs SP4 at Best Buy and it doesnt seem that much bigger, but not sure if its worth the extra cost for what I do with it. Do you miss the fact you cant charge it with a normal Micro USB? The biggest thing for me is the additional screen rel estate and resolution.

Any other thoughts in comparison to Surface 3?

All info is truly appreciated!

 

[ti-ta-topf]

Comparison on Surface 3 vs Surface Pro 4-m3
https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx...file,pdf&app=WordPdf&authkey=!AGZhzBW1vA4DIKE

 

[PuckCowboy]

Wow, that is an incredible write-up, especially considering I also had a Dell Venue Pro 11. It's like a review made for me, haha!

I'm definitely leaning even more so towards the Pro 4 now, but still really like the fact I can charge or power the Surface 3 with Micro USB and don't have to carry an extra adapter. (Which adds even more weight and another cord / power supply to my bag, etc.)

Still, I'm very tempted.

Thanks for sharing that link!

 

[DCProjMgr]

Of course the SP4 will blow away the S3 in performance - and that may be important if you need to run business applications. But if you are primarily doing media consumption, web browsing and email, then the Surface 3 (or iPad) form factor would be my choice. I'll always take comfort over power if I can get away with it. :angel:

 

[michail71]

Running a Windows TP update on a Surface 3 takes hours. Anything other than use as a consuming device shows.

 

[badMojo69]

What app are you using for Comics? I know Comixology is going away the 1st of the year and I'm not a fan of reading via the browser. Thanks

 

[PuckCowboy]

I use an app called Comics++ to read my comics. However, I own my comics locally on my own hard drive and don't use or need a store to buy them from The reader is all I care about and it seems to work great.

 

[badMojo69]

I use an app called Comics++ to read my comics. However, I own my comics locally on my own hard drive and don't use or need a store to buy them from The reader is all I care about and it seems to work great.

What...explain? How do you get comics local to read via an app? Is it some kind of subscription service where you can just DL them to your tablet/computer and read offline? Having said all of that I'll look up Comics++ Thanks

 

[PuckCowboy]

I download *cough* torrents *cough* online. Google it and I'm sure you will find some info

 

[Geodude074]

What...explain? How do you get comics local to read via an app? Is it some kind of subscription service where you can just DL them to your tablet/computer and read offline? Having said all of that I'll look up Comics++ Thanks

Marvel and DC both have apps on iOS and Android where you can read their comics on a tablet. This is definitely something where the Windows Store is lacking in.

Comic reading apps like Comics++ is great for reading older comic books, but it's not very useful if you're looking to get the latest issue every month.