I think the question that must be asked then is where you plan on typing these reports? If its on the go and over many different locations the Typecover would be the most convenient (whether you want to deal with the Typecover itself can only be decided by you). But if you plan on typing in one stationary location, like a desk, I would consider an actual keyboard, either Bluetooth or USB. Bonus points if you already have one.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Surface Pro 3 First Impressions
- Thread starter soulreaver99
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I think the question that must be asked then is where you plan on typing these reports? If its on the go and over many different locations the Typecover would be the most convenient (whether you want to deal with the Typecover itself can only be decided by you). But if you plan on typing in one stationary location, like a desk, I would consider an actual keyboard, either Bluetooth or USB. Bonus points if you already have one.
The Haswell processor has been out over a year now and is getting long in the tooth. The new Broadwell processors will start dropping in the fall. I'd probably hold off on buying any products with Haswell processors in them right now because a refresh should be dropping in October. Rumor has it that a new 10.6 Surface will be dropping in October as well.
The processors that are coming this fall are the Core M, the lower-powered variant. The "real" Broadwell processors are coming next year.
Rumor also says the 10.6" will have Windows RT on it, so if you want that useless POS OS then you should hold out. Although MS might surprise us and but full windows on it, maybe an Atom CPU like the should have done from day 1, but somehow I doubt sound strategic decisions like that can be executed by Microsoft. No, they like to bleed money too much so my bet is on it being RT.
Well, they have that new CEO, and so far Microsoft seems to have done better under his leadership (no Surface 3 RT, SP3 was a massive improvement on the previous 2 generations, etc)
Yeah...' cause he was able to get them to design test and manufacture an entirely new Surface in less than 6 months....
I think the new CEO has the courage to drop a failed product and not let it keep going due to pride. Windows RT is that failed product. I'm sure they could push out a 10.6 version with Windows 8.1 Pro.
With that said, Windows in general is 1990s technology that they keep pushing down the consumers throat because Microsoft can't let go and doesn't really innovate. Consumers don't want that experience on their phones or tablets. I think the branding hurts them more than anything else. When you hear the word "Windows", you don't exactly think ease of use.
Received my i7 SP3 yesterday and glad I didn't cancel my preorder.
Screen is extremely nice, the extra real estate helps a ton when using Excel and OneNote. Type Cover track pad is way better than I thought it would be, reminds me of my MBP track pad. This coming from someone who thought the previous type cover trackpads were totally unusable.
Love the new digitizer because I didn't have to do a 500 point calibration. It's extremely accurate, doesn't matter which way I rotate it when I write. Studied for a licensing exam today and spent a few hours at Starbucks taking notes on this thing. In portrait mode, feels like I'm writing on a digital legal pad. This is pretty much half of the Courier brought to life
Also ran Windstar on it at native resolution with textures dropped to low, looking for throttling issues, and the game was totally playable.
Screen is extremely nice, the extra real estate helps a ton when using Excel and OneNote. Type Cover track pad is way better than I thought it would be, reminds me of my MBP track pad. This coming from someone who thought the previous type cover trackpads were totally unusable.
Love the new digitizer because I didn't have to do a 500 point calibration. It's extremely accurate, doesn't matter which way I rotate it when I write. Studied for a licensing exam today and spent a few hours at Starbucks taking notes on this thing. In portrait mode, feels like I'm writing on a digital legal pad. This is pretty much half of the Courier brought to life
Also ran Windstar on it at native resolution with textures dropped to low, looking for throttling issues, and the game was totally playable.
SP3 includes both... you can choose to utilize either and in some cases, RT is preferred for certain applications.
With that being said, we'll see how he takes the development of Windows 9 to introduction and how it ends up. If it really becomes the best of classic Windows and RT in one...
I'm more interested in seeing the Hackintosh side of this device. It was do-able on the last two generations, but people don't seem to be talking a lot about it now. But a device thinner than an Air with a touchscreen with good specs sounds pretty fantastic.
Er, which Air, MacBook or iPad?
If the iPad, then when you hold iPad Air and SP3 side by side, you don't notice the difference in thickness. You just notice that the SP3 is bigger and heavier.
And when I placed it next to my 13 inch MBA, they almost felt about the same size. I didn't exactly compare their weight, but in order to carry the SP3, I had to put it in the laptop bag I use for my MBA. Whereas the iPad fits in a much lighter and smaller bag.
And while a SP3 running OS X is intriguing, I don't know how practical it would be to use OS X with touch. If you are going to use it with keyboard cover, then I don't think the SP3 is any more portable than the MBA.
RT is the ARM based version of Windows 8, with pretty much zero software ecosystem. You're thinking the Modern interface
It was rumored a while back that Microsoft had created an entirely new desktop operating system from the ground up leaving backward compatibility behind. I would love to see this released in the future along side the existing desktop and server offerings. This would allow businesses and consumers to migrate over if they choose at their own pace. Now that I think about it, I hope RT wasn't that rumor.
Edit: I found it. Apparently it's not RT, it's called Project Midori.
I would argue they were the only ones or step put of the 1990 and gamble on metro. It was the users who rebelled and wanted their 1990 os back. At least Microsoft took that gamble. Apple never did that.
I would also argue their WP is a very good os. It much more balanced and polished than android. And surprisingly I have seen a number of people try WP cause they got bored of how limited iOS is , sure it's had a face lift, but fundamentally it's the same so that launched in 2007 and slowly evolved. At least the WP has had major innovation from where it was in 2007 and it's nothing like iOS or android, that to me is innovation.
I hear you but I don't agree. Metro is really a tweaked UI that focused on touch and was slapped on desktop and server OSes without much thought. Is it a radical redesign of the OS? No, it's the same core technology from Windows 95 with a tile based start menu and a app store now. I think my point stands.
Apple does make changes to it's OSes but it's done in a thoughtful, common sense approach. iOS 7 isn't an earth shattering change but it set the bar for the rest of the industry. Google didn't waste too much time following in iOS 7's footsteps either. OSX Yosemite is an example of a desktop OS evolving with useful features that makes technology even more useful.
Lastly, Windows Mobile was absolutely awful and is the reason why Microsoft is playing catch up now even though they were really first to market. Windows Phone was created after Apple set the bar high. Is Windows Phone really that different from Android and iOS? No. Instead of pleasing icons, they use squares or rectangles. Everything else is features copied from Android and iOS. Yes, copied! Cortana in 2014 is just one example..
Don't get me wrong, Microsoft does have some fantastic offerings. Windows Phone and Surface aren't one of them though and the market agrees.
I personally think the type cover is excellent for typing on. I have a logitech keyboard/mouse combo that I have at home hooked up to the USB adapter thing and all I end up using is the mouse.
It is more flimsy than a regular laptop if you are going to be using it on your lap while sitting in a regular chair. If you have a desk or table to work on though it is great. It is also great to prop up in various ways while on the couch or in bed.
I am learning some new stuff for work and spent most of my weekend watching training videos and doing training exercises and was very happy to have my Surface.
Have you ever even owned a Windows based product or are you just regurgetating this from a Windows bashing site?
Based on your logic, Windows 8 is a much better OS than Apple's because of its much higher market share. Yes..."the market agrees"...
There is copying and then there is "improving upon an existing idea." The best compaines, including Apple, do the latter. Lower risk and a better product. It's not just a dumb commercial, in use Cortana out performs Siri in MANY respects...I have both, I should know...and I love my Apple products.
I NEED Windows for work....I'm waiting for Windows 9 until I decide whether or not Microsoft is on the right path from an OS standpoint for the PC side, but Windows Phone is awesome. Biggest downfall is lack of apps, but we could argue all day whether or not that actually affects the majority of users or it is just a perception issue. Quantiy does not always equal quality or match user rates.
Yes, I'm very intimate with Microsoft products and I'm replying right now from a Windows 8.1 Pro laptop that I built. Windows 8 does not have more market share than Apple's OSes so I'm not sure what you are trying to get at? Windows 8 has been universally bashed and so has RT. These are facts and I'm not trying to hurt your feelings. The fact that you are waiting to see if Microsoft is on the right path with Windows 9 indicates that Microsoft botched Windows 8.
I think it's a stretch to say that Cortana outperforms Siri in many things but even if it did, Microsoft had 3 years to make a personal assistant after Apple gave it a blueprint in 2011 with the release of Siri. Bottom line, it should be better or equal too at this point.
Quality does not always match market share and user adoption, but I think it does in this case.
I'd like a cheaper, fanless Surface, and 2nd gen Atom makes sense for that...or Core M, or Broadwell too I guess. Seems plausible we might see that, although a Surface with Tegra K1 wouldn't be bad either.
RT's not worthless. less useful than real Windows, but still it's got a real desktop, real office, a real web browser, real flash, and a lot of programs available for it. I have someone set up with it as a desktop on a surface 1 and it works great. Great printer and scanner support too for that matter.
The Surface Pro 1 and 2 are that? I must be missing something.
That's weasel words. It's no more "1990s technology" than OS X is.
Actually I do think "ease of use", Windows Phone works little like real Windows...and while I like it I wish it DID have real Windows' capabilities.
Oh that's cool! Didn't realize you had to calibrate the last one. I don't think I'd use it at all, but it did seem like this current one was a step backwards from the first two, but that's a cool benefit. (And I guess the Penny Arcade guy is adjusting to the new one...was impressive how responsive Microsoft was to trying to make sure it worked for him.)
Quite obviously a ton of thought went into it.
No it isn't. NT is no more DOS than OS X is Mac OS. Just because Microsoft actually cares about backwards compatibility and has managed to make quite a bit of stuff that ran on a different OS run on NT doesn't mean it's actually the same "core technology" at all. It means they're damn good at their job.
Not IMO. They constantly break things on OS X. iOS 7 completely broke podcast support which was the only reason I went with a 5s over a Windows Phone for 1/9th the price (only I ended up carrying a separate iPod classic anyway).
I have no idea what you're talking about. I like iOS much more than Android, but I can't think of a single example of Google "copying" iOS 7.
IMO the interface/launcher are the best of the three, and I'm hardly the only person to think so. iOS seems rather primitive by comparison, in terms of the start screen/launcher.
Not sure what you mean specifically but obviously bear in mind iOS/android features are copied off Microsoft stuff too. It's hardly an insult for things to copy each other.
Well I disagree, and "the market" is meaningless and not something you'd want to bring up AGAINST Microsoft LOL. I love both. Apple needs something like Windows 8, and they need cheap iPhones for marketshare like the Nokia 520 and now 635, which have been very successful.
Which is a meme with no basis in reality. People who bash 8 can never even tell you WHY they dislike it, and are usually frothing and quickly resort to swearing, etc. If they ever mention something, it's always something that's completely factually inaccurate, like "there's no desktop!" or "you can't search with it!" or something just utterly silly like that.
Material Design.
Windows 8 was a complete mess. Some things have been cleaned up but there is a reason why MS is bringing back the start menu. Some examples of Windows 8 missteps:
1. File extensions defaulting to Metro applications when most users just wanted to stay in desktop. You either had to fix it yourself or wait until 8.1 fixed it for you.
2. Closing out Metro apps required a long drag from the top of the screen via mouse or finger. 8.1 fixed this by adding a menu bar at the top of Metro apps.
3. Pushing a touch first UI to folks and systems that don't need or require it.
4. Shutting down the system required more steps. Fixed in 8.1.
5. No Start Menu. Was gonna be fixed in 8.1 but now will be implemented in 9.
I don't know what that means. You mean the look? They look different. The physical phone? Google only makes the Nexus, which is different from the iPhone as much as anything is.
How so? Works fantastically for me.
You were always given the ability to switch this, and it pops up a "there are other programs that can open this file" button that lets you select something else if you want. I've never had any issue with this.
If you're using a mouse you'd do alt+F4 or right click on it and close. 8.1 gives you more options though.
8.1 lets it default to the desktop, but regardless the only change here for desktop users is the start menu is full screen. Hardly a big deal.
I don't see how it required any more steps...seems about the same in about any OS really.
Actually it does have a start menu. It's just full screen.
Yeah the calibration was a WACOM thing because the point the pen touches the surface and the point where the ink shows up aren't in sync using WACOM digitizers. You calibrate to get the 2 points as close as you can and the closer you get to the corners the worse off it gets. People that use WACOM's end up getting used to it and look to the cursor to tell them where the ink is gonna appear, regardless of where they put their pen down.
With the N-Trig, the ink pretty much appears where the pen hits the surface. But the tech gives the cursor hover lag. Gabe's problem was he was used to the WACOM way and was still looking for the cursor to tell him where the ink is gonna show up. Because it lags behind the pen movement, it drove him nuts. But his complaints were kinda irrelevant because you don't need to pay attention to the cursor location anymore.
Wow, thanks for the explanation! And here I thought it was a downgrade!
Do you happen to know how the tech works?