I only have two remaining concerns with the SP3: My i5 version continues to get extremely hot near the middle of the device (e.g. when gaming or using a lot of CPU, like BitTorrent). Worryingly hot in fact. And the Magsafe like connector fails right near the magnet (the wire un-twirls), see Amazon's reviews of the power supply for examples and photos.
I think this new 10.1" could be interesting form-factor for this device and a top end Atom CPU really distinguishes it from the SP3. The naming is getting a little confusing, I checked the posting date to make sure this wasn't an old announcement for the SP3. Surface 3, Surface Pro 3, Surface 2 RT, uhh...
PS - Does anyone else keep seeing a completely white screen when visiting Microsoft's web-sites. It goes completely white for like 5 seconds and only then does any content load. I am using Chrome retail latest.
Well, at least it is better than before, when people bought a Surface tablet expecting it to run regular x86 desktop applications, because Windows. Having nearly the same name (Surface RT vs. Surface Pro) didn't really help.
For what it's worth, I had the fraying problem on my old MacBook Air charter too.
Indeed. With the January update to GPU drivers, the SP3 is able to drive a 4k monitor @ 60Hz while still having the built-in display on, also @ 60Hz.
Not all 4k monitors though, only the older, MST ones.
See https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/2v7te8/reduce_cpu_...
For gaming, get an USB fan.
Yes, this has been happening to me as well for the past week or so. Also on Chrome latest.
It may not actually be a problem at all. CPUs can run safely up to ~70C or so, which is 160F. This means thin tablets are becoming constrained by what you can safely touch, rather than what is safe for the CPU.
http://www.colorado.edu/engineering/MCEN/MCEN5166/supplement...
The issues we see with Surface Pro 3 overheating is where it's not expected to overheat, such as using Chrome. Using IE is fine, but when you use Chrome it overheats. Turns out a lot of the time it's related to ABP (adblock plus). Switching to uBlock seems to resolve most of the overheating of Chrome.
- WiFi/Bluetooth drivers (they were terrible at release)
- Intel HD graphics drivers (improved battery usage, responsiveness in some applications, and also seems to have reduced heat slightly (when running on battery))
- They improved the touchpad's auto-disable thing while using the keyboard (so it actually worked!).
- Touchscreen accuracy improvements both for pen and finger.
- More pen customisation (with associated app)
- Several crash bugs fix (e.g. BSoD during shutdown)
- A bunch of sleep specific fixes (e.g. faster entry and exit from sleep, a crash bug here too, and so on).
- Others...
Here's a full-ish list:
http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/install-updat...
This non-pro is Atom-based. I like to say while the i3/5/7 are optimized for price/performance, the Atoms are optimized for low thermal dissipation (which can be painful if you spend your day in Eclipse).
But if the Pro is mediocre, that doesn't speak well of the plain 3...
Pro 2 user here, and to better understand it for work reasons, I made it primary machine for over 8 Hurst / day since last April. Until I guessed I had reached the point no software updates were likely.
I am genuinely disappointed.
Despite the initial impression of execution was positive enough for me to have a eight week or so honeymoon. I think the idea has legs longer term.
For me, of many many issues I encountered, it is IE tablet / touch version which has been become what in hindsight ought to be a showstopper.
There is no alternative for touch use without contortions.
Yet IE left to far too much grief.
I guess here nobody will freak if I had 50 or more tabs open. Not a usual search decision list to keep handy.
But without respite, IE would seize and redraw, reload no matter how cache sized (which pretty much needs a trip to the registry) and commonly crash.
I was heavily reliant on a 3G mifi connection during most of this time.
It is beyond my comprehension how a browser in theory close to OS that knows I am using a metered connection in particular with long latency, can be shipped with a addiction to cache miss reloads.
I would close down tabs carefully and exit IE (touch).
Reboot and ....
The entire past session and even sometimes earlier sessions would reload.
I found that bookmarks did not store or persist.
It just goes on and on from there.
This is merely the highlight commentary.
But within nearly 80 single spaced pages of description, not solely concerning IE behavior, I realized I had been building a "not fit for purpose" complaint.
I did not exclusively encounter the IE problems with only a few tab open, either.
I actually do think that the shipping state of the Pro 2 would, if I had understood beforehand, guaranteed I did not purchase it.
I don't maintain a web presence or have access to a appropriate place to publish my extensive review. But I am thinking what to do about that, right now.
Although I speak very casually about what ought to touch upon different memory models for touch aps from Metro thinking, the process sumps I ran, API monitoring, attempts at querying NTFS to find "lost" writes and a determined effort to seek out any possible corruption of the SSD writes.... all of which were reasons in terms of finding free time which delayed my formal complaint so far beyond when I first became incredibly frustrated, I hope I may be permitted here a modicum of credibility that I did at least have a fair go at figuring out anything that might be otherwise wrong.
I very much like this format.
This new 3 might be just the ticket for lightweight moments needing a x86 device I can carry substitute another tablet.
Yet, the sad ending to this, is that in my private but professionally minded quest to bring a 5th decade brain out of atrophy and into the current device world, this is the punching:
I bought a Sony Xperia Z3 Compact.
For everything I commonly did with my Surface Pro 2, exception anything requiring long concentration, I suddenly found myself using the Z3c for entire days and continue to in cactuses it primarily.
Even when I have a environment up to write and edit, how exactly can it not plain suck to be fighting with a browser when piling through API refs or SO to check out whichever. That was simply a concentration breaker.
I probably will check out the new one as above.
But I have rarely found anything so frustrating in primary use as intended or advertised....\
And I get done faster with my Z3c, for too many tasks.
I almost feel bad at the tome I am about to dump on Microsoft, but I felt strongly enough about the potential utility to me of this device format, I am not writing any consumer report complaint. I very much want my observations, which had me regularly disrupted from my flow even of corridor meetings, to be appreciated. I am to concerned by my experience to plump for a new model without most definitely being certain I can get refund after sufficient time to go the necessary test distance. And absolutely no way will I let myself think a future update will solve anything.
That last point, the confidence that updates will resolve glaring problems, is the kind of issue that would have me shut the entire teams to standstill (per Toyota System) until this was understood.
At present, the market for any Surface is small and tolerant and sophisticated. But this is if unsolved, a PR problem that could shut down regular consumer retail dead.
I may exaggerate, and as well two years ago I thought neither Lumina WP nor Android phones (I tested a variety from mid to flagship) were persuasive, but the change in experience since then has blown my mind. Still yet so much I would do on WP or 'Droid. But the complete experience is entirely impressive. Not only that, but my very elderly family members who are most immune to me thrusting new toys into their hands in ever desperate attempts to connect our diaspora family, are finally impressed. Because above all the response of apps is good enough to prevent a kind of "Senior Valley" in which UX and app latency makes them just pause enough to think they "did it wrong".
The story will continue nevertheless.... it feels like the second or wherever we are counting, Act, is not the dramatic finale but having introduced the Dramatis Personae, we are getting some action sufficient to appreciate full blown characters.
Pro 2 user here, and to better understand it for work reasons, I made it primary machine for over 8 Hurst / day since last April. Until I guessed I had reached the point no software updates were likely.
I am genuinely disappointed.
Despite the initial impression of execution was positive enough for me to have a eight week or so honeymoon. I think the idea has legs longer term.
For me, of many many issues I encountered, it is IE tablet / touch version which has been become what in hindsight ought to be a showstopper.
There is no alternative for touch use without contortions.
Yet IE left to far too much grief.
I guess here nobody will freak if I had 50 or more tabs open. Not a usual search decision list to keep handy.
But without respite, IE would seize and redraw, reload no matter how cache sized (which pretty much needs a trip to the registry) and commonly crash.
I was heavily reliant on a 3G mifi connection during most of this time.
It is beyond my comprehension how a browser in theory close to OS that knows I am using a metered connection in particular with long latency, can be shipped with a addiction to cache miss reloads.
I would close down tabs carefully and exit IE (touch).
Reboot and ....
The entire past session and even sometimes earlier sessions would reload.
I found that bookmarks did not store or persist.
It just goes on and on from there.
This is merely the highlight commentary.
But within nearly 80 single spaced pages of description, not solely concerning IE behavior, I realized I had been building a "not fit for purpose" complaint.
I did not exclusively encounter the IE problems with only a few tab open, either.
I actually do think that the shipping state of the Pro 2 would, if I had understood beforehand, guaranteed I did not purchase it.
I don't maintain a web presence or have access to a appropriate place to publish my extensive review. But I am thinking what to do about that, right now.
Although I speak very casually about what ought to touch upon different memory models for touch aps from Metro thinking, the process sumps I ran, API monitoring, attempts at querying NTFS to find "lost" writes and a determined effort to seek out any possible corruption of the SSD writes.... all of which were reasons in terms of finding free time which delayed my formal complaint so far beyond when I first became incredibly frustrated, I hope I may be permitted here a modicum of credibility that I did at least have a fair go at figuring out anything that might be otherwise wrong.
I very much like this format.
This new 3 might be just the ticket for lightweight moments needing a x86 device I can carry substitute another tablet.
Yet, the sad ending to this, is that in my private but professionally minded quest to bring a 5th decade brain out of atrophy and into the current device world, this is the punching:
I bought a Sony Xperia Z3 Compact.
For everything I commonly did with my Surface Pro 2, exception anything requiring long concentration, I suddenly found myself using the Z3c for entire days and continue to in cactuses it primarily.
Even when I have a environment up to write and edit, how exactly can it not plain suck to be fighting with a browser when piling through API refs or SO to check out whichever. That was simply a concentration breaker.
I probably will check out the new one as above.
But I have rarely found anything so frustrating in primary use as intended or advertised....\
And I get done faster with my Z3c, for too many tasks.
I almost feel bad at the tome I am about to dump on Microsoft,
And buy now page with tech specs: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/productI...
Looks like $499 for 64GB storage and 2GB RAM, $599 for 128GB storage and 4GB of RAM (WiFi models; 4G LTE model pricing wasn't showing for me).
4 GB is the minimum I'd run anything newer than Windows XP on. The SSD's speed might be able to "save" the 2 GB from being completely unusable, but it is still going to be damn slow with the amount of paging that's going to occur.
Honestly, I get that Microsoft wants to hit that magical $500 figure, but that device is going to give a really poor use experience in my opinion.
http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/03/16/how-wind...
I've found 2gb to be perfectly usable with Win7 and 8, Chrome's voracious appetite for memory would be a sticking point, except I've noticed that it does a better job of managing itself when RAM is limited. Chrome runs just fine on 1gb Chromebooks despite having just 768-512mb available most of the time. I will say that the Atom processor is a concern with Chrome even though I know the latest versions are roughly 2-3x more powerful than the Pineview dual core I had in my old Dell netbook. Chrome routinely maxed out the processor on every page load while Firefox and IE never needed more than 25% of the available CPU horsepower. Tripling the available power would eliminate the 5 second lockups I experienced but it could still be a slow, stuttery user experience.
Windows installs themselves or with other software installed? The latter makes sense but I've never seen anywhere close in the former. 32GB would be a bad idea but 64GB I think is fine for the majority of people.
That really depends on your use case.
I've been using the Asus Vivotab Note 8 for several months (2gb/64gb), and I haven't even come close to feeling a need to put an SD card in it yet. I use it as a complement to my laptop. Mostly for consumption, communication and note-taking with OneNote. I don't think you'd want to do any heavy lifting on an Atom-based machine -- you'd be better off with a Pro in that case.
I'd love to see Microsoft release a Surface Mini with that Surface Pen. Having a Wacom pen on my Vivotab is great, except at the edges.
I may end up replacing my t100 with the 128 GB surface 3, especially given the small price difference.
If you're a Pro, then buy a Pro or get a MacBook Pro and VM Windows.
But as just a tablet, this is _close_ to a great deal (I think they can do better and probably will drop the price by the holidays).
Like Dell XPS 11
2560 x 1440 display
4GB RAM
128GB SSD
http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/665236/Dell-XPS-11-XPS...
Edit: It was about 3 pro ... ignore.
The keyboard is great. Having a choice of keyboards is also great. However Microsoft makes the keyboard a core part of this device (both literally, and in adverts) so to me there should be no scenario where it doesn't ship with one.
They should just set the price at $599 and include the keyboard. At least it is an "out the door" price then, not $500 with a hidden $100 tack-on.
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/productI...
"Checkout the new Surface - it's only $500 just like the iPad, but unlike the iPad it comes with a keyboard, too!
Oh btw, you actually have to pay $130 more for the keyboard."
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8377/usb-typec-connector-speci...
But given that it only has one USB port, I'm not surprised that Microsoft chose not to ship something that would basically require an adapter.
I imagine they are shaving pennies to keep cost down without giving up quality, but I wonder what the added cost would be to have two USB ports? (And how much extra the new USB parts would cost?)
If you allow charging over only one of the connectors, customers will find that highly confusing.
If you allow charging the device over both, you have to be prepared for the case where people plug in two power sources (yes, some users will do that, if you give them half a chance).
I think your best bet would be to go for #2. I think that requires software (or maybe hardware) that reliably handles the 'two power sources' problem. I wouldn't run that on the main OS and CPU, so you need something else, maybe a single chip that drives two USB type C connectors. I guess those may not yet exist.
(That's quite loose thinking, so it may be hugely incorrect. Educate me)
Until then? It's not a computer. This is.
Anyone know how to easily download an audiobook from Humble Bundle and put it on an iPhone to listen to later?
Uploaded Model Processor Frequency Cores Platform Single-Core Score Multi-Core Score
Feb 21, 2015 Intel CHERRYVIEW Intel Atom x7-Z8700 1601 4 Windows 32-bit 984 3210
Feb 13, 2015 Intel CHERRYVIEW Intel Atom x7-Z8700 1601 4 Windows 64-bit 990 3451
Uploaded Model Processor Frequency Cores Platform Single-Core Score Multi-Core Score
Jan 27, 2015 iPad Air 2 Apple A8X 1500 3 iOS 64-bit 1814 4665Touch works surprisingly well, but multitouch support in Ubuntu is quite primitive still. The pen works allright but without pressure sensitivity.
Coming from a ThinkPad W500 I'm very happy with it but it still has rough edges, like the lack of suspend mode. I do a full shutdown instead.
Huh? Some UEFI trickiness, or some kind of quirky intel cpu? Do you mean that it doesn't work for Ubuntu, or that there's no way to get s2disk/s2ram to work on the thing with a Linux kernel?
I suggest this for one simple reason: Many of the Surface's features are ultimately software/driver driven. For example, the keyboard, the pen (both halfs), even much of the touch interaction, and on screen keyboard.
So unless you have really incredible driver support, the Surface is going to just be obnoxious to try and use. You might wind up with a USB keyboard/mouse plugged in most of the time.
Can it be done? Maybe. Should it? Depends how much you like pain.
My worry is that Ubuntu wouldn't really work with the touch screen.
Edit: I should mention, she got the i5 1.9 GHz and mostly uses it for work (Excel / Outlook) and video (Skype / Netflix). No fan issues.
Seems like it doesn't have a fan, but until someone actually tests the device there is no real way to know if it will overheat or not.
Other question would be whether processor is powerful enough to handle Windows 10 desktop applications (I am not talking about games, but even Skype is CPU hungry nowadays)
But seriously, Microsoft has some of the worst advertising period. I cannot think of a major company which is worse than Microsoft at advertising in general.
Having played with the Surface Pro 3 tablet at BestBuy a few times, it's a dream to use. I've wanted a Surface Pro 3, but the price is prohibitive and I already have a Yoga Pro 2 and a MacBook Pro. I don't really need a development laptop, but I want that OneNote pen-drawing capability to communicate.
So the Surface 3 looks about right. I'd need the 4GB model with 128GB and with the SD slot you should be able to add more. And that pen. That pen is simply a dream to write with...and I want one.
I just wish they'd make a better (metal) keyboard and include it in the price.
> So the Surface 3 looks about right.
You realize this has much lower performance, and most likely won't give you the same experience, right?
Edit: Was looking at the Surface Pro 3, the standard Surface is only ~$620. Not too bad I guess.
I did a quick calculation and it seems like the UK is "only" being overcharged by $21/£15 when you take into account VAT. Which may exist due to exchange rate shifting and the additional regulatory costs perhaps.
PS - An extra 15% sales tax for free healthcare is a good trade if you ask me. But each to their own. :)
EDIT: Sorry, I get it now, this is the non-Pro version. I'd gone right to Amazon from a link here and it gave me the Surface 2 vs the Pro 3
1. The laptop sometimes sits on my lap. The surface keyboard doesn't work as a laptop.
2. The resolution is a joke.
3. There is no sane pen storage. For a pen device, that's dumb. Thinkpads add a few mm, and have a hole you put it in which stores it securely. There's a move to move everything out of the device to make it small, but carrying around 50 gizmos is worse than one slightly bigger gizmo.
It's true that Microsoft doesn't allow alternative rendering engines on WinRT, but it is ARM instead of x86, so there is a technical component; Google would have to port Chrome.
There's an argument that future store-compatible apps are easily ported to WP10, but Google has very little incentive for any of this work.
If anything Mozilla had reasons to, but even they killed their efforts due to lack of customer interest.
Check it out - http://www.wacom.com/en-us/products/pen-displays/cintiq-comp...
I wonder if Mike Krahulik will be doing another write up, since his review of the Surface Pro 3 was immensely thorough.
Can't wait to see it at stores, I think I'll jump in on this one.
EDIT: I also hope they have a video showing Windows 10 on this Surface
Couldn't see myself using one anytime soon. That being said, I'll give the Surface 3 a test drive as I don't want to write off a new product based on the failings of its older siblings.
I do notice that the Surface Pro's performance can suck if you don't have the right settings in Windows Power Options, but that's not unique to the Surface. I had the same experience with my quad-core i7 laptop out of the box, and it was fixed by increasing the minimum CPU speed in the Power Options control panel.
Honestly that's a complete deal breaker for me (not that I was going to buy one anyway but if I was in the market I would not bother).
Microsoft: List 101 features. Tell everyone how amazing each new feature is. Remind everyone that there is a huge array of features. List them out again.
Apple: Take a nice photo. Done.
* Dimensions * Keyboard size * Screen resolution * Trackpad features * Wireless capabilities * No fan * Battery design and battery life * Operating system * Apps ...
Seems like a bunch of features to me.
Can't view Apple's videos since I don't have Quicktime, so I can't compare there.
Edit: Apple's page is prettier than Microsoft's.
When Microsoft releases a product, it seems like their marketing department just wants to hammer a list of features into my head which just results in me not wanting anything.
Any marketer want to give their two cents?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLrW5SKusn0
Which, at the time, was revolutionary. Or "1000 songs in your pocket" (not 4GB in your pocket).
The Microsoft ecosystem didn't do this, to put it mildly. Which spyware/adware/bloatware is coming along with your PC purchase? Which plasticky parts? Which underpowered CPU? Which horrible battery life?
People see a Christopher Nolan movie just because he's involved. Interstellar didn't need a typical Michael-Bay style trailer to entice people to go.
It's all about the expectations people have going in. When you don't trust the chef, you want to see all the ingredients.
I cannot believe how terrible the Surface site looks, Microsoft needs its own in house designers. The "For Gaming" section hero image has a cheap blur, it looks like a 6th grader touched it up.
Microsoft's is called "".
Brave hacker replaceable? Hell YES!
http://liliputing.com/2015/03/upgrade-a-surface-pro-3-with-a...
http://surfacepro3ssdupgrade.blogspot.mx/2015/02/surface-pro...
Long answer: The Surface 3 Pro had an SSD that could in theory be upgraded, but it required some serious disassembling to pop the display off, and even the ifixit guys couldn't pull it off without breaking at least one screen.
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Microsoft+Surface+Pro+3+Tear...
Business users will get a Windows 8.1 Pro.
But does it run linux?
i'm scrolling up and down that page and i can't even answer if it is the same as pro3 with the crippled OS.
still could not find about SD card and usb ports.
Linux supports any architecture, that doesn't matter. I'm asking if anyone has tried or knows about this: Is there a bootlock? What's the shipped BIOS? Question is legit, this is M$ we're talking about, not precisely known for its openness. And just for asking, I'm being downvoted and called "antagonistic". You fanbois are just hilarious. It's called "freedom of choice". Yes, that actually exist outside your little world where companies decide what you have to use. I prefer to make my own choices. I might like the hardware design (which is actually nice, and M$ usually makes nice and functional hardware) but I don't like Windows. Period. In fact, I'm not even surprised of your answer and the downvotes, didn't expect otherwise from M$ fanbois ;)
*not really optional
How does a docking station cost as much as an entire media PC?