Surface Pro 3 already at some Microsoft Stores, thoughts

[MikeSo]

I just went. im not impressed. it still looks small, the pen was alright. I didn't get to test it on other apps, but it was superb on OneNote. However, the lightness of it and its thinness was impressive. Software wise, I think it just felt boring because it wasn't my metro desktop, but hopefully that will change once I get my own. I pre-ordered on the spot.

Huh?

 

[Mike Gibson]

Some comments from my limited test drive of the SP3 tonight:

1. The most striking thing top me was how "large" the 12" screen looked compared to the 11.6" screen on my Samsung Series 7 Slate. While the two screens have almost the same diagonal size, the Samsung's 16:9 display looks much smaller than the SP3's 3:2 display. Really weird ... I wasn't expecting that.

2. The multi-position kickstand worked great in my limited testing. Much better than the one or two position kickstands in previous generations.

3. The thing feels solid yet lightweight in your hands. It's a sexy little machine.

4. One of the demo units wasn't functioning properly. Screen rotation didn't work and the touchscreen was erratic. Not good! The other demo unit worked perfectly as far as I could tell.

I'm going to replace my current laptop, a Lenovo IdeaPad 560y, and Samsung 7 with a single touchscreen laptop sometime this year. I had basically settled on the Lenovo Yoga Pro 2 or Thinkpad ... but now the SP3 has become a contender. I wish MSFT would make a Surface laptop with a 13.3" screen!

 

[onysi]

Huh?

I am not impressed, but I need a laptop/tablet replacement for school, and Ill take surface over any other tablet/laptop anyday. that's what im trying to say. It is a necessity, so I preordered one anyway.

 

[maflynn]

I too went the MS store and played with it. I posted the following on another site regarding the SP3

• Overall size - its bigger then the older models but instead of feeling too big, its more like the SP2 looks too small if that makes sense. I mean it seems better to have this size for what you're doing.
• Screen size, its smaller then my 15" rMBP but has a higher resolution (with my rMBP running in retina mode) and to that end, some things are rendering smaller. That is a higher resolution in a smaller display. Mostly this is ok and I wasn't bothered by it. I found excel and word to be fine, since you can easily zoom in. Its apps that are not DPI scaling friendly that are maybe showing up smaller then I'm used too.
• Used as a tablet in portrait mode - I'm not convinced this would be very viable for long term use. I can see this being used w/o cover keyboard as a landscape tablet more then holding it upright. Hand fatigue sets in fairly quickly
• Performance. Good performance using the installed apps, not much was on there when I arrived but for what I played with it was good.
• The keyboard was good, the track pad was decent, not great but decent. I think a wireless mouse may be needed.
• Pen, its nice, it works well, MS struck out in placing the pen on the cover. I'm not sure where it should go but I don't think the solution that is offered is really all that great. On usage, it was accurate, and fairly fast. I'm not someone who draws and I think typing would be faster but quick note taking would be good with it, especially as I got used to the device.
• Kickstand is great, it works as advertised - only time will tell in how it will hold up in the long run, i.e., will it be as good in year 2 as it is on day 1?

My overall reaction is that its a great laptop replacement, functional as a tablet though I can't see this replacing my iPad retina Mini.

If I were to get one, I'd be giving up on using my 15" rMBP - is that something I'm willing to do? Since I have one on pre-order I have time to continue to mull this over and decide what machine best fits my needs.

 

[mikeakanice]

I am not impressed, but I need a laptop/tablet replacement for school, and Ill take surface over any other tablet/laptop anyday. that's what im trying to say. It is a necessity, so I preordered one anyway.

You're not impressed yet you are spending 1000+ on it? This thing is not a necessity for school. I'm also going to school and you could get an amazing laptop and still use pen and paper. So what you're saying doesn't add up

 

[mozman68]

So...not sure how many people saw this, but there is a video on here talking about the pen. It actually sticks to the side of the SP3 via magnets. I think the loop in the cover is fine when transporting, but I plan on just sticking it to the side when it is actually sitting at my desk or on my lap.

 

[latempete]

So...not sure how many people saw this, but there is a video on here talking about the pen. It actually sticks to the side of the SP3 via magnets. I think the loop in the cover is fine when transporting, but I plan on just sticking it to the side when it is actually sitting at my desk or on my lap.

Definitely put it on the cover when transporting!! My original Surface Pro's pen attaches to the side also. Where the power cord attaches. It holds pretty well but gets knocked off easily. I only use the magnetic attachment when I am not going anywhere. I have an aftermarket cover with a loop that works great when transporting.

 

[Alligator42]

I ordered the i7. Now I wonder if I spec'd it too high. Anyone have a chance to ask what the i7 battery life will be?

 

[Zulfigar]

I ordered the i7. Now I wonder if I spec'd it too high. Anyone have a chance to ask what the i7 battery life will be?

Already been stated that the i3, i5, and i7 will have the same battery life of 8 hours.

 

[TheJoester09]

I'm jealous of all of you that have gotten hands-on time with it! I don't have an MS store near me, and the local Best Buy says they have a demo unit on the way, but they don't know when it will arrive. The 20th can't come soon enough!

 

[xboxonthego3]

I don't have a Microsoft store nearby either. Checked BestBuy they will have them on Sunday. Errr. Can't wait to see one!

 

[onysi]

You're not impressed yet you are spending 1000+ on it? This thing is not a necessity for school. I'm also going to school and you could get an amazing laptop and still use pen and paper. So what you're saying doesn't add up

wasn't impressed with the size. Still too tiny for me, and software, but it wasn't my profile, so I could change it to my metro layout later. Like I said, I need it for school. I'm not getting some ****ty laptop that's heavy and bulky. I'm paying premium for the weight, and brand which I'm okay with. For pen and paper, I also buy the good stuff, moleskine brand. :wink:

 

[Bora777]

The only thing that disappointed me was that there isn't a touch cover available for it. The Touch Cover on my SP2 isn't that great for typing, but in a pinch it works. For me, it was about keeping it as slim as possible.

My sentiments exactly. For those of use whose primary uses involve more drawing and PS work than typing, a slimmer (and cheaper) Touch Cover would have been a nice option.

 

[mikeakanice]

wasn't impressed with the size. Still too tiny for me, and software, but it wasn't my profile, so I could change it to my metro layout later. Like I said, I need it for school. I'm not getting some ****ty laptop that's heavy and bulky. I'm paying premium for the weight, and brand which I'm okay with. For pen and paper, I also buy the good stuff, moleskine brand. :wink:

Well okay that makes a little more sense I guess. To be honest I wouldn't mind if they made this a 13.3 inch myself. Remember with the software though that they don't update the demos and they wipe it every night. So you're getting a very sloppy version of the final product. I personally like windows 8.1 and you can put classic shell on it so you can have the old menu bar and program files. I kinda like the metro/classic windows 7 when dealing with the surface pro models. Although a desktop metro or laptop never made sense.

 

[kittengirl]

I stopped by the MS store yesterday and tried out for a few minutes. LOVE IT! The weight is awesome and the size perfect, in my opinion. I had hoped to use my SP2 to replace a paper note pad in meetings, but just found it to be a bit too small, and the wrong shape for that. Although I love my SP2, and have otherwise been very happy with it, this fact alone makes the SP3 a better option for me. The one downside of course, is that it will take up more space in a bag. I have a few purses that the SP2 will actually fit into, but that won't work with the SP3. I can live with that however.

 

[kevinn206]

I already tried it as well at a MS Store. It's really nice. The 3:2 screen works really well. The split-screen also works very well especially since it has a high-resolution display. There's nothing better than being able to browse two independent websites at the same time.

The touchpad is a lot better than many laptops. I believe it has the latest Precision Touch, since you can pinch-to-zoom and scroll buttery smooth on the touchpad like it's on the touchscreen. This is what I have been waiting for in laptops today. I really wish more companies would start using Precision Touch.

PS: It does get warm, maybe more so than I expected.

 

[onysi]

I also thought the kickstand friction was tough. Lol it was hard to pull it out and harder to spread apart. lol that's the easiest way to explain it.

 

[LazyEvul]

Just dropped by the Microsoft Store at Yorkdale Mall today to check out the SP3. And wow, am I impressed. The keyboard is much better than I could have imagined, I even tried it out in my lap and it was excellent - it's not as good as a full-on laptop, but it's plenty good enough. Even the trackpad was solid, and there are very few trackpads I've ever found bearable. The pen is also wonderful, and I was unable to replicate the issue in which your palm accidentally triggers the Home button - maybe they've patched this out by now?

As far as using it in tablet mode, it's quite good - I have no beef with the abnormally large 12-inch size, it's still perfectly usable IMHO. However, I can't see myself holding it up for an extended period of time. 800 grams still makes for a hefty tablet, though it's light enough that you won't feel the weight over short periods of time.

I only had two minor concerns. One, I couldn't get the virtual keyboard to appear in the Modern version of Internet Explorer (and other Modern apps) no matter what I did. Mind you, I have very little experience with Windows 8, so maybe I'm missing some kind of trick to it? Or is this just a bug?

My other concern was that the pen seemed to disconnect on me randomly at one point. I had to hit the top button to trigger OneNote to get it working again - perhaps there's some issue maintaining connectivity that needs patching? I think I've heard of this issue in one of the reviews I've read, so I'd hope that Microsoft is aware of it.

I wanted to give the gaming performance a test by sneaking in an installation of League of Legends, but it prompted me for an admin password when the installer ran - guess I'll have to wait for my preorder to arrive before I give that a try!

 

[Fred Mertz]

Lol it was hard to pull it out and harder to spread apart. lol that's the easiest way to explain it.

That's what she said.

 

[vlad0]

They had the red type cover at the mall here in San Jose.. looking very good

Overall ... impressive engineering all around. There is nothing bad I can say about this.. its a shame that they still won't be able to sell all that many because of that price point, but quality like this comes at a price.

Its by far the most interesting product in the segment out there.

The one note sync works really well.. 3sec delay for the most part

and the pen itself feels great.. much better than the sp2