Surface 3- 128gb vs 64gb- which to buy?

[CrazyTown]

So we are in the market for a new laptop- we actually bought the MS Surface 3 128gb device when it first came out. My wife loved it. While it's not a "laptop" the functionality of it was pretty awesome. We returned it because my wife didn't want to spend that much for a new computer.

I've now convinced her that the 64gb Surface 3 that comes out this Friday is $200 and is something we should consider. She's on board with that....

My question is how much of a difference we will notice from a performance stand point? I think the 128gb has an Intel i5 and the 64gb has an Inter i3- all completely foreign to me.

We're very casual computer users- no hard core games or anything that would be considering high CPU usage- just basic browsing/MS Word/e-mail etc etc.

Will we even notice a difference (besides the obvious amount of storage) from one device to the other? Is the 64gb not enough space and something we should reconsider?

Thanks

 

[ctitanic]

I would buy the 128 one. Extra space is always welcome.

 

[megatronium]

So we are in the market for a new laptop- we actually bought the MS Surface 3 128gb device when it first came out. My wife loved it. While it's not a "laptop" the functionality of it was pretty awesome. We returned it because my wife didn't want to spend that much for a new computer.

I've now convinced her that the 64gb Surface 3 that comes out this Friday is $200 and is something we should consider. She's on board with that....

My question is how much of a difference we will notice from a performance stand point? I think the 128gb has an Intel i5 and the 64gb has an Inter i3- all completely foreign to me.

We're very casual computer users- no hard core games or anything that would be considering high CPU usage- just basic browsing/MS Word/e-mail etc etc.

Will we even notice a difference (besides the obvious amount of storage) from one device to the other? Is the 64gb not enough space and something we should reconsider?

Thanks

From your description, the i3 seems to be a great match for you. Buy a 64 or 128gb memory card for $35 - $100 and you're set.

 

[GreyFox7]

AnandTech recently published a Fist Look review of the i3 SP3.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8287/first-look-the-799-microsoft-surface-pro-3-with-core-i3

So there is roughly a 30% performance difference between then I3 and i5 more or less depending on what your are doing.

Based on your description you would be fine with i3 performance not to mention that this will be a good bit faster (also covered in the AnandTech review) than an iPad Air by comparison or top Android tablet. Bottom line, you're about smack in the middle between the iPad Air class and i5 SP class devices.

As for storage I haven't seen a number published on the SP3 but the 64gb SP2 had 37gb available to the user. You can add a 64gb microSD card fairly cheaply and easily configure documents, pictures and videos to be stored on it. not to mention the USB port. I think the max microSD card it will take is 128gb but they are more expensive and probably more than you need.

Do get one of the faster class 10 SD cards though. like one of these:
Samsung Electronics 64GB PRO SDXC Upto 90MB/s Class 10 Memory Card (MB-SG64D/AM)

SanDisk Extreme Plus 64GB MicroSDXC UHS-I Memory Card Speed Up To 80MB/s SDSDQX-064G-AFFP-A

Samsung Electronics 64GB EVO Micro SDXC Upto 48MB/s Class 10 Memory Card (MB-MP64DA/AM).

SanDisk 64GB Mobile Ultra MicroSDXC Class 10 UHS-1 30MB/s Memory Card

I wouldn't go slower than the last one. I'm using the first one. All available on Amazon.

Maybe you wont need additional storage at all or only need 32 GB which of course is a little cheaper than 64. if you have a PC look at how much space you are using on it.

 

[BillsCarnage]

I'd also second the microsd card. With the original Surface there were some tweaks you could make so that the card was mounted and part of the overall storage. I don't see why that wouldn't work with the Pro.

So if you have a 64gb ssd and 64gb microsd Windows recognized that you had 128gb total.

 

[CrazyTown]

Thanks to all for the feedback- much appreciated!!!!

 

[CrazyTown]

Just one more note....we won't use the Surface to store any Pictures/Videos/etc...we use Picasa and have a Network Storage device that we save all that to....

 

[clrk9000]

With due respect especially with Ctitanic's, I would suggest you go for i3-64Gb and just get the cheapest 64Gb microSD if cost is a consideration.

Once you think of going to i5 - 128Gb, you are headed to a very slippery slope. The next model is actually very attractive compared as it has double the SSD (ie 256GB) and double the DDR (ie. 8Mb).

And same goes to the next higher i7 model and so forth...