Which Surface Pro 3 model I should buy on Black Friday?

[Ryou-kun]

I am a community college student trying to finish my basic while pursing my career for Computer Science/Software Engineer.
Few months ago, I bought an iPad Air and Adnoit Jot Touch Pro and GoodNote 4 App. I was using it to take handwritten notes because I don't want to carry ton of papers or spirals with me and want to carry less and be mobile, however, I made a big mistake on buying iPad Air and third party stylus and app. The stylus and app always get into conflict with each other. It gets annoying and frustrating.
Now, the reason I went for iPad Air is because iPad is pretty good at conserving battery when at sleep mode.

Fast forward today, Black Friday is right around the corner, and I know my dad need a tablet so I thought I could give him my iPad Air and buy a note taking tablet. I was considering Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1/Pro 12.2, but I realize it isn't worth due to 16:9/16:10 ratio that is so awkward to write in portrait mode. I also want the best out of a handwritten note taking tablet then I came into conclusion of Surface Pro 3.
I could jump with Surface Pro 1 w/ Power Cover but the weight will bother me a lot, so I drop that idea and skip Surface Pro 2 and went for Surface Pro 3.
However, I can't decide on the Surface Pro 3 model from its base model (i3/4GB/64GB) to i5/8GB/256GB SSD, the i7 is useless because it is dual core rather quad core.

Which Surface Pro 3 model I should choose: i3/4GB/64GB, i5/4GB/128GB or i5/8GB/256GB SSD?
I will be buying it from either Best Buy with its up to $150 dollar off on i5/4GB/128GB or higher or Microsoft Website with its Education Discount.
What I will be using for is mainly handwritten note taking tablet with its "Pen," which I am not a big fan of requiring Quadruple A's battery, read eText/eBooks, checking emails, surfing the internet, social medias, listening to music (maybe but not important) and Steam. I could careless about games because I own a gaming PC, so I don't need it. I could add that I might installed Visual Studio C++ 2012 Express on it. Whether I program it or not, it really depend if it is worth it.
The i3/4GB/64GB is cheaper and "possibly" fit my needs, but I can't help it when I might need extra horsepower. That is where i5/4GB/128GB come in, but I realize if I am going to spend that much. I might as well go for i5/8GB/256GB but again it is pretty expensive.
Now, I won't be using VMWare/VirtualBox or anything like that.
I am just worried about the RAM part because I don't know how well Windows 8.1 handle it. I had bad experience with 4GB RAM, so I don't know if I should bump my budget to 8GB RAM or I keep 4GB it.

I know this is pretty long to read, but I need your opinions/thoughts about it.
Thank you.

 

[RTGent]

The i5/4/128 is plenty good for what you will be doing, including the 4gb of RAM. Even the i3 package would work, but with the 64gb of storage, you may have to rely on/deal with an SD card regularly, and that would be part of your cost; plus, the deals will be best for the i5. Enjoy your new Surface and your father's response.

 

[omer620]

Man save all ur money and buy the i5/8/256

 

[Adam_ation]

i5/8GB/256GB SSD all day long! for the love of god let this be your decision. Don't even entertain only a 4GB model that would be a crime against humanity - Adam

 

[onlysublime]

i5/8/256!

 

[ohgood]

buy more spiral books. they dont crash

 

[benrp]

Could get away with the i3 but I would (and did) go for the i5 128gb

 

[NeoGohan]

Get the 8GB/256GB version. I was using a Surface Pro 128GB for a while as a developer and the hard drive was just too small and I was always hitting 80-90% of my memory with all of my tools open. I stuck in a microsd card 64GB and that kind of helped but accessing that data was too slow and irritating. Do yourself a favor and at least get the 256GB version.