Solved Transitioning from Apple to SP3

[ipaq_101]

Btw excel modeling/simulations are data heavy tasks, that is why it dips to 5-6 hours as it utilizes all my Ram and the CPUs ramp up.

When using one-note, word, powerpoint, and other office applications I can get 7 hours or more easily.

Just to make that clear.

 

[ipaq_101]

http://www.mikegyver.com/Surface-Battery-Car/

An expensive and ugly alternative, I wouldn't buy it.

 

[ctitanic]

@ctitanic — I would assume you tax your SP3 much more than I do, as well. That is what has me confused. See @foghat posts above for someone experiencing similar issues.

Like I already said, battery life varies from user to user. All you can do is to apply the recommendations that more experienced users have mentioned. I myself reported here a long time ago that my battery life was about 6 hours and I just posted screenshots proven the type of battery life I'm getting now.

 

[ctitanic]

Btw excel modeling/simulations are data heavy tasks, that is why it dips to 5-6 hours as it utilizes all my Ram and the CPUs ramp up.

When using one-note, word, powerpoint, and other office applications I can get 7 hours or more easily.

Just to make that clear.

Totally agree and it uses more battery if you are using Office 360.

 

[dstrauss]

I'm not sure I'm getting the whole purpose of this thread.

If your MBA experience really gets you 10-12 hours of full time Office (Word, Excel, etc.) use on a single charge, and you need that capability, then the Surface Pro 3 is not for you. Any reasonable usage (beyond low light, low usage browsing) will get you 6-7 hours tops on the SPro 3. Personally, my daughter has been using MacBooks (latest is June 2013 Haswell) since starting college through her current doctoral program, and although it has excellent sleep/resume ability, she has never gotten 10 hours of real usage out of it - more like 8 hours tops of writing papers and researching on the internet while on battery - WHICH IS VERY IMPRESSIVE TO ME. Still, that entails a lower resolution screen (1440x900), 30% screen brightness, and the larger battery that a MBA contains. If handwritten notes are not your "be all, end all" use for your computer, then I'd stay in the Apple camp to maximize time away from the outlet.

Now the decision is in your hands...

 

[TPadden]

.....
Take what you need and leave the rest. ......
Len

I for one, after happily using my Surface 2 Pro to replace my iPad, a couple months ago loaded Win 8.1 Pro on my 2013 MBA as the only OS; no Bootcamp. The more I use it the more I like it.

 

[ctitanic]

I hadn't really thought of that possibility. However, are they not two different form factors?

I would wait until MS releases the version for SP3.

 

[ctitanic]

I'm not sure I'm getting the whole purpose of this thread....

That makes us two

Now the decision is in your hands...

Agree

 

[mohcho]

ManUnited, if you've spent anytime on online forums, you must realize that each forum, whatever the basis of the forum will have bias towards the purpose of the forum. This is a Surface forum, so everyone here falls within several groups:

1. You are a Surface owner/user/fan and love it and want to share your joy
2. You are a Surface owner/user/fan and have problems with your device and need help
3. You are searching for more information to see if you should purchase one
4. You are a Surface owner/user but not a fan and regret your purchase
5. You are a troll and want to wreak havoc online just because you have nothing better to do

Most people here fall within the first three groups and some fall into the fourth. Any online forum will have a some who fall into group 5 because this is the internet and that is a fact of life.

The order and etiquette you are hoping for is a job for the moderators and administrators of this forum. Everyone else here is along for the ride. Again, because this is an online forum, people will tend to write in a way that has fewer restrictions than if you were face to face, so if you feel some animosity or bias, that's just the way things are online.

For the most part, my own experience here has been positive and I have learned and shared information about the SP2 and SP3 that I have owned and used. I am an advocate of the platform and devices, but if in the end they do not meet your needs and requirements, then get what works for you. There is no one perfect device on the market, but I believe the Surface line meets a niche that works for me and many others.

 

[TPadden]

I'm not sure I'm getting the whole purpose of this thread...

Like almost EVERY other thread on the Internet; simply a discussion expressing personal opinions and preferences. I'm not sure I get the whole purpose of your expression of not getting the purpose but still expounding verbosely upon your opinion .....

 

[dman27]

Not sure what you want here...seriously.

It's a public forum, and just like any public forum there are a range of personalities from secure to insecure, from fanboys to very measured, thoughtful posters. I don't think you are going to change that.

Take what you need and leave the rest.

It's pretty obvious after a very short time here where the quality posts come from and who is carrying which biases and blinds pots (like any forum).

I have no experience w apple other than iPad's and iPhones, but I've tried to evaluate their products vs my needs as I upgrade hardware, so your perspective is valuable to me (as someone leaning to the SP3).

Don't get down in the mud & wrestle w pigs because only 2 things happen, the pig gets happy & you get dirty. IME

Len

This sums it up perfectly.

I was somewhat confused as to the purpose of the forum when I too got the overall impression that certain criticism/comparison was not welcomed here. This is almost universally ignoring the
Total Apple campaign that MS is going after.

The battery issue is the whole reason I found this forum. I wanted to see if it was actually a problem with my unit or were others experiencing huge differences in battery life.

As Len stated, "Take what you need and leave the rest".

Many others will answer and relate to the situation you have and will find it valuable.

The Admin created another section on the forum to debate SP3 vs "other" tablets. Most of us are not really wanting to have a "debate or a "VS" argument, but are really curious to find the right device for our needs.

MS directly encouraged the comparison.

 

[Bandito]

Unfortunately, most battery-life claims tend to be on the optimistic side and there is currently no definitive way to compare one manufacturers claims to another's. What we probably should have is some sort of browser-based test that exercises the machine at a known rate using a controlled WiFi configuration with a particular screen brightness setting that you would run until the device died. This way it would be at least be much more comparable between devices as all should be capable of connecting to the Internet and running a browser.

At any rate, your best bet for the longest battery life on your SP3 is to keep the screen setting to the lowest comfortable and practical screen brightness and shutting off anything else that you're not using at the time, such as Bluetooth and WiFi. Have the machine set to sleep at a fairly short interval so that it can consume as little energy as possible when you're not actively using it and as a last resort, if possible, put it on the charger if you're near an outlet at lunch or at any other time one is available.

We're getting tantalizingly close to all-day use of these things, but are still not quite there, yet. Perhaps Intel's Broadwell designs will push us fully over the threshold.