[OFFICIAL] Surface Pro 3 - First Impressions

hopmedic

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Here's the official place to put all your first impressions of the SP3.

I'm sitting here installing Office 365 Home Premium, Visual Studio 2013 Professional, and RSAT on my SP3 as I type this. Yes, it's doing all three, and therefore the keyboard response is a bit sluggish now and then, but then I do know I'm pushing it. My first impressions:

This thing is LIGHT!
This thing is THIN!
This thing is BEAUTIFUL!

I wish the keyboard was a bit shorter, more the size of the originals, to fit better on my little lap table, but I understand that it can't because it wouldn't cover the screen. I'll live with that. I'm not convinced that it needed to have the magnetic attachment to the front of the screen, as I like my keyboard flat. I've had severe tendonitis in both hands in the past, and therefore I never use the little kickstands on the back edges of keyboards, I buy keyboards based on how light a touch it takes to press the keys, and try to be as ergonomic as I can within my budget. Tilting the keyboard up is the opposite of good ergonomics, but most people believe otherwise. Anyway, it does help to shorten the keyboard a touch, thus helping my SP3 to fit on my lap table.

I haven't used the pen yet, so can't comment on that. The screen size is BEAUTIFUL. Sitting in my easy-chair with my SP2, I was always hunched over, as I need to get my eyes checked, but doing so would be an admission that I'm getting old. I had LASIK about six years ago, but the eyes have faded in vision quality. With the SP3, on default magnification (whatever that is - I haven't looked yet), I can see even the small print on this page. Nice. I like the size, but due to the increased resolution, the touch targets for my quick-launch bar with small icons is a bit smaller than on the SP2, I think.

The speakers are on the front - little slits at the upper left and right edges of the screen. Good move, Microsoft. I didn't care for the placement on the prior Surface models.

The power cord definitely plugs in easier. I didn't care for the SP2 power attachment.

Microsoft needs to come up with a better way to hold the pen than a stick-on loop stuck to the fuzzy side of the keyboard. They need to engineer a pen receptacle into the chassis itself.

Touchpad - haven't used it much, but even that little bit tells me that it is orders of magnitude better than the TypeCover 2 touchpad. THANK YOU, MICROSOFT!

Kickstand - Nice. All that needs to be said.

Lapability - No, I don't think so. My femurs are too short for that to work well. If my legs are up on the footstool, the kickstand goes right below my knees, if I put it in the most comfortable position. I could make it fit on my thighs, but would not be able to type comfortably.

Overall, I'm VERY satisfied with the SP3 improvements over the SP2, and I look forward to using it at least until the SP4 launches, at which time I am certain that my wife will sooner shoot me than let me go to a computer store.
 

ytrewq

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My wife and I were very excited to get ours today. She got the 128GB i5, and I got the 256GB i5.

My initial thoughts:

1). Form factor: I love it! The 16:9 screen on the SP2 was too awkward for my taste. The 3:2 ratio is exactly what I need. The tablet is roughly the size of a pad of paper, although a little narrower. That's perfectly convenient for me to carry it around at the office. And for travel and meetings outside the office, there's no question that I can bring this device and nothing else. (Which is the most important thing for me.) In a perfect world, I'd love the keyboard and device combined to be under 1.5 pounds, but it's nice as it is.

2). Display: Gorgeous! Not sure what more to add. Again, I really like the aspect ratio. The touchscreen is extremely responsive -- no lag whatsoever.

3). Keyboard: This is a major improvement. The extra size is just enough to make the keyboard much more comfortable yet still compact. The backlighting is exactly what was needed. The touchpad is quite nice -- still probably not MacBook quality, but very nice for a super lightweight keyboard. The keyboard is still not perfectly rigid, but it's plenty stable. If you really need something better than this, then skip the Type Cover and just buy a good Bluetooth keyboard. I'm amazed MS can pack this nice of a keyboard into such a thin and light unit.

4). Speakers: What are you expecting? They make noise. They sound like a tablet or a laptop. If you want decent sound, get a Bluetooth speaker or some headphones. I would say the same about any tablet or laptop I've ever listened to. This one is no different.

5). Pen: Very cool. I'm not an artist, so I don't know whether the 264 or 1028 pressure levels matter. But I do like to take handwritten notes during meetings, so this is going to be very handy. There are two things that I need to investigate further, though. First, the pen does require a certain amount of pressure to register at all. Not much, but if you imagine barely dragging a pencil across a page, it will make a faint line. If I drag this pen lightly across the page, I get nothing. It takes just a bit of pressure to register. I need to look some more to see whether there's a way to tweak the pressure sensitivity, because I would like it to register with minimal pressure. Second, if I move the pen around the screen fast enough, there's a tiny bit of lag. Not much -- certainly not enough to matter at all. But it's there. Neither of these issues are complaints, and they won't bother me at all. But in future iterations, it would be nice to see progress in these areas.

6). Battery: When I installed updates, I had a battery glitch briefly. The unit showed 0 battery life, and plugging it in caused it to show as charging, but the battery percentage didn't increase over time. Restarting solved the issue, but I'll keep an eye on it to see if it repeats. I can't speak to battery life generally, as I have had it plugged in most of the time.

7). Performance: Fast. Just like you would expect an i5 with 8GB RAM to be.

8). Pen loop/magnet: Kind of a joke, really. The loop is functional, but I can't imagine the glue will hold the loop on over time. It is clearly an afterthought -- I would bet steaks to cheeseburgers that MS had developed some other mechanism for storing the pen, which at the last minute turned out to be unworkable. Lacking anything else, they stuck a loop on the cover. I'm just guessing, but I can't imagine any other plausible explanation. The magnet on the side (where the charger plugs in) will hold the pen, but not with any strength. MS has some serious work to do in terms of pen storage for the SP4.

9). Kickstand. Major improvement. On the lap, it's not as comfortable as a clamshell, but it's quite nice.

10). Overall, I'm very happy with this. I'll install my CAD/CAM software tomorrow, and I'll post more about it's performance then.
 

hopmedic

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I agree that the loop is a joke. Seriously? You want me to tape this loop of fabric to my keyboard and expect to feel secure... Riiiiiiiiight...

Yes, the pen pressure levels do leave something to be desired. But if you read that Penny Arcade blog post linked to in a couple other threads, you see that Microsoft is working on that. This is a good thing, for sure.

Form factor - I didn't mention it when I posted, but yes, I definitely like the 3:2 better than the 16:9. Outlook on the desktop looks far more usable (though I still think they should make the display of the header information optional, to give you more space in the reading pane). I definitely like the additional height on the screen.
 

mozman68

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I'm really surprised a simple low profile notch wasn't formed in the bezel. Not for the whole pen, but enough for the clip to slide through and hold the pen to the side of the case.
 

mikeakanice

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Unfortunately I think I'm just going to send my sp3 back and be done with it. I really wanted to like this but there are things Microsoft for some reason just can't get right

1. The battery life. It's misleading at best that you can get 9 hours on this. I've updated everything, turned my screen down to 35% and only do light web browsing. Yet I'm only getting 4 to 4 1/2 hours on this. I'm also getting unacceptable battery drain while it's in sleep mode. In 5 hours twice away from the device I am getting a 4 percent battery draw. Now that may not seem like a big issue but in the end this is a laptop I planned on keeping for 2-4 years and I can only imagine that the deterioration of the battery over time.

2. The pens responsiveness - When I first started using the pen for one note Everything was great. Yet now it seems to do two things horribly wrong and they both happen on the left side. The pen is unresponsive about a half inch from left to right in one note. Nothing shows up no matter what I do from those parameters. The other issue is that it will also swipe from one note to either the the windows 8 app mode, desktop mode, or to another app. This is very frustrating when taking notes.

Now these things may or may not be resolved over time. However, looking at the issues that have gone unresolved on the surface pro 2 I don't have much faith in Microsoft to do so. Their track record with how they've handled the first two iterations of the Surface Pro have me nervous.

I will be going with a Macbook. The ideas and intention of the surface pro 3 no doubt makes the device ideally a better fit and the features outweigh anything Apple has to offer. The flawed implementation and the lack of having bugs that should get worked out before the release is unacceptable for the price tag they put on the device. I refuse to gamble 1400 on a device that has potential but in the end the execution is not up to snuff. Apple may not have all the cool features that the surface pro 3 does. But it does do what it says it does. And doesn't expect me to be the buyer to test out the bugs.
 

jedge

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2. The pens responsiveness - When I first started using the pen for one note Everything was great. Yet now it seems to do two things horribly wrong and they both happen on the left side. The pen is unresponsive about a half inch from left to right in one note. Nothing shows up no matter what I do from those parameters. The other issue is that it will also swipe from one note to either the the windows 8 app mode, desktop mode, or to another app. This is very frustrating when taking notes.

May want to try recalibrating the pen from the Control Panel. If you calibrate it in landscape mode you have twice as many calibration points as in portrait mode. I have no idea why this would be, but yup.
 

hopmedic

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I'm really surprised a simple low profile notch wasn't formed in the bezel. Not for the whole pen, but enough for the clip to slide through and hold the pen to the side of the case.

You know, even a concave edge that the pen fits into, and is held in place with magnets would be a far cry better than what we have. Holding a round object next to a flat object with magnets is one thing, but make that edge concave and you put a whole new level of security into the picture. It'll take more to knock it off by accident. As it is, I won't be using the power-cord magnets to hold my pen in place.
 

seangprice

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I've been on the fence for a while regarding any of the pro model surface products. Last fall I purchased and used my Surface RT extensively while traveling but found it lacking in certain areas.. well really one big area, the lack of full support of native windows programs. I've been doing my research, reading the reviews and playing around with the demo models to see if I could make the switch from my MacBook Pro. I finally opted to try one of these bad boys yesterday. I initially wanted to get the basic i5 with 128 but my location was back ordered, I went with the upgraded i5, 8gb RAM and 256 GB.

First and for most the MacBook this could potentially replace is a mid 2012 15 inch with built in discrete graphics and the quad core i7. I love my
Mac but it can tough to travel with such a large slate of metal. The rare gaming I do with my Mac always leaves me impressed, I know I won't see the same performance with the SP3. Eliminating the gaming performance so far I can easily see how much more mobile I can be with the SP3 and stay just as productive.

Build Quality is excellent, overall feel is just as premium as anything Apple makes. The keyboard is better than previous generations but still leaves something to be desired, lets be honest, the trackpad is horrible in comparison to Mac. The stylus is a great feature though, I've rarely used one so I'm still trying to get use to using it.

So far Day one has been great, I'll be traveling with the SP3 this coming week to truly test it's capabilities on the road...
 

mozman68

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Can I just say how awesome the speakers are?

Was so use to the p.o.s "speaker" on my iPad and can't believe how great it is to listen to my music and not only hear it but in stereo as well. Great job Microsoft!
 

raziel

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​Sold my MacBook Air 13" 2013 i7. I am loving the Surface Pro 3. I've had the Surface Pro 1 and 2 and returned those after trying them out for two weeks. However with the Surface Pro 3 I am instantly in love with this thing.

Here are my thoughts on it so far...

Good

  • Much thinner form factor than it's predecessors. Also lighter
  • Screen is much easier to read in desktop mode thanks to the 3:2 ratio
  • Windows 8.1 still has it's quirks but has come a long way
  • My work involves a lot of travel - don't have to take this out of the bag at the airports
  • The Surface Pro 3's pen is the best that it has ever been for note taking. Love how well executed One Note is too
  • Don't need to worry about the compromises of an iOS or Android tablet
  • You get the full working desktop experience of a desktop in the form of a tablet
  • Battery life isn't as good as the MacBook Air but it does last through an 8-hour workday
  • Really cool when using this hooked up with another monitor and mouse. It knows to use natural scrolling in Metro mode, and standard scrolling in desktop mode!
  • Very good overall performance - I have several apps open at once and it has not slowed down
  • Kickstand is very well executed and has flexible viewing angles
  • Keyboard is great, although not as good as the MacBook Air's but it's pretty darn close
  • Touchscreen makes a huge difference in working on a computer. Super useful and more efficient to navigate through the OS, websites, etc
  • Touch interface for Microsoft Office is well done
  • Thanks to the cloud, syncing between my iMac and Surface has been pretty seamless such as One Note, Evernote, and DropBox

Bad

  • Swinging back and forth between my iMac and Surface Pro due to different OS took some time to get used to... like 2 hours. For a geek, that's an eternity.
  • It sometimes gets warm depending on the intensity of your applications so I wouldn't recommend using this on your lap for long periods of time. Look for a desk or table if you are doing serious work, if not tablet mode works great. I value the longevity of my huevos.
  • Metro mode still needs more time to develop. For simple apps and to use as a consumption device, the iPad Air is still the best, which is why I am keeping it for bed and couch surfing.
  • Third party Metro apps suck for the most part, you are better off using the desktop version
  • If you rely heavily on Google calendar, either use the web version or switch to Outlook
 

cdf3

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[*]If you rely heavily on Google calendar, either use the web version or switch to Outlook
[/LIST]

I downloaded OneCalendar, and it works perfectly with Google Calendar. The stock Calendar doesn't support Google.
I've also downloaded MetroMail that works well with GMail. It's great for those that have several GMail accounts, and need to switch back and forth between them. Way better than Stock Mail app.
 

DmitriNokia

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Just bought a Surface Pro 3 after using the Surface Pro 1 from launch and I must say, I'm very impressed with the SP3. Beautiful design and the weight is so much lighter than the SP1. Like others said; the speakers are finally loud enough. But I think the biggest improvement from the SP1 is the kickstand, the ability to adjust the angle is just awesome and was lacking on the SP1.

Overall i'm super happy with my purchase.
 

jenny311

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I love mine. I have the i7 512gb. I have all of my adobe suite cloud programs running on it and office 365. My email is Microsoft exchange so outlook is a perfect option for mail and calendar. I also like the keyboard. I haven't used the pen much at all. I really just played with it for a bit on day one. I'd like to have a reason to use the pen, but I really haven't yet, it just doesn't occur to me. Speakers are great and the screen is beautiful. I had the pro 2 (also 512 GB) before upgrading to the Pro 3. I really liked the surface pro 2. I was initially worried about the windows 8 experience from all the reviews, but I actually really like it. It has all the apps I need and I actually like the windows apps, to me they feel polished and part of the same ecosystem as the operating system and being able to load programs on the surface really eliminates the needs for most apps. The apps I do use are more for light use and entertainment. When it comes time to work I open the desktop. I wasn't sure about purchasing the pro 3 so soon after the pro 2. I didn't really have to, but I really wanted to... and I am happy I did, it was worth it.

Before I purchased a surface I had a galaxy note tablet and a Sony laptop. I haven't touch either since I've started using a surface.
 

dhbailey

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I've had my SurfacePro3 (i5, 128GB) for a little over a week now and I have to say that I am very impressed with it. As a working musician I want to have my music library with me when I travel as well as using an electronic "music stand" and for the past 4 years I've been using iPads (first the original and then moving up to the iPad4) but for actual rehearsing/performing I find the screen just a bit too small at 9.3". With the SurfacePro3's 12" screen I finally have a device which is useful for more than just practicing by myself.

I had stayed away from the WindowsRT devices but now that full Windows8.1 is on the SurfacePro3 I finally bit the bullet and am very happy. I have been able to install my WordPerfect office suite, my music notation programs, audio recording/editing software as well as my music-reading program and a huge library of PDF files of my music. I bought the largest microSD card (128GB) to hold my data and PDF files and I already had a self-powered Seagate hard drive for those times when I need/want more storage without having to have have a plug-in external hard-drive or a powered USB hub, so I am extremely mobile now and ready to take on the world.

I bought an HP bluetooth mouse because I find that I don't like prolonged use of a touchpad and I bought a bluetooth keyboard for those times when I want a bit of space between me and the device but still want to create content.

While I do realize there are flaws:
1) it would have been so nice if Microsoft had added a side keyboard connector for those of us who would like to take just the device but who prefer to work in portrait mode;
2) it would also have been so nice if Microsoft had designed a kickstand that could be converted for use in portrait mode (but a CaseLogic tablet stand is very tiny and cheap and works excellently for that);
3) it would be great to have a 2nd USB port;
4) it would be great if the microSD slot were a full-size SD port so that we could use larger capacity cards;
5) the pen attachment feature that others have mentioned -- the concave edge where the power cord magnets are would have been great for holding the pen;

But all of those are very easy to live with and with thumb drives ever increasing in size it's amazing how much capacity this thing has -- I would have purchased the larger capacity version but money is tight (did I mention that I'm a working musician?)

I'm very happy with my purchase and will be making great use of this in the coming months as I settle into it more and more.
 

dclaryjr

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I've had my SP3 for a little over 48 hours and my first impression is that I love it. I use it with the keyboard by day, and it sits on my lap in tablet mode in the evening. I like how I can be using modern apps, and then effortlessly switch over to Office 2013. The only negative for me is that it doesn't play with DIRECTV as well as my iPad does, but I can live with that (and I still have the iPad ��).
 

Pinger#WP

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I'm totally blown away... I purchased the 1st ipad at it's release, then moved to the Nexus 10 and honestly the 12" screen was my 1st draw to the SP3 but once I played with it at Best Buy I was sold... It's exactly what I hoped tablets would become, my PC in a tablet(hmmm sounds like a commercial lol). For a 12" slate this powerful it is amazingly thin.. I am probably in the minority using it as i did with my earlier tablets, in a slim case with no keyboard and using my laptop's bluetooth mouse, it works for me but I never thought it could get this good!!
I went with the i5-128gb SP3.. I definitely see a SP6 in my future :)
 

enthuz

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After owning my i7/512 for 2 weeks, I must say that I'm amazed at the power and efficiency packed into the this small form factor. I've used it for travel, meetings and my engineering work and training. So far there hasn't been anything it couldn't handle. The main issues thus far were user error. :confused: After some tweaking, my older multi-monitor setup is good. I will have to change it when my upgrades are ordered and shipped. However while on travel last week, I spoke with another engineer who had a very large and wide monitor connected which was like a dual in one solution. I just don't want to pay too much for whatever I end up getting. So I'm keeping my eye out for Cyber Monday deals. I even used Hyper-V and setup some VMs which ran without issues. Strangely I didn't see any changes in my battery usage. Nor did the lack of connected standby affect me. I do want to try gaming on this...albeit lite since I have my Xbox for the good & serious gaming. I'm looking for a controller now.

I'm finding myself using Bing and IE more and more. I've been a die hard Chrome user after defecting from Firefox. Having something that is seamless across my MS ecosystem is hard to live without after living it. I felt the same when I was all Google...now it's all MS. It will never be all Apple (just not me).

Someone mentioned how the SP3 is viewed as a tablet device by airlines and thus we can continue to use it vs laptop owners. I was laughing when I experienced it myself as others were told to pack it up after sitting on the tarmac for a while.:smile:

I was able to find a folio case that I love with it. I'm also rocking the new Arc Touch BT mouse, MS BT keyboard, MS Display Adapter, Surface Dock and Type Keyboard. This combination is outstanding for me. YMMV

Next, I have to load Adobe CS6 and see how it will handle that. For anyone on the fence, I say take the plunge. With the many updates and changes since the first release, this is a very good buy for the intended audience.
 

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