Which to buy?

[ThatCoolBlueKid]

Hello,

Firstly let me introduce myself as a 16 year old student who's moving to the Surface ecosystem from a Macbook Pro after using Mac OSX for the past 5 years. But I do own a Windows 8 Custom-built desktop and Windows Phone (and love them).

In my Area I can buy the following:

Surface Pro w/ Type Cover 2 (Intel i5 + 64Gb Storage): $580
Surface Pro 2 w/ Type Cover 2 (Intel i5 + 64Gb Storage): $914
Surface Pro 2 w/ Type Cover 2 (Intel i5 + 128Gb Storage): $1,017
Surface Pro 3 w/ Type Cover 2 (Intel i3 + 64Gb Storage): $875
Surface Pro 3 w/ Type Cover 2 (Intel i5 + 128Gb Storage): $1082

I know the obvious answer is "Big Numbers = Better = Buy that" but as I am self-funding this (these are before any relevant Education/Student sales [if any, I'm going to call MS Customer Service to ask tomorrow]) and I don't want to be spending $1,100 if I don't have to considering that for my needs of only being able to really be able to use MS Office, Adobe Suite and a few additional non-intensive games (I have a gaming pc for any seriously power-heavy tasks) but at the same time I don't want to skimp out on the cheapest one when for a few dollars extra I get an experience thats worlds above.

Hopefully theres enough of you Surface Pro 1 / 2 / 3 Users on the forums to shed some light on what is the best bang-for-the-buck, per say, out of the options MS Offers above.

Thanks

 

[GreyFox7]

First off id say don't even think about the Pro 1.

How much storage will you want? You only get about half of the 64 GB although you can pick up a microSD card for a fist full of dollars but you could go 128gb for just a few dollars more.

Then id ask if your use of the Adobe suite would produce intense load for long periods.

Lastly would saving $65 be more important to you than having the latest cool thing.

HTH you decide what you want.

One more thing, hold one in your hand, spin it around, see how it looks and feels.

 

[malberttoo]

It's obvious that most former SP1 and SP2 owners, myself included, are much happier with the SP3 than the former 2. I would definitely recommend that you give no thought to SP1 or SP2, and that you go for the i5. The Surface is great experience IMHO, and the SP3 refines it much more than the first two versions.

 

[ThatCoolBlueKid]

Does anyone else have any ideas on this?

I can purchase the Surface Pro 3 (i5/4Gb/128Gb) with the back-to-school discount for $849 (without typecover 3)

Would the $849 + $130 (for typecover) be a better deal then?

 

[GreyFox7]

Oh to be 16 with an i5/4GB/128GB SP3, you have no idea how jealous I am.

When I was 18 I got a Texas Instruments SR-10 "Slide Rule" Calculator (with Semi-Scientific Functions). it was the hottest thing around.
http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/texas_instruments_sr-10.html

http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2023689_2023703_2023675,00.html

I think you will love the SP3 and it will take you far. Do be extra careful with it as screen breakage seems to be the number one bummer across all these modern age gadgets.

 

[ThatCoolBlueKid]

Oh to be 16 with an i5/4GB/128GB SP3, you have no idea how jealous I am.

When I was 18 I got a Texas Instruments SR-10 "Slide Rule" Calculator (with Semi-Scientific Functions). it was the hottest thing around.
http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/texas_instruments_sr-10.html

http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2023689_2023703_2023675,00.html

I think you will love the SP3 and it will take you far. Do be extra careful with it as screen breakage seems to be the number one bummer across all these modern age gadgets.

Haha how times have changed hey?

and to be fair I got not one but two jobs, gave up my whole summer and am self-financing the entire thing, not like mr. rich daddy is buying it for me.

And I haven't broken a single Phone/Laptop screen in my 10 years of having phones and 5 years of having MacBooks so I don't think thats a major issue. Especially as I'm paying for all of it I'll be super-duper careful

I have a TI-nSpire myself for my IB Physics & Maths courses if thats any consolation?

 

[kristalsoldier]

Does anyone else have any ideas on this?

I can purchase the Surface Pro 3 (i5/4Gb/128Gb) with the back-to-school discount for $849 (without typecover 3)

Would the $849 + $130 (for typecover) be a better deal then?

Yeah probably - but pay close attention to the kind of work (and play) that you want to do with the SP3. In my case - and I am much older than you AND work as an academic - the i5/4GB/128GB + 64GB MicroSD card is perfect. I will upgrade the SD card to a 128GB one in a month or so.

As a student, you will enjoy the SP3 - I wish I had such a device when I was in school/ college. It would have made my life much easier. Oh well!

 

[ThatCoolBlueKid]

Yeah probably - but pay close attention to the kind of work (and play) that you want to do with the SP3. In my case - and I am much older than you AND work as an academic - the i5/4GB/128GB + 64GB MicroSD card is perfect. I will upgrade the SD card to a 128GB one in a month or so.

As a student, you will enjoy the SP3 - I wish I had such a device when I was in school/ college. It would have made my life much easier. Oh well!

That is the exact setup I am planning to make with a 64 or 128Gb mSD Card in the SP3. I am using this to replace my Macbook Pro (2011) and apart from using it for school and general internet browsing i plan on doing some light gaming and some light adobe work (Graphic Designing as a hobby). So i think the combined SP3 i5/4gb/128gb with a 64gb mSD should be perfect and a hell of a lot lighter for my College note-taking, all our work is basically on GoogleDrive only so it's no major issue.

 

[GreyFox7]

Yeah probably - but pay close attention to the kind of work (and play) that you want to do with the SP3. In my case - and I am much older than you AND work as an academic - the i5/4GB/128GB + 64GB MicroSD card is perfect. I will upgrade the SD card to a 128GB one in a month or so.

As a student, you will enjoy the SP3 - I wish I had such a device when I was in school/ college. It would have made my life much easier. Oh well!

I'd give it six months for 128gb cards to settle out... there appears to be a variety of issues with them presently although some work good.