First Impressions on Microsoft Surface Pro 3.

drbanks

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I was an early adopter of iPhones (got the very first model at the original $600 unsubsidized price), and an early adopter of tablets (had the original iPad). Call tablets big useless phones, and you're kind of missing a major point.

Yeah, for the most part, tablets are limited, "consumption" devices, but outside of my job, consumption is about all I do at home. And given the choice between picking up a laptop and waiting for the OS to unhibernate, even on an SSD system, or picking up a tablet and getting an immediate wake-up, I'll pick the tablet for most of my browsing/facebooking/emailing needs. And, being bigger than a phone, I can actually read the text on it, don't have to continuously scroll back and forth to read anything, and my fat fingers can deal better with the soft keyboard.

This is one space where the Surface Pro falls short. (as is my habit, I also got the first version of the Surface Pro)

To me, picking up my SP and hitting the power button treats me to an agonizing wait for the thing to boot/unhibernate/whatever the heck it's doing. And, I ran into a patch there where about half the time, it would tell me that the boot failed, and did I want to try again. (Once that degenerated into just not booting, a hard reset and a restore of the latest backup fixed it.) This really degrades the immediate experience of the consumption device.

Ever since I broke my iPad 3, I've been using the SP as my primary tablet device, and have suffered this pain on a daily basis. Most of the time, I just leave it plugged in with the screen saver disabled so that it never sleeps. Other times, I resort to one of my two Android pads (Kindle Fire and Nexus 7) or my phablet (1520) just because I can get an immediate wake-up from one of those.

And if I do want to have a laptop experience, I can just as easily pick up my MacBook Air (I don't know why people say I have too many gadgets), which seems to be able to wake from its sleep much faster than a Surface Pro, and which frankly has a much better keyboard and trackpad.

But, having immediate wake-up tablets like the iPad changed my relationship with laptops. Prior to the iPad, I always went looking for the smallest/lightest laptop, because I really hate Schleptops. Say what you will, but a 15" or 17" schleptop really isn't portable in any practical sense. But, with something truly portable, meaning 8-hour or better battery, small and light enough to fit into a Scott eVest pocket and truly fast wake-up, suddenly, a 15" notebook that stays home seems like a good idea, and something like a MacBook Air seems like a more irrelevant idea.

Because a tablet can fill in that mobile/portable gap that ultralight notebooks never quite filled. No, neither the ultralight portable nor a tablet can ever offer the screen size and capacious storage of a schleptop or desktop, but it can cover your mobile needs.

Like it or not, the Surface Pro fits neither of these models. I'm typing this on my original Surface Pro, sitting in the dock, connected to an external monitor (Dell), keyboard (Apple) and mouse (Logitech). I've also got two external 2.5" hard drives connected. At the end of the work day, I take the SP out of the dock, take it home and use it as a touch device. It's not great in either of these roles, but I'd rather use RT/Metro than iOS, and I really do want something portable that I can still keep my life on.

Sorry to be so long winded, but I have a virtual finger hovering over the "buy now" button on the SP3, and I still can't make up my mind, so I'm kinda thinking out loud here.
 

Christopher Lindsay

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I was an early adopter of iPhones (got the very first model at the original $600 unsubsidized price), and an early adopter of tablets (had the original iPad). Call tablets big useless phones, and you're kind of missing a major point.

Yeah, for the most part, tablets are limited, "consumption" devices, but outside of my job, consumption is about all I do at home. And given the choice between picking up a laptop and waiting for the OS to unhibernate, even on an SSD system, or picking up a tablet and getting an immediate wake-up, I'll pick the tablet for most of my browsing/facebooking/emailing needs. And, being bigger than a phone, I can actually read the text on it, don't have to continuously scroll back and forth to read anything, and my fat fingers can deal better with the soft keyboard.

This is one space where the Surface Pro falls short. (as is my habit, I also got the first version of the Surface Pro)

To me, picking up my SP and hitting the power button treats me to an agonizing wait for the thing to boot/unhibernate/whatever the heck it's doing. And, I ran into a patch there where about half the time, it would tell me that the boot failed, and did I want to try again. (Once that degenerated into just not booting, a hard reset and a restore of the latest backup fixed it.) This really degrades the immediate experience of the consumption device.

Ever since I broke my iPad 3, I've been using the SP as my primary tablet device, and have suffered this pain on a daily basis. Most of the time, I just leave it plugged in with the screen saver disabled so that it never sleeps. Other times, I resort to one of my two Android pads (Kindle Fire and Nexus 7) or my phablet (1520) just because I can get an immediate wake-up from one of those.

And if I do want to have a laptop experience, I can just as easily pick up my MacBook Air (I don't know why people say I have too many gadgets), which seems to be able to wake from its sleep much faster than a Surface Pro, and which frankly has a much better keyboard and trackpad.

But, having immediate wake-up tablets like the iPad changed my relationship with laptops. Prior to the iPad, I always went looking for the smallest/lightest laptop, because I really hate Schleptops. Say what you will, but a 15" or 17" schleptop really isn't portable in any practical sense. But, with something truly portable, meaning 8-hour or better battery, small and light enough to fit into a Scott eVest pocket and truly fast wake-up, suddenly, a 15" notebook that stays home seems like a good idea, and something like a MacBook Air seems like a more irrelevant idea.

Because a tablet can fill in that mobile/portable gap that ultralight notebooks never quite filled. No, neither the ultralight portable nor a tablet can ever offer the screen size and capacious storage of a schleptop or desktop, but it can cover your mobile needs.

Like it or not, the Surface Pro fits neither of these models. I'm typing this on my original Surface Pro, sitting in the dock, connected to an external monitor (Dell), keyboard (Apple) and mouse (Logitech). I've also got two external 2.5" hard drives connected. At the end of the work day, I take the SP out of the dock, take it home and use it as a touch device. It's not great in either of these roles, but I'd rather use RT/Metro than iOS, and I really do want something portable that I can still keep my life on.

Sorry to be so long winded, but I have a virtual finger hovering over the "buy now" button on the SP3, and I still can't make up my mind, so I'm kinda thinking out loud here.
Seems like everything you need could be solved with your Lumia 1520 and a laptop. The 1520 gives you mobility and a big readable screen. And the laptop gives you production. All for a fraction of the price. And you don't need a huge alienware laptop to get work done. An i5 processor come in smaller laptops too. The other stuff seems like overkill but I guess if you have it flaunt it.
 

WillysJeepMan

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The SP 3 is a MacBook Air competitor, plain and simple. It's priced accordingly, and although it's a bit frustrating the keyboard is so expensive / not bundled it still compares favourably with what apple has to offer.
For me, unless Apple makes some big moves in the next few months i know what i'm getting "instead" of a laptop next. I care most about build quality first of all, then battery life and then performance so there's really no competiton for apple and microsoft out there right now, as far as i can tell anyway. And the surface pro 3 is a windows product that finally looks more attractive than an air
Here's the thing that many seem to be overlooking when comparing ANYTHING to what Apple is offering. Those who are not fans of Apple have for years been claiming that Apple sells overpriced boutique devices that cater to an image than to actual value.

Now Microsoft comes out and is selling something that supposedly competes with Apple that is MORE expensive than Apple's offering. So now Microsoft fans are claiming that what Microsoft is offering is a good value? That's a hard sell... not because of what Microsoft is delivering but because of the impression formed that Apple is overpriced.

Where Microsoft is stumbling is that they think they can immediately jump into the boutique arena and compete with Apple. It didn't happen for Apple over night. Releasing the Pro 3 6 months after the Pro 2 tells me that Microsoft is impatient. There's no shortcut to longevity and a track record.
 

gwkell

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I'm considering pre-ordering but would like to know if this will run Android apps? If yes, is it necessary to obtain an Android emulator?
 

chezm

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Where Microsoft is stumbling is that they think they can immediately jump into the boutique arena and compete with Apple. It didn't happen for Apple over night. Releasing the Pro 3 6 months after the Pro 2 tells me that Microsoft is impatient. There's no shortcut to longevity and a track record.

I agree with this statement. Some will say "Microsoft lowering the value of their items to compete even further with their top competitor would just devalue their brand" which i totally disagree with. I mean look at the Xbox One for instance, PS4 is totally demolishing MS and NOW they've understood and priced their console accordingly to compete. If MS wants SP to take off they need to bite the bullet a bit and give those Apple fans and non-believers a reason to care. Offering something new at a high end cost verses a device thats received tons of praise from media and users (MBA) is a lost battle in the long run...get your device widely known and maybe people will consider it an option. Only now when people see my SP2 do they understand WHY its priced so high, even if they're at the store and a sales clerk tells them "its running full Windows 8.1", that means nothing to general public, they cant comprehend how a device so small can perform. MS need to advertise SP3 like crazy and SERIOUSLY consider offering a cheap touch based keyboard with each model. Everyone at my work laughs at the SP, it cant be a laptop because "it doesnt come with a keyboard"...thats a defense, as silly as it may be, which stick to non-believers.
 

rurutia

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I'm considering pre-ordering but would like to know if this will run Android apps? If yes, is it necessary to obtain an Android emulator?

Have you never used Windows 8.1 on a PC? This is the exact same thing. I'm pretty sure you'll need an emulator.
 

rdubmu

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@drbanks,

The boot up time for the surface pro is very fast. I believe it is even faster than the iPad.
You can solve the battery issue by getting a power-cover.


Idk why people incest on comparing the surface pro to an iPad, there too completely different things.

Insist*** not incest lol

I agree thou, the surface pro line is totally different than the iPad. It isn't meant to compete against the iPad rather full pcs including MacBook Pro and air



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

gwkell

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I intend to use the tablet for business presentations & other business functions. One function would require an android app downloadable on Google play. If Surface Pro 3 does not easily enable running an Android App then I must purchase an Android tablet (like Nexus 7). Comments?
 
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Here's the thing that many seem to be overlooking when comparing ANYTHING to what Apple is offering. Those who are not fans of Apple have for years been claiming that Apple sells overpriced boutique devices that cater to an image than to actual value.

Now Microsoft comes out and is selling something that supposedly competes with Apple that is MORE expensive than Apple's offering. So now Microsoft fans are claiming that what Microsoft is offering is a good value? That's a hard sell... not because of what Microsoft is delivering but because of the impression formed that Apple is overpriced.

I share this in full. Apart from Apple, this is also more expensive than good alternatives in the non Apple premium segment. Lenovo Yoga Pro, the next Asus and a few others. This in a scenario where data says that the sales of these devices are dropping. 1900 dollars is beyond me. My guess is we'll see them at a very reduced price in less than 3/6 months in many markets, especially in Europe. People find it hard to justify that price on Apple stuff, let's imagine on a Microsoft product.
 

DaT Franchise

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I agree the price is insane and you can get one hell of a windows laptop for that price or save a 1000-1500 and get Lenovo or HP, or hell even a pro or pro2 but to compare price to an iPad is stupid because is ment to compete with the Mac air and Mac pro.
 

rurutia

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I agree the price is insane and you can get one hell of a windows laptop for that price or save a 1000-1500 and get Lenovo or HP, or hell even a pro or pro2 but to compare price to an iPad is stupid because is ment to compete with the Mac air and Mac pro.

Where are people seeing these crazy deals? I just did a pre-order for the Surface Pro 3 (with education discount including the Touch Cover and Arc mouse) and I can get it for ~1350 using the i5 256gig SSD and 8gig ram configuration. I'm looking at my school's special deal with Lenovo Yoga, the same configuration but with 500 gig HD and 16gig SSD is $1597? That doesn't seem like a deal to me.
 

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