Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Announced (12", 3:2 aspect ratio, new stand)

bill0527 said:
Ok so I decided to pick one up and wow...what a terrible experience at Best Buy. There is no Microsoft Store near me and I know Best Buy had them because they were in this weeks ad.
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I doubt that would've happened at a MS Store, but kids work there too. They're cramming talking points and have to juggle other stuff.
 
Yeah, I never trust the guys working in those stores. I always do my research before I go look at anything. Sometimes I'll ask the guys questions that I know the answers to just to see if they'll lie. Sometimes the guys know what they're talking about though. I bought my Surface at BB and they guy knew quite a bit and said he wanted to get one as well.

I remember once going into a Gamestop and asking about Rock Band 3 instruments and the guy tried to convince me to buy the PS3 version because the Xbox 360 version didn't have wireless instruments because of a patent issue. I just smiled and walked out of the store and bought them somewhere else.
 
Kirosia said:
I worked at Best Buy. Quite a few people would just straight up lie, and not always out of ignorance. Had one guy tell a customer I was ringing up that you needed a Wii Motion Plus remote to play all Wii games from then (the release of the remote) onward.
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So, I just ordered a Surface Pro 3, but the i7 one, which I guess isn't out until August. I, too, had a nonsense experience at Best Buy, when I was looking at the Surface. The guy came up to me and, after a bit of talk, I told him that I'm interested in the i7 one. He was then all, "Yeah, I have that one. I love it."

Okay. Except it's not even out yet, and you had no reason to lie to me about owning it.
 
Quick question to all you Surface 3 owners out there. What models do you have i3/i5/i7 and do you think this tablet would do well for a grad school student who does nothing but take notes, write papers, create presentations, and possibly do some light gaming/watch Netflix videos? How hot does the device get under a heavy load?

I really want to get one but I am just not sure on which model to get. I would love to get an i7 but it just cost way to much. I'm leaning towards the i5 but I am not sure if the i3 will suffice and save me some cash or be way slower compared to the i5 and not worth it. Also, do you think 4 gigs of ram is enough? Should I spend more and consider the 8 gig version?

Thanks in advance!
 
I still remember someone trying to tell me a Lumia (900?) I was perusing at target had a dual core target. I politely went, 'oh really, I remember reading it was a single core blah blah snapdragon'. He adamantly stuck to his story. Poor guy didn't know WP did not support dual core then :(. Probably was the only way he could convince people to choose it over the battery draining dual cores androids at the time.
 
littlegrasshopper said:
Quick question to all you Surface 3 owners out there. What models do you have i3/i5/i7 and do you think this tablet would do well for a grad school student who does nothing but take notes, write papers, create presentations, and possibly do some light gaming/watch Netflix videos? How hot does the device get under a heavy load?

I really want to get one but I am just not sure on which model to get. I would love to get an i7 but it just cost way to much. I'm leaning towards the i5 but I am not sure if the i3 will suffice and save me some cash or be way slower compared to the i5 and not worth it. Also, do you think 4 gigs of ram is enough? Should I spend more and consider the 8 gig version?

Thanks in advance!
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I'm not an owner yet, but I can answer one of your questions: only the i5 version is out right now, so there shouldn't be any i3 or i7 owners yet.
 
littlegrasshopper said:
Quick question to all you Surface 3 owners out there. What models do you have i3/i5/i7 and do you think this tablet would do well for a grad school student who does nothing but take notes, write papers, create presentations, and possibly do some light gaming/watch Netflix videos? How hot does the device get under a heavy load?

I really want to get one but I am just not sure on which model to get. I would love to get an i7 but it just cost way to much. I'm leaning towards the i5 but I am not sure if the i3 will suffice and save me some cash or be way slower compared to the i5 and not worth it. Also, do you think 4 gigs of ram is enough? Should I spend more and consider the 8 gig version?

Thanks in advance!
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From your description it seems like it would be perfect device for you.

As someone else said there is no i7 version yet but the 4 gig i5 should be enough for your needs.
 
Just placed an order on impulse for the i5 256gb and black type cover. I liked the cyan one but I'm afraid of getting unsightly black scuffs and stains on a lighter color. I was going to save for a Cintiq Companion (mainly art use here) but I've started to believe that the SP3's digitizer has enough pros to outweigh the cons and I believe that Microsoft, Adobe, etc are dedicated to getting the various kinks out.

My SP1 went back to Best Buy, because of comfort and battery life, but most of all because the vertical space in landscape mode (the only semi-comfortable orientation for the SP1) was really limited for drawing and painting. I've spoken often and loudly about the superiority of 4:3 or similar aspect ratios for tablets (iPad) vs the widescreen you usually get from Android and Windows tablets. What pushed me over the edge to get the SP3 was the feeling that I needed to put my money where my mouth is and support the increasingly rare occurrence that a fantastic non-iPad tablet with this aspect ratio is being produced.

Are there any free software promos or anything I should know about that sometimes come around with these devices?
 
Picked up surface pro 3 last week and I have really been enjoying it. Still getting use to the switch from my nexus 7 but it has fit my needs perfectly. One thing I have been having trouble finding has been a good podcast app.

Tried a few different options on the windows app store but none seem to be any good. I have been using beyondpod for years. Anyone have any recommendations on a good podcast app? Or should I just download itunes. Seems strange that there are no podcast options in xbox music store since I remember using the Zune software for podcasts years ago.
 
ZimJaBim said:
Picked up surface pro 3 last week and I have really been enjoying it. Still getting use to the switch from my nexus 7 but it has fit my needs perfectly. One thing I have been having trouble finding has been a good podcast app.

Tried a few different options on the windows app store but none seem to be any good. I have been using beyondpod for years. Anyone have any recommendations on a good podcast app? Or should I just download itunes. Seems strange that there are no podcast options in xbox music store since I remember using the Zune software for podcasts years ago.
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Narrowcast is quite competent(currently using this without much issue) and I've heard good things about podscout. From the free ones, my favourite is PODCASTS!
 
littlegrasshopper said:
Quick question to all you Surface 3 owners out there. What models do you have i3/i5/i7 and do you think this tablet would do well for a grad school student who does nothing but take notes, write papers, create presentations, and possibly do some light gaming/watch Netflix videos? How hot does the device get under a heavy load?

I really want to get one but I am just not sure on which model to get. I would love to get an i7 but it just cost way to much. I'm leaning towards the i5 but I am not sure if the i3 will suffice and save me some cash or be way slower compared to the i5 and not worth it. Also, do you think 4 gigs of ram is enough? Should I spend more and consider the 8 gig version?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

I wish I had a device like this when I was in school. It's the best use case for it in my opinion.
 
littlegrasshopper said:
Quick question to all you Surface 3 owners out there. What models do you have i3/i5/i7 and do you think this tablet would do well for a grad school student who does nothing but take notes, write papers, create presentations, and possibly do some light gaming/watch Netflix videos? How hot does the device get under a heavy load?

I really want to get one but I am just not sure on which model to get. I would love to get an i7 but it just cost way to much. I'm leaning towards the i5 but I am not sure if the i3 will suffice and save me some cash or be way slower compared to the i5 and not worth it. Also, do you think 4 gigs of ram is enough? Should I spend more and consider the 8 gig version?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

The Surface Pro is singlehandedly the BEST note taking anything ever, and even from the Pro 1's perspective the weight and size made it absolutely perfect for taking from class to class. It's my favorite device, I love it. MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE that you go and download OneNote and mess around with the stylus on it, it's deliciously good.
 
6.8 said:
I wish I had a device like this when I was in school. It's the best use case for it in my opinion.
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This would have been so incredibly useful during all of my ECE classes. Most had slides handed out ahead of time. Instead of having notes on my physical copies and digital backups, I would have all notes on the digital copies.
 
Enron said:
Yeah, it really is pricey. Which is why you find a deal on a refurb or closeout sp1 or 2 if you are concerned about cost!
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I really wanted to just grab an SP2, but that hinge on the 3 is practically a necessity for my use cases. I work in a lot of weird, cramped environments and therefore having a lot of display flexibility is key for my needs.

I may just go for the i3 to save myself some cash.
 
Is there a way to move the adress bar to the top of the screen withe metro internet explorer?

Can't believe nobody at microsoft realized that you cannot swipe up from the bottom of the screen when you have the type keyboard in it's inclined position.
 
Animator said:
Is there a way to move the adress bar to the top of the screen withe metro internet explorer?

Can't believe nobody at microsoft realized that you cannot swipe up from the bottom of the screen when you have the type keyboard in it's inclined position.
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Just swipe down from the top.
Edit: or have the bar always there.
 
One annoyance I've had so far is the fact that I have long fingers, and sometimes when I'm typing my fingers will touch the screen, throwing me out of that specific cell. Is there a way to fix that?
 
ksdixon said:
Surface Pro could do with one more usb port, if only because using a bluetooth mouse interfers with the wifi, so I currently have to swap my usb mouse and my usb pendrive all the damn time.
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Could you elaborate on this or provide a link about it? I was going to pick up the bluetooth Arc Mouse, but I don't want anything that interferes with the internet connection.
 
Since our office all got SP3s we've had a lot of growing pains (we were running Windows NT) and getting used to 8.1 so I'm reserving my judgment until I've spent more time with it. However, my initial impressions is that it has wonderful build quality, is light and fast, and works well as a mobile workstation... but the tablet experience is not what I'm used to with either iOS or Android (although still better than a budget Android tablet).

Handwriting / Drawing and OneNote has been great, though, and that fulfills the company's goals for adopting the SP3... most of the time. I've had an instance where we've been asked to turn off our device, even in slate mode, thus frustrating its purpose in those situations (apologize if I'm being general, but can't be more detailed than that).

Anyways, as a laptop it's solid... the only thing I'm really missing if using the type cover alone, is a middle mouse button. Anyone have any tricks for implementing a middle mouse click?
 
lastflowers said:
I'd never heard anything about Bluetooth mice affecting wifi. Never did that to me.
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That happened to me on the 8.1 preview, the more I moved the mouse the lesser my Wi-Fi speed became. If I moved like crazy it would go to zero.

After the preview never had any problem regarding that thought..
 
Got my brother's old Samsung Galaxy S3 off him when he moved upto whatever the new one is, S5 I think.

Since he kept the charger wire/plug-in, I've ordered just the charger wire with no plug-in off of Amazon. I'm assuming that I can charge the phone via the Surface Pro 1's power brick usb port?
 
LukasTaves said:
That happened to me on the 8.1 preview, the more I moved the mouse the lesser my Wi-Fi speed became. If I moved like crazy it would go to zero.

After the preview never had any problem regarding that thought..
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Really? I don't have a bluetooth mouse, but I had heard this complaint when previously shopping around for one and opted for a regular usb wireless mouse instead. I may have to look-into getting myself a bluetooth mouse again now that I have this new information. Out of curiosity, which Surface/Pro device do you have?
 
SPro3 interests me for the larger screen real estate and better processor/ram amount, plus better battery life and volume over my current SPro1. But I 'would' like to use it for some gaming, and I'm worried that the 'high performance' power option is gone. Has anyone done any gaming testing on SPro3?
 
LukasTaves said:
That happened to me on the 8.1 preview, the more I moved the mouse the lesser my Wi-Fi speed became. If I moved like crazy it would go to zero.

After the preview never had any problem regarding that thought..
Click to expand...

ahhh yeah, I remember people saying that. Still haven't hit it myself.
 
ksdixon said:
SPro3 interests me for the larger screen real estate and better processor/ram amount, plus better battery life and volume over my current SPro1. But I 'would' like to use it for some gaming, and I'm worried that the 'high performance' power option is gone. Has anyone done any gaming testing on SPro3?
Click to expand...

Gaming is worse than the SP3 since cooling isn't as robust, trade off to get that sexy chassis.
 
Any software developers using the Surface Pro 3? I need some honest opinions on the experience while coding (screen size, performance and type/touch cover). I'm heading into software engineer in university and I've been using a ordinary notebook for 3 years. it's time for me to replace it. I realized that I rather have a better battery life and build quality(weight, quality) instead of a dedicated GPU.
 
Dramos said:
Any software developers using the Surface Pro 3? I need some honest opinions on the experience while coding (screen size, performance and type/touch cover). I'm heading into software engineer in university and I've been using a ordinary notebook for 3 years. it's time for me to replace it. I realized that I rather have a better battery life and build quality(weight, quality) instead of a dedicated GPU.
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I only installed jcreator and notepad++ so far. It's good if you value landscape more than portrait. But it still doesn't beat dual moniters.
 
ksdixon said:
Really? I don't have a bluetooth mouse, but I had heard this complaint when previously shopping around for one and opted for a regular usb wireless mouse instead. I may have to look-into getting myself a bluetooth mouse again now that I have this new information. Out of curiosity, which Surface/Pro device do you have?
Click to expand...

I have the S Pro 1. People in some Ms feedback site mentioned that this as wan issue with the antenna, IIRC they said the marvell controller use the same antenna for wifi 2.4ghz and Bluetooth, so depending on the driver they might compete for bandwidth, and if your network was 5ghz, that the issue wouldn't happen, as that had a separated antenna.
 
Dramos said:
Any software developers using the Surface Pro 3? I need some honest opinions on the experience while coding (screen size, performance and type/touch cover). I'm heading into software engineer in university and I've been using a ordinary notebook for 3 years. it's time for me to replace it. I realized that I rather have a better battery life and build quality(weight, quality) instead of a dedicated GPU.
Click to expand...

I have visual studio and unity editor on my Surface pro 1 and it works flawlessly, even with just 4GB of ram it never lags, the only noticeable hurdle is metro apps getting shutdown by the system.

It's not as comfortable as using a laptop (mainly for the screen size), but for travelling is much better to carry around and being small actually has some advantages as you can more easily make room for it on a table.
 
ksdixon said:
SPro3 interests me for the larger screen real estate and better processor/ram amount, plus better battery life and volume over my current SPro1. But I 'would' like to use it for some gaming, and I'm worried that the 'high performance' power option is gone. Has anyone done any gaming testing on SPro3?
Click to expand...

At least, Diablo 3 running better than SP1 for me,
 
ksdixon said:
Got my brother's old Samsung Galaxy S3 off him when he moved upto whatever the new one is, S5 I think.

Since he kept the charger wire/plug-in, I've ordered just the charger wire with no plug-in off of Amazon. I'm assuming that I can charge the phone via the Surface Pro 1's power brick usb port?
Click to expand...

yes.
 
Dramos said:
Any software developers using the Surface Pro 3? I need some honest opinions on the experience while coding (screen size, performance and type/touch cover). I'm heading into software engineer in university and I've been using a ordinary notebook for 3 years. it's time for me to replace it. I realized that I rather have a better battery life and build quality(weight, quality) instead of a dedicated GPU.
Click to expand...

It's been fine for me, using it to code some PICs using MPLAB. The Screen realestate is much nicer than the SP1. Keyboard is fine, trackpad is okay compared to a macbook but no regrets.
 
I caved and bought one. Couple of questions:

Is there a cover that snaps in and doesn't have the keyboard? I just want a nice cover kind of like ones I've seen on ipads

Also, what kind of warranty does it have and should I get one from the store?
 
GodParticle said:
I caved and bought one. Couple of questions:

Is there a cover that snaps in and doesn't have the keyboard? I just want a nice cover kind of like ones I've seen on ipads

Also, what kind of warranty does it have and should I get one from the store?
Click to expand...

No, just the type cover. Warranty is 1 year for defects and hardware malfunction. The extra warranty extends it to 2 years but also covers user damage like dropping it or spilling stuff on it with a $50 deductable. I never buy extended warranties but some people feel it's worth it.
 
StudioTan said:
No, just the type cover. Warranty is 1 year for defects and hardware malfunction. The extra warranty extends it to 2 years but also covers user damage like dropping it or spilling stuff on it with a $50 deductable. I never buy extended warranties but some people feel it's worth it.
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Thanks. I guess I'll just get a cheap case for now. I don't really need the keyboard and that cover is kind of ridiculously priced
 
Just got my Surface and just like with the Surface 2 the build quality on this thing is shit. The casing on the top left side is uneven and sticks out. What's even worse, the kickstand is a wobbly, uneven piece of shit. I can tap the top left corner and the bottom right actually moves up as well. And at some point the right side doesn't even touch the table anymore.

And since I'm in Europe right now, getting it replaced is going to be a nightmare... :/
 
zou said:
Just got my Surface and just like with the Surface 2 the build quality on this thing is shit. The casing on the top left side is uneven and sticks out. What's even worse, the kickstand is a wobbly, uneven piece of shit. I can tap the top left corner and the bottom right actually moves up as well. And at some point the right side doesn't even touch the table anymore.

And since I'm in Europe right now, getting it replaced is going to be a nightmare... :/
Click to expand...

Odd, sounds like you got a lemon. I haven't had any issues like that on my SP3 (or my SP2 I used to have before upgrading).
 
zou said:
Just got my Surface and just like with the Surface 2 the build quality on this thing is shit. The casing on the top left side is uneven and sticks out. What's even worse, the kickstand is a wobbly, uneven piece of shit. I can tap the top left corner and the bottom right actually moves up as well. And at some point the right side doesn't even touch the table anymore.

And since I'm in Europe right now, getting it replaced is going to be a nightmare... :/
Click to expand...

WAT.

I would have given you a benefit of doubt that you might have a defective hardware but you are saying its shit as your previous surface experience, which means you got two defective hardware OR The surface build quality is shit in real. WHICH I don't think anyone here or anywhere would believe it. Its the finest piece of device I have ever owned. And its better than iPhone 4 design or anything Apple has ever created. And keep in mind Apple has the best design teams around the world. And the fact MS can top that with their surface family, is remarkable on its own. And you are saying its "SHIT".

So again, in all seriousness. May be you are that unlucky one and got two defective hardware. Go and replace it.
 
Yeah, the build quality is very nice so that must be a lemon or something. I like that they beefed up the pen. It's nice and weighty. I already ran into the start menu issue by trying photoshop and hitting the button with my hand >_<
 
I read reports about the painting flaking off with sp2 and the WiFi is still shit so I understand the complaints.
 
zou said:
Just got my Surface and just like with the Surface 2 the build quality on this thing is shit. The casing on the top left side is uneven and sticks out. What's even worse, the kickstand is a wobbly, uneven piece of shit. I can tap the top left corner and the bottom right actually moves up as well. And at some point the right side doesn't even touch the table anymore.

And since I'm in Europe right now, getting it replaced is going to be a nightmare... :/
Click to expand...

I think you to check the build quality of your desk, seems like it's uneven.
 
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