Just returned my SP3 i5...

[GreyFox7]

so I'm assuming the Store has the same stuff the online store has. In the event you finally decide the SP3 is not for you. I just noticed the Lenovo X1 Carbon Signature Edition i7 8gb/256gb SSD with 14-inch Quad HD touchscreen + Office 365 is $1550 you save $650.00. Id almost go for that myself and I love my SP3.

 

[grumpy]

Hi All,

I am a very disappointed customer. I have been following the Surface for years, and when I saw the new developments in the 3rd generation, I couldn't resist. I brought my Macbook Air into the store for an exchange, and walked out with an i5 SP3. Unfortunately, it didn't take me more than a couple of hours to sour on the device. I intended on this device being a replacement for my macbook air, as well as providing new functionality--that of a tablet. Part of what I used my macbook air to do was play games casually (Which, Microsoft says in their ads, is what the SP3 also provides). The SP3 has a newer i5 than my 2012 MBA had, so you can imagine how distraught I was when I found that it could not play any of my games at anything close to a reasonable framerate. What's more, when monitoring CPU usage while playing, I noticed that the processor seldom was able to run above 1 ghz, even though it is a 1.9ghz i5. The heat is so intense that my i5, for which I paid a pretty penny, cannot operate over 50% of its capacity. I play WoW (on low settings), Hearthstone, and various old RPG's, and my SP3 performed MUCH worse than my MBA did. These are not taxing games. Wow, what a disappointment.

Okay, I said, so maybe this isn't a gaming device (Even though Microsoft said it could handle casual gaming in their ads, and even though it has a better processor than my old MBA which COULD handle these games), so let me test this on something outside of gaming. I fired up excel and ran a large update operation on a spreadsheet. What happened? The device hangs, the fan whirls up, and eventually Excel crashes. Not what I expected at all. I returned my SP3 the next morning, and was sorry to learn from the Microsoft Store employees that they would not be able to return my MBA to me as I had traded it in for non-refundable store credit. I guess I learned my lesson here, but I just want to say how INCREDIBLY disappointed I am in this product. The SP3 in almost all respects is a beautiful device. It looks beautiful, the pen works amazingly well, the screen is gorgeous, and I love the keyboard and trackpad. However, if it cannot perform the basic tasks that the devices it aims to "replace" can, then how can I keep it? It would be a very silly choice for me to do that. Now I am struggling to come up with a device that I can get from the Microsoft store that will be better than my old Macbook Air. It's quite an unfortunate turn of events, and as much as I'd like to support Microsoft and this device, I have been soured by this whole experience.

If you can live with the form factor, you might want to consider the SP2.

 

[Moonsurface]

I hope you try another surface and it works for you. If it doesn't at least the US microsoft store has other computers for you to think about purchasing... on the UK store you'd have to spend your credit on phones, xbox, keyboards, mice and software as there are no other computers for sale on the UK microsoft store!

 

[Kamran Samaie]

I'm starting to regret buying a SP3, not because of the device itself, but because I am "forced" to use Windows again after more than half a decade of avoiding it... In the beginning I was joking about occasional crashes saying that it wouldn't be Windows without that, but now my SP3 doesn't display anything anymore after unlocking it. I updated today and that's what I got... Luckily I didn't turn in my MacBook when I bought the SP3, so I'm not left without a device
For now I'm waiting for the MS supports reply if there is any way to fix that, but in my opinion this is something that should simply not happen...

So to sum it up, I really like the device, but using Windows again feels like a hassle, I mean this is not the first faulty update that has been released so far... I never once had anything like that with my MacBook...

 

[bluegrass]

Hi All,

I am a very disappointed customer. I have been following the Surface for years, and when I saw the new developments in the 3rd generation, I couldn't resist. I brought my Macbook Air into the store for an exchange, and walked out with an i5 SP3. Unfortunately, it didn't take me more than a couple of hours to sour on the device. I intended on this device being a replacement for my macbook air, as well as providing new functionality--that of a tablet. Part of what I used my macbook air to do was play games casually (Which, Microsoft says in their ads, is what the SP3 also provides). The SP3 has a newer i5 than my 2012 MBA had, so you can imagine how distraught I was when I found that it could not play any of my games at anything close to a reasonable framerate. What's more, when monitoring CPU usage while playing, I noticed that the processor seldom was able to run above 1 ghz, even though it is a 1.9ghz i5. The heat is so intense that my i5, for which I paid a pretty penny, cannot operate over 50% of its capacity. I play WoW (on low settings), Hearthstone, and various old RPG's, and my SP3 performed MUCH worse than my MBA did. These are not taxing games. Wow, what a disappointment.

Okay, I said, so maybe this isn't a gaming device (Even though Microsoft said it could handle casual gaming in their ads, and even though it has a better processor than my old MBA which COULD handle these games), so let me test this on something outside of gaming. I fired up excel and ran a large update operation on a spreadsheet. What happened? The device hangs, the fan whirls up, and eventually Excel crashes. Not what I expected at all. I returned my SP3 the next morning, and was sorry to learn from the Microsoft Store employees that they would not be able to return my MBA to me as I had traded it in for non-refundable store credit. I guess I learned my lesson here, but I just want to say how INCREDIBLY disappointed I am in this product. The SP3 in almost all respects is a beautiful device. It looks beautiful, the pen works amazingly well, the screen is gorgeous, and I love the keyboard and trackpad. However, if it cannot perform the basic tasks that the devices it aims to "replace" can, then how can I keep it? It would be a very silly choice for me to do that. Now I am struggling to come up with a device that I can get from the Microsoft store that will be better than my old Macbook Air. It's quite an unfortunate turn of events, and as much as I'd like to support Microsoft and this device, I have been soured by this whole experience.

Great. You made the right move for yourself. Hope you were able to get back your Mac Air that played the games for you.

 

[daonei]

For what it's worth:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...g-during/1efa253a-f7f2-486b-a891-5633738b8532

Granted this was for the i7, but it is clearly an issue. My device can get extremely hot when I open multiple tabs, have different programs running, and am downloading torrents. I don't know how people can say the fan never kicks in, because mine always does and this is my second SP3. Whether I open multiple tabs or run certain programs, the fan kick in so I think it's a little disingenuous to make it sound like it never does (unless of course you only use it for basic stuff like Word or something).

I was told that to get the SP3 to this size with the power and battery performances, compromises had to be made, which includes the possibility of overheating. To control for overheating, you aren't given the option (out of the box) to edit power options that were present in former versions of Windows because it could cause instability.

If I were you, I'd give it another chance. For instance, my first SP3 I returned would only give me four hours of battery life. After I received a new SP3, it gives me at least five to six hours per charge. I can't stand the inconsistencies, but oh well...

Good luck.

 

[mitchellvii]

Don't know why but downloading definitely spins the fan up on this even when the cpu isn't hot. Must be the wifi card being weird. But seriously guys, you are running an i7 in a tablet and get upset the fan runs? You should be happy it doesn't immolate. IMHO an i7 is massive overkill for a device like this.

 

[kundas1]

@daonei we can say the same about you, but our device doesn't work the same as you! YOU are the minority with fan trouble, and saying others like myself is disingenuous is absurd! what can we tell you? we dont have those troubles!

 

[ctitanic]

Another one that did not do the homework! Thanks God the majority of SP3 owners are not gamers!

 

[kundas1]

Sorry but I'm a gamer and I play my games just fine albeit older titles but they're working fine for me, also modern combat 5 plays awesome too! What I don't understand is people trying to play ultra games on a TABLET that they wouldn't play even on a medium level laptop!! but expect their ultra games to work perfectly on the SUPER THIN sSP3 and not have trouble...I don't get their reasoning or idea's.. it's post like this that rub me the wrong way...I mean seriously people have to start using your heads here...

 

[double07]

The thing is, if it doesn't fit/serve your need; return it. You gave it a try. I would do the same. Microsoft might have claim SF3 has many capabilities and it might indeed can do it. Will it do it well enough that is a different story?

 

[malberttoo]

The thing is, if it doesn't fit/serve your need; return it. You gave it a try. I would do the same. Microsoft might have claim SF3 has many capabilities and it might indeed can do it. Will it do it well enough that is a different story?

I mostly agree with this, but return it after you've put a normal unit through its paces. I'm not so sure that he didn't get a unit with issues.