Product Diluting to the Extreme

[sundry]

I seems Microsoft is using product diluting, to an extreme, as a way to not cannibalize sales on other models in their line up. I wish they would use marketing enhancement instead, and the surface pro 4 is good reference to use as an example.
Microsoft takes a fantastic screen, great speakers and awesome detachable keyboard that make up the surface 4 and add a i7 processor, up to 16G ram and 1Gig storage . All is good here. Then they have to create the lower models but make sure that they don't create something of a standout value along the way. So they create an i5 model, that you can't upgrade to as much storage; as the i7. Then the lowest model, the m3, they had to think even harder to dilute it's value enough from the i5, since they saw how quiet and zippy this processor was, while sipping a little less battery. Microsoft did the natural thing first by stripping away the option of getting even 8G of ram and topping storage at 128G. Then there was that nagging issue of the tiny bit extra better battery life. Solution, give it a smaller battery,,, oh and make that charger cord a little, aah... make that a lot shorter dammit, and slower at charging!

Now I don't think Microsoft should have to be so drastic or think so hard to make sure the value levels so distinct, Use your marketing skills instead. Let us guys with the lowly m3 have 256G of storage but, like, put a sticker on the i5 models that say "Sound by Bang". And the i7 would have a sticker the would say " Sound by Bang and Olufsen". You know we would still be wishing we had that sticker.

 

[m4600]

So they create an i5 model, that you can't upgrade to as much ram, or storage; as the i7.

Not sure what you mean. Mine is i5/16/512.

 

[snakebitten]

Yea, that 4 gig cap pushed me to an undesired I5. And I CAN live with the 128 if necessary. (Although I have to leverage SD and cloud with more deliberate attention)
Didn't realize the M got less battery and charger though. That's unnecessary clipping and adding complexity to manufacturing.
Alas, I still love the thing. It's engineering art.

 

[kjparfekt]

Interesting take on the different models - definitely ended up with an i5 8GB Ram 256GB - so far it's been a good compromise not sure it was my ideal and I definitely thought for days over the option but this was a respectable compromise for price and specs I wanted

 

[sundry]

Not sure what you mean. Mine is i5/16/512.

Yes, your right i corrected.

 

[m4600]

I do agree that the m3 model is too limited (in its configuration options). But I see absolutely no product diluting with the i5 model. How many ultrabook class computers on the market even offer 16GB of RAM or 512GB SSD? Can you name a few? The 1TB drive is not even available yet (until next year I believe). And very few would even consider it at such a high price, especially for the i5 model.

 

[boltman2013]

I do agree that the m3 model is too limited. But I see absolutely no product diluting with the i5 model. How many ultrabook class computers on the market even offer 16GB of RAM or 512GB SSD? Can you name a few? The 1TB drive is not even available yet (until next year I believe). And very few would even consider it at such a high price, especially for the i5 model.

Speak for yourself..the M3 is perfect for 99.5 % of users and is a hell of a value at $899. It is not limited and is PRO.
Its only potential limitation is the 4GB cap...is that a deal breaker?

Hmm maybe for 0.5 % of users.

In fact you have to look at the form factor a 12.3 in tablet with type keyboard. The way I look at it, why on earth would you invest more on that form factor?

Its sort of nuts that the i5 with 8 GB of RAM which many would argue is the sweet spot is in fact $500 more than the M3. Yet still not an i7..its a $1399 i5 tablet that needs a keyboard.

At $1399 your options expand greatly at $899 they do not that is why $899 is the smart pick .

The i5 has a fan that sounds like a humming bird when you push it. The M3? Silent (less dust, no moving parts AND lighter)

So don't think M3 users are somehow "limited", I have built i7 desktops with 32GB of RAM and dedicated GPU's and for many things I would prefer to use my M3. This form factor the M3 is the perfect CPU and having no fan makes it the no brainier pick...spend the $500 you save on another more proper platform than a 12.3 " tablet or the smarter choice is another device not maxing out this 12.3" one.

THis is way better than Apple selling a 16GB iPhone6S..at least the M3 works for 99.5%

 

[sundry]

Speak for yourself..the M3 is perfect for 99.5 % of users and is a hell of a value at $899.

This line made my my day. Lmao.
That as funny as the joke, when the father scolds his son " son I've told you a million times, stop exaggerating!"

 

[boltman2013]

This line made my my day. Lmfao.
That as funny as the joke, when the father scolds his son " son I've told you a million times, stop exaggerating!"

Its true and try to prove more than .5% need 8GB..heck many are happy with their crappy 1-3GB smartphone

Don't fall into the "max tech trap" a better way to look at it is spend on what you actually need then put aside the money for an upgrade later as tech improves..its foolish to max out any tech and that is a big reason America is broke. Blame Apple.

 

[Zachary Boddy]

Its true and try to prove more than .5% need 8GB..heck many are happy with their crappy 1-3GB smartphone

Don't fall into the "max tech trap" a better way to look at it is spend on what you actually need then put aside the money for an upgrade later as tech improves..its foolish to max out any tech and that is a big reason America is broke. Blame Apple.

I don't disagree with your opinion, but your comparison involving smartphones is a little foolish. Smartphones are used completely differently than laptops and PC's. Yeah, Continuum is neat but when you need a laptop you use your silly laptop. 1-3GB of RAM is plenty for a smartphone. They can barely even take advantage of 4.

 

[Zachary Boddy]

Now I think the M3 and 4GB of RAM would be okay for me but I need more storage and if I'm going to spend that kind of money on a high end premium PC I'm going to go for an i5 with 8GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage because it'll last me longer.

 

[TechFreak1]

Let's face it the m3 is a much more better than i3 however it is just that, you're really not going to be running anything very intensive on a m3 cpu so there is really not much of a point in having a 6gb, 8gb M3 Model. If you do and want more for your buck then there are plenty of other laptops you can choose from. The surface line was designed to compete at the top end and inspire the boring OEMs into making much more enticing hardware. Granted Microsoft already had a product called Surface but that is here nor there.

Windows 10 is pretty damn resource efficient and runs pretty darn well on hardware where vista struggled. Yesterday I was at a computer shop as I needed a usb hub pronto, they were installing Windows 10 home on pretty old hardware as trial runs and it was ridiculous how fast it booted compared to Vista. They had three machines on vista and three on 10 all clean installs, same specced machines (these were recycled ex-lease machines corporates throw away).

If you're primary usage is web browsing, multimedia consumption and office docs then you really don't need much. However if you're going to be running FL Studio (which is awesome with touch), Cubase, Pro Tools, cad, premier etc than you definitely need more than 4 Gigs of ram along with a i5/i7. Plus a super fast SSD with high read and writes would also make life much easier.

 

[zkyevolved]

Haha. I've had the SP2 for 2 years now almost, come end of November it'll be 2 years, and I have the i5 and 128GB version with 4GB ram. My SP is a complement to my Desktop. I want my SP4 to replace my desktop for reading the news and checking my mail; that's why I'm going to get the surface dock. I could do this now with my SP2. It's very fast to turn on and off. Battery life is STILL Very good after 2 years. I can edit in Adobe Fireworks the files that I need; in fact, I was printing wedding invitations 2 weeks ago and I went to the copy place and stood their at the counter making changes and editing the file. The biggest issue for me with these devices is the small screen (mine is currently 10") other than that, with 4GB for work and home it's MORE than suffice, believe me. On my tiny tablet I can edit video and pictures in a professional way. Of course, for work, I create content like powerpoints, documents, sync files, do accounting. All of these things I'm sure could be done in the M3, but I have always been an i5 guy, and for 100 more I get my i5 which can be pushed harder than the M3.

All in all... Nothing wrong with the M3, fantastic processor for 99% of the people.
Nothing wrong with 4GB unless you're running VM or going to have 20 applications open at the same time.

 

[ioaniro]

I wouldn't call it dilution, at least not until we know what's the profit margin between products. If the profits are the same why would Microsoft care what you configure how? My guess is that their sales team didn't take into consideration the amount of people that would want an m3 just because is fanless but would still want to equip it as a good computer, the way m3 is marketed now is mainly to people that do not use intensive apps which means you don't install huge programs that take up all you storage and use 3x the memory you have... That said I am also in the category that wants a fanless system with a decent SDD and RAM.
Also, you mention a lower battery on the m3 in the original post, that's the first I hear about that, I was under the impression all models had the same battery, just the charger is lower spec and that's probably because the battery warms up too much with the full charger and would need a fan (is also why the fan seems to run always when you charge the i5, or at least often). Remember the passive cooling is a plate on the battery itself.

 

[ntice_521]

It's not necessarily Microsoft's choice...maybe they have to limit the m3 to get the best price from Intel.

 

[jmshub]

The Surface Pro can get expensive if you option it all the way out. The M3 SP4 allows Microsoft to advertise that the Surface Pro 4 "starts at $899", and for some people, that is all they need, so MS is also providing options at both ends of the spectrum.