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Who Loves their SP3 - Positivity Thread

EMINENT

Active Member
My experience has been pretty awesome so far. I've had a few tablets myself and this is the best system yet that i've been lucky enough to own. The screen size and stand are two things I don't think I could ever do without again.

Don't get me wrong, it's by no means perfect, but I couldn't imagine having to deal with other tablets and their limitations compared to the use i've had with this.

It's been a long time coming, but I think this product is beginning to turn things around. I have a coworker that recently got one and sold his ipad and laptop and loves it.

Even my roommate that's a die hard Apple fan inquired about pricing the cheapest one with Office for his work since his IT approved the device and he can't use an ipad for multi-screen spreadsheets walking in the warehouse.

People are taking notice and coming around, and it's only going to get better!
 

BobG

Member
Love Windows 8.1 and SP3! The only thing l miss is using my Wacom Bamboo Stylus Feel ($80 Carbon Fiber version) that was compatible with the SP2. That made for a better handwriting experience than this new n-trig technology and the stock SP3 pen.

The tablet itself is perfect. I don't think it could be a better size for all the ways I use it.
 

mohcho

Active Member
+1 for the Surface Pro 3. I had a SP2 for less than a month and loved it for it's design and form factor, but hearing that the SP3 was going to be released, I returned the SP2 and waited.

The wait was well worth and and the SP3 is an amazing device. Yes, as a early adopters we are going to suffer the growing pains of a new device, but for the last few months it's been amazing.

I love showing people what it is and they are amazed at it.
 

mtalinm

Active Member
I think I can finally say I'm happy with my i7/256. After a week of terrible buggies I took it to the MSFT store and the reinstalled a bunch of updates by hand. Now it seems to work well, and the fan does not spin up as much as I recall previously.

The best part, which most of the Apple-centric media seems to miss, is the ability to switch from laptop mode to tablet mode. Most of them bellyache about how it's too big for a tablet or too small for a laptop but overlook the fact that you can be reading a forum like this in tablet mode, then say "hey I want to post something", and just stick the keyboard on for a few minutes and type a response. Or you are going through email and someone sends you a document to read, so you rip off the keyboard and put it in portrait/reading/tablet mode. I swear I have never seen a review mention this! I think it is because most of them are basically professional bloggers and don't really work with documents the way most of us do.

I have another 2-3 weeks on my return policy, and if I'm happy enough with this I"ll probably trade up to the i7/512 just to have the extra disk space / peace of mind.
 

bangsters

Active Member
i like my SP3 i7. First time i've had a tablet with 512ssd. Before this, I had a SP1 and loved it as well. Before that was an Asus zenbook, and wasn't as impressed on the hardware as I am with the SP3.

Oh and the wife loves for SP3 i5 256GB as well.
 

gdir

Member
One day with my Sp3 (i5, 8 GB, 256 GB) and my marriage is falling apart. It's not that I spend too much time with my SP3 and neglect my wife. It's because I ordered only a SP3 for me and not a second one for my wife. My wife loves to sketch and is quite envy about my new toy.

Just kidding :)

I really enjoy my SP3. It is supposed to replace a Galaxy Note 10.1 (the old model from mid 2012) that I used to take notes, make technical sketches at work and do some surfing at home. Apart from that I own an excellent Dell XPS 15 9530 notebook that serves as main working device.

I'm surprised how flexible the SP3 can be used. From surfing hand held without keyboard, to office use placed on a table with attached type cover and mouse, to sketching or taking hand written notes with the pen and the SP3 lying flat on table: The Sp3 excels all these tasks.

I really like it and will probably end with buying a second one for my wife.

Edit:
I'm also surprised how well the touch support works Windows 8.1 desktop mode. I have been using Windows 8.1 for half a year with the Dell, most of the time in desktop mode controlled with a mouse. I think Windows 8.1 is a significant improvement over the good Windows 7. I thought that I would spend most of the time in Metro mode on the SP3, because it was made for touch and because the controls in desktop mode would be too small to be hit successfully with the fingers. But even in desktop mode my hit rate with touch input is very good.
 
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Krague17

New Member
So nice to see a thread like this with all the negative ones on here.

Being a IT Consultant I get to use a lot of different tech. Since Windows 8 was released I've been looking for the one device to rule them all. I started with a Yoga 13. It was a nice laptop but not a great tablet since the keyboard was always attached. I sold that and got the Dell Venue Pro 11. While this was both a great laptop and tablet it felt a little heavy and the screen is just too small.

Enter the Surface Pro 3. On paper it seemed to have everything I was looking for. I picked one up for a customer because they wanted to see how it would work for their sales people. My original intent was to use it for a couple of weeks so I could make sure it was stable and be able to train them on it. It worked so good that I just couldn't let it go. I had absolutely no problems with it. I installed all my dev programs, Photoshop, and a few games and never had any problems with the heat or shutting it down. I know it throttles but in real life I didn't notice it. I also know that this is meant as a ultra portable PC and not a ultra gaming/workstation PC.

So I kept it and bought another one for my customer. I can honestly say this is the best computing device I have ever owned. Another plus is being able to use Android on it with BlueStacks. The apps that are missing in the Windows store I can run using that.

Sorry for the long post but with all the threads about people having problems and hating their SP3's we never hear enough from the people that are happy with theirs. Count me as one of the completely satisfied owners.
 

hughlle

Super Moderator
Staff member
Love the hardware, not too impressed with the software. There is still too large a disconnect between desktop and MUI to make for the kind of fluid use I'm after. Not going to complain though, as a device it's still better than the alternatives imo.
 

mitchellvii

Well-Known Member
Part of the problem is the naming. After all, what the hell is a "Metro"? Why not just call it "Touch UI"? Some apps, such as MUI IE are much easier to use when in tablet mode (especially in portrait) because all of the controls are at the bottom where your thumbs are.
 

Wiidesire

Active Member
I love my Surface. Only annoying thing is getting this shitty taskbar up (when in auto-hide) with your finger/pen. Not working 90% of the time on first try.
 
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