Should I Wait For The SP4

[cmcigas]

Hi I just signed up to this forum to ask this one question.

Should I wait for the SP4 or go with the SP3. Ill be using it for work and possibly going back to school. Theres a few things I read on here that may seem like I should wait for the 4 like a pen that can be placed in the tablet and possibly a keyboard bundled with the 4th...

I also read that I5's and I7's dont mean anything different and just wanted to know if someone can explain why an I5 is better at times than the I7's? (Thats what it sounded like from one of the threads I read here)

Thank you to whoever can help me out.

 

[leeshor]

Welcome to the forum

There is no good reason to wait. Especially since the SP4 isn't even to the rumor stage yet? I think you may find suggestions here leaning toward the i5 but we'll see.

 

[jnjroach]

The earliest you'll see an SP4 is next April for the Windows Threshold launch, so it depends if you will get value using the SP3 now or can you wait 7-8 months for the SP4.

 

[GreyFox7]

There's no guarantee the pen will get a silo in the SP4. Additionally since the pen is already fatter then the SP3 and there's a possibility the SP4 could be thinner they would have
to go with a very slim pen which may not be as useful.

I haven't seen any scientifically verifiable evidence of i5 being better than i7. The majority will find the i5 meets their needs though. There are cases which would dictate an i7 model though, one being >256gb of storage which has nothing to do with the CPU choice its just a fact or life. The other two are better CPU or GPU performance. clock rates are not a measure of overall performance.

 

[cmcigas]

The earliest you'll see an SP4 is next April for the Windows Threshold launch, so it depends if you will get value using the SP3 now or can you wait 7-8 months for the SP4.

Yeah I dont think I can wait 7-8 months to be honest. Ive heard so many good things about the SP3 but the bad is kind of worrying me too as well.. I just had a client call in using the SP3 and with the most recent update (monday) and he told me before then he never had wifi issues and with that update hes had trouble connecting.

There's no guarantee the pen will get a silo in the SP4.

I haven't seen any scientifically verifiable evidence of i5 being better than i7. The majority will find the i5 meets their needs though. There are cases which would dictate an i7 model though, one being >256gb of storage which has nothing to do with the CPU choice its just a fact or life. The other two are better CPU or GPU performance. clock rates are not a measure of overall performance.

What I will need it for is being able to do real time work on it being a stenographer. So I would need higher performance because of that Im guessing and I will also be saving it all my jobs once theyre done to my NAS at home through a VPN.

 

[GreyFox7]

Yeah I dont think I can wait 7-8 months to be honest. Ive heard so many good things about the SP3 but the bad is kind of worrying me too as well.. I just had a client call in using the SP3 and with the most recent update (monday) and he told me before then he never had wifi issues and with that update hes had trouble connecting.



What I will need it for is being able to do real time work on it being a stenographer. So I would need higher performance because of that Im guessing and I will also be saving it all my jobs once theyre done to my NAS at home through a VPN.

I'd be very surprised if you can type faster than even an old Pentium level of performance on a properly optimized program.

 

[cmcigas]

I'd be very surprised if you can type faster than even an old Pentium level of performance on a properly optimized program.

Well its coming from a different machine through the USB port. Im not typing exactly on the keyboard of the SP3 if thats what you meant?

 

[jnjroach]

I've used the SP3 since June 20th and have had no real WiFi Connectivity issues, others have, I run a very clean machine though...

 

[cmcigas]

I've used the SP3 since June 20th and have had no real WiFi Connectivity issues, others have, I run a very clean machine though...

Thank you jnjroach... Definitley thinking about getting this then rather than waiting.

 

[InspectHerGadget]

I'd recommend getting a good SP2 second hand as they are well sorted, work well and you can get them for under half their new value at the moment. In Australia the warranty period is 2 years so they're all still under warranty.

I also like the passive pen better on the SP2.

 

[malberttoo]

Hi I just signed up to this forum to ask this one question.

Should I wait for the SP4 or go with the SP3. Ill be using it for work and possibly going back to school. Theres a few things I read on here that may seem like I should wait for the 4 like a pen that can be placed in the tablet...

Honestly, I don't believe that any Surface will ever have a pen silo, I just don't see how it could be possible. The Surface will always be thinner than the pen. Going forward the Surface will only get thinner, and the pen can't get much thinner and still be comfortable and useable. There's just simply no way that I can see to put a silo on the thing, unless is for something the size of, like, the thickness of 4 toothpicks.

 

[InspectHerGadget]

Honestly, I don't believe that any Surface will ever have a pen silo, I just don't see how it could be possible. The Surface will always be thinner than the pen. Going forward the Surface will only get thinner, and the pen can't get much thinner and still be comfortable and useable. There's just simply no way that I can see to put a silo on the thing, unless is for something the size of, like, the thickness of 4 toothpicks.

Microsoft can do anything they want. It is their decision for both good and bad if they make it ever thinner. It is nice having a holder for the pen like on the SP2. I don't need a case for it. I just carry it under my arm, with the pen clipped into it.

I also don't have to worry about whether the pen feels like working that day or whether there may be battery issues. I had some issues on the SP3 where the pen wouldn't work when I needed it which put me off. The pen on the SP2 has no batteries and always works. I've never even had a moment where it failed to write.