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Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Announced (12", 3:2 aspect ratio, new stand)
- Thread starter enzo_gt
- Start date
SerTapTap
Member
Is there a good resource for tap-friendly Steam games? I played Peggle ages ago on a pen tablet and it was great, been playing [embargoed] a bit on my SP3 too and it's made me wonder what else can be played entirely with touch, no type cover. Can't think of many that aren't puzzle games. You've got the type cover of course but I was planning on making a Steam category of games to play in bed tablet-only.
BTW, if anyone's using Windows 10 preview, hows that tablet mode? Is it better or worse than the current balance of tablety things?
BTW, if anyone's using Windows 10 preview, hows that tablet mode? Is it better or worse than the current balance of tablety things?
StudioTan
Hold on, friend! I'd love to share with you some swell news about the Windows 8 Metro UI! Wait, where are you going?
Some adventure games work well with touch like Broken Age. Also The Banner Saga is good with touch. Civilization 5 has a touch specific mode.
Most people seem to agree that the latest build is a big step back in usability on tablets, see my post in this thread where I give my concerns. Also check out the Windows 10 thread.
I just want a Surface Pro Mini (or a Windows Phone Note). SP3 might be the right balance for artists but for note takers it's too big imo. All of the OEM 8" (pen enabled) Windows tablets are shit. None have a high-dpi display to match the iPad mini retina or even the Nexus 7 '13. It's time for Microsoft to lead the way
Surface Pro Mini in the Spring and a SP4 in August, please
SerTapTap
Member
saw your post, no taskbar sucks. i basically want what windows 8 does now, with a taskbar most of the time, charm bar for touch only, metro in windows but with the big start screen at command. and ideally bigger click targets on desktop, for touch
SerTapTap
Member
I can't recommend doing it on a one-OS device like the surface, especially not until the consumer preview is out, this is still technical preview. Performance-wise Win 10 seems fine at least on my desktop but there are bugs and the UI isn't final--the tablet experience in particular seems rough.
See StudioTan's post for (negative) impressions though.
If Cortana is a factor, she's currently useless. She has some pre-programmed quips, can barely report the weather if you ask right, and otherwise she's just a Bing voice search that drops words.
LaserBuddha
Member
Hearthstone isn't on Steam but it works perfectly with touch and is free.
Saucycarpdog
Member
There steam curators like this one that deal with touch games.
Ok, I'm in the market for an 8-inch tablet but the rumors of a surface mini are getting me excited. For the right price( $300-500) I would be there day one to buy it. Are there any rumors on when they are going to unveil the SP4 lineup? Waiting for the fall to release it along side windows 10 would be a big bummer.
Is there anyone facing some kind of hardware/driver issues with recent Windows Update?
I got the same network controller problem after exchanging SP3 a couple of weeks ago.
After bunch of Windows Update yesterday, SP3 cannot detect any WiFi network.
Anyways, I will exchange SP3 again. Grrrrrrrrr
I got the same network controller problem after exchanging SP3 a couple of weeks ago.
After bunch of Windows Update yesterday, SP3 cannot detect any WiFi network.
Anyways, I will exchange SP3 again. Grrrrrrrrr
Bummer. I haven't had any problems. What troubleshooting did you try? Did you uninstall the Windows Update? Uninstall the network drivers and reboot?
I tried everything I can - uninstall-reinstall drivers, refresh / reset Windows etc.
But all of them did not fix the issue.
ClayKavalier
Banned
Thinking about grabbing one of these for school in the next couple weeks, I'm curious to see what you guys think about the different configurations.
t seems like the i5 is the way to go? I've read multiple reports about the i7 throttling under load, especially when it's charging. I'm planning on getting the dock and using it with a monitor while I'm home, so throttled performance when it's plugged in is a big deal for me.
I'm kind of considering just getting the i3 as well, I'm primarily using it to take notes and use a couple statistical analysis programs. The programs I'm using should run on anything, and I'm assuming stuff like drawing with the pen and browsing is fine even with the base model.
I've also read in a couple places that the RAM aren't really worth it since the Surface uses a solid state drive, and that RAM increases benefit setups with old hard drives more.
I know nothing about computers and am kind of at a loss for which model to get. Money isn't an issue, before I read about the throttling I was planing on getting the i7 model since it has better integrated graphics so I could play some games when I'm at home. Just don't want to pay for power that not actually useable.
t seems like the i5 is the way to go? I've read multiple reports about the i7 throttling under load, especially when it's charging. I'm planning on getting the dock and using it with a monitor while I'm home, so throttled performance when it's plugged in is a big deal for me.
I'm kind of considering just getting the i3 as well, I'm primarily using it to take notes and use a couple statistical analysis programs. The programs I'm using should run on anything, and I'm assuming stuff like drawing with the pen and browsing is fine even with the base model.
I've also read in a couple places that the RAM aren't really worth it since the Surface uses a solid state drive, and that RAM increases benefit setups with old hard drives more.
I know nothing about computers and am kind of at a loss for which model to get. Money isn't an issue, before I read about the throttling I was planing on getting the i7 model since it has better integrated graphics so I could play some games when I'm at home. Just don't want to pay for power that not actually useable.
Based on what you're saying, yes the i3 is probably good enough. Just remember that you'll only have ~40-45GB of storage to install stuff on. You can add Micro SD, but Micro SD is always slower when it comes to installing stuff on it (not that you couldn't, just wouldn't be as fast. Perfectly fine for music/media)
If you buy it from a Microsoft Store they have a generous return policy too. So if you get the i3 and it turns out it's not good enough for you, you should have no problem returning it or exchanging it for a higher-end model.
I bought the Surface Pro 3 specifically for light duty work and am very happy with the performance of the i3. RAM has not been an issue (usually hovers around 2.5GB used, sometimes up to 3.1) and neither has storage space. I haven't heard the fan during normal use at all yet, but that probably goes for the i5/i7 as well.
I got a 64GB Samsung EVO microSD since I'm sure I'll want some media on here when I travel, and its random read/write performance should be enough for light applications to be installed and ran directly from it.
I think you'll be happy with the i3 version. If you can get the i5 for $100 more (Amazon prices were getting very close to $900 when I was looking), it is probably worth that though I suppose. Then again, if the i5 gets that low, the i3 will probably be $750 or less, in which case I say the i3 is a better buy for light use.
I got a 64GB Samsung EVO microSD since I'm sure I'll want some media on here when I travel, and its random read/write performance should be enough for light applications to be installed and ran directly from it.
I think you'll be happy with the i3 version. If you can get the i5 for $100 more (Amazon prices were getting very close to $900 when I was looking), it is probably worth that though I suppose. Then again, if the i5 gets that low, the i3 will probably be $750 or less, in which case I say the i3 is a better buy for light use.
SerTapTap
Member
MS's support/warranty is pretty great too. But the return policy is part of why I got it. No problem if you don't love it, won't buy a laptop/similar without that policy again, it's been way too valuable. Devices like this and laptops are the land of compromises so you really have to use it to see if it's acceptable.
plagiarize
Banned
I do occasionally hear the fan on my i7 during regular use for what it's worth.
Damn Microsoft is really tempting me here. 100 bucks off on these. That brings the i5 to 899.00 plus a keyboard 129 = 1028. Such a computerish number. And they throw in a free sleeve. They even have 20 bucks off of Office 365.
I mean, this is pretty much me with the buy button right now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHy8kW632dE
So potentially dumb question, how big a difference will I see with the SP3's 4th Generation i5 as compared to the i5 in my Samsung q430 that I bought in 2010? Huge or just moderate?
I mean, this is pretty much me with the buy button right now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHy8kW632dE
So potentially dumb question, how big a difference will I see with the SP3's 4th Generation i5 as compared to the i5 in my Samsung q430 that I bought in 2010? Huge or just moderate?
ClayKavalier
Banned
Thanks for the info! I'm sort of leaning towards i5 just to err on the safe side, but as long as the pen work flawlessly on the i3 model it'd be fine. All I'm going to store on it are those two programs, neither of which are big, and PDFs. I'll have an external drive hooked up to the dock at home.
Is there a sale going on or just something available to you personally?
Yah a sale going on.
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Surface-Pro-3/productID.300190600
Surface Pro 3
$100 off* and free sleeve**
Surface Pro 3 - 128GB / Intel i5
★★★★★
★★★★★ 4.3 out of 5 stars. Read reviews. (783)
$899.00
(was $999.00) save $100.00
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Surface-Pro-3/productID.300190600
Surface Pro 3
$100 off* and free sleeve**
Surface Pro 3 - 128GB / Intel i5
★★★★★
★★★★★ 4.3 out of 5 stars. Read reviews. (783)
$899.00
(was $999.00) save $100.00
Anton Sugar
Member
Well, shit. I just...might...have to...
Slayer-33
Liverpool-2
WhiskerFrisker
Member
Best Buy is also having a sale for $100 off. The real beauty is that if you have a student email, you can apply for a coupon that offers a 10% discount on items. This is essentially $200 off this beautiful machinery.
Anton Sugar
Member
Caved. i5 128gb here now!
WhiskerFrisker
Member
Nice! How much did it cost you?
Nice. Give a review when you get it. Or let me test it for you for a year or so.
So I was super bored this weekend and after hearing how disappointing Win10 was for touch users I decided to dream up ways to improve the experience with some bare bones mockups... it didn't go really far, and is really just a small tweak of what's already there with Win8.1, but it's fun to make things right? It's very rough and doesn't follow many of the design cues of Windows 10 or the formatting very well- theme and accent colors should be used better and Win10 uses a lot more white than Win8.1.
The first thing I wanted to do was get rid of the taskbar since so much of its uses are made redundant from the charms and the app switcher and the taskbar itself isn't very touch friendly. Plus I really don't like Cortana in the taskbar. To do this the app switcher needs to support desktop programs and be able to stack windows together to reduce clutter. Desktop programs gain the ability to be manipulated similar to modern apps with moving down to close, up to fullscreen and left and right to aero snap. There's also a small section for shortcuts (or pins?) and the addition of the task view button.
Also a full swipe up (similar to closing an app but inverted) brings up the keyboard. Maybe it should bring up the start menu instead?
Yes it's basically the charms bar, but slightly easier to use and with the useless devices tab removed. The equally useless share tab is still there, but I like to imagine that it has more integration with the desktop and is more pushbullet-like, with the addition of pushing files to onedrive and having playto functionality stashed in here.
Notifications would be identical to notifications on Win10, search would include Cortana, and the settings tab would basically be the same as it is now, except with customization of the toggles for wireless, power, volume, brightness etc. It would be great to add in a bluetooth toggle too.
It honestly 8.1 is not that bad for touch users. All it really needed were desktop programs in the app switcher and a more touch friendly control panel. It wouldn't be perfect, but it would be good enough in terms of making a legacy environment touch friendly, especially for Surface Pro users.
The first thing I wanted to do was get rid of the taskbar since so much of its uses are made redundant from the charms and the app switcher and the taskbar itself isn't very touch friendly. Plus I really don't like Cortana in the taskbar. To do this the app switcher needs to support desktop programs and be able to stack windows together to reduce clutter. Desktop programs gain the ability to be manipulated similar to modern apps with moving down to close, up to fullscreen and left and right to aero snap. There's also a small section for shortcuts (or pins?) and the addition of the task view button.
Also a full swipe up (similar to closing an app but inverted) brings up the keyboard. Maybe it should bring up the start menu instead?
Yes it's basically the charms bar, but slightly easier to use and with the useless devices tab removed. The equally useless share tab is still there, but I like to imagine that it has more integration with the desktop and is more pushbullet-like, with the addition of pushing files to onedrive and having playto functionality stashed in here.
Notifications would be identical to notifications on Win10, search would include Cortana, and the settings tab would basically be the same as it is now, except with customization of the toggles for wireless, power, volume, brightness etc. It would be great to add in a bluetooth toggle too.
It honestly 8.1 is not that bad for touch users. All it really needed were desktop programs in the app switcher and a more touch friendly control panel. It wouldn't be perfect, but it would be good enough in terms of making a legacy environment touch friendly, especially for Surface Pro users.
So...Best Buy has $100 off i5/i7 versions. I still have my old college email active (no idea why) which got me another $100.
I returned my i3 version to Amazon and picked up the i5 at Best Buy for the same price I paid for the i3! Double the storage and a CPU upgrade...couldn't turn it down.
Luckily I had a legitimate reason to return the i3; the microSD card kept coming unmounted randomly which was very annoying.
I returned my i3 version to Amazon and picked up the i5 at Best Buy for the same price I paid for the i3! Double the storage and a CPU upgrade...couldn't turn it down.
Luckily I had a legitimate reason to return the i3; the microSD card kept coming unmounted randomly which was very annoying.
WhiskerFrisker
Member
I want to plunge so badly. But I keep reading of issues and I really don't have time for that as a student. I'm hoping for an SP4 announcement.
If it's not something you think will really help you right now, I'd wait.
I only jumped in at this time because I was so close to getting a tablet (iPad/Nexus 9) with a keyboard and my mind was already set on how it's going to make my time at work much better; then I started researching the Surface Pro. There was no telling my brain to wait for months...the decision was already made that something was going to be bought.
Anton Sugar
Member
So I LOVE my SP3...but I'm not crazy about these hard locks/freezes I've been getting. Just had one, and had a few over the weekend (bought it on Saturday). I've got all my updates and shit.
Thoughts? Is this a known issue? It seems random, but particularly seems to happen when I'm using a browser. Can't remember if it's specific to Chrome or any other, though.
EDIT: and another just now :- Using chrome, listening to Xbox music.
Thoughts? Is this a known issue? It seems random, but particularly seems to happen when I'm using a browser. Can't remember if it's specific to Chrome or any other, though.
EDIT: and another just now :- Using chrome, listening to Xbox music.
Anton Sugar
Member
Two additional hard locks later, looks like it related to OneDrive. I can literally watch my Disk % go up and down based on pausing/unpausing file syncing (it was above 90% consistently with it enabled).
Glad that's "figured out". Now just need to figure out how to fix it.
Glad that's "figured out". Now just need to figure out how to fix it.
SerTapTap
Member
Games and streaming video are the two times the fan kicks on for me. Basically any emulator would kick it on, they're always mostly CPU.
I don't have any problem with OneDrive.
But if you keep getting the same issue, I'd rather replace it.
SerTapTap
Member
Yeah I dont' have OneDrive issues either, seems weird. Not sure what would cause that to happen, might be trying to bite off more than it can chew (how well does it transfer large files?) How out of sync is it? If it's a one-time sync you might just let it run, but I don't recall major issues operating my Surface while it was catching up for the first time.
Anton Sugar
Member
I'm gonna give it another day or so and see if it continues. It's "finished" syncing today (I think the combo of using Chrome, Music, AND having the OneDrive engine in the background caused the locks, so I just turned it on and let OneDrive do its thing by itself) and seems okay, but if it continues and I can reproduce it, I'll take it in.
Otherwise, I love it. The ability to quickly take notes actually is pretty awesome for me and I hope they bring that functionality to Windows Phone, in some way.
Because I can use Chrome, I can also easily get back to all the tabs I have open on my other machines to catch up on reading in bed, etc.
Not to mention the ability to edit photos and video on the go with Adobe CC. Love it.
Septimus Prime
Member
Are you using f.lux by any chance? f.lux f.ux up the Intel graphics driver.
Anton Sugar
Member
As a matter of fact, I am. Bummer, it's one of my fav programs and I was psyched to finally be able to use it, coming from Surface RT/2.
Septimus Prime
Member
In that case, I'm almost certain that's what's messing you up (not OneNote. I thought it was that, too, because most of the crashes would happen there). If you uninstall it, it will fix your issue.
Anton Sugar
Member
Haha, goddammit.
SerTapTap
Member
Now that's a damn fine deal
SerTapTap
Member
$300 off is $300 off with or without keyboard. Not sure about "eating the cost" but it should certainly be offered in a bundle for no more than $100 extra, or maybe free if you buy above a lowest-storage i5 or something.
LukasTaves
Member
Wow, is this for realz?
it should be included period. Surface pro 3 is probably my favorite electronic purchase since my iphone 3g... but without the cover case... this is a real bad tablet.
Curious if windows 10 will help out any on that side of things.
SerTapTap
Member
It should definitely at least have a bundle, but I wonder if it's just a bit too expensive to always include considering at least some will be providing their own typecover (at least between 1 -> 2 and I assume 3 -> will use the same type cover). All gen 1 and 3s should have been sold with a type cover though. Then again, if you try to sell your old SP3 it sucks to sell it without a cover.
Tablet mode is nice in theory but honestly aside from web browsing there's basically nothing "tablet" I want to do on the Surface Pro 3 since I can do...well, real things on it. I just wish Chrome weren't so goddamn garbage for touch/tablet mode.