Surface Pro 3 Review: Overflowing with positivity

[xox]

NOTE: I'm gonna do this in two parts; the tablet on it's own and then one about the Type cover

 

Tablet Review

 

I bought my Surface about a week ago; it is pretty good actually. Unlike Linus, I am probably the ideal person to own this device. I am a Student, and am really passionate about new and interesting technology like the Surface lineup of devices.

I am pleased to report that I find the tablet a very satisfying purchase. I also bought rthe Type cover 3 as well, and I am going to do a review of that product too later on in the review.

 

The Good:

• The Surface is really light; it's surprising really just how light it really is to be honest. I really enjoy using it not just for work but for a little bit of play too. Although it is clearly a device designed for work, it also works well when you watch movies and TV shows on it. The lack of weight really helps in such a scenario as you can hold it for quite a long period of time without your wrists feeling like they have been set alight by the fires of hell.
• The screen is a good size: I always thought that 15" is the ideal size for a laptop. Whilst this is true to a certain extent, The Surface wit it's 12" screen is really quite something. I can still see things on the screen (which is always a positive), it's not too small and not comically sized. I would say the size compliments both the tablet and the Laptop. On the subject of the screen; the screen is extremely vivid, offering perfect (or as near as makes no difference) colour accuracy as well as really nice resolution. From a normal viewing distance, you cannot see the pixels, the screen is in general a beautiful piece of engineering.
• The actual experience that it offers is pretty awesome. I found that Windows 8.1 on the Surface makes a lot of sense, and it actually works well. The Metro UI is actually really great to use and I genuinely don't find myself using desktop apps much as the Metro ones are just as good, if not better. Take Internet Explorer, for example. It really is a great thing to have such a browser on your computer. I know in the past, it was shit, but now, the metro one is super speedy and looks new, fresh and vibrant. Plus, it works better than anything else when it comes to text scaling, so I'm very happy. Speaking of Text Scaling in Windows 8, obviously not all applications are 100% supported, but the vast majority are. The most notable one that does not support scaling is iTunes, which is probably due to Apple being a dick about making a proper program, but I'm not too arsed, the application is just slightly pixelated and it really doesn't look too bad. Apple probably will get their shit together eventually.
• The Surface screams work. I for some reason find myself actually wanting to do work on the surface because it just feels like it is what it was designed for. I really like the fact that the Windows 8 App Store is stocked worse than a Soviet Supermarket, it means fewer distractions to be honest, which is a really good thing in my mind because I am always one to get distracted easily.
• I also like the way that it never gets hot. When idling, it is always at about 40 Celsius, with the fan not on. Although when you have the back obscured, it does get more toasty because a significant amount of heat escapes from the back. It never really gets hot though unless you are doing serious things like gaming. It is worth noting that the fan never spins up until at a significant CPU usage occurs. So really don't worry about it getting hot, it doesn't.
• When it comes to gaming, it is better than I expected. It can play CIV and games like that, so I'm pretty happy. The performance in everyday applications is really good too, you really do see the snappiness of the UI in normal Windows. When compared to a conventional tablet, it really performs much better, with zero lag and zero stutter. Obviously, I don't run one and a half million tabs in chrome, so it is somewhat difficult to predict what your experiences could be, but mine is a positive in this field.
• The battery lasts all day - Literally, I can use the thing all day without needing a recharge. I can take the device wherever, use it whenever, and still have a decent amount of charge at the end of the day. Sometimes, I don't even have to charge it overnight.
• The Pen is also very good, it is like a mouse, giving you more accurate touch input when you need it. The pen is a must, good thing they include it in the package. It is accurate and the touch sensitivity is very good on the scale. I use it predominantly for writing notes on OneNote and whenever I rarely use desktop apps, I use the pen for extra precision.
• The power Brick needs a mention, it is awesome: it is small, lightweight and doesn't get overly hot. Obviously it heats up, but it is nowhere near what I am used to at all. Also, it has a fucking USB port on it, this is too awesome, I fucking love it! I literally always have had to bring my phone charger everywhere in order to not run out of juice when I need it. But with this, I just have to bring one unit, it is immensely great.
• Accompanied with the obvious, like the fact that it runs Windows apps, there are more advantages, I will add more if I think of more.

The bad:

• Price: the price is shitty, there is no real way of getting around this, I find that it is horrific that Microsoft would charge so much without offering proper office, I don't actually mind about the keyboard, but not to include Office, i think is kind of terrible. Although don't think it isn't worth it, if you have the money, I would thoroughly recommend it to you, it is a really nice device. Great for anyone really who does more things than sitting on their arse all day.
• No Office: I have mentioned this before, but the fact that they provide the shittier version of OneNote is kind of a bit of an insult. They really need to have included full OneNote at the least as well as maybe Word, Excel and PowerPoint [should be included] EDIT: Full OneNote is availiable from the Microsoft website for free nowadays, and it's worse than the Surface one, it isn't well-optimised and lacks in it's tablet compatibility.
• It is still a little on the heavy side when it comes to tabletting, you can still hold it for a while at arms length and it's ok, but you really don't want to do it for the sake of your comfort.
• Microsoft predictive text is shit: I type the word 'shit' in and it corrects it to something else. This is fine if, per say, there was a clear fucking way to add it to the dictionary, but I have not discovered it yet!
• It took me half an hour to set the default home screen and search engine to Google: WHY? I just want to use my own homescreen with my search choice. I care too little for Bing. It is useful when I want to search 4 pages into results to get the page I am looking for, but since all I want to do is get to the fucking webpage, Bing is useless. Shut the fuck up Microsoft, I decide which search I want to use.

Type Cover Review:

 

 

The Type Cover is a worthy accessory to the Surface, but that's what it is: an accessory. No more, you can do without it quite happily, although if you lust for a keyboard which isn't the touch screen, look no further than the Type Cover. It has a very tactile feel to it, but I would rather have an extra 2-3mm of travel distance tbh. I think it's something to get used to, but yano. By the way, i find it better than the keyboard on a MacBook, so you can take some comfort in that. 

 

In terms of the touch Pad, I hate these modern touch pads. I would rather have the older ones where the keys are seperate to the pad itself, but Apple changed this, making a right click an awkward experience. I like right clicking! I find it an essential part of my life, so when these new touch pads emerged, I thought they were shit. I still do. They are shit. Very shit.

EDIT: I have found myself extensively using multi-touch gestures on the touchpad and they work very well in internet explorer touch (the browser I use)

 

Apart from the point that it is backlit very well, there is really nothing more to say about it except that it is terrible at lap typing and a table is very much necessary [EDIT: With time and sitting properly, it's good, but it's still worse than a similarly-sized laptop, also it is better with time spent using it]. You can still type on your lap, but a full laptop is better at it. Especially if you are me and you slouch rather than sit up straight.

 

TL;DR, it is a good device. I would recommend you buy one, it makes more sense than pretty much every laptop on the market right now in pretty much every sense. I bought the i5 model with 128GB of storage, which is very adequate, I am pleased to report. So, yano, I recommend it fully. No idea what that bastard Linus was on about

 

jk, love u linus rly

 

Of course, I am more than willing to answer questions about the device.

[Askew]

Why does it make more sense than pretty much every laptop on the market right now?

 

I'd take a Macbook pro retina over it any day.

[xox]

Why does it make more sense than pretty much every laptop on the market right now?

 

I'd take a Macbook pro retina over it any day.

That's probs because you have not tried it yet. Once you have tried it, there is no going back.

 

I admit that the MacBook Retina is good, but this feels better, it feels special. My mate has the MacBook Pro Retina and, yes, I would happily spend my money on one too, but it gets too hot on the bottom, isn't as portable as this thing and even has a worse keyboard (I would say the Apple keys are too mushy, sorry if you disagree).

 

Plus, of course, you have the PC swag with this thing.

[Guest]

Oh man, I want this thing so bad....

I would sell my soul for this.

[Captain_Slow]

That's probs because you have not tried it yet. Once you have tried it, there is no going back.

 

I admit that the MacBook Retina is good, but this feels better, it feels special. My mate has the MacBook Pro Retina and, yes, I would happily spend my money on one too, but it gets too hot on the bottom, isn't as portable as this thing and even has a worse keyboard (I would say the Apple keys are too mushy, sorry if you disagree).

 

Plus, of course, you have the PC swag with this thing.

 

I've tried one, I'd still take a macbook over it, even an Air.

 

because Windows 8 is just..... soo microsoft.

[xox]

I've tried one, I'd still take a macbook over it, even an Air.

 

because Windows 8 is just..... soo microsoft.

For work though, it is perfect. In terms of versus the MacBook Air, it isn't really a laptop as such, more of a tablet. It can be a laptop, but the fact that it has a tablet mode adds a lot of positivity to the experience.

[Captain_Slow]

For work though, it is perfect. In terms of versus the MacBook Air, it isn't really a laptop as such, more of a tablet. It can be a laptop, but the fact that it has a tablet mode adds a lot of positivity to the experience.

 

I dont find that there is much to do on a tablet for windows.

[Guest]

That's probs because you have not tried it yet. Once you have tried it, there is no going back.

 

I admit that the MacBook Retina is good, but this feels better, it feels special. My mate has the MacBook Pro Retina and, yes, I would happily spend my money on one too, but it gets too hot on the bottom, isn't as portable as this thing and even has a worse keyboard (I would say the Apple keys are too mushy, sorry if you disagree).

 

Plus, of course, you have the PC swag with this thing.

'PC Swag'

No one looks over your shoulder and says 'ah, Windows. Nice!'

[xox]

'PC Swag'

No one looks over your shoulder and says 'ah, Windows. Nice!

They do once they see this thing. The bitches love it.

 

It's like people getting a banana during World War 2.

[xox]

I dont find that there is much to do on a tablet for windows.

In terms of what? There's the internet, Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, iTunes, you name it.

[Captain_Slow]

In terms of what? There's the internet, Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, iTunes, you name it.

 

I mean Windows 8.1 doesnt really offer a lot for a tablet in terms of useful touch apps.

 

and I hate the way that it keeps on trying to get me to use bing.

[xox]

I mean Windows 8.1 doesnt really offer a lot for a tablet in terms of useful touch apps.

 

and I hate the way that it keeps on trying to get me to use bing.

It has a lot if you look on the app store.

Like literally, there is very little missing imo coming from Android.

 

Besides, if you really need the extra few apps, install BlueStacks as it has full Surface compatibility.

[Captain_Slow]

It has a lot if you look on the app store.

Like literally, there is very little missing imo coming from Android.

 

Besides, if you really need the extra few apps, install BlueStacks as it has full Surface compatibility.

 

the problem I have with the surface is that it isnt as good as an android as a tablet, and it isnt as good as a mac as a laptop.

[xox]

the problem I have with the surface is that it isnt as good as an android as a tablet, and it isnt as good as a mac as a laptop.

We will have to agree to disagree here

[Guest]

They do once they see this thing. The bitches love it.

 

It's like people getting a banana during World War 2.

Yeah...

[mooseducks86]

I cant seeing this being a viable option for corporations or small businesses, which is who theyre trying to push it off to. When really all this is is an overpriced device aimed at people flush with cash instead of common sense, and their ads are finally getting back at apple for the im a mac im a pc campaign, the only difference is whether you liked apple or microsoft, those were entertaining, until it started getting ripped off by sprint or verizon or whatever... and microsofts new im siri im condola or whatever is annoying as hell. I saw it 6 times today and I still dont know what its called.

 

I'd rather buy three 2ghz i7 laptops for the price of their highest end model. At least they come with keyboards and I won't be swearing all the way to the microsoft store to drop another 2G if I lose or break it. I'll have 2 more in my bag.

 

Regardless of my opinion or microsofts attempt at becoming the new apple, it was a good user review. But the surface pro 3 and surface cover (thats what its called now, or the surface pro type cover... they are trying to create less confusion between models) are separate devices. If I were to review a GPU, I'm not going to review the motherboard I need to run it as well. Which brings me to my next though. If I'm shelling out $2000 for a fucking tablet, jesus h. jones, give me the keyboard cover.

[Guest]

Really who cares about the app store, you have full Windows, I used to run Spotify in browser for example on my RT 2.

 

@Captain_Slow

 

 

I've tried one, I'd still take a macbook over it, even an Air.

 

because Windows 8 is just..... soo microsoft.

 

[Guest]

I cant seeing this being a viable option for corporations or small businesses, which is who theyre trying to push it off to. When really all this is is an overpriced device aimed at people flush with cash instead of common sense, and their ads are finally getting back at apple for the im a mac im a pc campaign, the only difference is whether you liked apple or microsoft, those were entertaining, until it started getting ripped off by sprint or verizon or whatever... and microsofts new im siri im condola or whatever is annoying as hell. I saw it 6 times today and I still dont know what its called.

 

I'd rather buy three 2ghz i7 laptops for the price of their highest end model. At least they come with keyboards and I won't be swearing all the way to the microsoft store to drop another 2G if I lose or break it. I'll have 2 more in my bag.

 

Regardless of my opinion or microsofts attempt at becoming the new apple, it was a good user review. But the surface pro 3 and surface cover (thats what its called now, or the surface pro type cover... they are trying to create less confusion between models) are separate devices. If I were to review a GPU, I'm not going to review the motherboard I need to run it as well. Which brings me to my next though. If I'm shelling out $2000 for a fucking tablet, jesus h. jones, give me the keyboard cover.

1. It's 800-1000, not 2000

2. It's called Cortana

3. You don't get the portability you get with those laptops, this thing is light and premium 

4. Don't shit all over MS just because you don't like them and then insult people who buy them, you haven't even tried one, they are excellent

[Rekx]

HAHAHA All this microsoft hate lately. If i had the money i myself would properly go with a zenbook from Asus instead. But that doesn't mean Surface Pro 3 is a bad device.

[dylan43270]

HAHAHA All this microsoft hate lately. If i had the money i myself would properly go with a zenbook from Asus instead. But that doesn't mean Surface Pro 3 is a bad device.

I have the ASUS Zenbook UX301LA and honestly if I didn't get it at a VERY good price I probably would of gotten the Surface Pro 3, not to mention I already have the Surface Pro 2 . I don't often use the surface pro 2 since the screen is a little too small for my liking, but the 3's screen looks like a good change in my opinion. 

[Guest]

I have the ASUS Zenbook UX301LA and honestly if I didn't get it at a VERY good price I probably would of gotten the Surface Pro 3, not to mention I already have the Surface Pro 2 . I don't often use the surface pro 2 since the screen is a little too small for my liking, but the 3's screen looks like a good change in my opinion. 

I am thinking of eventually getting the Surface Pro 2 perhaps in the future.

 

It is a little bit less than the 3 but.... idk., I would have to save up anyway for it.

[TheGosuStandard]

'PC Swag'

No one looks over your shoulder and says 'ah, Windows. Nice!'

 

Would say the same exact thing for a Mac. 

 

Surprisingly I've been seeing a lot of the surface lineup being used at my college. 

[mooseducks86]

1. It's 800-1000, not 2000

 

see image below. I would never buy an i3 device meant to do all my work on. which is the price you mentioned... even after i clearly stated the high end model.

 

2. It's called Cortana

 

thanks. i could have googled it, but that was the last thing on my mind while writing my original post... after seeing the commercial so many times. its not so much microsofts fault, unless they bought all the ad spots (i think i was streaming an episode from history channel or something... usually they have 2-3 commercials they rotate during the program... but every single one was the same cortana ad. and you cant skip them.

 

3. You don't get the portability you get with those laptops, this thing is light and premium 

 

For businesses and corporations, (from what I've seen, and working for a small company) performance and reliability outweighs style and portability. Maybe I'm too demanding because of the field I work in requires demanding hardware... unless you were only using office, I could see the benefits of buying the cheap i3 model... but then why not just use a netbook? Also, I don't have the money to buy something that will be so quickly outdated by new software. Most large companies that I've been around buy (or lease) computers for 5 years. I don't think an i3 would cut it 5 years down the road. I had the original ipad (2010) and it stopped being useful after 3 years. It was fine with the apps I had on it, but the hardware couldnt handle past ios 5... and many of the current apps new at least ios6 (ipad 2 and higher). It was fine for browsing and watching non-hd video, but I did not buy it, it was a gift, and I would never buy one myself. Nothing against the ipad, I loved it when it was current, and I'd never turn down a free one... but the cost outweighed its usefulness. Considering the surface pro 3 runs a full os, I would imagine  it would be 3 or 4 times more useful/versatile than the ipad, but again, the cost of the i7 model (even the 256 ssd is $1600) but considering some of the files I work with are 50 gigs, I'd want the high end model.

 

4. Don't shit all over MS just because you don't like them and then insult people who buy them, you haven't even tried one, they are excellent

 

I have tried them, in the microsoft store. I struggled with the stylus in their painting program (more so the touch controls) I've always wanted a Wacom Cintiq, and the i3 version would actually be a cheap alternative to it (but I wouldn't be able to run many programs (efficiently) that I need for work... so... I hope you understand where my reluctance in buying anything but the i7 model comes from.

I am not shitting on microsoft at all. I have switched over completely to windows. I replaced my macbook pro with a 2ghz hp i7 laptop (that I alluded to earlier), I replaced my hackintosh (which was an i5) that I ran mountain lion on, and ran my windows programs through parallels on windows 7 with an i7 desktop running windows 8. It can be a hackintosh, but with the stability of windows 8, (after ironing out some windows update kinks that caused issues with my gpus and ended up blue screening or not waking) I found I didn't have to run osx. I was running it mainly because time machine backed up everything automatically (i now use a nas with genie9 backup manager... which itself has some issues and takes longer, but I'm mostly happy with it) , and my applications crashed often enough in windows 7 \(or maybe it was windows 7 since they don't crash as often in windows 8.1) that it was a pain to wait for the computer to reboot and open the applications, and then make up for any lost work... when I could just right click on parallels relaunch the vm, and it was back in seconds. You might think thats pretty crazy and unnecessary, but I was dealing with anywhere between 5-20 crashes a day. I was lucky if I went 8 hours without a single crash.

 

Oh and I replaced my iphone 4 with a moto g, which isnt microsoft, but its not apple.

 

Basically what I'm saying is I like microsoft. I think their operating system is really coming into its own (I haven't solely used windows since windows 2000) so, I'm not sure where you think I'm shitting all over them. These are the points I obviously didnt make clear:

 

1) I don't like the price of the surface pro 3. If the i7 512 was $1300, I would probably legitimately consider it. Even if the 256 gb i7 was under $1000 I would consider it.

 

2) Their apple targeted ads are annoying because of the way they compare their tablet to apples netbook - the air - instead of comparing it to another products in the same category. Like another tablet (or netbook) that comes with windows 8. Or even a touchscreen laptop. Why not just compare the surface pro 3 to an imac? It's the same idea, you're comparing two completely different products that someone wouldn't even be trying to decide between anyways. First you decide if you want a laptop, desktop, phone, tablet, all in one or a car. I've never thought... Hmmm... Should I buy a laptop or a desktop for work? If I primarily work from home, I would choose a desktop for cost, performance and for the sake of being able to upgrade components. If I was always on the go, yeah a gaming laptop or workstation laptop (graphics are big with autodesk software) would be the better choice. Even if I was working on a laptop at work that I could bring home, I'd rather FTP it to a server, download it at home and work on a desktop.

 

Its silly to compare lets say the moto g with the iphone instead of comparing android to ios or the moto g with another android phone. Instead of microsoft trying to dissuade people from buying mac book airs over the surface pro 3, they should try to show what benefits the surface pro 3 has over other windows devices. If someone really wants an apple product, they're going to get it, because its either the look or the OS or its easily compatible with their other apple products. The only way to run OSX on non apple hardware is 1) if its compatible or drivers can be found/rewritten and 2) a lot of trial and error not especially fun to the majority of the population. But on a macbook pro, mac pro, macbook air, imac, you can run windows natively. So microsoft is comparing their product which can run windows 8, and not osx to a product that can run both osx and windows. Not to mention comparing their product that doesnt have a keyboard to one that has an awesome backlit keyboard - which by the way is the one thing I regret not looking for in a windows laptop... I am thinking about reading of on laptop keyboard mods... I have an early core duo macbook pro with a dead logic board and cracked screen in my basement... can't be too hard to mash together with my current laptop(

 

3) It should come with the freaking surface pro type cover if they're advertising it as a laptop replacement.

 

4) Microsoft is being a bit too aggressive with their advertising and claims. I think a lot of people are going to be disappointed down the line that they shelled out a lot of cash for something that won't be current for long just for the sake of something being portable.

Which is how I feel about the ipad. If someone gives me a surface pro 3, heck yeah I'll use it and probably even love it, but when you're the one who actually pays for something, you're a little less enthusiastic about whatever flaws it has. I wouldn't be very happy with Apple if I had bought the original ipad myself and it was already outdated in a couple years. But I didn't pay for it, I got a few years of use out of it, and I gave it back to my father (who bought it for me) who now solely uses it as an xbmc remote. (he has an ipad 2, which can at least do airplay, hd video and all the apps currently in the store) How would you feel if a few years down the line a $2000 surface pro 3 was just as useful as that ipad. Probably not as defensive as you are right now.

 

5) Lighten up, yo. I wouldn't have replied to this, because they are your opinions, and I respect that, but you are wrong about the price, and I feel you misunderstood my feelings with microsoft, but its 3am and I'm bored, so I did.

I actually defend windows 8 quite a bit on here... because it is finally at a point that I'd rather use windows 8 over OSX. That says a lot in my eyes.

 

[Aniallation]

Why does it make more sense than pretty much every laptop on the market right now?

 

I'd take a Macbook pro retina over it any day.

You don't realize how convenient the Surface Pro 3 is until you use both as daily drivers for a significant amount of time.