Surface Pro 3 Gets Real: Specs and Pricing Revealed

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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If you have been toying with the idea of purchasing one of the new Surface Pro 3 models, but have no clue as to pricing or specifications, let Windows Phone Central fill in some of the details ahead of the official Microsoft press conference on Tuesday. :cool:

Needless to say, Tuesday is shaping up to be a major day for Microsoft as the Surface family is expected to grow with both smaller and larger editions
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Thinkpad 10 looks to be more price competitive at ~$500 and has the key features such as 1080p and pen enable.
 
mi7chy said:
Thinkpad 10 looks to be more price competitive at ~$500 and has the key features such as 1080p and pen enable.
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Yeah, the "Two-in-Ones" that are on the market or coming soon beat these price wise. You can get most of those in sizes up to 13.3" (ASUS) and i7 processors.

Plus, the other manufacturers don't usually use a flimsy keyboard. They have real docks with real batteries (usually). It bridges the gap between ultrabook and tablet.

Don't get me wrong, the Surface Pro's are nice, but they have always been overpriced in comparison to the competition's offering.
 
mi7chy said:
Thinkpad 10 looks to be more price competitive at ~$500 and has the key features such as 1080p and pen enable.
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Yes.
- beautiful atom which can only power the tablet marginally vs i series which can power 4 or more external monitors without any lag.
- eMMC awesomeness vs SSD
- Pen is not that good compared to SP's
- The dock/keyboards are a joke compared to SP

Surely it is more price competitive.

/s
 
2K for a computer... it had better be able to suck my dick AND play crysis *AT THE SAME TIME*
 
Meh, there might be a big redesign but without Broadwell it will still be lacking.
 
collegeboy69us said:
2K for a computer... it had better be able to suck my dick AND play crysis *AT THE SAME TIME*
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People buy mac book pros for that price all the time. I see tons of MBPr. So their are plenty of people with the money to drop that on a laptop device.

Personally a bigger screen is a plus IMO. I like the way they say red might be a MS only color, lol that's because everyone else figured out it doesn't sell. You can find the red ones the cheapest on ebay and such. Same, the RAM that goes on the best sales is red half the time because no one wants it red.
 
rudy said:
People buy mac book pros for that price all the time. I see tons of MBPr. So their are plenty of people with the money to drop that on a laptop device.

Personally a bigger screen is a plus IMO. I like the way they say red might be a MS only color, lol that's because everyone else figured out it doesn't sell. You can find the red ones the cheapest on ebay and such. Same, the RAM that goes on the best sales is red half the time because no one wants it red.
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2k for a MBP is the price you have to pay for excellence. For a windows machine 2k is just hilariously overpriced unless the laptop is a top of the line gaming model with a 780M in it.

There's no point paying premium for windows when you can get the same crap 75% cheaper.
 
Microsoft is now selling about 1 million tablets for $900 million per quarter. Meanwhile, Apple is selling 26 million tablets for $11.5 billion per quarter. Oh boy, Microsoft knows how to fix that - raise prices on its tablets! That's really gonna work!
 
i actually love my surface pro 2. the build quality is fantastic and the pen is awesome for notes. Ive been using it for school (EE) and i can use it as an oscope or assembly programmer for chips. i can take notes in onenote while having an audio recorder going at the same time. I have the type keyboard but only really use it if im programming. It lasts through all my classes with me taking notes/recording constantly.

I know there were others that were a bit cheaper but i honestly think the surface pro is an excellent product. Even though I have an ipad 3 and android tablet as well as a pretty powerful pc, I always reach for my surface.

that being said, things i would change.

1. the power connector. Just the way its designed makes it hard to plug in, especially at night. its magnetic but i would almost want just a regular power cord. not nearly as good as apples version

2. a bit more graphical and cpu power. Its close to being powerful enough for games but not quite. i can actually play borderlands 2 and star citizen does boot but only runs at 6-8 fps. kerbal space program is actually pretty slow so i think the processor is the issue. (i have the 4gb ram, 128gb ssd version)

3. keep the length and width the same but make screen larger and bezel smaller. there just seems like there is a lot of wasted space. i get the point for the bezels to be something to hold on to.

4. higher screen res

5. half the thickness. this would be difficult while increasing the power since it uses x86, but half the thickness would make this pefect.

6. lighter

7. more battery life

8. maybe support for an external video card.


honestly, if there was a docking station where i had a desktop video card and large hard drive. i could completely see using it as my main computer and getting rid of my tower. just plug it in and i have all the extra power and space.
 
As much as I give credit to MS for pursuing this, I still just don't see the wider market for these. They're expensive for tablets, they don't have the comparable usability and battery life as ultrabooks (i.e., the kickstand + mag lock keyboard is not very versatile). I'd sooner buy an ultrabook (non-tablet) for productivity at the same price rather than getting a Surface Pro, and have a smaller tablet for other things.
 
I gotta say, My surface pro 2 128GB is one of the best purchases I have made in a long time.

It's a billion times more useful than my andoid tablet or my wife's ipad. Only thing i would change is to put some better speakers in it.

The type 2 keyboard works well for such a small mechanical keyboard and the pen is amazing.
 
I do original Tattoo art on the side on a professional level and make do very well but I desperately need to move away from my Monoprice 19" graphics tablets.

I want something around a 14 - 15", a pad if possible and with interactive pen support that's pressure sensitive.

This 12" Surface 3 might be close enough. I wish I had a full list of this products features
 
SixFootDuo said:
I do original Tattoo art on the side on a professional level and make do very well but I desperately need to move away from my Monoprice 19" graphics tablets.

I want something around a 14 - 15", a pad if possible and with interactive pen support that's pressure sensitive.

This 12" Surface 3 might be close enough. I wish I had a full list of this products features
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If you aren't set on a Wacom digitzer both Acer and Sony have 15.6inch laptops with N-Trig digitizers.

The Acer R7 is actually a bit better setup for drawing as it doesn't actually go flat but is more configured go at different angles.
 
so, they release a new one every 8-10 months? thats a pretty damn fast cycle.

I like my surface 2 pro. some things could be better, but its an amazing device. everyone goes "wow" when they see it and what it can do.
 
Just to add there are already 12inch+ devices with Wacom digitzers from Lenovo and Fujitsu as well.
 
*Looks at the prices*

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA

Oh my god, I can get a i7 laptop with 8 gigs ram and 512gb hard drive for $900, and it comes with a 1080p monitor

What the flying fuck are you smoking Microsoft?
 
Baffling that they won't even include the type cover on all Surface devices at least until they gain more traction. So an extra $130 on top of those prices if you want to do more than poke a screen all day
 
The pricing isn't to crazy on the i5 units, the i7 is getting a bit out there.

If these have LTE as an option I can see the i5 @ 1k being a good option.

I am surprised in how few full Win8 tablets have LTE as an option, and how crap some of the rugged cases are designed.

As for the quick refresh cycle on these units its being driven by Intel wanting to get into the tablet and mobile processor game. They have zero competition from AMD in the Laptop/Desktop market so money would be better spent in the mobile arena.
 
FML...Microsoft has to introduce a larger Surface Pro (the exact thing I wanted) a month after I bought a Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2...

Well, at least I won't have early adopter problems with this...still, annoying as all hell.
 
DPI said:
Baffling that they won't even include the type cover on all Surface devices at least until they gain more traction. So an extra $130 on top of those prices if you want to do more than poke a screen all day
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Wow...forgot about that. That's right our boss wanted the keyboard and it was extra. So its only a wanna be laptop if you pay extra.
 
pcjunkie said:
Wow...forgot about that. That's right our boss wanted the keyboard and it was extra. So its only a wanna be laptop if you pay extra.
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It obviously would be nice if the covers were cheaper or one included with all Surface Pros but the Surface Pro isn't a laptop. It can be used that way and it can work well at least for some in that case. But it's also a tablet that can do things laptops can't. If one has no need for those capabilities and just needs a clamshell laptop then by all means get a clamshell laptop.
 
heatlesssun said:
It obviously would be nice if the covers were cheaper or one included with all Surface Pros but the Surface Pro isn't a laptop. It can be used that way and it can work well at least for some in that case. But it's also a tablet that can do things laptops can't. If one has no need for those capabilities and just needs a clamshell laptop then by all means get a clamshell laptop.
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For the price they charge it should come with They are magnetic attached so it just pops on and off quickly. Want to sell more includes something useful like that without charging out the ass for it as an extra.
 
ShamisOMally said:
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX51929

Here, $1300, rocking a 4 core 8 thread i7, 16gb ram and 1tb hard drive with a Nvidia GT755m DUAL sli

Again, microsoft, you wonder why you can't fucking sell tablets? Cause laptops like THIS exist
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That's not a valid comparison, since that laptop is GIGANTIC compared to the surface and weighs a shit ton more. The surface is way more portable/useable in the field. If that isn't what you are looking for, then the surface isn't for you. It's about as valid as desktop users saying the laptop you linked to is overpriced junk because they can get better components for less than half the price....
 
I don't give a flying fuck about the fact that I can have more processing power if I get a desktop for the money.
What I give a fuck about is the fact that I can go for 10 hours with a power cover without ever going into hibernation while having wifi on at all time, while having Wacom digitizer for the shit that
 
*sorry, can't edit.

for the shit that I need to get done on the field. I cannot use MBP or MBA in order to jot notes down on the fly, I cannot use any of the Vaios for the lack of pressure sensitivity that you get for not using Wacom, I cannot use a Lenovo Helix because it's not even Haswell, and I only have the Yoga as the alternative to SP2.

Surface Pro is meant for a niche, and I'll cough up the dough for it. Others can keep talking shit all over it; you don't need the Surface and you'll never need to pay for shit similar to this. For those of us that have tablet PCs, this shit's as good as tablet PC's ever been.
 
Reimu said:
*sorry, can't edit.

for the shit that I need to get done on the field. I cannot use MBP or MBA in order to jot notes down on the fly, I cannot use any of the Vaios for the lack of pressure sensitivity that you get for not using Wacom, I cannot use a Lenovo Helix because it's not even Haswell, and I only have the Yoga as the alternative to SP2.

Surface Pro is meant for a niche, and I'll cough up the dough for it. Others can keep talking shit all over it; you don't need the Surface and you'll never need to pay for shit similar to this. For those of us that have tablet PCs, this shit's as good as tablet PC's ever been.
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I've done my comparison about this versus a MBA, and frankly, once I've gone power cover, the battery life subject became moot. I did think long and hard about getting a tablet and a dedicated ultrabook, but I would need to sling two pieces of slab everywhere I go if I do that, and it makes going to site visits awkward.

Another thing: If you are buying a Wacom digitizer tablet (Galaxy Note 10.1, $500,) you would still need to cough up a grand. That and I need a business machine, not the el Cheapo Acer.

This Surface Pro is not perfect at all, for the rear facing camera is a piece of junk. It makes me having the need of resorting to using my cell phone camera while trying to do notetaking on the go, and that's awkward as hell. However, the whole price argument becomes utterly pointless for niche use of notetaking and computing on the go (doing productivity work and not just being a scum and playing casual games)
 
The Surface Pro is a niche market and caters to specific types of people. You can moan all you want about the price or the performance but it really comes down to no other device can do what it can do plus look sexy doing it. Reimu touched on a lot of the main selling points which makes this device great.
 
Reimu said:
*sorry, can't edit.

for the shit that I need to get done on the field. I cannot use MBP or MBA in order to jot notes down on the fly, I cannot use any of the Vaios for the lack of pressure sensitivity that you get for not using Wacom, I cannot use a Lenovo Helix because it's not even Haswell, and I only have the Yoga as the alternative to SP2.

Surface Pro is meant for a niche, and I'll cough up the dough for it. Others can keep talking shit all over it; you don't need the Surface and you'll never need to pay for shit similar to this. For those of us that have tablet PCs, this shit's as good as tablet PC's ever been.
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Pretty much, the Surface Pro fills in the gaps that many other mobile computers leave out. An actual portable Windows fucking tablet that is capable of functioning as a laptop or desktop. It literally fills in all 3 roles. For an employee or student the Surface Pro literally replaces all these things. I love my 1st gen pro and haven't really seen a need to upgrade yet as it is more than capable of running all my Adobe software and various IT programs.
 
Riddlinkidstoner said:
The Surface Pro is a niche market and caters to specific types of people. You can moan all you want about the price or the performance but it really comes down to no other device can do what it can do plus look sexy doing it. Reimu touched on a lot of the main selling points which makes this device great.
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I've done my share of crying while shelling 2 grands for tablet PCs.

Our niche is one where we pay $200 bucks for slice battery, and we would actually consider $3000 units, or even modbook pro. Anything south of $1500 was unheard of, and getting 6 hours on internal battery is considered amazing...

Believe me, it's worth crying a river over.
 
Riddlinkidstoner said:
The Surface Pro is a niche market and caters to specific types of people. You can moan all you want about the price or the performance but it really comes down to no other device can do what it can do plus look sexy doing it. Reimu touched on a lot of the main selling points which makes this device great.
Click to expand...

Yup, remove all of the pent-up rage from his posts and I'm right there with him. We're buying Surface Pro 2s by the case here at work for our execs and sales users. The combination of features is unrivaled.

Well, it WOULD be rivaled if Dell could get their heads our of their asses with the Venue 11 Pro (whoops, caught some of his rage). But they don't seem to be able to do that, so SP2 it is!
 
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