No Kensington Lock Slot

[netuser]

Like other tablets I've seen, the Surface 3 seems to also be missing a Kensington lock slot.
Manufacturers know people want this on laptops, so almost every laptop has them including a $199 HP Stream 11.. Why would it be different on a tablet from $499 to $1900+?
If the tablet is thick enough to fit a full sized USB port, it's thick enough to fit a smaller security lock slot.
In what I find really a bizarre design, the docking station has a lock slot to secure the dock from theft, but there is no mechanism to secure the tablet to the dock.
I would think a thief would be more likely to try to quietly snatch an unattended tablet out of the dock than to steal the dock itself.
Pretty inconvenient to have to take the tablet everywhere you go. To the restroom?

???

The only solution I have seen consists of gluing a security cable on to the tablet.
Tacky.

 

[GreyFox7]

Desk drawer or safe. Using a tablet with cable attached limits the whole mobile thing.

 

[netuser]

Desk drawer or safe. Using a tablet with cable attached limits the whole mobile thing.

Tablets the size of a Surface are no more mobile than a small laptop since they aren't small enough to put in a pocket or purse.
If being used in an office environment in a dock, it would be very inconvenient to have to pull it out of the dock and disconnect any attached monitor to either lock the Surface away in a drawer or take it with you everywhere when stepping away from your desk rather than just leaving it locked in the dock.
Laptop docks normally have a mechanism to lock the laptop into the docking station, but for some reason Microsoft decided to only allow you to lock the docking station and not the tablet.

 

[jnjroach]

If you need to secure a tablet there are 3rd Party solutions that allow tablet functionality and still secures the device. A Kensington lock would be a hindrance to the typical tablet use case. We're up to 80+ SP3 deployed within our organization, secured with Bitlocker and Policy that locks them quickly, all data back up to OneDrive for Business or SharePoint.

As a firm we never been has productive.....but it sounds like you are leaning toward traditional laptop and that is fine.

 

[GreyFox7]

Tablets the size of a Surface are no more mobile than a small laptop since they aren't small enough to put in a pocket or purse.
If being used in an office environment in a dock, it would be very inconvenient to have to pull it out of the dock and disconnect any attached monitor to either lock the Surface away in a drawer or take it with you everywhere when stepping away from your desk rather than just leaving it locked in the dock.
Laptop docks normally have a mechanism to lock the laptop into the docking station, but for some reason Microsoft decided to only allow you to lock the docking station and not the tablet.

No doubt. A simple mod of the dock to prevent opening the sides with a slight overlap on the front would solve that. Ideally MS would incorporate this change to their design but an aftermarket solution is very feasible and even a local DIY solution is very feasible.

 

[netuser]

If you need to secure a tablet there are 3rd Party solutions that allow tablet functionality and still secures the device. A Kensington lock would be a hindrance to the typical tablet use case. We're up to 80+ SP3 deployed within our organization, secured with Bitlocker and Policy that locks them quickly, all data back up to OneDrive for Business or SharePoint.

As a firm we never been has productive.....but it sounds like you are leaning toward traditional laptop and that is fine.

I see zero third party solutions for Surface and Surface Pro other than gluing on something to attach a cable to.
Drive encryption is also necessary to protect data, but does nothing to protect the hardware.
The Surface is one of the only or maybe the only tablet that is being marketed as a laptop alternative and has more than just the "typical" use case since they make a dock for it.
The dock could have been designed to allow you to optionally lock the tablet release mechanism. That does nothing to hinder anything, You don't have to lock it if you don't want to such as using it at home or in a locked office.
Many business organizations have requirements that devices be physically locked when unattended. If you can't lock it then you have to take other steps to secure it, such as lock it in a cabinet, locking drawer or take it to the restroom with you.
That is the bigger hindrance.
This has been called out as a lacking feature on the docking station by a few reviews. Maybe they will address it with a new dock for the Surface 4.

 

[jnjroach]

I see zero third party solutions for Surface and Surface Pro other than gluing on something to attach a cable to.
Drive encryption is also necessary to protect data, but does nothing to protect the hardware.
The Surface is one of the only or maybe the only tablet that is being marketed as a laptop alternative and has more than just the "typical" use case since they make a dock for it.
The dock could have been designed to allow you to optionally lock the tablet release mechanism. That does nothing to hinder anything, You don't have to lock it if you don't want to such as using it at home or in a locked office.
Many business organizations have requirements that devices be physically locked when unattended. If you can't lock it then you have to take other steps to secure it, such as lock it in a cabinet, locking drawer or take it to the restroom with you.
That is the bigger hindrance.
This has been called out as a lacking feature on the docking station by a few reviews. Maybe they will address it with a new dock for the Surface 4.

Actually there are plenty of third party solutions to lock down Surface Pro 3 Tablets....

Here are a few:

http://www.tabletenclosures.com/
http://www.armoractive.com/device/surface-pro-3/
http://www.amazon.com/Surface-Acrylic-Desktop-Display-POS/dp/B00LIGYB50

The Surface 3 versions will come soon after launch.

 

[GreyFox7]

I see zero third party solutions for Surface and Surface Pro other than gluing on something to attach a cable to.
Drive encryption is also necessary to protect data, but does nothing to protect the hardware.
The Surface is one of the only or maybe the only tablet that is being marketed as a laptop alternative and has more than just the "typical" use case since they make a dock for it.
The dock could have been designed to allow you to optionally lock the tablet release mechanism. That does nothing to hinder anything, You don't have to lock it if you don't want to such as using it at home or in a locked office.
Many business organizations have requirements that devices be physically locked when unattended. If you can't lock it then you have to take other steps to secure it, such as lock it in a cabinet, locking drawer or take it to the restroom with you.
That is the bigger hindrance.
This has been called out as a lacking feature on the docking station by a few reviews. Maybe they will address it with a new dock for the Surface 4.

Gluing a Kensington lock on a tablet will not make anyone connect it either.

Having a dock wont make anyone use it.

I do agree that the dock could have been designed or could be designed to lock in the tablet. However it can also be modified to accommodate the locking function and possibly even make it automatic... but I never saw anyone using the lock on a laptop dock. even for those that had them ... unlocking and extracting was painful. I tried it once, unlocked it threw the keys and the dock in the drawer and never used it again.

 

[EpilEpic]

found this thing a while ago, don't realy need it so I can't tell anything about the quality but maybe this is somtehing you like?

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...ty-for-microsoft-surface-pro-3?ref=nav_search

 

[jnjroach]

Additional option:


http://www.ergotron.com/ProductsDetails/tabid/65/PRDID/949/Default.aspx

Dock Lock for the Surface Pro 3

 

[netuser]

Actually there are plenty of third party solutions to lock down Surface Pro 3 Tablets....

Here are a few:

http://www.tabletenclosures.com/
http://www.armoractive.com/device/surface-pro-3/
http://www.amazon.com/Surface-Acrylic-Desktop-Display-POS/dp/B00LIGYB50

The Surface 3 versions will come soon after launch.

None of those enclosures look practical for the purpose of quickly and easily securing a Surface to a desk or docking station while you step away from your desk for a few minutes. Those look like semi permanent mounting solutions.

 

[netuser]

found this thing a while ago, don't realy need it so I can't tell anything about the quality but maybe this is somtehing you like?

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...ty-for-microsoft-surface-pro-3?ref=nav_search

Additional option:


http://www.ergotron.com/ProductsDetails/tabid/65/PRDID/949/Default.aspx

Dock Lock for the Surface Pro 3

Doesn't look like either of those are on the market yet.