Comment I'm not buying a Surface Pro 3 right now... (Score 1) 379
...because I already have one of the original Surface Pro devices, and I actually really like it. And yes, we all hate microsoft around here, I know... I still like it.
I picked up a 1st Gen pro when Best Buy had them on sale a few months ago - they were selling the 128GB version for $499, which was less than I paid for my original (1st gen) iPad, so I thought I'd give it a try.
It's actually a decent little gaming machine, especially considering that it's using the 'onboard' intel graphics. I managed to google around and find a compatible driver so I could pair a playstation 3 controller with it via bluetooth, which also registers the controller via xinput / emulates an x360 controller, and it runs everything gaming-related I've thrown at it so far beautifully. This includes several steam games (Portal / Portal 2, Rayman Legends, Castle Crashers, Geometry Wars), several 'standalone' PC games, (League of Legends, Minecraft, Diablo 3) and an assortment of console emulators. You do have to occasionally turn down the resolution or tone down the eye candy a bit, but it's not especially noticeable when you're playing on a 10" screen, and I haven't had to drop anything below 1280x720 to get good framerates yet. I don't expect it to play Crysis, but to be fair, i haven't tried anything on that end of the 'hardcore' requirements spectrum either.
I also have started using it with FL Studio to do some audio editing and messing around with stuff - and that works incredibly well too.
I have heard of the surface 'music cover' and would be interested in buying one to play with, but I have yet to find one for sale from Microsoft - they don't offer them either in their brick-and-mortar stores, or on their store website... You can 'demo' one in their stores though, which I have done, and which made me want to purchase one to take home and play with more, but it seems that 'shut up and take my money' doesn't always work, sadly... (granted, I know people have them on eBay, and I may go that route at some point if I decide I want one badly enough...)
I use it to take notes in meetings at work, either typing in Word or using the stylus and Windows Journal. I use it as an RDP client to remote to other systems and do stuff as needed, for which it's VERY convenient.
The screen is decent - I would say that 1920x1080, while technically impressive to the masses (or something), is not a suitable resolution for a 10" device, at least for me. Also, 1920x1080, with 150% 'scaling' turned on (the default) causes problems with some desktop applications. As such, i have dropped the desktop resolution to 1366x768 for daily use, which still allows the 'tablet' apps to run and also allows me to actually SEE the desktop (and the contents thereof) when I'm out and about. I'm glad it has the capability to run a higher resolution, though, because I do occasionally connect it up to an external display.
The kickstand on the thing is actually a really great feature. And yes, I know how dumb that sounds.
All in all, i've been very pleasantly surprised with this thing. It's a good general-purpose device. I don't think I'd ever want to use it as my primary PC, but it's an awesome secondary system, and it's a great portable device (it beats the hell out of dragging around the laptop I used to carry with me to do the same kinds of things).
To be completely fair though, it's got some issues too.
- The touchscreen acts wonky sometimes - you can touch a single point on the screen and it will register multiple touches in different spots - which is really annoying when you're trying to enter text using the on-screen keyboard. It doesn't happen that often, and usually wiping off the screen and trying again will fix it, but it's still worth mentioning.
- The cover (I have the 'type cover') will sometimes randomly disconnect from the device. Pulling it away from the device and then reconnecting it will fix this, but this is also an annoyance. On the flipside, typing on the 'type cover' is fluid, and when it's working, it works well.... the touchpad is complete crap on the type cover, but this is mostly forgivable since I primarily use either the touchscreen or a USB mouse anyway. I hear the touchpad has been addressed (or at least attempted) with the pro 3, so that's a good thing.
- The 'tablet' side of things is still iffy, mainly because of the sheer amount of crap in the windows store. I realize that Apple had a huge head start on the appstore front, but still, guys, come on. If you want to push a device as a tablet, and want people to come out of the desktop and use the 'modern' interface, you need to be working to supply them with reasons to do so, because the windows store is pretty bad, and aside from a very few actually decent apps and games, is mostly filled with garbage.
- 4G (or the lack thereof): I haven't seen a full review on the Pro 3 yet, so I don't know if this has already been addressed, but at least on the first-gen device, i was surprised at the lack of an option for adding a sim card for 'on-the-go' wireless. I tether to my phone, and I always have my phone with me, so it's not a huge deal, but still. A device that's main selling point is portability should probably have that as an option at least.
- The power connector. it's a pain to get it seated and usually requires some fiddling.
- The stylus. If my Galaxy Note 2 has a dedicated slot to stash it's stylus in when not in use, I don't understand why there's not some kind of better solution for the Surface Pro stylus - And the magnetic 'clip' that attaches the stylus to the power connector sucks - the stylus routinely falls off. Not only that, but what exactly do you do with it when you have it plugged in? - i know this is a minor complaint, but still....
- Upgradability. 4Gb of ram is what I've got, and 4Gb is what I'm stuck with. I wish this thing had even a single slot so I could add more memory. Both the memory and the SSD are soldered to the 'motherboard' so there's not any kind of upgrade path at all. Having a set amount of storage space isn't a huge issue - I know how USB drives work, and the device DOES have a MicroSD slot, so adding more storage capacity is trivial... having the option to add RAM would be huge.
If I had a 'wishlist' for things I'd LIKE to see in a future version of this device (Pro 4?)-
- The 'cover' idea is interesting, and I'd like to see it expanded - or open up the API and let people 'roll their own' covers for different uses. The Music Cover is a good start down this road - it would be interesting to see a full ableton-compatible cover for one of these, or a MIDI cover/controller of some kind - it's about the right size for a couple of octaves of piano keys and a slider or two. And this could be expanded further by allowing the cover 'connector' on the device to be used for 'docking,' like you see with EVERYTHING in the world that was built in the past several years that had an apple 30-pin connector on it (so you could dock your i-device). With the way things are proprietary and 'locked down,' I doubt this will ever happen. Also, to be completely fair, the 'cover' idea is pretty well shot down when you can just plug in whatever you want via USB and go with it anyway... but whatever. It's a wishlist, not a practicality-list.
- Microsoft has that whole other games division - you know, the XBOX folks? If the first-gen device is a decent system for some light to moderate gaming, I'd like to see what a future device could do with some kind of dedicated graphics chip and/or gaming-centric peripherals - it doesn't have to be a GTX Titan to get the job done, but having a super-portable device that CAN run AAA titles would be a pretty big selling point. Cross-market it with the game console, bundle a controller, have some titles that are cross-compatible, and watch money happen. If it's a battery life issue, sell a docking station with the graphics hardware built in (or even better, with a 16x PCI-E slot attached to a dedicated lane to the device, and the ability to upgrade your video card down the line). At the very least, build the damned 'xbox wireless receiver' into the thing so you can just natively use xbox controllers with it and NOT have to use the USB port for it.
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TL:DR - I like the surface as an 'all purpose' portable device for some light gaming and general-purpose computing use. I will probably skip the Pro 3, specifically BECAUSE my 1st-gen is working well, but I would definitely recommend these. There are things I'd like to see it do that it doesn't currently, and it does have a few annoyances, but it's pretty cool overall. To be fair, it is a niche item - It's not a laptop, and it's not an iPad, but it's not exactly supposed to be either.
