Surface Pro 3

[Sakeopete]

I haven't found anybody's take on the Surface Pro 3 on TV so I though I would give a layman's mini review after owning one for 2 weeks.

I decided to take a chance and break away from Android. I had been eyeing up the Surface Pro 3 for some time. The online reviews are generally positive so I took the plunge and purchased the i5 8 Gig RAM - 256 storage version.

I work overseas and am forced to carry my bulky business Dell with me. I wanted a light powerful tablet to replace my Galaxy Note 10.1. The Surface pro fit the bill well running Windows so I can use all my business applications seamlessly and I just love the keyboard. It is so thin yet a standard keyboard that lights up just like my laptop. I like how the keyboard can lay flat or be placed in a inclined position. It is held magnetically so comes off in an instant when I want to use it as a tablet.

In addition to the 256 Gig of memory it also has a micro SD slot (not really sure why) and a USB 3 port. It even provides a USB charging port on the adapter itself great for charging phones. Honestly I'm not crazy about Windows 8.1 but will update to Windows 10 when I get home. I guess I'm too accustomed to Windows 7.

So far the tablet has been great many of my coworkers really like it also. Everyone at my morning meetings have held it and can't believe how light it is.

It's as powerful as my Dell notebook and even plays games decently. The built in stand works well holding it up on my lap or desk. In the evening I like watching movies and television series the 12 inch screen is great and the speakers clear. I don't really listen to music with it so can't comment on that.

So far I'm very happy with it being thin and light even with the keyboard attached yet having the same performance of my Dell notebook.

[trd]

I think you made a smart move. I have come to the conclusion that Android is a crap OS. It's okay on a phone to do some basic stuff, but there's no way it stands up to the power of Windows. I had been using a Minix Android box as a media player for my TV and recently switched to the new Minix running Windows 8.1 which is upgradeable to Win10. What a difference! More stable, more flexible and more powerful. I think the first generation windows tablets suffered from poor battery life, but that has improved. I like my iPad which is a better OS than android in my opinion, but it's inevitable I will end up migrating to a Windows tablet as you have done.

[Chicog]

I think you made a smart move. I have come to the conclusion that Android is a crap OS. It's okay on a phone to do some basic stuff, but there's no way it stands up to the power of Windows. I had been using a Minix Android box as a media player for my TV and recently switched to the new Minix running Windows 8.1 which is upgradeable to Win10. What a difference! More stable, more flexible and more powerful. I think the first generation windows tablets suffered from poor battery life, but that has improved. I like my iPad which is a better OS than android in my opinion, but it's inevitable I will end up migrating to a Windows tablet as you have done.

Horses for courses. Android does everything for me on a tablet and my AV boxes.

To the OP: What battery life do you get out this just watching video?

[SheungWan]

I am not convinced by the wish to have a tablet/laptop for business and certainly not the overly expensive prices asked for by the Surface. I still want a straight laptop. Actually I think it is the tablet which is the redundant part of the equation. Only a phablet (large smartphone) will do now as support for the laptop.

Edited August 12, 2015 by SheungWan

[dddave]

A friend has had to send his SP-3 back to the US (Amazon purchase one year ago) for repair twice: once for a battery charging issue and once for dead scan lines on his display...a common problem according to SP-3 forums. Both times MS repaired and returned his unit but they reserve the right to replace it if they choose to. Took about a month each time. Also, they would only ship it to his original shipping address in the US and he had to arrange forwarding to Thailand on his own. Shipping has become problematic because of battery regulations...only FedEx would accept it.

Microsoft does have a local repair service in Thailand but apparently wont do warranty repairs on units purchased outside of Thailand.

Edited August 13, 2015 by dddave

[WhizBang]

I bought my Surface Pro 3 last year (i7 fully loaded). Yes, a tad pricey, but it beats any other tablet hands down. Battery life is very good (don't watch movies). Mainly I just use it for internet access. What I really like is that it runs a real OS and therefor real programs, not just dumbed down apps. Anything you can do on your computer you can do on the SP3. It is definately a very capable laptop replacement. I have used it as such at times when my laptop is otherwise unavailable.

It has a full size USB3 port, so you can attach anything you want to it. For me the included pen is the icing on the cake. What I have hated most about the 'other' tablets was the total lack of precision when using touch. The MS pen solves that in spades. I should perhaps point out that I do NOT use the 'metro' interface, but use the desktop with Classic Shell. Here the pen shines.

The microSD slot will accept at least up to 128GB cards (that is what I have in mine). As it is really an SDXC slot it should be able to handle whatever the limits of SDXC is. Oddly enough, the specs I saw on the SP3 microSD card said it only supported up to 32GB. Probably a copy and paste error from an earlier SP version.

The microsoft virtual keyboard is a joke, in my opinion. I found a MUCH better FREE virtual keyboard here.

The android and apple tablets are dumbed down toys compared to the Surface Pro 3. I give the SP3 5 stars (out of 5) and a highly recommended.

[Sakeopete]

I think you made a smart move. I have come to the conclusion that Android is a crap OS. It's okay on a phone to do some basic stuff, but there's no way it stands up to the power of Windows. I had been using a Minix Android box as a media player for my TV and recently switched to the new Minix running Windows 8.1 which is upgradeable to Win10. What a difference! More stable, more flexible and more powerful. I think the first generation windows tablets suffered from poor battery life, but that has improved. I like my iPad which is a better OS than android in my opinion, but it's inevitable I will end up migrating to a Windows tablet as you have done.

Horses for courses. Android does everything for me on a tablet and my AV boxes.

To the OP: What battery life do you get out this just watching video?

I have downloaded the entire Stargate SG1 series and watch 3 episodes per night which reduces my battery by about 20 %. I can play Warcraft 3 Frozen Throne for an 1 1/4 hour and it uses about 35% of my battery.

[Sakeopete]

A friend has had to send his SP-3 back to the US (Amazon purchase one year ago) for repair twice: once for a battery charging issue and once for dead scan lines on his display...a common problem according to SP-3 forums. Both times MS repaired and returned his unit but they reserve the right to replace it if they choose to. Took about a month each time. Also, they would only ship it to his original shipping address in the US and he had to arrange forwarding to Thailand on his own. Shipping has become problematic because of battery regulations...only FedEx would accept it.

Microsoft does have a local repair service in Thailand but apparently wont do warranty repairs on units purchased outside of Thailand.

I bought my Surface Pro in Thailand.

[Sakeopete]

I bought my Surface Pro 3 last year (i7 fully loaded). Yes, a tad pricey, but it beats any other tablet hands down. Battery life is very good (don't watch movies). Mainly I just use it for internet access. What I really like is that it runs a real OS and therefor real programs, not just dumbed down apps. Anything you can do on your computer you can do on the SP3. It is definately a very capable laptop replacement. I have used it as such at times when my laptop is otherwise unavailable.

It has a full size USB3 port, so you can attach anything you want to it. For me the included pen is the icing on the cake. What I have hated most about the 'other' tablets was the total lack of precision when using touch. The MS pen solves that in spades. I should perhaps point out that I do NOT use the 'metro' interface, but use the desktop with Classic Shell. Here the pen shines.

The microSD slot will accept at least up to 128GB cards (that is what I have in mine). As it is really an SDXC slot it should be able to handle whatever the limits of SDXC is. Oddly enough, the specs I saw on the SP3 microSD card said it only supported up to 32GB. Probably a copy and paste error from an earlier SP version.

The microsoft virtual keyboard is a joke, in my opinion. I found a MUCH better FREE virtual keyboard here.

The android and apple tablets are dumbed down toys compared to the Surface Pro 3. I give the SP3 5 stars (out of 5) and a highly recommended.

Ah good point I forgot to mention the pen I didn't bring it with me to work so I have yet to explore what it can do. I also received a free docking station which I didn't try yet either.

[Carmine6]

I bought my Surface Pro 3 last year (i7 fully loaded). Yes, a tad pricey, but it beats any other tablet hands down. Battery life is very good (don't watch movies). Mainly I just use it for internet access. What I really like is that it runs a real OS and therefor real programs, not just dumbed down apps. Anything you can do on your computer you can do on the SP3. It is definately a very capable laptop replacement. I have used it as such at times when my laptop is otherwise unavailable.

It has a full size USB3 port, so you can attach anything you want to it. For me the included pen is the icing on the cake. What I have hated most about the 'other' tablets was the total lack of precision when using touch. The MS pen solves that in spades. I should perhaps point out that I do NOT use the 'metro' interface, but use the desktop with Classic Shell. Here the pen shines.

The microSD slot will accept at least up to 128GB cards (that is what I have in mine). As it is really an SDXC slot it should be able to handle whatever the limits of SDXC is. Oddly enough, the specs I saw on the SP3 microSD card said it only supported up to 32GB. Probably a copy and paste error from an earlier SP version.

The microsoft virtual keyboard is a joke, in my opinion. I found a MUCH better FREE virtual keyboard here.

The android and apple tablets are dumbed down toys compared to the Surface Pro 3. I give the SP3 5 stars (out of 5) and a highly recommended.

Ah good point I forgot to mention the pen I didn't bring it with me to work so I have yet to explore what it can do. I also received a free docking station which I didn't try yet either.

One thing I know you can do with the stylus is draw on a PowerPoint presentation on the screen. I don't have a Surface, but a colleague does, and I was walking through a presentation with someone and needed to make a note of some edits to make later. So just figured I'd see what the pen would do and it wrote on the slides. Being able to just take the keyboard off and walk over and show something on the screen worked out very well.

Also, if you click the button on the stylus, it goes to a blank Onenote page and then you can start writing. Intended to be for quick notes. There's some option to switch which version of Onenote if you have both the desktop version and app version both installed. Saw that tip on Youtube and it does work.

[Cylon]

Have just purchased Surface pro 3 i5 128GB, very fast, very mobile.very happy. But having trouble upgrading to windows 10, maybe thats a good thing.

[Jaggg88]

I bought my Surface Pro 3 last year (i7 fully loaded). Yes, a tad pricey, but it beats any other tablet hands down. Battery life is very good (don't watch movies). Mainly I just use it for internet access. What I really like is that it runs a real OS and therefor real programs, not just dumbed down apps. Anything you can do on your computer you can do on the SP3. It is definately a very capable laptop replacement. I have used it as such at times when my laptop is otherwise unavailable.

It has a full size USB3 port, so you can attach anything you want to it. For me the included pen is the icing on the cake. What I have hated most about the 'other' tablets was the total lack of precision when using touch. The MS pen solves that in spades. I should perhaps point out that I do NOT use the 'metro' interface, but use the desktop with Classic Shell. Here the pen shines.

The microSD slot will accept at least up to 128GB cards (that is what I have in mine). As it is really an SDXC slot it should be able to handle whatever the limits of SDXC is. Oddly enough, the specs I saw on the SP3 microSD card said it only supported up to 32GB. Probably a copy and paste error from an earlier SP version.

The microsoft virtual keyboard is a joke, in my opinion. I found a MUCH better FREE virtual keyboard here.

The android and apple tablets are dumbed down toys compared to the Surface Pro 3. I give the SP3 5 stars (out of 5) and a highly recommended.

Ah good point I forgot to mention the pen I didn't bring it with me to work so I have yet to explore what it can do. I also received a free docking station which I didn't try yet either.

One thing I know you can do with the stylus is draw on a PowerPoint presentation on the screen. I don't have a Surface, but a colleague does, and I was walking through a presentation with someone and needed to make a note of some edits to make later. So just figured I'd see what the pen would do and it wrote on the slides. Being able to just take the keyboard off and walk over and show something on the screen worked out very well.

Also, if you click the button on the stylus, it goes to a blank Onenote page and then you can start writing. Intended to be for quick notes. There's some option to switch which version of Onenote if you have both the desktop version and app version both installed. Saw that tip on Youtube and it does work.

With windows 10 loaded you can use edge (the new browser) and write on/make notes web pages. As previously stated - this is a very good business tool unlike other tablets that are just big toys.

[Jaggg88]

Have just purchased Surface pro 3 i5 128GB, very fast, very mobile.very happy. But having trouble upgrading to windows 10, maybe thats a good thing.

Windows 8 was designed for touch screen devices and wasn't very good. However I've downloaded win 10 on 3 different devices and they all run faster with win 10. It took 2/3 hours for each one but I expect that will depend on your bandwidth. Win 10 appears to be an amalgamation of win 7 and win 8. Very impressed so far and it was free!

[Cheesekraft]

SP3 is such an incredible device; I discovered it while searching for a laptop a few months ago, but I am waiting to buy the SP4 at this point. I am surprised it is not announced yet, but it is likely going to have the new intel processors since they are coming out by the end of the year... hopefully with a second USB port and somewhere to place the pen.

[thailandforumaddict]

Are you ridiculous ? Who has ever believed that Android was an OS for computer ? The os for computer is called Chrome and is also shiiite !

I like surface pro 3, but for the same price as a mac (or even more expensive!) I would buy a mac that I hate.

[Carmine6]

SP3 is such an incredible device; I discovered it while searching for a laptop a few months ago, but I am waiting to buy the SP4 at this point. I am surprised it is not announced yet, but it is likely going to have the new intel processors since they are coming out by the end of the year... hopefully with a second USB port and somewhere to place the pen.

Devices don't seem to get release dates anymore. There's just rumors, then close to launch there are invites to relevant people to some event and they show up and there's the launch. Current view seems to be October. There's a $150 discount on the Surface Pro 3 models now, which seems to be to clear out inventory and give people a slight discount.

[thedemon]

A friend has had to send his SP-3 back to the US (Amazon purchase one year ago) for repair twice: once for a battery charging issue and once for dead scan lines on his display...a common problem according to SP-3 forums. Both times MS repaired and returned his unit but they reserve the right to replace it if they choose to. Took about a month each time. Also, they would only ship it to his original shipping address in the US and he had to arrange forwarding to Thailand on his own. Shipping has become problematic because of battery regulations...only FedEx would accept it.

Microsoft does have a local repair service in Thailand but apparently wont do warranty repairs on units purchased outside of Thailand.

All Surface products are covered by a warranty valid anywhere that Microsoft sells them officially including Thailand. It doesn't matter where they are purchased. But the process for making a claim isn't very intuitive and isn't handled by Microsoft themselves. In Thailand it is managed by a logistics company called Quantium Solutions.

If not done already you need to register your surface here: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/register

To do that you need the serial number of the device (located behind the kickstand), a Microsoft Account and a valid credit card. There is no time limit for registering.

Before you make a service request, change your registered address and country to wherever you want the device collected from and delivered back to.

In my experience, Quantium will call you within a few hours and arrange TNT couriers to collect your device and you will then have a replacement device delivered back to you in about a week. If the device is within warranty there is a charge of THB50 (yes, USD1.40). If the claim is out of warranty or caused by accidental damage, there is a flat charge of THB10K. At least in Thailand, the device is always replaced, never repaired.

As said, it doesn't matter where the device was originally purchased however the proviso is that the replacement device will be factory set to the region where the replacement takes place.

[Sakeopete]

SP3 is such an incredible device; I discovered it while searching for a laptop a few months ago, but I am waiting to buy the SP4 at this point. I am surprised it is not announced yet, but it is likely going to have the new intel processors since they are coming out by the end of the year... hopefully with a second USB port and somewhere to place the pen.

I am surprised Microsoft didn't make the USB port on the power adapter have the capability to transfer data. The cable end that connects to the tablet is huge I would think it would have been easy to integrate data transfer through it.

[Cylon]

There is a dock for SP Pro3,it has more usb ports

[Sakeopete]

There is a dock for SP Pro3,it has more usb ports

Yes I got the dock free with my purchase but I don't take it with me when I travel. I was pointing out that it would have been a nice feature to have data connectivity on the USB port that is already on the power adapter.

[WhizBang]

Have just purchased Surface pro 3 i5 128GB, very fast, very mobile.very happy. But having trouble upgrading to windows 10, maybe thats a good thing.

Why? I am in the process of upgrading to Win 10, and all is going smoothly.

First I did an 'upgrade', just to try it out. Seems ok, once you get all the privacy stuff turned off. But i have never liked windows 'upgrades'. SO I made note of my Win 10 Key, wiped the partition and am now doing a clean install. It accepts the previously noted Win 10 Key and activates without issue.

Not really sure I like the new minimalist look though. So searching the net finds ways to get color back into the tital bar, etc. Lots more tweaking to do.

Interestingly enough, Win 10 does NOT have complete drivers for the Surface Pro. My device manager has a lot of yellow triangles. When I did the upgrade from 8.1, there was only one yellow triangle, on the HD audio. No worries as I have all the drivers anyway. I just find it odd that MS doesn't include drivers for their flagship tablet in Windows 10.

[thedemon]

Have just purchased Surface pro 3 i5 128GB, very fast, very mobile.very happy. But having trouble upgrading to windows 10, maybe thats a good thing.

Why? I am in the process of upgrading to Win 10, and all is going smoothly.

First I did an 'upgrade', just to try it out. Seems ok, once you get all the privacy stuff turned off. But i have never liked windows 'upgrades'. SO I made note of my Win 10 Key, wiped the partition and am now doing a clean install. It accepts the previously noted Win 10 Key and activates without issue.

Not really sure I like the new minimalist look though. So searching the net finds ways to get color back into the tital bar, etc. Lots more tweaking to do.

Interestingly enough, Win 10 does NOT have complete drivers for the Surface Pro. My device manager has a lot of yellow triangles. When I did the upgrade from 8.1, there was only one yellow triangle, on the HD audio. No worries as I have all the drivers anyway. I just find it odd that MS doesn't include drivers for their flagship tablet in Windows 10.

Is your Win 10 product key VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T ?

The first update after install should find the drivers for all the unknown devices and clear those yellow warnings in device manager. At least it has done that for me.

[Sakeopete]

I bought the STM DUX case for the SP3 from e-bay, very nice. However the case is secured with hex screws so its not easy to remove if you want to use the docking station. I purchased a 9H tempered glass screen protector also from e-Bay Baht 377 includes shipping. I couldn't find either item in Thailand.

Sofar the device has been great and I like the Windows 10 no issues with it at all.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Sakeopete