Is the surface pro 4 for me?

[Closingracer]

These are the devices I am considering should I decide I want to stick with Windows. I am also thinking of a Macbook Air as well but that's besides the point. I have an iPad, and an iPhone as well as a Windows laptop but I need a device for college this semester to write notes and do other stuff while in school. The laptop I have now is a 17 inch gaming laptop that isn't exactly mobile and my school is a few miles away by train. I will primarily use this for notes but also for some light gaming as well to past the time between classes. I am considering spending slightly more for the $899 surface pro 4 because it's newer and thus has newer tech so it will last slightly longer then the others. Others is purely on price. The one thing I am scared abiut is the Intel Atom processor in the surface 3 which I think could become a problem. Which device would you choose of those 3?

 

[zipro]

I would definitely not consider the Surface 3 because of its slow processor. Your choice should be between the Surface Pro 4 and the 12" Macbook, of you ask me.

 

[Closingracer]

I would definitely not consider the Surface 3 because of its slow processor. Your choice should be between the Surface Pro 4 and the 12" Macbook, of you ask me.

The Macbook is probably out of the budget I have which I am trying to keep it below $1,000 for the device. Was thinking of the Macbook Air 11 inch.


As far as the surface 3 goes I was thinking of that which is why I was mostly considering the surface pro 3 but I did like that the surface 3 charged with a micro USB cable

 

[Rising Mos]

If I were you, I would get the surface pro 3 with i5 instead of surface pro 4 with i3. However, I would get the new surface cover keyboard with that.

In terms of storage, 64 or 128 should be enough. 4 fb or ram is enough too.

And don't forget to get the 10% student discount.

 

[onlysublime]

Is there a way you can swing for this?

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 - 12" - Intel Core i5 - 256GB Silver PS2-00017 - Best Buy

$999. It's the Surface Pro 3 with Core i5 / 8 GB RAM / 256 GB SSD. It's pushing your budget. But I wouldn't recommend the SP3 with i3 / 4 GB RAM / 128 GB SSD. I would take the $999 SP3 with i5 / 8 GB RAM / 256 GB SSD over the $899 SP4 with Core M3 / 4 GB RAM / 128 GB. Not only do you have more RAM and storage, you are also driving less pixels which means better performance.

If you want to save for the near term and pay for the Type Cover keyboard down the road, you can always use a cheap Bluetooth keyboard in the meantime.

I didn't like the Surface 3 much. I handed it down to a family member. Yes, it's lighter and has a better form factor than the Surface Pro 3. But the Atom is really limited to basic stuff like Microsoft Office, web browsing with few tabs, etc. I even got the 4 GB model to help it out. Little pauses and hitches here and there drove me crazy. Sometimes I would touch the screen and was left wondering if it didn't recognize my touch or whether I had to give it some time to respond.

 

[ioaniro]

From your usage and budget I would say you should get the SP4 with the M3 processor. Also, you should be able to get the 10% discount on that using your college/school email right? This should allow you to get the keyboard included in the same amount of money. You should also consider getting Office with the same college discount (if you don't have it yet). The onenote app is much better than the default one.

 

[mr_fomo]

The SP4 fits your bill perfectly IMHO:
One Note and Surface Pen is perfect for note taking.
The Core m3 runs Office effortlessly with multiple programs open at the same time
Battery life is "soso", but charge time is only around 2.5 hours
Screen size is great for reading text books - catching up on Calculus again ☺
The keyboard is a must, that transforms the tablet into full notebook territory.
$899 is a lot of money, but so far I'm quite happy

 

[Closingracer]

The SP4 fits your bill perfectly IMHO:
One Note and Surface Pen is perfect for note taking.
The Core m3 runs Office effortlessly with multiple programs open at the same time
Battery life is "soso", but charge time is only around 2.5 hours
Screen size is great for reading text books - catching up on Calculus again ☺
The keyboard is a must, that transforms the tablet into full notebook territory.
$899 is a lot of money, but so far I'm quite happy

Will it last 4 hours though? I have a few four hour classes and probably going to use it mostly in those. Would prefer not being stuck near an outlet.

 

[Closingracer]

From your usage and budget I would say you should get the SP4 with the M3 processor. Also, you should be able to get the 10% discount on that using your college/school email right? This should allow you to get the keyboard included in the same amount of money. You should also consider getting Office with the same college discount (if you don't have it yet). The onenote app is much better than the default one.

They give college discounts? Where. I only knew of Apple doing that


I already get office 365 for free with my college email address so I'm set there.

 

[cj-m]

Believe it or not but Reddit has some good posts regarding the SP4 Core, their forums are also another good source for everyday user reviews.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/3s74zo/must_read_in_depth_battery_test_sp4_students_and/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/3v7ipf/thinking_of_getting_the_core_m_surface_pro_4/

I hope this helps in some way.

 

[ioaniro]

They give college discounts? Where. I only knew of Apple doing that


I already get office 365 for free with my college email address so I'm set there.

I'm not sure how it works in the US but here you just go to the microsoft website and then select the education store and use your university email or the university log-in and get 10% discount for most of the products.

 

[mc511]

Yeah they do give college students and employees discounts. I went to the MS store at my Mall and the guy said i can get a discount on the device. I believe that you either need to bring your ID or give him your student email or student ID number. I work in IT at the college i work at. Teachers and Students should be the same easily.

 

[zkyevolved]

Online they only asked for the email address and bam. Got the discount. I'd go for the sp4. Better device. You'll enjoy it very much. I get between 5 and 6 hours dealt. Depending on what you're doing. Battery life is not the same as a full blown laptop sized device.

 

[Closingracer]

Yeah they do give college students and employees discounts. I went to the MS store at my Mall and the guy said i can get a discount on the device. I believe that you either need to bring your ID or give him your student email or student ID number. I work in IT at the college i work at. Teachers and Students should be the same easily.

Didn't know that.

 

[Closingracer]

Online they only asked for the email address and bam. Got the discount. I'd go for the sp4. Better device. You'll enjoy it very much. I get between 5 and 6 hours dealt. Depending on what you're doing. Battery life is not the same as a full blown laptop sized device.

It will still be better then my laptop that I currently have lol. It is a gaming laptop through and through. An Intel i7-4710MQ, 8gb of ram and a nvidia 970m gpu. Thing probably lasts around 4 hours on battery even if I made it only use the Intel HD graphics.



I'm only asking for 4 hours tops but my 4 hour classes rarely go all 4 hours based off my last semester.

 

[Closingracer]

Costco is currently selling the surface pro 3 i5 for $899 with the keyboard included. I know this is a great deal but I wasn't planning on buying one now and waiting until February or so


Should I really go for it or wait?

 

[onlysublime]

The SP3 i5 is still a fantastic machine. You'll get better overall performance than the M3 (the M3 has better graphics though. However, right now the graphics driver for Surface Pro 4 is pretty awful so we're all waiting for Intel to fix them). But because the SP3 is driving fewer pixels, that balances out the graphics part. That also balances out the battery life. Technically, Skylake has improvements in battery life but because the SP4 is pushing higher pixels, it uses more energy and thus balances out the gains so battery life isn't really better than SP3. Plus, Windows 10 is dragging down all PCs right now in terms of battery life.

 

[ioaniro]

If you go for the sp3 hold off the update to windows 10 till you hear most glitches were fixed. My friends with sp3's rolled back to windows 8 because on 10 their battery life was cut in half (still does 4 hours but on windows 8.1 is much better than that). Would be nice to check if the deal you saw is with the old keyboard or the new. The new one is much better.

 

[boltman2013]

The SP3 i5 is still a fantastic machine. You'll get better overall performance than the M3 (the M3 has better graphics though. However, right now the graphics driver for Surface Pro 4 is pretty awful so we're all waiting for Intel to fix them). But because the SP3 is driving fewer pixels, that balances out the graphics part. That also balances out the battery life. Technically, Skylake has improvements in battery life but because the SP4 is pushing higher pixels, it uses more energy and thus balances out the gains so battery life isn't really better than SP3. Plus, Windows 10 is dragging down all PCs right now in terms of battery life.

Why are you continue to bring the i5 into the discussion ..it was between Core M , Core M3 and i3 he doesn't care about the SP 3 i5... my son has that Sp3i5 machine and he likes mine better the M3 (rocks)

 

[ioaniro]

Why are you continue to bring the i5 into the discussion ..it was between Core M , Core M3 and i3 he doesn't care about the SP 3 i5... my son has that Sp3i5 machine and he likes mine better the M3 (rocks)

The OP brought it in the discussion, for the deal he mentions is not too bad. I'd still go for the M3 with the university discount though for the same money. Unless the SP3 has a much bigger SSD.