Would like some buying advice

[threewulfmoon]

I am an emergency management director and I rely heavily on my technology to help me get my job done. I currently use a Asus Vivotab 11.6. It has been a good machine, but it is getting long in the tooth and every time the applications I use get updates, the older-generation Atom shows its age more and more. I've been approved to spend $700 on a new tablet. I stopped in at the Mircrosoft store last week and pre-ordered a Surface 3 4/128 model with a Surface Pen and Type Cover with the assurance that they will price match the Costco bundle ($699). However, I now see that Best Buy has an offer to give a minimum $200 tablet trade in, so I was thinking of trading my Vivotab in for the i3 Surface Pro 3.

I know that the S3 is not on the street yet for actual hands-on testing, but I also know there are several members here that know a lot about benchmarks of these processors. My question is about performance between the S3 4/128 and the i3 SP3. I remember reading somewhere that the i3 has about 15% more processing power than the new Atom in the S3. Of course, this will come at the expense of battery life. Does this sound correct? I am tempted to go ahead and get the SP3, but then I am drawn to the fan-less design (so hopefully a water resistant ruggedized case like an Otterbox) and the use of Micro-USB charging (matches my Lumia 1520) of the S3. I'd love to hear input from you guys on this decision.

 

[hotphil]

Do you work mostly on the move, or at desk?

 

[P_Devil]

From a pure computing standpoint, the SP3 is better. It's not going to be noticeably better on a day-to-day basis but it will be if you use processor intensive tasks like encoding videos, AutoCAD, heavy Photoshop, or video editing. But the Surface 3 is more portable and has longer battery life. You can even plug it into a portable power bank (like ones for smartphones) and get an extra boost.

It really all depends on the programs that you run. It sounds like you've been fine with an Atom thus far so a new, more powerful Atom should serve you fine for a while. Also keep in mind that the 64GB SP3 only has ~23GB of user accessible storage, that decreases to 20GB once Office 2013 is installed. I'm not sure how many programs you have and what you want installed on the internal storage.

 

[HeyCori]

Personally I would trade in the Vivotab and get the Pro 3. Other than being fan less there's almost zero advantage to the Surface 3. That's not to say that the S3 is a bad machine but you're going to get overall better performance out of the SP3. Even the difference in battery life is negligible. Unless you have a family member that would love a second hand Vivotab (or maybe a fellow staff member), then I recommend trading it in for the SP3.

 

[HeyCori]

It really all depends on the programs that you run. It sounds like you've been fine with an Atom thus far so a new, more powerful Atom should serve you fine for a while. Also keep in mind that the 64GB SP3 only has ~23GB of user accessible storage, that decreases to 20GB once Office 2013 is installed. I'm not sure how many programs you have and what you want installed on the internal storage.

I was under the impression that Office was considered one of the built-in apps, leaving 23GB of space still.

 

[P_Devil]

I was under the impression that Office was considered one of the built-in apps, leaving 23GB of space still.

Not from what I have read. I can't actually test that statement as every Surface Pro demo unit I have tried has Office running on it (same with everyone I know who has a 64GB Surface Pro) but reviews for the 64GB versions of the Surface Pro 1, 2, and 3 all say that there's 23GB of usable space on first boot. Seeing as how Office ins't pre-installed (it is still downloaded to begin the free 14-day trial), I assume that 23GB doesn't include Office. I could be wrong though.

 

[threewulfmoon]

Hotphil,

I work mostly at a desk, where I have a dedicated laptop. The tablet is more of a take into the field or to meetings computer, thus I insist on the stylus input and portability.

 

[threewulfmoon]

PDevil:

One of the programs I use is a freely available GIS program called MARPLOT, which integrates with tools called CAMEO and ALOHA. The developer recently updated the MARPLOT program and while it runs fine on my office PC, on my Vivotab, barely panning the map causes a painful reslow redraw of the map. More processing power is definitely needed for this program to run more efficiently.

The storage issue of the Surface Pro may become an issue that I hadn't considered. I have basemap files that are several hundred megs each. Of course, I could install a MicroSD card to mitigate that problem.

 

[WillysJeepMan]

For serious use (ie. more than surfing, email, and video streaming) I would recommend a minimum of 128GB storage. Windows chews up quite a bit of space and the updates will add up on top of that (though it can be reduced if one manually manages things)... add to that, apps must be installed on the internal storage. (I've tried some of the workarounds to install apps on the microSD card but it isn't reliable)

For the type of work the OP will be doing, it sounds like the Pro is the only option.

 

[threewulfmoon]

Thanks everyone for your input. I should have more clearly stated that I have an adequate laptop docked at my desk in the office. I'm looking for strictly a secondary machine, but one that can handle a lot of the tasks I throw at it. I think either the i3 SP3 or the S3 will fill that bill. I was trying to get a feel for which machine might be the best option for the money. The i3 may be a little faster, but I'm really drawn to the fanless design (which opens up the possibility of a ruggedized Otterbox or Lifeproof type case), the additional storage capacity, and the Micro-USB charging of the Surface 3 4/128 model. I think I will just go with the S3 once it is released. I appreciate the input!

 

[Stiv X]

I doubt you will be disappointed. Worst case, you end up returning it and buying the SP3. In the end you win either way.

 

[n8mack33]

If you buy it at Costco you'll get 90 days to decide. That's what I'm doing. If it seems underpowered and I don't appreciate the size trade off I'll return it and get the S3 i5. From what everyone says it seems worth it for the i5 versus the i3. Might not be in your budget though.

 

[P_Devil]

PDevil:

One of the programs I use is a freely available GIS program called MARPLOT, which integrates with tools called CAMEO and ALOHA. The developer recently updated the MARPLOT program and while it runs fine on my office PC, on my Vivotab, barely panning the map causes a painful reslow redraw of the map. More processing power is definitely needed for this program to run more efficiently.

The storage issue of the Surface Pro may become an issue that I hadn't considered. I have basemap files that are several hundred megs each. Of course, I could install a MicroSD card to mitigate that problem.

How often you want to run this program on your Surface will dictate which model you need. You will be fine running it once every blue moon on a Surface 3 but, if you run it daily, the SP3 would be better. Also keep in mind that the Surface 3 is more powerful than your Vivotab so it should re-draw things a bit faster. I don't know by how much though as I've never used that program (only ArcGIS). As for the storage, a microSD card is fine for music, movies, and photos but I wouldn't use it for any intense purposes, especially basemap files as read/write speeds of microSD cards are slower than SSDs or even the eMMC in the Surface 3. Putting large files like that on an SD card would mean long initial loading times.

Really, at this point, I would recommend 128GB as the minimum amount of storage for you especially if you want to run that program on your system a lot. That would mean bumping up to the $899 i5 128GB Surface Pro 3. The Surface 3 will be a better secondary device (in the general term) simply because it is more portable and costs less but it will be a terrible secondary device if you plan to run your niche software on it a lot.