Surface 3 Pro

Author
Discussion

JontyR

Original Poster:

1,915 posts

166 months

Monday 22nd June 2015
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Thinking of buying one of these following the demise of my iPad 2. Will fit in well with the fact I have a Lumia phone too.

Where is the best place to buy from? Lookin on Amazon they are £100 cheaper than PC World, but am I going to end up with a genuine one? Also the cases seem to be non UK ones...

randlemarcus

13,507 posts

230 months

Monday 22nd June 2015
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sparkyhx

4,143 posts

203 months

Monday 22nd June 2015
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take a look at Microsoft website & shop. they may bundle accessories like the pen and keyboard.

The surface is much more 'business' oriented than the ipad. Do you have to have the latest version? I'm absolutely sure the current ones are adequate for all but the most heavy users. our guys are doing Hyper V, Sharepoint, CRM, Windows.net development on Visual studio on these no problem.


randlemarcus

13,507 posts

230 months

Monday 22nd June 2015
quotequote all
The 3 is the current one smile i5 seems to be the sweet spot for actual work. I'm using a Surface 3 at the moment, and while its up to iPad air, it's a little laggy with big docs and spreadsheets.

ZesPak

24,421 posts

195 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2015
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Completely different beast though, it's a full fledged laptop in a tablet skin rather than an oversized smartphone.

Plenty of people I know use them with the type cover as a daily laptop to work on.
Sweet spot in spec would be 8GB/260GB/i5.

RobDickinson

31,343 posts

253 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2015
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There is a new(ish) surface 3 (not a pro) with less storage and cpu but cheaper and longer battery life etc. Its probably more a direct ipad replacement if you dont want an ultrabook/tablet

JontyR

Original Poster:

1,915 posts

166 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2015
quotequote all
I think the decision has been made smile

i5 8GB Ram and 256GB HD

I need it to commute with, so it isn't just a tablet anymore, the ipad was starting to get very slow....and it will give me the chance to run some decent software on it, rather than just the apps available in the iTunes store.

Now do I trust the people selling it for £929 on Amazon?

sgrimshaw

7,311 posts

249 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2015
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JontyR said:
Now do I trust the people selling it for £929 on Amazon?
Only have 10 feedbacks in the last year.

Possible saving of less than £100 compared to buying from Microsoft direct.

Unless you're desperate, might be worth waiting a couple of weeks. Pro 3 prices are being discounted in US, thoughts are the Pro 4 is coming very soon.




JontyR

Original Poster:

1,915 posts

166 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2015
quotequote all
sgrimshaw said:
JontyR said:
Now do I trust the people selling it for £929 on Amazon?
Only have 10 feedbacks in the last year.

Possible saving of less than £100 compared to buying from Microsoft direct.

Unless you're desperate, might be worth waiting a couple of weeks. Pro 3 prices are being discounted in US, thoughts are the Pro 4 is coming very soon.
Im very inclined to agree with you. The thought of getting a knock off one, or one with a counterfeit charger that sets on fire doesn't fill me with hope!

I think for the sake of a couple of weeks...I will see if I can get a better deal once the new surface 4 comes out. However...I will probably be stuck in the dilemma of wanting the 4 instead. lol

sparkyhx

4,143 posts

203 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2015
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when they went from Surface 1 to surface two the original ones were bundled with keybord free rather than discounted. After launch they were discounted.

But if you are happy with the 3 spec - just wait a bit.

LeeThr

3,122 posts

170 months

Wednesday 24th June 2015
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I've had my surface pro 3 since December (writing this on it now smile ) I5/8GB ram/256GB SSD

I wouldn't be without it now, it's a brilliant little device, had a few issues with the wi-fi to begin with, but after messing around with the settings it just works these days without a hitch.

Highly Recommended smile

JontyR

Original Poster:

1,915 posts

166 months

Friday 26th June 2015
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LeeThr said:
I've had my surface pro 3 since December (writing this on it now smile ) I5/8GB ram/256GB SSD

I wouldn't be without it now, it's a brilliant little device, had a few issues with the wi-fi to begin with, but after messing around with the settings it just works these days without a hitch.

Highly Recommended smile
Thanks...good to hear of positive ownership smile

So want now...just my mind says wait a few more weeks!!

sparkyhx

4,143 posts

203 months

Friday 26th June 2015
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LeeThr said:
I've had my surface pro 3 since December (writing this on it now smile ) I5/8GB ram/256GB SSD

I wouldn't be without it now, it's a brilliant little device, had a few issues with the wi-fi to begin with, but after messing around with the settings it just works these days without a hitch.

Highly Recommended smile
like I said in my post higher up we use these at work, and as we are Microsoft Consultants, they get some serious stick from the techy guys and I've heard no complaints. If anything they are too good for most of joe publics needs.

JontyR

Original Poster:

1,915 posts

166 months

Friday 26th June 2015
quotequote all
sparkyhx said:
LeeThr said:
I've had my surface pro 3 since December (writing this on it now smile ) I5/8GB ram/256GB SSD

I wouldn't be without it now, it's a brilliant little device, had a few issues with the wi-fi to begin with, but after messing around with the settings it just works these days without a hitch.

Highly Recommended smile
like I said in my post higher up we use these at work, and as we are Microsoft Consultants, they get some serious stick from the techy guys and I've heard no complaints. If anything they are too good for most of joe publics needs.
Cheers smile

It should suit my needs perfectly....but can people please stop telling me how great they are, at least until they take their hit in price biggrin

HRL

3,330 posts

218 months

Friday 26th June 2015
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Nice bits of kit but surprisingly heavy compared to an iPad. I'd wait out another week or so and see if the Pro 4 rears its head.

sparkyhx

4,143 posts

203 months

Friday 26th June 2015
quotequote all
HRL said:
Nice bits of kit but surprisingly heavy compared to an iPad. I'd wait out another week or so and see if the Pro 4 rears its head.
and then buy the last of the 3's

the problem with the surface is that its a laptop/desktop without the laptop/desktop bits. So really you need the keyboard. The pen is really really good, and the docking station is also a bit of a must for serious users. This all adds to the expense, making the cost a serious premium just for portability over a high spec laptop. I often get given Lenovo laptops when working at customers, and they tend to be very light compared with my work laptop (not been rolled out a surface yet).

I have 2 personal Surface 1's (wifey and mine), and they are still absolutely fine for what I want them to do, so although I've been watching the 3, I just can't justify it even though I get a £2k allowance per year for 'technology'. Although after 5+ years and £2k per year there is not much I need anyway, im already looking at upgrading a perfectly good desktop albeit 5 years old, just cos I can.



Edited by sparkyhx on Friday 26th June 10:46

LeeThr

3,122 posts

170 months

Friday 26th June 2015
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I had to have the keyboard with mine for what I use it for. I would like the docking station for when im at home and want to sit at the desk, but I think that's just a waiting game for a cheap one to come up on ebay, the cost of them alone is ridiculous.

devnull

3,745 posts

156 months

Friday 26th June 2015
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I'm a long time Surface Pro user. I started with a Pro 1, now I have a Pro 3 / 256 / i7 (I've noticed everyone likes to willy wave their SP3 specs! wink ).

I think the best way to think of it is as a really light and thin but very powerful computer, not a tablet. I'd never go and purchase a SP3 with the sole intention of using it for the ridiculous array of 'apps' that are in the Microsoft App Store.

The screen on it alone helps my producitivty no end. I just wish that Microsoft would sort out their ridiculous approach to scaling native apps, which look awful.

dxg

8,122 posts

259 months

Friday 26th June 2015
quotequote all
sparkyhx said:
HRL said:
Nice bits of kit but surprisingly heavy compared to an iPad. I'd wait out another week or so and see if the Pro 4 rears its head.
and then buy the last of the 3's

the problem with the surface is that its a laptop/desktop without the laptop/desktop bits. So really you need the keyboard. The pen is really really good, and the docking station is also a bit of a must for serious users. This all adds to the expense, making the cost a serious premium just for portability over a high spec laptop. I often get given Lenovo laptops when working at customers, and they tend to be very light compared with my work laptop (not been rolled out a surface yet).

I have 2 personal Surface 1's (wifey and mine), and they are still absolutely fine for what I want them to do, so although I've been watching the 3, I just can't justify it even though I get a £2k allowance per year for 'technology'. Although after 5+ years and £2k per year there is not much I need anyway, im already looking at upgrading a perfectly good desktop albeit 5 years old, just cos I can.



Edited by sparkyhx on Friday 26th June 10:46
I still use my Surface Pro 1 (!) daily and it remains a fantastic bit of kit (poor battery life aside). I did exactly as recommended above - bought it cheap when the Surface Pro 2 was announced.

The only downside that I see with the Surface Pro 3 is the thermal throttling. The wifi issues seemed to be sorted through software updated.

Have a poke around reddit.com/r/surface

Skrambles

1,309 posts

263 months

Friday 26th June 2015
quotequote all
I've got the Pro 3 i7 and it's great for working on the move. It does get very hot though.