This seems like a good step forward for the Surface Pro. Digital artists are going to love this.
It's impressive that they have the weight down despite it having a larger screen - though it's still too heavy. The iPad Air is the first "big" tablet where the weight has been acceptable to me for long use - though I would prefer it to be even lighter.
I'm so glad they moved from 16:9 to 3:2.
16:9 or 16:10 are horrible aspect ratios for a tablet device. 4:3 seems to be optimal, but 3:2 is a good improvement.
Ideally, it would have been 1920x1440, which would mean that video could be displayed 1:1 rather than upscaled.
One of the main reasons I bought a Pro 2 was because that 1920x1080 screen looked
so good when streaming Blu-ray video from my server.
It blows away the iPad or other mobile devices which have to display scaled, transcoded video.
The fully adjustable hinge seems like a good improvement as long as it remains secure over time.
The built-in stand is the thing I am most envious of as an iPad owner. (no, covers are not nearly as good a solution)
I'm glad they have a larger touchpad with much lower friction - the touchpad was absolutely horrible on the Touch Cover 2.
That said, it's still not a glass touchpad, so I still don't expect it to be very good.
Even if it's acceptable to begin with, if it's not glass, it will get worse over time.
Unfortunately none of this will address the biggest issue I had with the Surface Pro 2: Windows
sucks when used with a touchscreen.
The touch accuracy was nowhere close to where it needs to be to work well with touch.
I can't think of the last time I ever had to tap something twice on iOS for it to work. With the Surface Pro 2, even after calibration (why is that even a thing) I was often tapping buttons two or more times before they registered my touch accurately.
Metro was fine, but the app selection is so limited that I had no use for it.
Another problem is that this is designed to be used on a desk.
While they may have improved the "lap-ability" of the Pro 3 over the Pro 2, the top-heavy design and flimsy keyboard covers make for a poor experience.
The 12" size and weight is too much for it to be truly portable.
Unless you're doing something which does not require much interaction, you really want a mouse with Windows. It just doesn't work well on your lap in tablet-form.
There are other small details which I'm sure won't have been addressed either:
The headphone output is
awful. Loud hissing through any of my headphones, and no support for in-line remotes.
The docking station is a nice idea, but there's no digital audio output (a MacBook has a combined 3.5mm analog/optical output built in) and Microsoft are still using DisplayPort rather than Thunderbolt.
Until the Surface PRO gets LTE, it won't compete with the iPad. If it gets LTE, the iPad will have a legit competitor. I would buy this if it had LTE.
The Pro 2 is available with LTE. I'm sure there will be a Pro 3 model with LTE released in a couple of months as well.
Too heavy at less than 2 lbs.
Seriously guys, how do you function?
There is a difference between being able to carry a device around in a backpack or moving from desk-to-desk, to holding a device one-handed when reading.
And for what it's worth, I have a serious shoulder injury so holding anything heavier than an iPad Air for any length of time causes me severe pain.
I have no problem carrying around or using my 3.5lb Retina MacBook Pro, but I can't use a heavy tablet for any length of time.
It's the same reason that people who primarily use the devices for reading books, prefer an iPad mini or Kindle to the larger tablets.
