10% student discounts on preorder

[Klownicle]

Nope. I was looking at the top of the line, because if I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do it big. I was on the fence about buying it, not about which model. I do want to be able to game on it, though that will not be it's primary use since I still have a gaming rig. There's nothing up-gradable down the line, so go all out to begin with. That's my motto. I just hope it lasts 5 years. If so, then I'll get my money back out of it. If it's a typical 1-2 year POS as most Laptops designed to run MS are, then I'll be switching back to Apple.

Honestly, if you want to do gaming on this tablet, your best bet is to use something like Steam In-Home Streaming. Especially since you already have a gaming pc at your home. I use this on my Surface Pro first generation. Coupled with a Personal Home Layer 2 OpenVPN (just the brand of VPN) into my Home Network, and I can game anywhere I have a 3mbit connection at min. Mind you your limited to steam games with this solution. But you get high graphics quality and 720p-1080p resolutions. The i7 doesn't warrant the extra cash, as its only a 10-15% increase. As a tablet with some gaming capabilities, 10-15% does not mean the difference between playable and not playable. I've watched some reviews of the 8gb model surface, and there's no differences between the 4gb/8gb for gaming. In the end your running bare min settings, at low frame-rates in a boxy window.

And to top the cherry on all of this, the i7 model isn't even a quad core. :-x. With all that I determined my need to be the standard 128gb i5 model.

Another debby downer on the situation is the i7's HD5000 isn't as efficient in battery life as the HD4600. Its just not worth it.

 

[scottysize]

Honestly, if you want to do gaming on this tablet, your best bet is to use something like Steam In-Home Streaming. I use this on my Surface Pro first generation. Coupled with a Layer 2 OpenVPN (just the brand of VPN), and I can game anywhere I have a 3mbit connection at min. Mind you your limited to steam games with this solution. But you get high graphics quality and 720p-1080p resolutions. The i7 doesn't warrant the extra cash, as its only a 10-15% increase. As a tablet with some gaming capabilities, 10-15% does not mean the difference between playable and not playable. I've watched some reviews of the 8gb model surface, and there's no differences between the 4gb/8gb for gaming. In the end your running bare min settings, at low frame-rates in a boxy window.

And to top the cherry on all of this, the i7 model isn't even a quad core. :-x. With all that I determined my need to be the standard 128gb i5 model.

Ya, I saw it wasn't a quad-core and that kinda sucks, but I wanted the 512HD and even though the graphics isn't that much better, it's still better. So, add up the i7, 512HD, and a little better graphics card, it's worth $300 to me.

 

[Saul]

Well put, Im sticking with the i5 too, def. want larger than 128GB though.

 

[Klownicle]

Ya, I saw it wasn't a quad-core and that kinda sucks, but I wanted the 512HD and even though the graphics isn't that much better, it's still better. So, add up the i7, 512HD, and a little better graphics card, it's worth $300 to me.

And what's to stop you from spending 70$ on a 128GB microSD or buying a USB 3.0 1TB External? I suppose its another thing to carry around and depends on the planned usage. But I have the 128gb first gen, and I've never managed to fill up more than half with all the remote "cloud" or server capabilities I have. I use OwnCloud for sharing my files between devices, and a 12tb array server side accessed by my VPN Lol.

The quad core was ultimately my deciding factor, if it was quad I would have bought in a heart beat. But I also was held back due to the release time schedule. Who wants to wait till End of Aug!?!

 

[scottysize]

Just took a look and re-reviewed the specs and pricing. You're right, it's $600 more for the best. I can get by with 256, so I'm adjusting my order now. There's really no difference between the i7 and i5 as they are configured. Plus the i5 comes out this month and the i7 doesn't come out until almost September. Yup. Changing my order. LOL

Update: Cancelling is kind of a pain, but I'm going through it now. I still wouldn't get the 128 because as we all know, Windows loves eating disk space. Yes, I can put the microSD card in and get another 128, so I'll do that. Should be plenty of space then. Had the i7 been quad this wouldn't even be an issue. I found out that it was a dual core last night and was disappointed to say the least.

 

[Saul]

For me it's a little more complicated, as the i5 also doesn't come out till at least 31/08... >.>
But I'm really not interested in 512GB, if they offered 256GB + i7 I might bite, but i7 + 512GB is a little too hard to swallow I think, esp. with that freaking delay!

 

[scottysize]

For me it's a little more complicated, as the i5 also doesn't come out till at least 31/08... >.>
But I'm really not interested in 512GB, if they offered 256GB + i7 I might bite, but i7 + 512GB is a little too hard to swallow I think, esp. with that freaking delay!

i5 ships this month:

Surface Pro 3 - 256GB / Intel i5
Ships by 6/20/2014
Pre-order
256GB / Intel i5
Ship it

 

[Saul]

I'm not in US, a lot of people don't live in the US.

 

[scottysize]

Oh shoot. Sorry man That stinks.

 

[scottysize]

Not that you don't live in the US. I'm sure you're very happy where you live. It stinks that you have to wait.

 

[Klownicle]

Just took a look and re-reviewed the specs and pricing. You're right, it's $600 more for the best. I can get by with 256, so I'm adjusting my order now. There's really no difference between the i7 and i5 as they are configured. Plus the i5 comes out this month and the i7 doesn't come out until almost September. Yup. Changing my order. LOL

Update: Cancelling is kind of a pain, but I'm going through it now. I still wouldn't get the 128 because as we all know, Windows loves eating disk space. Yes, I can put the microSD card in and get another 128, so I'll do that. Should be plenty of space then. Had the i7 been quad this wouldn't even be an issue. I found out that it was a dual core last night and was disappointed to say the least.

The reviews on these processors have been out for a long time now, so you can easily compare them and see my statements. Glad to help you save some cash! And yeah, Microsoft really needs a way to cancel on the site. I initially pre-ordered without the student discount and had to call to cancel.

As far as the later non-US ship date. Nothing stops you from having a US drop-ship location and ordering. Although being in the US I've never used those. Obviously costs/customs/etc, but hey. Live the American dream! Want it now! Lol

 

[Saul]

Not that you don't live in the US. I'm sure you're very happy where you live. It stinks that you have to wait.

It's all good mate, I knew what you meant...
Yes, I'm very fortunate to live in Australia, there's much more difficult places in the world one could live.
Just a bit backwards when it comes to the latest tech shiny, annoyingly, but that's a 1st world problem.