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Macgirl here, considering dumping my Mac and ipad for a SP3

InspectHerGadget

Active Member
The point is as a tablet a nexus or Galaxy or iPad isn't a compromise.

As a tablet.

Trying to use one as a laptop IS a big compromise with a pissy Bluetooth keyboard.

Trying to use a 2 pound SP3 as a tablet is a pain and most definitely a compromise. I've tried a number of times and really the choice for use as a tablet in the Surface line is the Surface 2. At least it isn't too big or heavy. I would still prefer the iPad though due to design of the browser.
 

InspectHerGadget

Active Member
Everyone has their own viewpoint.

I use my SP3 for work and an iPad while lying down relaxing at home.

The iPad gets used for web browsing, email most of the time and sometimes Foxtel.

I guess if your everything is on the SP3 and you're constantly using it heavily, I can understand why it gets used as a tablet too. Mind you, you would need to have it plugged in a fair bit. I think I might us it more at night if the battery life were better.
 

GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
The point is as a tablet a nexus or Galaxy or iPad isn't a compromise.
That's your view and the marketing line but it most certainly is a compromise and that's why Flash isn't supported among many other things, you just fail to realize it or allow yourself to acknowledge it. Every computing device ever made is a series of compromises. Size, speed, power, portability, flexibility, usability, etc.
 
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Telstar1948

Active Member
The point is as a tablet a nexus or Galaxy or iPad isn't a compromise.

As a tablet.

Trying to use one as a laptop IS a big compromise with a pissy Bluetooth keyboard.

Trying to use a 2 pound SP3 as a tablet is a pain and most definitely a compromise. I've tried a number of times and really the choice for use as a tablet in the Surface line is the Surface 2. At least it isn't too big or heavy. I would still prefer the iPad though due to design of the browser.


I would have to say that the iPad is a compromise for many use cases, but not all. For me the iPad frustrated me with its limitations: no USB connectivity and no hierarchical file system, so it was definitely a compromise for me to continue trying to use it because I needed it for things in addition to web browsing, email, watching a movie etc.. It was a slick piece of equipment even with its limitations. It had nothing to do with its size, browser, weight, keyboard or lack of same. It had nothing to do with having a tablet shape, a laptop shape, or for that matter a desktop shape. It had everything to do with functionality as I needed it. There are lots of Windows tablets these days that provide the functionality I need. I have an Asus T100 tablet that provides about everything I can think of in the way of functionality; however, my SP3 brings a bigger, better screen to the table along with a howling i5 processor, bigger drive and other amenities and refinements the T100 cannot provide - they are both tablets though. Because one is bigger or one weighs more doesn't change the definition for me of a tablet: one's just bigger and weighs...in the same ballpark as the T100 come to think of it, yet the T100 is smaller (10.1" screen with 16:9).

For you using the SP3 as a tablet may be a compromise based upon your use model; for me it isn't. For me using an iPad tablet is a LARGE compromise, and one which I simply don't want to put up with. For my use model there are plenty of tablets out there that will do more than any iPad ever made.

Point in all this is that our use factor, and what we happen to personally like or dislike, determines what is or is not a compromise for each of us. Yours just happens to be a different thing than mine.

Even our meanings when we use the word tablet, laptop etc. differ as well from person to person. To me the SP3, as I use it, is a tablet, laptop and desktop. In my office it sets in the dock with all the "desktop" stuff attached to it, and it is one fine desktop. When I leave with the type cover attached, it is one fine laptop - I use it in that configuration whether I'm at the kitchen counter or on the couch. But then, I also either fold the type cover back, or detach it, and it IS a tablet for me doing anything and everything a "tablet" can do (more than many "tablets" can do).

I don't mean this to be confrontational or argumentative, but I truly mean that my SP3 is a tablet, laptop and desktop for my use model. Can I find a tablet that's smaller and lighter? Sure (there are some out there that are larger and heavier too). Can I find a laptop that's heavier and bigger than my SP3 with type cover? Sure. Can I find a desktop that's bigger, heavier & uglier? Sure, no sweat.

Being a "tablet" isn't always about size or weight, or even whether it runs Windows, Android or iOS. It is about being a slate though...my SP3 can easily become a slate in 2 seconds. You want a smaller, lighter slate? Fine, there's plenty around, but just not suitable for my main use. Could I use an iPad and Android tablet and it would be a tablet? Yes.

OK, I've bored everyone around, including you, with my point(s). The takeaway is that these devices come in 3 primary forms, but each of us, based upon our use will prefer one at one time and probably another at a different time. I love the fact that mine literally fulfills all three uses - for me - but I fully recognize that different people will simply not like the same things I like or even need the same things I need.
 
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kiwigirl

Member
Just want to ask, is there any incentive or reason in keeping my 16gb ipad air when I have SP3? THe air is smaller, lighter, and more ideal when used as a reading device. It also has the App store and all the games. But is it enough to warrant having a $300-320 device laying around the house? (thats how much I would resell it for). I paid $400 for it a year ago.
 

jnjroach

Administrator
Staff member
Just want to ask, is there any incentive or reason in keeping my 16gb ipad air when I have SP3? THe air is smaller, lighter, and more ideal when used as a reading device. It also has the App store and all the games. But is it enough to warrant having a $300-320 device laying around the house? (thats how much I would resell it for). I paid $400 for it a year ago.
Only you can answer that, some here use their SP3 for everything (me included) others still use their iPad or other smaller device. I occasionally will use my Dell Venue Pro 8 for reading and notes, I treat my SP3 as my legal pad and my Dell has the small notebook...
 

Telstar1948

Active Member
Agree with Jnjroach...only your own use model will determine the answer to your question. Leave it where it is for a while. As a little time goes by, you will know whether you really want a companion device to your SP3. You may decide you don't, or you do, or you do but something other than the iPad.
 

kundas1

Well-Known Member
Everyone has their own viewpoint.

I use my SP3 for work and an iPad while lying down relaxing at home.

The iPad gets used for web browsing, email most of the time and sometimes Foxtel.

I guess if your everything is on the SP3 and you're constantly using it heavily, I can understand why it gets used as a tablet too. Mind you, you would need to have it plugged in a fair bit. I think I might us it more at night if the battery life were better.

first off the SP3 is lighter than the SP2 don't know where your getting your facts from, secondly the SP3 is not 2 pounds it's just under a pound and a half, thirdly no offence but if you find the SP3 so heavy and cumbersome then I suggest you eat a little more meet or join the gym lol but I use the SP3 all the time in bed and out and about it isn't heavy at all! in fact its slightly heavier than the ipad air but it is a full blown pc in your hands... and as for battery life I get a full 9 hours of usage using it off and on... I think your problem is your to used to the ipad air and trying to unreasonably make the SP3 compare to it when it's a completely different device...
 

Kif

Active Member
I still use my iPad all the time because of the robust App support. While SP3 has access the whole windows catalog very little of it is optmized from touch controls and/or high dpi monitors.
 
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InspectHerGadget

Active Member
first off the SP3 is lighter than the SP2 don't know where your getting your facts from, secondly the SP3 is not 2 pounds it's just under a pound and a half, thirdly no offence but if you find the SP3 so heavy and cumbersome then I suggest you eat a little more meet or join the gym lol but I use the SP3 all the time in bed and out and about it isn't heavy at all! in fact its slightly heavier than the ipad air but it is a full blown pc in your hands... and as for battery life I get a full 9 hours of usage using it off and on... I think your problem is your to used to the ipad air and trying to unreasonably make the SP3 compare to it when it's a completely different device...
The Surface Pro 3 is 780 grams which is closer to 2 pounds than 1.5 pounds, 1.71 pounds (roughly).

With the keyboard it is 1080g which is 40g HEAVIER than a MBA 11 which I have.

It is no light weight object. Obviously some people will use it as a tablet, just personally it is not only too big but too heavy for my liking.
 

kundas1

Well-Known Member
so take off the keyboard silly, when ur using the keyboard it will be on a table or lap anyways, so I don't know why you're going on about the weight lol like I said and others too, the SP3 is very easy to hold and why YOU'RE having difficulty is puzzling... I don't get it o_O
 

GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
But an 11 inch MBA isn't a tablet its a laptop and 40g in laptop mode is not only insignificant it's irrelevant. I wouldn't use an SP3 as a tablet with the keyboard attached, further more 1.71 is not closer to 2 than 1.5. These weak and false arguments fall flat.
 
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