Microsoft Surface Pro 3 - Thoughts? (1 Viewer)

[Silverbacks]

Spent quite a bit of time looking at one of these today and almost pulled the trigger. Any FBG's have one of these? Thoughts on it?

Looking for something that I can do work on from time to time and use as a tablet when I travel for work.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Bump?

Am thinking of getting one of these for my daughter as an early graduation present that she can use now and as she goes to college.

 

[Harris]

http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=644511&hl=surface

 

[Jaysus]

I don't know anything about the Surface Pro... but if you are looking at them, be sure to check out the Lenovo Yoga 3. I ran into a friend of a friend with one a few weeks back, and it was a very slick machine.

 

[Abraham]

I love mine. Use it often both as a tablet and laptop. I leave my work machine at work and haul the Surface around. I'm still getting used to Windows 8 after being away for so long but it's really a nice machine. Best Windows machine I've ever owned.

Mine is i5 - 256GB storage and 8GB memory and is every bit as zippy as the Air I use for work.

 

[Koya]

Probably the best laptop I've ever owned. A few quirks but overall fantastic.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I don't know anything about the Surface Pro... but if you are looking at them, be sure to check out the Lenovo Yoga 3. I ran into a friend of a friend with one a few weeks back, and it was a very slick machine.

I was comparing the SP3 to the Yoga 2 Pro Ultrabook with an i7 (which you can get now for $1k).

Seems like my kid might like the ability to use the pen with the SP3 vs. not having it on the Yoga.

And the i3/64 seems good enough for the SP3.

 

[Abraham]

The stylus is actually quite useful.

 

[msommer]

Friend of mine just bought the i5/8GB/256GB version. I've been drooling over it all day....

 

[Andy Dufresne]

For my college bound daughter, I've identified three options.

Asus 2-in-1 Q302LA-BB15T14 (can be had as a refurb from BuyDig right now for $500). Pro: Nice price, specs/Con: not really a "write-on-able" tablet

HP Envy X2 13t - $664 + tax direct from HP. Pro: Decent specs (vs i3 Surface Pro 3)/keyboard included/Con: Ugly as home made lye soap, a bit heavy (4.05lbs)

Surface Pro 3 - you know the drill here

Thoughts anyone (particularly on the ASUS)?

 

[cstu]

For my college bound daughter, I've identified three options.

Asus 2-in-1 Q302LA-BB15T14 (can be had as a refurb from BuyDig right now for $500). Pro: Nice price, specs/Con: not really a "write-on-able" tablet

HP Envy X2 13t - $664 + tax direct from HP. Pro: Decent specs (vs i3 Surface Pro 3)/keyboard included/Con: Ugly as home made lye soap, a bit heavy (4.05lbs)

Surface Pro 3 - you know the drill here

Thoughts anyone (particularly on the ASUS)?

Neither are as 'cool' as the Surface. Would she ever hook the Surface up to a monitor? The Asus would seem like enough if she never plans to.

 

[Koya]

FWIW (and to me it doesn't matter in choosing a machine, but it don't hurt either) I've received more inquiries and curiosity about my Surface than any laptop I've had for the last 15 years.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

For my college bound daughter, I've identified three options.

Asus 2-in-1 Q302LA-BB15T14 (can be had as a refurb from BuyDig right now for $500). Pro: Nice price, specs/Con: not really a "write-on-able" tablet

HP Envy X2 13t - $664 + tax direct from HP. Pro: Decent specs (vs i3 Surface Pro 3)/keyboard included/Con: Ugly as home made lye soap, a bit heavy (4.05lbs)

Surface Pro 3 - you know the drill here

Thoughts anyone (particularly on the ASUS)?

Neither are as 'cool' as the Surface. Would she ever hook the Surface up to a monitor? The Asus would seem like enough if she never plans to.

The bolded is definitely true.

I'm not sure what she'll ever use it for. I'm sure she doesn't either.

Maybe I'll just shoot the lock off the wallet and get the Surface since it's cool and is a graduation present.

I sometimes think it'd be easier living in Soviet Russia where the consumer goods pick you.

 

[belljr]

1500 for a surface without keyboard? That's nuts

 

[Andy Dufresne]

1500 for a surface without keyboard? That's nuts

That's top of the line.

You can get a refurb i3/64gb for around $740 and eBay the keyboard for about $75.

 

[skol asylum]

I'm sure i'm probably in the minority, but don't think i'd ever buy refurbed electronics.

 

[belljr]

that's a little better but are they really that much better than say an iPad. I totally really don't know I figured they were just fancy tablets

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I'm sure i'm probably in the minority, but don't think i'd ever buy refurbed electronics.

I can understand why. But they're all covered by the same warranty.

Oftentimes you get better product than you normally would (depending on the company you're dealing with). New products are only tested by sample size. Refurbs are typically all tested - again depending on the company.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

that's a little better but are they really that much better than say an iPad. I totally really don't know I figured they were just fancy tablets

They're really a laptop that looks and acts like a tablet. So they each have their uses.

Rule of thumb for me is that laptops produce and consume material where iPads (and like tablets) simply consume already created material.

 

[belljr]

that's a little better but are they really that much better than say an iPad. I totally really don't know I figured they were just fancy tablets

They're really a laptop that looks and acts like a tablet. So they each have their uses.Rule of thumb for me is that laptops produce and consume material where iPads (and like tablets) simply consume already created material.

I hear you I just figured with the small amount of storage space that it was more tablet than laptop like I said I really haven't researched them all that much except when my son got his for Christmas 2 years ago

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I hear you I just figured with the small amount of storage space that it was more tablet than laptop like I said I really haven't researched them all that much except when my son got his for Christmas 2 years ago

I guess the thinking is that if you need storage, buy an external. Lordy those things are cheap these days.

 

[cstu]

I'm sure i'm probably in the minority, but don't think i'd ever buy refurbed electronics.

I can understand why. But they're all covered by the same warranty.

Oftentimes you get better product than you normally would (depending on the company you're dealing with). New products are only tested by sample size. Refurbs are typically all tested - again depending on the company.

Never had trouble with refurbs myself. Usually they are unused returns the company couldn't sell as new.

 

[belljr]

I hear you I just figured with the small amount of storage space that it was more tablet than laptop like I said I really haven't researched them all that much except when my son got his for Christmas 2 years ago

I guess the thinking is that if you need storage, buy an external. Lordy those things are cheap these days.

fwiw My son got a 2 when they came out. He likes it. Not sure how much he uses it in school

 

[belljr]

I'm just going to post questions in here. We were given a free dell latitude 10 st2e windows tablet. It won't install any Windows updates it just keep saying checking for updates.

I can't upgrade to 8.1 because it says I need to update. And it wouldn't let me create a account to sync my apps to. Anyone have any advice.

so far this is a pos

 

[belljr]

I'm just going to post questions in here. We were given a free dell latitude 10 st2e windows tablet. It won't install any Windows updates it just keep saying checking for updates.

I can't upgrade to 8.1 because it says I need to update. And it wouldn't let me create a account to sync my apps to. Anyone have any advice.

so far this is a pos

After fiddling with this for like 3 hours, I finally got it to download updates. And the Store was down, hence why I couldn't create an account. Bacially its my xbox live account. Finally able to now upgrade to 8.1

 

[msommer]

The next machine I get (likely the Surface Pro 3) will at the least have to have 8.1 as native. I had to reinstall windows on my Asus Transformer before X-mas and it had to do 117 updates before I could get the 8.1 back. Since I didn't know (then) how to force the updates through, it took five days. Those five days were the suck.

 

[belljr]

The next machine I get (likely the Surface Pro 3) will at the least have to have 8.1 as native. I had to reinstall windows on my Asus Transformer before X-mas and it had to do 117 updates before I could get the 8.1 back. Since I didn't know (then) how to force the updates through, it took five days. Those five days were the suck.

LOL - yep 119

 

[Andy Dufresne]

FWIW - My daughter ended up choosing a Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro 11" over the Surface. She loves it.

 

[Abraham]

Got the 1099 from Microsoft for my Pro. Valued at $2800 . They gave away about 5k of them at the conference where I got mine.

 

[[icon]]

Used my father's Surface Pro 3 last night with Intel i7 processor. Holy crap the thing was laggy. Not at all snappy interface. Keyboard was a PITA to use. Delay on simple stuff like rotating the screen was annoying. Overall VERY unimpressed.

 

[NewlyRetired]

FWIW - My daughter ended up choosing a Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro 11" over the Surface. She loves it.

How is the battery life in that model?

 

[Andy Dufresne]

FWIW - My daughter ended up choosing a Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro 11" over the Surface. She loves it.

How is the battery life in that model?

She hasn't complained about it. She carries it with her all day between her college/high school classes and hasn't mentioned anything about the battery.

 

[NewlyRetired]

FWIW - My daughter ended up choosing a Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro 11" over the Surface. She loves it.

How is the battery life in that model?

She hasn't complained about it. She carries it with her all day between her college/high school classes and hasn't mentioned anything about the battery.

Cool. I am looking to upgrade my old ipad 2 eventually and I like the specs on that model. The 500gb drive is a nice plus.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

FWIW - My daughter ended up choosing a Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro 11" over the Surface. She loves it.

How is the battery life in that model?

She hasn't complained about it. She carries it with her all day between her college/high school classes and hasn't mentioned anything about the battery.

Cool. I am looking to upgrade my old ipad 2 eventually and I like the specs on that model. The 500gb drive is a nice plus.

I'm envious of it. It's a really nice, portable size. She loves it.

 

[Abraham]

After 6 months with my surface pro I can say that the machine is awesome but the trackpad on the keyboard is awful. I've been using mine as a second machine for a while but decided to travel with it instead of my MacBook so I could more easily watch movies on the plane. Brought along my Magic Mouse. Night and day difference. Really loving this thing again

 

[HellToupee]

After 6 months with my surface pro I can say that the machine is awesome but the trackpad on the keyboard is awful. I've been using mine as a second machine for a while but decided to travel with it instead of my MacBook so I could more easily watch movies on the plane. Brought along my Magic Mouse. Night and day difference. Really loving this thing again

Really want one. Always stop in a microsoft mall store to mess around with them . But we're mac centric & I can envision the rumored iPad pro to be like the Surface.

 

[msommer]

Guessing Surface Pro 4 will come with native win 10. I might wait for that