offroadaaron Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 (edited) Hi guys, So I've been a Windows desktop user for as long as I remember, but as far as laptops go I've never personally owned anything but Apple laptops and found them to be the best build quality. I find the OS to be rock solid for things like waking up from sleep and battery life, I also somewhat come from a Unix/Linux/networking background way back in the day. I currently have a 11" MacBook Air (refer to sig for specs) and have had MBPr 13" and 15" and plenty of other MacBooks in the past. I run Windows VM's on it when needed. I don't really care about the price point as I don't purchase cheap equipment mainly to avoid the pain of dealing with returns and issues (time is money and money is time) and luckily I've never needed to return or service my laptops. Also to give you more of a background I've used HP, Lenovo, DELL laptops for work and they all seem great and I don't have a particular problem with them. I Also own an iPad Mini 2 (and have previously owned other iPads) for a long time and I've been using this device for trips interstate and overseas until my fiancée got hold of it and it's now pretty much hers now. So because my tablet has been taken away from me I was in the market for a new tablet now and I was putting all the cards of the table. I needed something I could take on trips, I'd always take my iPad and MacBook along with me. I looked at all the iPad versions but thought the Surface would fill this void and instead of taking 2 devices with me I'd only need to take the one device! Work had just purchased a Surface Pro 4 and I was traveling for work so I asked if I could test this device out and surely enough it was no problem at all! During my travel the device was great, but I didn't have to use it all that much. The device was portable and was a bit of a novelty for me as I'd never used a Windows machine with a touch screen. I also started to use the device after my travels for about a month at home and work as I was contemplating buying one. I couldn't decide on which one to purchase, if I should go all out and get a Surface Book, or get a Surface Pro 4 or a Surface 3 LTE (I always said I'd get one if they had LTE). Anyways a second hand Surface Pro 3 popped up for sale very cheap and in great condition so I picked this up as it had a pen and keyboard included for less than a New Surface 3. Specs: CPU: i5 HDD: 128 RAM: 4GB I've had the device for around a month now, so all up I've been using a Surface Pro for around 2 months, in that time I've traveled for work and on a Holiday overseas. I can say the Surface Pro 3 filled the 2 item void with a lot of buts. And I'll list some of my issues here: In tablet mode it's almost impossible to type without pulling your hair out. It's to big to type easily. NO AUTO-CORRECT - I'm use to the iPad with auto-correct and word prediction, I can type a million times faster with the iPad. I don't know why I thought it would have this feature, I just did. OneNote - Why is there 2 versions? The Metro version is just not up to par, I have to add all my notes from my account manually and then it'll sync. The desktop version you login and it sync all your notes. This is obviously not specific to the Surface but I did move to OneNote because of the Surface as I'm sure a lot of other people did the same. Sound - Crackling issues - This is premium device and yet there are sound issues. Chrome - Sometimes the cursor becomes hidden and you can't get it back unless you complete end all the Chrome processes, I'm not sure if it's an add-on, but I see other people having the same issues, this never happens on my desktop. It's not as easy to use as a laptop when using it on your lap - In transit when travelling you need to be able to use your device in whatever position you're in. With a laptop I've never really had any issues but with the Surface because of the kickstand holding it up it's not always the easiest to use, BUT I knew this when I bought the unit. Windows 10 - I personally don't feel as if Windows 10 is ready for tablet mode yet, I'm sure plenty a lot of people will disagree, but it's not a comfortable feeling when taking the keyboard off and trying to do anything useful. The App store is very average, it's better than when I first used it but it's definitely not up to the Apple App Store standard (again not sure about the Google App Store). The bottom side of the keyboard picks up lots of dust and dirt constantly. I feel that I have a real love hate relationship with this device but some of the up sides are: I don't need to take 2 devices with me on trips. I can run full blown apps on my tablet/laptop. The Pro screen is very nice. I can connect it to a domain and have all my user settings and drive mappings all automatically work. The hardware build quality is great! Conclusion: As I said before I have a love hate relationship with this device. If someone asked me if I'd recommend this device, I'd most-likely say NO straight off the bat. I would obviously ask what their user case for a device would be and if it fit the Surface user case I would hesitantly recommend the device with a caution that they might not like it. I think the device isn't bad for IT savvy people but for something that's not IT savvy I feel they might struggle. On a whole I have mixed feeling about the device, I sometimes feel like it's a premium product but the OS and firmware/drivers let it down and feel it's a bit disjointed as a tablet/laptop 2-in-1 device. So: If someone asked me what tablet they should get, I would probably recommend an iPad (I don't have much Android experience, almost none). Many of the old and younger generation that aren't as IT savvy seem to move quite easily from a laptop to an iPad and enjoy using it. But there is a specific user case and obviously limitations of the device to some degree. I feel the generation in the middle prefer a laptop as that's what they seem to have grown up and used more and might have an iPad or Android tablet as a secondary device. If someone asked me what laptop they should get for personal use and they were open to Apple I'd still push them towards Apple for a personal laptop. Yes it's expensive but it holds value and I feel the build quality is awesome. Also the price is not that much different than purchasing a decent Windows laptop. Again I would advise on a case to case basis. If someone was to ask me about a work laptop, I'd definitely say a Windows machine almost 99% of the time. If someone where to ask me about a gaming machine I'd say a Windows machine. I don't think anyone would disagree here. Some of the things I've noticed since getting the Surface: Love the touch screen - When I'm on my MacBook I seem to try to touch to scroll content all the time. I pick up my Surface way more than my MacBook now, I'm not if it's just because the Surface is new or I feel like it's a more portable version. Anyways I'd love to hear about any fixes for some of the issues I'm currently having and any feedback from other people regarding the device and their opinions and experiences. I'm no wordsmith and I never write reviews on things but for some reason I felt the need to say something. If you feel as though you disagree then point out why and give a good reason, I'm always up for a discussion. Also I'll be keeping my Surface Pro 3, why? Because I like it so far... Edited April 14, 2016 by offroadaaron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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