Surface Pro 3 experience by SP2 owners

[malberttoo]

Shawn, welcome to the forum, and thanks for posting your experience.

There are issues with the SP3 for sure, and I myself am currently experiencing a couple of them. But I don't believe that these issues are representative of the SP3 platform as a whole- I don't believe that every single SP3 user has these issues. Forums like this do tend to be a magnet for folks having these issues, because let's face it, this is the kind of place where power users of the devices tend to hang out, and where people needing help stand the best chance of getting it.

I'm not an artist at all, but I definitely found your take on the SP3, as an artist, very interesting.

 

[Shawn Alfenito]

I'm not convinced. You are an Apple guy but not upgraded from MBA

Ha. I have an iPad Mini Retina, iPhone 5s, a Macbook air, and a Mac Pro workstation. I love OSX over W8. Having said that, this is an amazing product that fills a void left by Apple.

 

[Shawn Alfenito]

Shawn, welcome to the forum, and thanks for posting your experience.

There are issues with the SP3 for sure, and I myself am currently experiencing a couple of them. But I don't believe that these issues are representative of the SP3 platform as a whole- I don't believe that every single SP3 user has these issues. Forums like this do tend to be a magnet for folks having these issues, because let's face it, this is the kind of place where power users of the devices tend to hang out, and where people needing help stand the best chance of getting it.

I'm not an artist at all, but I definitely found your take on the SP3, as an artist, very interesting.

Thanks. Ya, I fully believe most people complaining must be having legitimate issues. I just expected I would have seen more of them first hand when I got my device. I was prepared for the worst I suppose.

As for the art side, I am very surprised with how well it functions as an art tool. It couldn't serve as my only machine for creating all my art, but it does so much more than I could have hoped for and is exceeding my expectations daily.

 

[scfoster]

Sold the SP2 in anticipation of the SP3. Went back to the Macbook Air during that time. If the SP3 came with Apple OSX I'd switch in a heartbeat. That being said, the SP3 is a huge improvement over the SP2, IMO. The SP2 was too "bulky" for me and I found myself not carrying it around the office, which defeated the purpose of having a portable unit in the first place.
The SP3 is thinner and carries the weight differently than the SP2, so it does get carried around more often (which is the whole point for me).
There were some major hiccups in the beginning (got it on launch day) rendering it almost unusable, all of which are documented in one thread or another. MS has fixed a lot of them, at least for me. I still get the screen flicker with the Apple LED Cinema display (did not happen with the SP2) but MS still has a case open and are working on it.
The SDXC card slot is in the perfect spot and I like that it no longer has a spring mechanism to break. Just slide it in or out. I carry an adapter in my bag to allow data transfers. Works great.
The pen is a big improvement over the SP2. No apparent parallax (gap between the pen nib and the "ink"), so note taking is improved.
Haven't noticed power limitations being only am away from the desk/charger for about 4 hour max. A power cover (when released) will fix that if it's an issue.
For me it was worth the upgrade. Did try to use a Samsung Note 12.2 during the early screen flicker days. Just wasn't the same as having a full blown computer, so I ended up carrying both the Note 12.2 and the Macbook Air, which was ridiculous.
I still dislike Windows 8.1 (flame me if you want) but if that's the price to pay for portability, then I'll pay it.

 

[wvevie]

I'm not a gamer and I don't ever use Win 8. anything if I can avoid it. I'm mostly dealing with Office on a regular basis.

That said, I use it for everything I do. I do not have a desktop. The SP3 IS my computer.