Microsoft Surface Pro 3 announced on May 20, 2014

[Poke]

Yeah I think they almost hit a home run here the only thing I would do different is lower the prices some.. But I will be getting one of these for the wife to replace her laptop with for sure..

 

[Ilya]

For a tablet that is a full-powered laptop replacement, this is as good as it gets!
I just wish it was more affordable and had 4G/LTE - hopefully coming down the road.

 

[Ilya]

It's funny how most of the reporters at the Microsoft Event, particularly those in the front row, all had MacBooks! Not sure if this was just a coincidence or done intentionally to irritate Microsoft.

However, the presenter has turned that around, very effectively in my opinion, to illustrate his point, that 96% of those who use iPads also carry laptops, because they can't work productively on their iPads. I liked how he did it! Overall a very good presentation!

 

[meStevo]

Disappointed there was no mini announcement

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[Ilya]

Disappointed there was no mini announcement

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I am surprised too. Too many rumors were floating around.
But on the other hand, there are plenty of 8" Windows tablets on the market already. Very reasonably priced. While surface Pro doesn't have much competition at all.


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[mike123abc]

Now this is the surface pro I have been waiting for. I have a couple of old laptops, may have to replace one of them now.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Looks good, but the price is a little steep for my wallet at this time.

 

[dangue]

I'm going to wait on real word battery testing. It's a little on the heavy side, and the screen PPI isn't on par with other tablets, but given the laptop usage scenarios, neither should be deal breakers. If they offered this is a 4G flavor, it would be a great fit for my mom as a realtor.

 

[Ilya]

At the Event it was mentioned that the battery life has been improved by 10-15% or so - not much, but taking into account the smaller size and weight and the bigger screen of the SP3, any battery improvement is welcome.
Of course if you go for the top specs (Core i7), I wouldn't expect the battery to last too long.


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[mike123abc]

I went ahead and ordered one. Since they do not ship until June 20th, there should be a lot of review by then and I can cancel if they come in bad. I went with the i5 256 model.

 

[Ilya]

Let us know once you get it!
i5 should be more than enough for most tasks.

 

[mike123abc]

Let us know once you get it!
i5 should be more than enough for most tasks.

Considering I use a desktop for work, an i5 will be enough for the light work I do on a laptop. The mix will be mostly web surfing, excel, word and remote desktop, not CPU extensive items. The main reason for a Surface is that it weighs less than 2 pounds, much easier to carry on and off planes and such. I have lately just been taking the iPad for 1-2 day business trips and pretty much have not had an issue where I needed a full PC. My old laptop weighs almost 7 pounds, it really makes a difference when you put it in the carry on.

 

[mike123abc]

Well set it up yesterday. There are some firmware updates that need to be done, took a while to get done, almost worrisome length of time (your just watch the screen saying updating wondering if it is bricked).

It is of course very thin and light. One thing I do not really like is that the keyboard is plastic vinyl on the bottom. I would love a keyboard with a metal bottom (like I use on my iPad) that closes up into a nice clam shell.

Been playing around with the screen scaling, not quite to my liking, but I am sure I will get used to it. Been going back and forth between 125 and 150%. 150% is the default, a little too big, 125 a little too small. It is one or the other, no choices in the middle. The screen resolution is 2160x1440 and the scaling is 100, 125, 150 or 200%, so you get a choice of 4 resolutions: 2160x1440, 1728x1152, 1440x960 or 1080x720. The screen is razor sharp though at all the resolutions, it is very similar to the iPad Air.

The keyboard is good, I disabled tap to click on the track pad since I am bad about accidentally touching it while typing and clicking. There is both a right click and left click at the bottom of the pad (pad moves).

The cord is a bit short, and of course it is a custom cord, I will probably have to get a second one.

The main reason I bought it is that I want a super light PC to take on business trips. This definitely fills the bill. I would have been just as happy with a hinge and attached keyboard (maybe happier, but will see how the kickstand grows on me). It really packs a lot of power in its tiny form factor. It does all the business things I need very quickly.

 

[Need]

Staples has a 15% off technology in store coupon. It can be used toward Surface Pro 3. Slightly better than the Microsoft store 10% student discount.

 

[mike123abc]

I am happy with the Surface 3. In some situations a laptop would be better than the floppy keyboard on the Surface. But, there are times when it is nice to be able to rip off the keyboard and carry it around. So, it is a trade off, but the size and weight of the Surface is hard to beat, I do not regret my decision over a regular laptop.