Teksyndicate's review of the Surface Pro 3 (High quality review from Wendell)

[Askew]

It doesn't state 4K 30Hz limitation. Try again.

 

It doesn't even say 4K is possible, why would it say the refresh rate of a resolution they are not claiming support for? (presumably because it has issues)

 

The bar is set at 2560x1600 for output, and I would expect that to be a 60hz output unless stated otherwise.

[RatedBlam]

In my opinion it's minus for the surface that it can't do 4k 60hz, maybe a minus that doesn't affect lots of people, or a minus that was caused by the best possible CPU not having support for that. Maybe it was unavoidable by MS, but still worth mentioning.

 

And I didn't hear him saying its a bad device, and that 60hz was hardly the main point of the review.

 

 

Sorry for all the spelling errors, my phone is apparently incapable of basic autocorrecting. Imgae, hmm what might I have meant. Also the phone is acting up and this text is now in the middle of my post.

 

Sorry

 

He also said that he has a"nerdier" written review, and the video was just a synopsis.

 

All and all I thought it was a fair review, and the imgae it gace yo of the surface was that I'd want one

[GoodBytes]

It doesn't even say 4K is possible, why would it say the refresh rate of a resolution they are not claiming support for? (presumably because it has issues)

 

The bar is set at 2560x1600 for output, and I would expect that to be a 60hz output unless stated otherwise.

Microsoft does not state the refresh rate. It state it can do 4K. If you assume things, then that is not the manufacturer fault.

Apple state about support on dual monitor configuration.

[Askew]

Microsoft does not state the refresh rate. It state it can do 4K. If you assume things, then that is not the manufacturer fault.

Apple state about support on dual monitor configuration.

 

Oh come on 60hz has been standard fare on PC displays for years.

[GoodBytes]

In my opinion it's minus for the surface that it can't do 4k 60hz, maybe a minus that doesn't affect lots of people, or a minus that was caused by the best possible CPU not having support for that. Maybe it was unavoidable by MS, but still worth mentioning.

 

And I didn't hear him saying its a bad device, and that 60hz was hardly the main point of the review.

I would agree with you fully. But he did spend the majority of the time of the video explaining how he could not get 4K.

Again, if he said "Keep in mind that the Surface Pro 3 i5 and i7 model uses an Intel U series, so it can only do 4K 30Hz, and the i5 model 2560x1600 at 60Hz", then I would have no problem (beside the USB count error) on his review. But that was not teh case,. And on previous videos, he based the Surface Pro 2 are a few occasion on that same point, blaming Microsoft and not Intel.

[GoodBytes]

Oh come on 60hz has been standard fare on PC displays for years.

Same for TVs, but Sony and other TV manufactures has no problem providing 30Hz 4K HDMI 1.3, with no rush for 2.0 release to support 60Hz 4K.

Lesson I have learned with all manufactures and service providers, and even contracts you sign: Don't assume things.

You have to be vigilant and check everything. It sucks, but this is the world we live in.

I am all for laws to push companies to reveal everything or at least more, as a consumer. But so far laws and regulation is only on false advertisement, and the claim that Microsoft isn't such. Now, if they did say 4K 60Hz, now that would be a totally different story.

[ZeroBreaker]

Though he did state that the 'bad' things about it should all be able to be fixed with a firmware/software update. So he unfairly pegged the haswell limitations on Microsoft even though he later stated that the issues are due to architecture limitations.

Think your mixing it up a bit - near the end he says most of his issues are easily fixable in software revisions, notably the fact a samsung 4k display did not work at all and that displayport 1.2 mode on the dell monitor caused issues. He actually only criticised microsoft for legitimate testing concerns.

[Misanthrope]

Oh come on 60hz has been standard fare on PC displays for years.

Just drop it, you know he's going to keep digging deeper and deeper one nitpick at the time.

[Accursed Entity]

As for claiming his review is "probably the nerdiest Surface Pro 3 review". I am sorry, you can find other reviews that goes more in depth than him. He didn't even talk about the pen to start with. He didn't even mention about the batteries on the pen, the palm rejection system and how it compares with the Pro 2, heat and fan noise, the speakers, the glass, the cameras, the microphone...

Please.

 

All that is almost good and fine but you forgot one thing, at the beginning he said this video is only the overview. I was following you until that last paragraph when you failed to note that it was not an in-depth review, you need to read his whole document for that. I'm sorry but that was almost like a kid's rant, that's how it appears. Just take a deep breath, and breath out slowly.

[Ramzez]

I don't know why some people here are so negative about Wendell's review. Maybe he is not 100 % correct all the time but as far as I know, he hasn't done a lot reviews. Give him a chance to develop further. Also if I was considering to buy the Surface Pro 3, I would watch more than one review just to be sure that I have covered all the angles before deciding to pay more than 1000$ for a tablet.

[TAK]

.

[LAwLz]

With a title like "the nerdiest review" I was expecting something in depth, but it didn't feel like he did any tests on it. It was mostly very basic stuff in the video. Other than the external display limitations, it was all stuff I could have figured out by spending like 15 minutes with one in the store.

The review on the website isn't that much more in depth either.

 

The review wasn't as bad as a lot of their videos, but with a title like that I thought it would contain far more in depth info. He didn't show a single test. No benchmarks, no battery tests, no screen measurements, etc.

I am surprised by the small amount of info he managed to convey in 18 minutes. What he did say seemed good and accurate though.

[Almercenary]

Good review.  Maybe needs to go more in depth. Not so sure about the surface itself though.

 

Wendell. Wendell is love. Wendell is life. Wendell is the secondary gaben

There similarities are scarily close.

[Dudenstein]

I have the surface pro 3 and it is a great device as long as it fits into your life. It is not a laptop replacement and it is not a tablet replacement. it is not a no compromises product as it compromises on both fronts. With that being said it is very usable in both aspects and with its form factor and design it can be a daily driver in many people's lives. I use it more than my desktop nowadays and I'm writing this right now with the surface on my stomach and I'm not having a difficult time using the type cover. 

[TheGosuStandard]

Currently playing around with the SP3 (no keyboard for now). 

 

I bought the device as I feel it can fit in with my college work & needs of on the go computing. If after testing it for a week it fails to that standard I will end up returning it. 

 

My experience so far with the machine has been fine as I can't test it fully without a keyboard. The one issue I have is it tends to get hot in the upper right side when watching videos or playing games. 

[Dudenstein]

Currently playing around with the SP3 (no keyboard for now). 

 

I bought the device as I feel it can fit in with my college work & needs of on the go computing. If after testing it for a week it fails to that standard I will end up returning it. 

 

My experience so far with the machine has been fine as I can't test it fully without a keyboard. The one issue I have is it tends to get hot in the upper right side when watching videos or playing games. 

I wouldn't say it gets hot, but it does get rather warm. I don't find it uncomfortable though. The keyboard really opens up the device a great amount. It will definitely take time to get use to the size and the quirks of the keyboard but after a bit of use I have gotten very used to typing on the keyboard in various positions which is pretty surprising to me considering that it doesn't have a hinge like a traditional laptop. 

 

Also half the time I use the device without the keyboard if I'm using it as a consumption device and it is quite nice. Yes it is a big tablet in comparison to others but the weight and distribution of said weight makes it feel much smaller than I expected. 

[TheGosuStandard]

I wouldn't say it gets hot, but it does get rather warm. I don't find it uncomfortable though. The keyboard really opens up the device a great amount. It will definitely take time to get use to the size and the quirks of the keyboard but after a bit of use I have gotten very used to typing on the keyboard in various positions which is pretty surprising to me considering that it doesn't have a hinge like a traditional laptop. 

 

Also half the time I use the device without the keyboard if I'm using it as a consumption device and it is quite nice. Yes it is a big tablet in comparison to others but the weight and distribution of said weight makes it feel much smaller than I expected. 

 

Might be warm, but it just seems hot to me. The CPU temp were around 57-70C.  

[GoodBytes]

I have the surface pro 3 and it is a great device as long as it fits into your life. It is not a laptop replacement and it is not a tablet replacement. it is not a no compromises product as it compromises on both fronts. With that being said it is very usable in both aspects and with its form factor and design it can be a daily driver in many people's lives. I use it more than my desktop nowadays and I'm writing this right now with the surface on my stomach and I'm not having a difficult time using the type cover. 

I agree. However, I believe for the actual target of the device (student, engineers, professionals that does meetings and wants to take note), the device has indeed no compromise.

It delivers on all fronts. Even the single USB. At no point I felt I needed a second USB port. Don't get me wrong, it is nice to have at least 2, but it's not a drag, because everything is in sync under Microsoft ecosystem.

 

It is indeed a bold statement from Microsoft to say it could replace your laptop. but at least they are trying to market the device. Marketing is a big problem at Microsoft. It's either god awful ads, or non existent most of the time.

 

Like Linus quick impression on the WAN show indicates. The device isn't for everyone., and Microsoft never said it was.

Microsoft used a microSD card, because if you look at system board pictures, you can see the system has no room, much like the 1 USB port. It could be a reality in the Pro 4, where you have a second USB port (I doubt SD card slot), as a bit more things will be embed on the CPU reducing the amount of component by a bit (potentially), allowing to fit a second USB port. The point of the microSD card, is not for file transfers like a USB key, which is what Linus sees it, but rather as something you put to expend the storage of the device, like your cellphone. You put it, and leave it, pretty much. If you have 64GB model of the Surface Pro 3 (or 2 or 1), then this is great feature that will probably used a lot. If you have the 512GB, then not so much, unless you really carry or want to carry a lot of data with you, which come to think about it, it could be movies, and lots of music for a long trip.

 

Another thing, is if you don't care about the pen, like Linus, then the Surface Pro is really not a good buy... just get an ultrabook. And that is what the Linus pointed out, just by his feedback. He is happy with his Dell XPS 12. He is not the type of person that will bring a tablet or paper to draw plans, draw, or edit story boards for his videos or filming projects (ads to promote a product), probably he doesn't even do these things (story board and such), and just has everyhing in his head, and does as he goes, as he is making short YouTube videos, and not a mini shows or larger or something that requires story board. Let alone scripts, which he can add notes too on the set of filming, edit and so on. Because he does none of these things, the pen is not useful for him;

 

Oh and the Surface Pro 3 has front speakers. I guess he didn't get a chance to try them, or has the surround Doubly audio enabled so it doesn't sound like they are frontal ones. He maybe needs to disable that in the sound panel.

[Dudenstein]

I agree. However, I believe for the actual target of the device (student, engineers, professionals that does meetings and wants to take note), the device has indeed no compromise.

It delivers on all fronts. Even the single USB. At no point I felt I needed a second USB port. Don't get me wrong, it is nice to have at least 2, but it's not a drag, because everything is in sync under Microsoft ecosystem.

 

It is indeed a bold statement from Microsoft to say it could replace your laptop. but at least they are trying to market the device. Marketing is a big problem at Microsoft. It's either god awful ads, or non existent most of the time.

 

Like Linus quick impression on the WAN show indicates. The device isn't for everyone., and Microsoft never said it was.

Microsoft used a microSD card, because if you look at system board pictures, you can see the system has no room, much like the 1 USB port. It could be a really in the Pro 4, where you have a second USB port (I doubt SD card slot), as a bit more things will be embed on the CPU reducing the amount of component by a bit (potentially), allowing to fit a second USB port. The point of the microSD card, is not for file transfers like a USB key, which is what Linus sees it, but rather as something you put to expend the storage of the device, like your cellphone. You put it, and leave it, pretty much. If you have 64GB model of the Surface Pro 3 (or 2 or 1), then this is great feature that will probably used a lot. If you have the 512GB, then not so much, unless you really carry or want to carry a lot of data with you, which come to think about it, it could be movies, and lots of music for a long trip.

 

Another thing, is if you don't care about the pen, like Linus, then the Surface Pro is really not a good buy... just get an ultrabook. And that is what the Linus pointed out, just by his feedback. He is happy with his Dell XPS 12. He is not the type of person that will bring a tablet, draw plans on set for filming display and correct and edit on the fly the story broad of his video, probably he doesn't even do that, even is done as he goes aong... they are short youtube videos not mini shows or something that requires story board. Let alone scripts, which he can add notes too on the set of filming. Because he does none of that, the pen is not useful for him;

 

Oh and the Surface Pro 3 has front speakers. I guess he didn't get a change to try them, or has the surround Doubly audio enabled so it doesn't sound like they are frontal ones.

 

Exactly, to fully appreciate this device you have to be an individual who doesn't think they would benefit from it but one that knows. I for example need a computer tablet combo because I travel all the time and the pen input is great because I do draw/design/edit on my free time. 

 

In regards to the the usb ports and microsd slot i completely agree with you. I never saw the microsd slot as transfer medium. I put a microsd card in there for additional storage of things that I don't need to access all the time or too fast. I have some music, videos, etc on there which allows me to free up storage on my main drive for programs and my important files such as projects and renders that I am currently working on. The usb port I laugh it. I have only used it to connect my portable 1tb drive to transfer some files over and that was the only time I have used it so far. The only thing I can really think of for really using the usb port is to do a tether to my phone to get an internet connection when I don't have one. If I want a mouse I'll get a bluetooth one (which I'm looking around for one and taking recommendations) and the type cover works well enough to be my main keyboard for the device.

 

The pen basically nullifies my graphics tablet and allows me to keep that hooked up to my desktop. I agree with your statement that if you have no interest in the pen then this device is the wrong one for you. I regularly use the pen in combination with the touch interface and keyboard/touchpad when I'm using the Surface and the integration with one note makes the pen/device duo something that i have already integrated into my daily routine.