Care to share your user experience with it so far? It’s time for me to get a new laptop for work and this machine has piqued my interest. I like the fact that it’s light, can be used as a tablet to take hand-written notes, and can handle all the Office programs I need for work. I also understand it has a beautiful display which would be great for videos and presentations I show to clients.
I am worried about the keyboard though and wonder if it’s comfortable to use. If it’s anything like the one used in SP2, I may have to reconsider. And how is the kickstand? I’ve read that it’s difficult to balance on your lap, but it’s not going to kill me if I have to wait to find a table to place it on.
There’s no one deal-breaker in getting this machine and I guess I’m interested to see if there are any comments that might dissuade me from buying this. Or, if you have a better alternative to the Surface Pro 3 (that’s not a Mac), I’m willing to be persuaded to change my mind:) I’m going to be using it mainly on the road so it has to be light and easy to carry, preferably under 1.5 kg/3 lbs.
I have the i5 256GB model. I also used to have the Surafce Pro 2, and the SP3 is a major improvement - much larger screen, and lighter weight. I now use it as my primary personal PC.
The continuously adjustable kickstand is awesome, much better than the 2-position kickstand of the SP2.
The digitizer is also improved - I was worried when I heard they switched from Wacom to N-trig, but this N-trig is actually better. It results in a thinner glass layer on top of the screen, so there’s much less parallax. It’s a great tablet for taking handwritten notes, especially with the OneNote integration (push the button on the stylus and OneNote opens).
I find the keyboard very comfortable and easy to use. However, it is very similar to the Type Cover for SP2. (It’s nothing like the Touch Cover for SP2, of course.) The touchpad is a bit small, but it doesn’t bother me, I end up using the touchscreen most of the time.
I want one for my lab computer. It seems to be the best-yet device for a number of specific uses that I currently meet with an awkward mix of the desktop, laptop, and printed paper. I think the SP3 would make an excellent heavy-duty PDF reader, and it could be the digital lab notebook that people have been talking about but not actually using for many years.
Unfortunately it is way out of reach of my grad-student disposable income. I wonder if I could talk my advisor into getting one with lab funds?
I’m thinking (more like dreaming) of getting one as well. Can you now use the pen and charger at the same time? I’m not very happy with its increasing size, though. The Surface 1 I wanted to use as a tablet+laptop, but 3 is becoming more like a laptop with detachable keyboard.
I don’t recall this being an issue on my SP2. I just checked my SP3 and yes, the pen works fine with the tablet connected to the power supply.
The original Surface (and Surface 2) were tablets with ARM processors, running Windows RT. The Surface Pro 3 is a successor to the Surface Pro and Surface Pro 2, these all have Intel Core processors and run full Windows 8.1 Pro.
Surface Pro 3 is lighter and thinner than the Surface Pro and Pro 2, despite having a larger screen. As a result, it’s much more pleasant to use as a tablet. Of course it’s heavier than the Surface, but you’re getting a lot more functionality (i.e. ability to run regular Windows software, and the digitizer) so it really isn’t a fair comparison.
By the way, I just tried using mine on my lap, and it works fine. But it need to be placed closer to my body than a typical laptop, because the kickstand behind the tablet needs to be on my lap. This might be an issue if you have limited elbow room on your seat.
Hmm, I thought the digitizer used the charging port or something. Oh I meant Pro when I said Surface. Still too big to hold in one hand and poke with the other, like a clipboard, though.
You have the option of magnetically attaching the stylus to charging port for storage, but it doesn’t “use” the port. The Surface 3 keyboard comes with a little loop to hold the pen as an alternative.
The 12" high-res, 3:2 screen on the SP3 is the biggest point of attraction for me. Smaller screens, especially 1080p or lower res 10" screens are rubbish for the kind of documents I need to read. I’ve tried, I very much prefer to print out a stack of papers and mark them up with a pen and highlighter. Of course, if I want to search my annotations (and I frequently do) I have to re-annotate the PDFs in my PC library. For this sort of usage, the 800g weight isn’t bad at all. It’s a hell of a lot less than a textbook, and not much heavier than 100 printed pages plus whatever clipboard or hard object I grab as a writing surface.
There was going to be an 8" Surface Mini released at the same time as the SP3, but MS decided to put it on indefinite hold at the last second.
I have and love a SP3. I haven’t had trouble balancing it in my lap, but I’ll admit that I haven’t used it too often in that scenario. I’m usually at a table when I need to do some typing. As others have said, it’s a stellar note-taking device. I really, really wish it hadn’t come out a month after my college graduation. I’m absolutely recommending it to everyone who asks me for college laptop recommendations (assuming they’re looking for something in the $800+ price range, of course). As far as the Type Cover goes, I haven’t had any more trouble with it than with similar sized laptop keyboards. It’s nothing near as good as my full-sized mechanical switch desktop keyboard, but that’s impossible.
Thanks for all the great input. I thought there would have been more people who bought SP3 and had some unfavorable reviews about it, (other than scr4’s comment about the touch pad being a “bit” small). Thanks for the specific comments about the kickstand and keyboard. They both sound usable in real-life situations. I really can’t find an issue that would be dealbreaker and I guess the only thing left to do before buying it is to get to a store and actually touch the thing:)
I was surprised to see this price quote and just realized they have different configurations and price points for SP3 in Japan (where I live), and the USA. Our entry level configuration is 128 GB/Intel i5/4GB RAM@120,000 yen, which is about $1,200. I’m looking at the one above that which doubles HD and RAM, and if you include the type cover, it comes to a tad over 165,000 yen/$1,650. If I didn’t need a Japanese system, I probably would have considered buying it from an American site.
I’m on the verge of getting one of these but the only thing I can’t figure out is whether or not this thing runs the normal version of Windows 8 or if it’s that gimped tablet version?
Meaning, can I load any regular Windows compatible program on this thing or does it have to be some special version?
I believe the SSD is soldered to the motherboard. Most Ultrabooks and many lightweight laptops (including the Mac Pro) are built that way now. So if the motherboard fails, you need to restore a backup to a new device.
And yes, the Surface Pro 3 runs a standard version of Windows 8.1 Pro.
I actually have a question about the Surface Pro 3 myself. I currently use a Pro 2 and I use it for artistic uses - illustration, design, comics. For some reason reviewers never seem to talk about the pressure sensitivity of the stylus in applications like Photoshop, which is absolutely necessary for me to know. Reviewers have been neglecting to mention this information for nigh on 10 years with every tablet pc model I’ve ever tried to buy, and you’d think with the new cintiq standalone series they might realize artists are incredibly interested in tablet pcs and put this tiny bit of information in for me, but that’s another story…
I hear that the Pro 3 uses non-Wacom drivers, which immediately makes me leery. So, does anybody know if these drivers play well with Photoshop or Manga Studio? It’s a long shot asking about the second program, but hey, might as well try. Then, on top of that I use a wacom Bamboo stylus with a rubber tip to get a much better drawing feel, and I’m also worried that this may not work with another company’s drivers as well. It’s also a long shot to ask about that, too, but I’m going to darn well try.
Well I picked one up today. Set it up while I was at work. Seems pretty cool. This is my first time ever using Windows 8 so there are alot of things I’m not sure how to do right now.
The (ripoff) keyboard that is pretty much a must buy works pretty well. The touchpad is multitouch, though it’s not as nice as the Macbook ones. The keyboard fits my little hands nicely enough and it’s pretty quiet when laid flat on a desk. When you have it on your lap or propped up on a desk it’s loud as fuck. I may not be clear here so let me explain better. You can have the kickstand up at any angle you want and the keyboard lying flat on the desk or whatever and it is quiet. If you use the new extra crease in the keyboard hinge though it lifts the keyboard off the table (or lap) and angles it a bit it is loud (IMHO). Sounds like an old Apple IIE keyboard. lol.
Oh, I got the i5 128GBHDD 4GB RAM one.
ETA: IF MS wanted to give Apple a real run for it’s money they would package the keyboard with the Surface and they may be on to something with this hardare. No idea why they insist on selling it seperately at (a ridiculous) $130. Oh, I bought an extra power supply to keep in the office for fucking $80 too. Guess I’m a sucker.