Microsoft Surface Pro 3
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2015-05-07
·
2,086 words · ~10 min read
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the Microsoft Surface is an idea that I've always wanted to love my conclusion
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about the original when I checked out the Surface RT was that I thought the
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potential was amazing but it needed to be x86 it needed to be faster and prices
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needed to come down well with the first to address and the pricing a non-factor
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for me since I traded in my Lamborghini when my wife got pregnant with kid
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number two let's see if the Surface Pro 3 is what I imagined this concept could
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become
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with its power loss protection affordability and performance the sp920
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from a data makes upgrading to an SSD remarkably safe and simple let's start
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with the initial unboxing Impressions the AC adapter is Compact and has a USB
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charging port Rock on the device itself is much lighter feeling than I expected
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the original surface was well balanced but dense this one reminds me of my
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first impressions of the iPhone 5 it's light but still feels premium and super
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sexy at the same time and the satin metal finish on the back actually made
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me say out loud how the hell did they do that it's the best feeling Windows
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device I have ever held but let's move on I got a purple type cover and from
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Reading initial Impressions from press at the unveiling I was expecting it to
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kind of suck it totally doesn't the integrated touchpad is okay it's not
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precise enough its Palm rejection sucks and two-handed operation is basically
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impossible but at least it has a nice tactile click and the size is a good
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compromise the keyboard on the other hand is an engineering miracle in my
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opinion I swear they've got each key descending into a portal to another
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Universe to get that much travel distance on such a thin keyboard I
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actually really like it except it's too bad it doesn't have a print screen
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button and I have to double click the back of the stylus to do that deal
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breaker I'll be returning the Surface Pro 3 but let's press onward anyway
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shall we speaking of the stylus I guess if I was a student or an artist maybe I
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would give a crap but as it is the best thing Microsoft could have done for me
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is give me somewhere to tuck it away so I can ignore it forever too bad there is
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no slot for it and the instructions and seriously my eyes just about rolled out
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of my head tell you to stick it to the magnetic charging port when you're not
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using it what a joke what if I need to
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charge my device Geniuses well no problem says the instructions you bought
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a type cover right here's the cheapest little chunk of fabric that we could
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find attached to a sticker put this on your type cover and put the pen through
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it are youing kidding me a stylus is either an integral part of the design or
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it's a stupid Niche accessory that cost $50 every time I lose it if it's the
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former it goes inside and if it's the latter then don't bother talking about
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it all right but let's talk specs while I calm down Microsoft gives potential
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customers lots of well balanced CPU RAM and drive choices I picked up the Core
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i5 4300 U version with 8 gigs of RAM and a 256 gig solid state drive beyond that
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things are pretty standardized so everyone gets a 12-in 2160 x440 3x2
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aspect ratio 10o multi-touch IPS display
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a 9-hour battery Wireless AC Bluetooth 4.0 Etc these are some damn impressive
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tech specs given the size and weight of this sucker speaking of size and weight
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let's move on to the physical overview on the left we find a volume rocker and
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a 32 mm Jack on the right is a mini DisplayPort port a USB 3 port and the
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Magnetic Locking reversible power button on the top is a lock button and
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ventilation holes and finally on the bottom is the shockingly strong magnetic
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clip H goes to show you when you try to
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demo something typical Microsoft right is the shockingly strong magnetic clip
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for the type cover the back has one of the two 5 megapixel cameras simple clean
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surface branding and the much improved kickstand I mean this thing is awesome
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it's still flawlessly flush when closed it still has that carridor sound and
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feel of the old one and it's much more flexible now it works open a little bit
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in your lap or on your desk open all the way propped on a pillow and everywhere
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in between it is so well constructed I mean I already said the device is
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beautiful once but I feel like I should say it again here because I'm about to
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start beating on it pretty hard as we make our way to the front the display
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would be perfect if it wasn't for some very noticeable backlight bleed on dark
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backgrounds the the Windows button would be perfect if it wasn't exactly where I
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rest my thumb when I hold it in landscape mode the front-facing speakers
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would be perfect if the ports for them were big enough to actually sound like
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they're front facing and the card reader slot under the kickstand would be
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perfect if it was a full-size SD slot instead of a Micro SD I mean seriously
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what's the excuse on something this big I can adapt down but not up but so far
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all this stuff you could have figured out from reading a spec sheet what is
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this thing like to actually use so to
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find out I set everything up on the surface took my xps2 out of my backpack
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and left for a 4-day business trip I mean that's what this thing is supposed
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to be before right Road Warriors it fits in my Windows Vista bag like a boss but
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then the first time I took it out I ran into trouble the kickstand system just
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doesn't give you the same ergonomic options that a normal hinge does I was
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slouching in my chair and I realized I couldn't really get the screen to face
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me properly then shortly afterward due to its top end heaviness it fell off of
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my lap fortunately I caught it with my legs but these are the kinds of problems
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with the surfaces ergonomics that don't exist with a normal clam shell then I
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was on the plane and making some notes for this review so I propped up the
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keyboard to a comfortable angle with the surprisingly robust little magnetic
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system here Boop fired up word one of the many applications that doesn't have
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a metro UI version and realized two things number one is that the airplane
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tray wasn't long enough for the kickstand to rest on so I actually had
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to prop the screen against the seat in front of me relying on friction to keep
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the keyboard from sliding towards me and number two is that with the keyboard
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angled up I can't touch the taskar with my fingers very well and switch between
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applications something I've become very accustomed to with my
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Dell there are positive points though further into the trip I was using it to
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offload footage from a camera's SD card using a USB 3 reader and I was struck by
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the appeal of a full proper Windows machine in such a tiny form factor and
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with such great battery life I mean it's true compared to a normal tablet the
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Surface Pro 3 is just so versatile and
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so powerful having proper access to the
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folder tree having easy flexible networking capabilities having strong
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driver support for random crap like printers I mean even something as simple
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as having a proper fullsize USB 3 Port these are all fantastic selling points
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and those selling points unfortunately aren't going to help it overcome my
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objections to it I mean maybe part of the problem is I'm not the right customer I own about half a dozen
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tablets and I haven't touched any of them in months for me a flagship
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smartphone has a big high resen enough screen for casual use and if something
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is timec consuming or important enough to be worth getting off my butt to go
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get something better I'm going to go get my XPS 12 a device that has a real
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keyboard a better touchpad runs quieter also happens to work as a notebook or as
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a tablet and is available for the the same price as a Surface Pro 3 with a typ
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cover and at this point you might come to Microsoft's events saying but lonus
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the XPS 12 is a bit big and heavy for tablet use and doesn't come with a
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stylist to which I would reply you're right but the surface 3 Pro is a bit big
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and heavy for tablet use too and as for the stylus I don't give a crap about
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drawing on my computer and if I did I'd buy a Wacom companion it's also
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similarly priced and includes a much better stylus for folks who are serious
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about drawing on their tablets okay lonus gotcha but in Microsoft's defense
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they were never targeting tablets with the Surface Pro 3 anyway their marketing
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is aimed squarely at the MacBook Air to which I would reply good for them I
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guess if that's how they want this review structured then here's the tagline they can put on the product page
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this device I would never buy is competitive with another device I would
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never buy five stars the MacBook Air doesn't have a touchcreen so it was
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never in the running for me anyway I wouldn't even begin to consider a
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notebook without a touchcreen at this point and once you get one you'll
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probably never go back either trust me now the screen resolution and the more
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Square aspect ratio could have won me over from a productivity standpoint if
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Windows 8.1 didn't still handle text scaling with the poison brace of a
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giraffe on a pair of stilts and ice skates on the ends due to the pixel
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density of its screen Surface Pro 3
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needs text scaling and it comes with icons and text enlarged out of the box
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but it really takes away from the beauty of the display when so many things are
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blurry and crappy looking I mean third party developers are definitely a big
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part of the problem but it feels a bit hypocritical for Microsoft to be upset
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about their Lolly gagging when within Windows there are still things that
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don't scale correctly so that's it sorry
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Microsoft I can't recommend this product and even worse I no longer believe the
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surface concept belongs in a world where two and ones exist the Windows tablet
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experience is bad enough that I find myself only wanting to use it
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occasionally and in the 2% of the time that happens I'll settle for a bulkier
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heavier tablet experience in exchange for a better notebook one the other 98%
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of the time there are going to be people for whom the surface is perfect but I'm
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just not one of them s thanks guys for watching like this video if you liked it
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right about the surface if you think I'm completely wrong about the surface check
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