Which Surface Pro 3 is for me?

[kristalsoldier]

haha...yes "mentally satisfied" is very true - a big weakness of mine. I always want the best of the best even if it doesn't make sense.

Well...you know what you want to do with the SP3 and for that - as others have mentioned above - the i5/ 4GB/ 128GB will most likely suffice. Now, the remaining question is about money - not only what you have on hand, but also an assessment of what you may need in the short-term future. These two will (or should) determine your purchase. I was in a similar situation. While I am in academia, but I am not a student (well, one is always a student, but I am not in the formal sense of the word) and my field is not the same as yours. I bought the 4GB/ 128GB version. In my case, it was not a question of money, but a realistic assessment of what I do and need for my needs in the foreseeable future. In terms of HDD space, I currently use a 64GB MicroSD card, but will be upgrading that to a 128GB card in the near future.

 

[mohcho]

The tendency to get "the best of the best even if it doesn't make sense" is a lie that we all tend to believe and the marketing people behind selling products want us to believe that lie.

You mentioned that you want it for school work and to take notes. You already have a gaming laptop but do not game, so the answer is pretty clear.

Get what you can afford, don't overextend yourself to go into debt for a product that you will most likely not max out. I have the i5/128/4Gb model and it's been working perfectly for me at work. I manage our IT infrastructure with it, so while I do not do graphical rendering, but I do some occasional photo editing, it has been more power than I require.

I liken it to a car. You'd like a Ferarri, but in all honesty, you can't drive that fast in it, so a Honda Civic will suffice, but the Ferrari is so nice.... and freaking expensive and you will never use it to it's max.

 

[Geek.Verve]

And remember, the keyboard cover is an extra $130.

 

[CC268]

Hey guys I am going to get the i5 8GB/256 as I actually get a really nice discount for being a student on the Microsoft store!

 

[CC268]

New owner of an SP3 i5 8GB RAM/ 256GB SSD...should be here Friday.

I actually save more money buy ordering this configuration over the 4GB/128 version

 

[GreyFox7]

The saving of money:
Honey, I'm going to buy a dress...
Later... hi honey I saved so much money buying 5 dresses rather than 3.
Reality: I spent more than buying 1 dress, or even 3 dresses.

 

[CC268]

Well to word it better...I saved $210 over buying it from Best Buy...

Either way I think I will be happy with the purchase...hopefully it lives up to the expectations

 

[mohcho]

"The more you buy, the more you can save!"

 

[GreyFox7]

"The more you buy, the more you can save!"

Hehe... going to get me some military surplus hardware... I can save Billions. . Maybe NASA has an old rocket I can get on the cheap.

Ha went a bit overboard there but you know what I mean...

 

[CC268]

Well I'm sorry I shouldn't have said anything. Didn't think anyone would get bent out of shape like this.

 

[GreyFox7]

Well I'm sorry I shouldn't have said anything. Didn't think anyone would get bent out of shape like this.

I don't know who's bent out of shape, just having a little fun with contemporary culture.

 

[CC268]

Okay, it just seemed like it.

While we are on the topic, do any of you know if the Surface Pro 3 uses the same HDMI adapter as the Surface Pro 2? Best Buy has one, but it says Surface and Surface 2 on it...no Surface 3.