OFFICIAL I Now Have a Surface Pro 3 i7

[blastergod]

Just got my surface pro 3 I7 + the docking station (a must have for me).
Been using it for 10 hours, works EXCELLENT especially for c# .net programming (intense)

I also have the surface pro 1, but version 3 rocks, especially i7 .
I have no issues with heating, I mean the fan start from time to time, but I don't mind, I think it's normal.

 

[jin8k]

i am also a happy owner of i7 256gb since a week! updated to the latest and the machine runs fine. i am getting used to the touch functions, this is a bit of a problem as when I am in my office using the company pc, I tend to touch the screen...

Ah, I use it as a laptop, and so far, I still find my ipad mini a perfect size for bedtime reading and playing casual games.

My expectation for the pen was perhaps too high... i hoped it would truly replace my traditional note taking, but it is not as fast and tactile as writing on a paper...

I notice that sometimes the wifi connection goes limited after waking up from a hibernation... not sure if this happens because I change the wifi spot during hibernation. So far, this is not too much invasive and I hope this will be fixed soon.

 

[InspectHerGadget]

I thought I'd post again. I mean I got the i7/256G at the end of August. I had it 12 days, then shipped it back to Microsoft for a refund. I had a few issues with the pen with it stopping working, that was the main reason.

I remembered though just how fast it was and the SP2 I have (had- sold on Friday) was much slower on MYOB which I use many times every day so I had to balance it out.

The speed of the i7 wins and I can live with the pen misbehaving now and then I think (hopefully it won't misbehave at all).

It was painless enough setting it up again and it picked up the file history off my server once I logged into the server account.

I got Office 365 online and deactivated my old device. I then logged onto Norton and deactivated my old device and downloaded the new N360.

I then setup my email. All fairly painless really. All updates applied.

The pen refused to pair during the initial setup just as it did last time. The wireless wouldn't connect using WPS so I had to enter the password. Nothing serious. It does run much warmer than the SP2 but the fan is practically inaudible anyway. I can hear the fan running if I stick my ear right up to it but it is pretty quiet even when installing updates and the fan is working harder I would guess.

Overall, nice to have it back. I've burnt my bridges this time but I don't seem to have any issues with this unit at all.

 

[eric anderson]

Picked up an i7 256 in early September. I absolutely loved it. Most versatile computer I've used in years. I draw and do design/dev work. I find this machine indispensable for planning and sketching.
I noticed pretty early on that there was a strange ring and what looked like heat lines on the display. Cleaning it would help for an hour but it would always come back. I'm not one to usually complain or take a product back, especially since i loved this thing so much, but i did some digging and found other users had the same issue. I also was worried it would kill the resale value so i took it in to the MS store.
Long story short - the guy i talked to said "whoa, i can feel the ridges..." and gave me a new one. New i7 256G and it's better than ever. No problems this time. Very happy. I have to say, photoshop is a dream on this thing.

 

[InspectHerGadget]

I'm glad you got it sorted so quickly. Maybe it was a braille screen for the visually impaired?...

 

[erandhawa]

Just picked up the surface 3 i7/256gb. Haven't had any issues used it for about 4 hours continually. Love the screen real estate you can see an entire spreadsheet without squinting. As far as the fan and heat go no issues thus far. Fan kicked on during firmware and windows update but that's expected since its doing a lot of work.
For those of you trying to figure out whether to buy the surface or not I'd say buy. I was back and forth for the last two weeks. Went to best buy probably 5 or 6 times and finally pulled the trigger with absolutely no regrets.

 

[Maciek]

I had my SP3 i7 512 a few days and surprisingly my particular unit seems to be working quite fine.

I did have an issue with WiFi once or twice, so I'll be monitoring this.

I also have black type cover and all is good at the moment.

 

[jin8k]

i am also a happy owner of i7 256gb since a week! updated to the latest and the machine runs fine. i am getting used to the touch functions, this is a bit of a problem as when I am in my office using the company pc, I tend to touch the screen...

Ah, I use it as a laptop, and so far, I still find my ipad mini a perfect size for bedtime reading and playing casual games.

My expectation for the pen was perhaps too high... i hoped it would truly replace my traditional note taking, but it is not as fast and tactile as writing on a paper...

I notice that sometimes the wifi connection goes limited after waking up from a hibernation... not sure if this happens because I change the wifi spot during hibernation. So far, this is not too much invasive and I hope this will be fixed soon.

Ok. After a month of using my surface pro 3 i7 256gb, here is my impression:

- I miss the touchpad in MacBook. Period.
- A lot of applications (not apps) including those from Microsoft are not touch friendly. The icons or buttons are not big enough for my fingers. In comparison, iPad mini is better.
- CPu heats up randomly with the fan. I check the task manager but I don't see anything eating the cpu. But luckily it gets down after 10 or some minutes.
- love the screen and touch. I am still getting used to touch. I often forget to use touch screen instead of the tiny touch pad.
- I enjoy office 2013 on surface, I just wish to have a larger touchpad which is as good as the one on MacBook. Probably I will buy a mouse.
- the keyboard is better than I was worried before purchase. But it gets tiring after long hours of typing. Especially the keys on the far left or far right need to be correctly pushed in the center firmly. I tend to push them with the fifth fingers and they are not strong enough or precise enough to push the center of those keys, especially the backspace button.
- where is the F1-12 keys? I want the traditional line of F keys back. They are useful for excel.
- when the keyboard is attached elevated, I can't reach the touch functions at the bottom of the screen in desktop mode. When in metro mode, the swipe down close feature can fail at first cuz my finger touches the keyboard edge and release too early.
- lapability? I don't like the feeling of the sharp edge of the back leg on my lap. And the area needed for holding surface pro 3 on my lap needs to be larger than MacBook, because I need space for keyboards and the back leg supporting the device. But I take it as something to take for this type of tablet pc.

Just wrote what came to my mind while having a lonely dinner in the middle of a business trip in Madagascar.

If Apple came up with a retina MacBook Air before I purchased surface pro 3 I would have bought it. But it's also about timing.

Cheers,

 

[Maciek]

Ok. After a month of using my surface pro 3 i7 256gb, here is my impression:

- I miss the touchpad in MacBook. Period.
- A lot of applications (not apps) including those from Microsoft are not touch friendly. The icons or buttons are not big enough for my fingers. In comparison, iPad mini is better.
- CPu heats up randomly with the fan. I check the task manager but I don't see anything eating the cpu. But luckily it gets down after 10 or some minutes.
- love the screen and touch. I am still getting used to touch. I often forget to use touch screen instead of the tiny touch pad.
- I enjoy office 2013 on surface, I just wish to have a larger touchpad which is as good as the one on MacBook. Probably I will buy a mouse.
- the keyboard is better than I was worried before purchase. But it gets tiring after long hours of typing. Especially the keys on the far left or far right need to be correctly pushed in the center firmly. I tend to push them with the fifth fingers and they are not strong enough or precise enough to push the center of those keys, especially the backspace button.
- where is the F1-12 keys? I want the traditional line of F keys back. They are useful for excel.
- when the keyboard is attached elevated, I can't reach the touch functions at the bottom of the screen in desktop mode. When in metro mode, the swipe down close feature can fail at first cuz my finger touches the keyboard edge and release too early.
- lapability? I don't like the feeling of the sharp edge of the back leg on my lap. And the area needed for holding surface pro 3 on my lap needs to be larger than MacBook, because I need space for keyboards and the back leg supporting the device. But I take it as something to take for this type of tablet pc.

Just wrote what came to my mind while having a lonely dinner in the middle of a business trip in Madagascar.

If Apple came up with a retina MacBook Air before I purchased surface pro 3 I would have bought it. But it's also about timing.

Cheers,

I agree with your points, but I unlike you, was waiting a very long time for a tablet size Windows PC. I even changed the scaling from 150% to 100% and it is difficult, but I have my pen with me.
I think if you really want a computer in a tablet form then you'll need to accept some disadvantages as not all Windows PC features can be done via finger. I was always a windows user, but you can wait for an iPad Pro which apparently will come out with Mac OS X.

I do have a BT mouse connected as well. I use it as a laptop knowing it can come with me pretty much anywhere.

 

[InspectHerGadget]

For me the SP3 is the best choice. I agree that the keyboard or trackpad aren't as good as a MacBook but there are benefits too such as touch, the fact that the keyboard can be replaced easily if damaged or a cappuccino is spilt into it. It has a pen for writing which I use as an important part of my business creating job cards for customers.

Not everyone is going to make the same choice. If I was going to a conference where I was going to do a shitload of typing in my hotel room then I would bring my MBA 11 but for general use where I don't have to type out HEAPS, the SP3 is hard to go past.

 

[enthuz]

I have a question to you i7 owners about expected delivery time for standard shipping for in stock SP3 via MS Store online? I ordered my i7/512/dock earlier today and was wondering how long it took for others to receive theirs via standard shipping.

I'm soo anxious to get it up and running. I'm sure I won't get much sleep the first day.

 

[Maciek]

I have a question to you i7 owners about expected delivery time for standard shipping for in stock SP3 via MS Store online? I ordered my i7/512/dock earlier today and was wondering how long it took for others to receive theirs via standard shipping.

I'm soo anxious to get it up and running. I'm sure I won't get much sleep the first day.

Mine came in two days (UK)