Hello all. New member here. I've been in the market for a new tablet that could do multi tasking since my ipad was not cutting it any longer so I was first looking at the Galaxy Note 10.1. In my research, I came across the surface pro 3 and thought having full windows would be very beneficial to me as well for my small business. I liked everything about it except I was wishing for a smaller size since I plan on doing light travel with it. Much to my delight, the surface 3 came out and the size seems perfect for me. In researching the surface 3, I see folks saying it's not good for multi tasking as it really slows things down. I will be wanting to do multi tasking like snapping screens and having multiple tabs in google chrome open at the same time. Is this not the machine for me? Should I go back to looking at the surface pro 3? I'm looking for realistic opinions on approximately how much multi tasking I can or cannot do with the surface 3. TIA
Is it right for me?
- Thread starter jenn158
- Start date
Welcome to the forum jenn
User experience and opinion is very subjective. If i were you i would go to best buy or somewhere and buy the cheaper surface 3 to start with (get 4gb ram model) and see how you find it. If it doesn't cut the mustard, then just take it back for a refund and pick up the pro 3 and see how that suits your needs.
I am just about to possibly buy the S3, but as a secondary device. I will not be selling my SP3 because i like having those horses available should i need them. as they say, better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it
User experience and opinion is very subjective. If i were you i would go to best buy or somewhere and buy the cheaper surface 3 to start with (get 4gb ram model) and see how you find it. If it doesn't cut the mustard, then just take it back for a refund and pick up the pro 3 and see how that suits your needs.
I am just about to possibly buy the S3, but as a secondary device. I will not be selling my SP3 because i like having those horses available should i need them. as they say, better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it
It's all relative. Compared to other tablets or Surface 2, Surface 3 will do well. It depends on your perspective, coming from an SP3 you might think it's slow and it certainly is slower than an SP3. I don't use Chrome although I get a dozen or more tabs open at times in IE. With Desktops apps open as well. The only thing I noticed lately and I think it's an IE change is sometimes when I switch back to a Tab I haven't used in a while it refreshes.
I second or third or fourth the advice here. Test both S3 and SP3 at a store (MS if you have one or BB) and see if you have any particular feelings about either one. If you like the S3, get the 4GB/128GB one. Use it heavily for a couple or three weeks to see if you are happy with the performance. If you love it, you're done. If you don't, take it back and get the SP3.
lafleur
New Member
I've had my Surface 3 (4GB/128GB) for several days. I got it to use for work which, for me, means using the pen and OneNote to take handwritten notes, while also having a browser (I use IE just to save the hard drive space of installing anything else) with 4 tabs open, and Microsoft Office and Outlook, and Adobe Acrobat running at the same time. So far, the Surface 3 is handling that duty just fine.
lookingforward
New Member
Hey Jenn, I have been using the Surface for only a day, but I have opened so many applications while I learn all about the Metro side of Windows that my taskbar icons now fill two rows! I have Chrome installed and its suite of applications. The experience is snappy and I am very pleased with its performance. I do have the 4GB model and I couldn't imagine using a device with any less. According to my Task Manager, 2GB of ram is already in use.
Hey, as someone who owns a laptop, a desktop, and a Surface PRO 3, I will add that I use my Surface 3 almost all the time. I only touch one of those others when I need to run multiple external screen sort do very intensive calculations that need 10G of memory. Otherwise, Surface 3 is the bomb! looooooove the form factor.
You can multitask with a Surface 3 without a problem if the apps and files are not huge and resource hungry.
It depends on what you are trying to multitask.
Multitasking heavy Photoshop processing of huge files along along with using Visual Studio while playing a 4k video at the same time is not going to work.
It depends on what you are trying to multitask.
Multitasking heavy Photoshop processing of huge files along along with using Visual Studio while playing a 4k video at the same time is not going to work.
I've had my S3 since release and I've had a Samsung Galaxy Tab s 10.5 since release in June 2014. As a tablet, I feel the Samsung beats the S3 hands down. For one thing, there are many, many apps in the Play store that either aren't in the Windows store or a gimped in the Windows store. Some examples (based on what I use): "White Noise" for sleeping. Works great in Android and has twice as many free sounds. On S3, as soon as the screen turns off, White Noise stops. This is because the screen turning off and going into standby mode are the same thing.
The Kindle metro app is TERRIBLE in Windows 8 (and it's been around for two years). You can't store anything local so all my eBooks I converted to Kindle format won't work unless I use the desktop application. The desktop app just isn't intuitive using the touch screen controls and it doesn't display correctly. Any images are stretched because Kindle desktop fills the screen space and you can't tell it otherwise (at least I couldn't find a way).
A good sleep timer. There is no metro app that closes down any applications you have open when going to bed. So, if I'm watching TV shows on Netflix it will keep playing episodes when the next one finishes. Or if I'm listening to a music playlist in Plex I can't shut it down with a sleep timer app. I had to create a batch file that actually closes processes via the task manger. The computer will then go into standby mode after all my possible media apps have closed.
I was forced to use my S3 exclusively when I sent my Samsung in for repair. I thought if I had to use it I would find ways to do everything I do on my Samsung. Sadly, when I got my Samsung back last week I haven't turned my S3 on. I have a laptop at work and I use my Samsung at home.
I think the S3 marketing is misleading in a way. I feel it is a far better budget laptop that can OCCASIONALLY perform as a tablet. However, this isn't the all-in-one device I was hoping for. That's too bad because the hardware itself is absolutely top-notch. I only wish they hadn't abandoned the touch cover. If you want a tablet primarily and a laptop secondary, the touch cover is much better in my opinion. It's less bulky, the keys don't move while you're holding it as a tablet, etc. An old touch cover will work, but it won't cover the whole screen and it won't put the machine into standby when folded over the screen.
The Kindle metro app is TERRIBLE in Windows 8 (and it's been around for two years). You can't store anything local so all my eBooks I converted to Kindle format won't work unless I use the desktop application. The desktop app just isn't intuitive using the touch screen controls and it doesn't display correctly. Any images are stretched because Kindle desktop fills the screen space and you can't tell it otherwise (at least I couldn't find a way).
A good sleep timer. There is no metro app that closes down any applications you have open when going to bed. So, if I'm watching TV shows on Netflix it will keep playing episodes when the next one finishes. Or if I'm listening to a music playlist in Plex I can't shut it down with a sleep timer app. I had to create a batch file that actually closes processes via the task manger. The computer will then go into standby mode after all my possible media apps have closed.
I was forced to use my S3 exclusively when I sent my Samsung in for repair. I thought if I had to use it I would find ways to do everything I do on my Samsung. Sadly, when I got my Samsung back last week I haven't turned my S3 on. I have a laptop at work and I use my Samsung at home.
I think the S3 marketing is misleading in a way. I feel it is a far better budget laptop that can OCCASIONALLY perform as a tablet. However, this isn't the all-in-one device I was hoping for. That's too bad because the hardware itself is absolutely top-notch. I only wish they hadn't abandoned the touch cover. If you want a tablet primarily and a laptop secondary, the touch cover is much better in my opinion. It's less bulky, the keys don't move while you're holding it as a tablet, etc. An old touch cover will work, but it won't cover the whole screen and it won't put the machine into standby when folded over the screen.
brocharlieb
Member
Just got my S3, so I'm giving you my experience related to limited use with this device, and extensive use of the one I had before this, the Surface RT. I had no trouble having multiple word processing documents and multiple web pages open at the same time, with the RT, and I'm expecting the S3 to be better than the RT was.
