Microsoft Surface 256GB - $559.99

The good:
256gb SSD equipped PC, with 1080p screen and wacom pen digitizer.

The bad: 4gb ram and mediocre battery life on the first gen.

The verdict: slammin deal for $559 if it's what you want.
 
This is an original 1st gen Surface Pro running full Windows 8.1, not the neutered atom version.

I have the 64gb version that I bought shortly after launch for significantly more than this and it has been great for my purposes.
 
Is this the original surface pro, or the pro 2? Not a bad deal, but the poor battery life would really make me reconsider spending more to get the pro 3, and pop in a micro SD card to comp the small 64GB SSD on the base model.

But if you don't really plan to do much on the battery, then this is a great deal, especially given the larger SSD.
 
Ugh.. very tempting as I've been wanting one of these pretty badly. But with the Pro 3s out now, I think I'll wait a while for some sales on the Pro 2s for the considerably better battery life and better specs. If I could get a 128-256 Pro 2 for around $600, that would be perfect.
 
Really nice deal, with the Power Cover, the poor battery life of the 1st gen wouldn't be so bad. But I think I am just going to spring for the 128GB Surface Pro 3. I think the thinner profile and larger screen (the size of an 11.5" is really appealing) of the Pro 3 are the main Plus marks for the Pro 3, and it has better battery life than the Pro 1 out of the box.
 
I'm currently using the SP3. It is a great machine. Although the deals on the SP1 are good, I would really check out the SP3 at Microsoft stores before investing any money.
 
@BaoTung: You think that SP3 is worthwhile to upgrade from SP2, or it's better to wait till Broadwell at least?
 
Jumping from SP2 to SP3 is a big leap. 9 hours of battery life still surpasses the sp2, in addition to the bigger screen, new design, pen features, and new type cover. Not sure how much BW will affect battery life as of yet. For me? If I had the choice, I'd switch now. It's that good. Go try it out self.
 
That's extremely tempting, especially since I know someone who has use for one of these as a strictly desk-only machine (they'd basically hook it up and use it as a graphics tablet full-time).
 
Reimu said:
@BaoTung: You think that SP3 is worthwhile to upgrade from SP2, or it's better to wait till Broadwell at least?
Click to expand...

If you already have a SP2, hold out for broadwell. The new SP3 pen could use some more polish (it's laggy), and the high res screen asks a lot of the HD 4400 in the i5 version...while the HD 5000 powered i7 version won't be out until late August and costs $1549.
 
Kueller said:
If you already have a SP2, hold out for broadwell. The new SP3 pen could use some more polish (it's laggy), and the high res screen asks a lot of the HD 4400 in the i5 version...while the HD 5000 powered i7 version won't be out until late August and costs $1549.
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I've seen nothing from all of the reviewers saying that the pen input is laggy.

I'm also curious about the performance of the i7 version; while double the gpu cores, the CPU is clocked lower base (with a slightly higher turbo), yet with the same tdp as the i5; many are wondering about thermal throttling of the cpu during graphical intensive tasks, actually limiting the performance quite a bit. Guess we'll see how it fares.

I'm also skeptical how fast we'll see a broadwell refresh of the surface pro series. I thought the chip isn't going to be available from Intel until early 2015?
 
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chizow said:
Really nice deal, with the Power Cover, the poor battery life of the 1st gen wouldn't be so bad. But I think I am just going to spring for the 128GB Surface Pro 3. I think the thinner profile and larger screen (the size of an 11.5" is really appealing) of the Pro 3 are the main Plus marks for the Pro 3, and it has better battery life than the Pro 1 out of the box.
Click to expand...

Same here, I was waiting for the Pro 3 to launch and the reviews are great. This is the tablet I have been waiting for. Don't really mind paying $1300 for it either.
 
teh_chem said:
I've seen nothing from all of the reviewers saying that the pen input is laggy.

I'm also curious about the performance of the i7 version; while double the gpu cores, the CPU is clocked lower base (with a slightly higher turbo), yet with the same tdp as the i5; many are wondering about thermal throttling of the cpu during graphical intensive tasks, actually limiting the performance quite a bit. Guess we'll see how it fares.

I'm also skeptical how fast we'll see a broadwell refresh of the surface pro series. I thought the chip isn't going to be available from Intel until early 2015?
Click to expand...

Intel I believe said broadwell should be out for 'holidays' 2014. Now, that doesn't mean it will necessarily get into a Surface in 2014, but I don't expect it will take too long. MS has shown the willingness to upgrade hardware within a generation, as well as pushing a rapid refresh cycle with the Surface.

As for the pen, my first hand experience with it when testing it out at best buy was that the pen was laggy. Not terrible lag, but first generation wireless mouse lag. Maybe there's a software fix possible, but currently it's not as good as the SP1/2 pen. Didn't really notice any greater tip accuracy or parallax reduction either.
 
Kueller said:
Intel I believe said broadwell should be out for 'holidays' 2014. Now, that doesn't mean it will necessarily get into a Surface in 2014, but I don't expect it will take too long. MS has shown the willingness to upgrade hardware within a generation, as well as pushing a rapid refresh cycle with the Surface.

As for the pen, my first hand experience with it when testing it out at best buy was that the pen was laggy. Not terrible lag, but first generation wireless mouse lag. Maybe there's a software fix possible, but currently it's not as good as the SP1/2 pen. Didn't really notice any greater tip accuracy or parallax reduction either.
Click to expand...
Bummer about the pen, wonder what the problem is.
 
The new SP3 Pen is laggy?

Where the hell did you get this information? I've been to our local Microsoft Store at Metcalf Mall and the pen is absolutely not laggy. In fact, I've own a few different digital graphics tablets and the the SP3 has zero lag / pen tip latency. It's almost instant.

Have you seen the videos on youtube as well? Reviewers say the same thing.

I'm buying one this Friday at Best Buy if I can.
 
SixFootDuo said:
The new SP3 Pen is laggy?

Where the hell did you get this information? I've been to our local Microsoft Store at Metcalf Mall and the pen is absolutely not laggy. In fact, I've own a few different digital graphics tablets and the the SP3 has zero lag / pen tip latency. It's almost instant.

Have you seen the videos on youtube as well? Reviewers say the same thing.

I'm buying one this Friday at Best Buy if I can.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's been my experience as well. Perhaps the demo unit has an issue.
 
We picked up a Sony Tap 11 (Haswell i5, 128GB, much thinner, about as thin as Pro 3, and nice magnesium build.) Also upgradable, it actually has a Msata SSD and comes with a 7260AC wifi adaptor unlike cheapo one in the surface.
better battery life due to haswell, and I was able to undervolt it too. I had a surface and I am much more impressed with this one.

$600 after shipping and tax and free accessories.

Call around to local Sony stores. They are clearing them out due to the VAIO brand dying. They will sometimes ship them.
 
For some reason I remember the Tap 11 having a Y rather than a U series processor, and obviously no wacom pen.

If you don't need the pen or cpu power, then the Tap is a great device, Sony doomed it with their exit from the consumer pc market and a total lack of marketing.
 
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