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How does the Microsoft Surface 3 compare to my Late 2008 Macbook?

Danger! Will

Danger! Will

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 30, 2003
232
0
Phoenix, Arizona USA
I recently picked up a Surface RT 1 and Surface RT 2. I love the form factor but they aren't anywhere near as fast as my late 2008 MacBook. The specs of my Macbook are 2.4GHZ, 8GB RAM 480GB SSD. I don't want to buy a tablet and notebook and love the form factor of the Surface. My biggest complaint of my Macbook is how long it takes to wake from sleep. And I still hate the Photos app. I like how I was able to organize everything in iPhoto by album. No everything is just sorta unorganized everywhere. In iPhoto i was able to create an event and drag and drop everything there and have it appear that way on my iPhone. Could the Surface 3 replace my late 2008 MacBook or should I just want for the next revision for the Surface 4 non pro to come out? Thanks!
 
I'm going to say that it will be considerably slower in most respects. The Surface 3 uses a very low power Atom CPU and a very slow SSD. It's a decent tablet and light laptop for note-taking and light writing, etc. but it's not really a laptop replacement for most people.
 
You may check some benchmarks here
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-2-Duo-P8600-Notebook-Processor.23026.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Atom-x7-Z8700-Benchmarks.140906.0.html

The first is likely your old CPU from 2008, the second is the new Surface one.
The Macbook one is faster but you're unlikely to perceive any difference in daily tasks.
The Surface 3 is much more enjoyable than the awful RT models, which had crappy CPUs and hardly any applications.
Or you could just search for an used Surface Pro 3 which does have plenty of power for any task.
 
Danger! Will said:
Could the Surface 3 replace my late 2008 MacBook or should I just want for the next revision for the Surface 4 non pro to come out? Thanks!
Click to expand...
I have both a Surface 3 and 4.

They are fantastic!

Yes the Surface 3 would be a terrific replacement. In day to day use you're not going to notice a difference of any consequence. Even better is it's portability, you'll love it. I do, that's why I upgraded to the 4 and my wife took the 3.
 
maxsix said:
I have both a Surface 3 and 4.

They are fantastic!

Yes the Surface 3 would be a terrific replacement. In day to day use you're not going to notice a difference of any consequence. Even better is it's portability, you'll love it. I do, that's why I upgraded to the 4 and my wife took the 3.
Click to expand...

I think you mean Surface Pro. The question is about the Surface 3 which is a very different device with only a fraction of the power of yours.
 
Danger! Will said:
I'm running El Capitan 10.11.3. Ever since I upgraded to El Capitan I get kernel panics and my macbook is constantly restarting.
Click to expand...

Then your Mac has other issues, my own 1.2 Retina MacBook wakes virtually instantaneously. If the upgrade to 10.11 generated issues, simply roll back to 10.10.5. All my Mac`s are on 10.10.5 as 10.11.3 does not play well with my usage/workflow. My own opinion of 10.11 is poor to say the very least, sales & marketing over quality...

Remember your Mac is now 8 years old, you would be better off with a newer Mac or a Surface Pro 4, Surface 3 will be a drop in performance, Surface Pro 4 will be a significant increase, with greater utility; Touch, Pen, Tablet, Notebook, portability, equally at a price as you increase the specification.

Q-6
 
I think the Surface Pro is comparable, the Surface is not, given the components used in that product. FWIW, I find my SP3, to be a great tablet, I love taking that over my MBP when I travel. The SP4 is a much more powerful computer, but its not perfect. There were some issues what MS had to address, though I think much of those issues have been resolved.
 
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