I'm sometimes surprised at how contentious these debates can become (and admittedly, I've been a participant in a few myself). Particularly, they seem to result from folks who aren't happy about a device and who feel it necessary to post their displeasure in a forum dedicated to users of said device.
Sometimes, the posters are legitimately, honestly calling for assistance, and those should be welcomed and addressed accordingly. Often, the only answer that can be given is, "Sorry, but this isn't the device for you." How that response is taken is often telling.
Other times, though, posters are merely complaining, even attacking the manufacturer--even though a forum like this isn't run by the manufacturer and isn't even necessarily likely to be visited by manufacturer representatives. And when such representatives do visit forums, they're often lambasted. It's a lose-lost proposition.
So, in the latter case, what's the point in posting here? Is it merely to vent? If so, then I say: start a blog, or post there if you already have one. Is it to disrupt the ability for those who enjoy their devices to do so in peace? Sure, one isn't forced to read any given posts, but often the most egregious post is buried smack dab in the middle of a thread on some other topic (often completely unrelated). And so, intended or not, such disruption occurs, and we end up with these sorts of contentious debates.
I say, with regard to the SP3: Microsoft hasn't outright lied to anyone, nor (I believe) intentionally misled. Saying that the SP3 is a "great gaming experience" is true within the context of the device--does anyone really expect it to perform as well as a dedicated gaming notebook, or a desktop? Does Microsoft imply that it will? I don't think so, and I know that I've enjoyed a bit of casual gaming on my SP3 that's at least as good as on my Android tablet. It's definitely more than I expected from such a powerful machine that's about as thin as my smartphone.
The bottom line is that Microsoft has a 30-day return policy (and Best Buy a 14-day return, and whomever else) for a reason. That's specifically so that the buyer has time to evaluate the SP3 before committing to the purchase. That's much more than we get with automobiles, for example, which have no return policy at all and represent orders of magnitude larger investments--and which are fraught with just as many potential misperceptions. I know of people who expect their BMW to perform just as well in their amateur hands as it does for the professionals who write about it in the pages of Motor Trend. And they're just as angry when it doesn't, with no redress.
It really does seem like some folks are mad not because Microsoft has misrepresented the SP3, but because it simply doesn't perform as well as they'd like. They want a .36' thin machine that can run benchmark after benchmark without throttling, when many (myself definitely included) are plenty happy with the SP3's performance even if it is throttling to some degree.
That throttling, to the extent that it occurs, is less intrusive than the limiter on my G37 that cuts out the engine when I exceed 7200 RPM. And I'm okay with it, because with my car, I recognize that the engine isn't a Ferrari's and so I can't expect it to perform like one. If I wanted a Ferrari (and could afford it), then I should just buy one. The same goes for my SP3.
Glad I don't work there.
