Surface Pro 3 Gets Real: Specs and Pricing Revealed

I have a first gen Surface Pro and I love it. Got a 128GB for 500 bucks back in a Hotdeals thread and it was really an excellent buy. Don't regret it at all. Playing VN's on it is a treat, but it's made a bit complicated by some of them showing the menu only when you have your mouse in a certain location. The distinction between "where your cursor is" and "where you are clicking" is very vague on this thing, which makes it a bit weird to get used to playing VN's on it... but I can manage. It's really convenient. Flip it around and great for reading manga online in bed. Flip it back around and great for watching anime in bed (or while in the kitchen).
 
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
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But no Wacom digitizer.

Sorry, but that's a deal-breaker. You can't draw on the thing without a pressure-sensitive pen, and what's the point of a tablet if not for 'mobile creativity'?

I mean, sure, if you want mobile GAMING...yeah, that'd work. Heck, even mobile development work (sort of).

But for artists? There's just nothing out there like the Surface...
 
All that I can manage on SP2 is Skyrim on lowest resolution, the GTA III engine games, or casual games. Mind you, the 4 hours gaming on battery isn't that bad when you don't really think of gaming on something like the Surface.

Surface can't even drive games to its1080p resolution as it is today. OLED would be horribly wasted on this thing, which really pains me to say.

I really hate the fact the eGPU is not happening. Something like that would fill in the missing piece for me, as I would like to tap into the power of a GPU through a dock while I am sitting over a Starbuck of an airport lounge. Sigh.
 
Uhhh...what kind of mods are you running on Skyrim?? I've run it at 720p on my Surface *1*, at 'medium' quality preset, and it works like a champ. The Surface 2 is, what, 50% more GPU horsepower? I can't see unmodded SKYRIM being a complaint...

(I mean, yeah, I'll never turn down more GPU power. On the other hand, for a tablet, to be playing Skyrim at good resolution and good quality... Wow. That's just...that's silly, that's what that is. And it's not even the point of the device! I can also run Photoshop CS5 on it - full desktop edition - with pen-pressure-sensitivity and GPU acceleration and all, it's...quite an amazing device!)
 
I have about 100 mods running on it. I didn't run ENB. Graphics are set to medium just as you have. Texture mods, physics, etc...

I actually have gotten funny looks from kids when I play Skyrim or Kantai Collection, World of Tanks on it. Most of the suits on trains and whatnot don't stare at me nearly so much when I am using the thing to kill time. The suits do gawk at the tablet in board rooms though.
 
dderidex said:
But no Wacom digitizer.

Sorry, but that's a deal-breaker. You can't draw on the thing without a pressure-sensitive pen, and what's the point of a tablet if not for 'mobile creativity'?

I mean, sure, if you want mobile GAMING...yeah, that'd work. Heck, even mobile development work (sort of).

But for artists? There's just nothing out there like the Surface...
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I always find it interesting when someone will say "The Surface Pro is way overpriced. You can get xzy laptop for less and still have money to by an Android tablet." But neither of those devices will have inking capability unless its a Galaxy Note which is limited to Android apps leaving out the ability to run full Photoshop or desktop OneNote. If one doesn't need a digital pen then a device like the Surface Pro probably isn't for them. But if one needs a digital pen to use with desktop apps then why would they buy a non-convertible clamshell laptop without a digitizer?
 
I do have a caveat about Surface pro, and that is the fact that desktop apps do not play nice with one's own fingers. I am using the Surface pro without a mouse and the digitizer right now over Amsterdam, and the conclusion is simple: you ain't getting any serious work done any time soon when all you got are the trackpad and your digits.
 
heatlesssun said:
I always find it interesting when someone will say "The Surface Pro is way overpriced. You can get xzy laptop for less and still have money to by an Android tablet." But neither of those devices will have inking capability unless its a Galaxy Note which is limited to Android apps leaving out the ability to run full Photoshop or desktop OneNote. If one doesn't need a digital pen then a device like the Surface Pro probably isn't for them. But if one needs a digital pen to use with desktop apps then why would they buy a non-convertible clamshell laptop without a digitizer?
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Graphics tablets range from about 50-400 depending on if you need a basic device to a interactive display. (So likely many saying notebook plus tablet/tablet would still have better overall function, but a bit more kit to carry around waiting for inspiration to strike)

Really unless you need a high-end digitizer, it is going to be difficult to understand how solid of a device the surface pro 2 tends to be. Imagine having been tethered to a desktop(or carrying massive kit) for a majority of the mobile revolution. Then imagine finally having a solid device which allows total freedom from the desktop like environment all while having reasonable processing power, battery life and weight.

On the other hand imagine being a consumer over the last X years and watching prices fall rapidly(on lust worthy tech) and not wanting to spend nearly 2k to only have the device feel obsolete in a very short time. Screen while nice could still be improved. Graphics power could use a little improvement. Battery life could improve. New Intel chips are on everyones mind. Just so much room for improvement. I think Gen 4 might be the first reasonable lifespan device.

Still for many the surface 2 can increase productivity and enjoyment of life. If you are in this camp it really is an amazing device. If not it will seem overpriced. That is what makes person computer great everyone can pick the right devices for themselves.

As for fingers versus stylus. The problem is mainly from the point of view of coding and design. Stylus tends to need to be very precise while finger input needs to be a bit predictive and imprecise in a way. Unless you have tried to code around it ... it might be a difficult concept to understand. Basically devices need to improve so they have two sets of settings. One for finger... one for stylus and switch between them as needed. Also the digitizer might be partially to fault as it might be giving to much inpurt when a finger is used. It should get better with each generation.

Having said that if I had to pick one camp of tablet users least likely to give up their device for any other. It would be hardcore Surface pro users. Personally I see them all as tools and honestly enjoy them all.
 
Reimu said:
I actually have gotten funny looks from kids when I play Skyrim or Kantai Collection, World of Tanks on it. Most of the suits on trains and whatnot don't stare at me nearly so much when I am using the thing to kill time. The suits do gawk at the tablet in board rooms though.
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How the heck do you play Skyrim on a train on a tablet?
 
Ponder said:
Graphics tablets range from about 50-400 depending on if you need a basic device to a interactive display. (So likely many saying notebook plus tablet/tablet would still have better overall function, but a bit more kit to carry around waiting for inspiration to strike)
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Not sure how two devices would have better function than one if one can do the job of two. Where mobility is concerned the less you have to carry the better.

Ponder said:
On the other hand imagine being a consumer over the last X years and watching prices fall rapidly(on lust worthy tech) and not wanting to spend nearly 2k to only have the device feel obsolete in a very short time. Screen while nice could still be improved. Graphics power could use a little improvement. Battery life could improve. New Intel chips are on everyones mind. Just so much room for improvement. I think Gen 4 might be the first reasonable lifespan device.
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The prices on Windows tablets have also fallen sharply but those prices started much higher from the beginning. As for lifespan, I bet the original Surface Pro can remain useful for longer than the typical mobile OS device.

Ponder said:
Basically devices need to improve so they have two sets of settings. One for finger... one for stylus and switch between them as needed. Also the digitizer might be partially to fault as it might be giving to much inpurt when a finger is used. It should get better with each generation.
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Windows tablets with Wacom digitizers can handle this well and have for some time depending on the app. OneNote for instance does a great job of knowing how to respond properly when using a pen and touch in conjunction. OneNote will reject a finger as a source of ink but will allow a finger to pan and resize and manipulate the UI.
 
heatlesssun said:
Not sure how two devices would have better function than one if one can do the job of two. Where mobility is concerned the less you have to carry the better.
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If the mobile device lacks the horsepower needed for the task? I can't envision that being a frequent issue, but that would be when two devices would be superior to one, if they were more apt to handle the task(s) needed. So it really depends on the task and the user.

heatlesssun said:
The prices on Windows tablets have also fallen sharply but those prices started much higher from the beginning. As for lifespan, I bet the original Surface Pro can remain useful for longer than the typical mobile OS device.
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Once again depends on the user and task, the battery life alone could be an issue to some users.(memory might become an issue wih OS updates etc) The problem with this statement is that Surface Pro users are normally power users, so they are likely to upgrade and I expect the next two upgrades to offer dramatically improved performance and features, that combined with declining prices. Still if you take the starting price and divide it buy years it will be used I think it might end up a little short. It really depends on the firm, users and task though...(and if you cna find a secondary user which would like the device etc)


heatlesssun said:
Windows tablets with Wacom digitizers can handle this well and have for some time depending on the app. OneNote for instance does a great job of knowing how to respond properly when using a pen and touch in conjunction. OneNote will reject a finger as a source of ink but will allow a finger to pan and resize and manipulate the UI.
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I should have quoted the source. I like Onenote as well. Still the point is depending on the app performance may differ...coding for finger input and stylus input is different due to the nature of them. Still room to improve in this area. One note handles it well a majority of the time.
 
Ponder said:
If the mobile device lacks the horsepower needed for the task? I can't envision that being a frequent issue, but that would be when two devices would be superior to one, if they were more apt to handle the task(s) needed. So it really depends on the task and the user.
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Agreed.

Ponder said:
Once again depends on the user and task, the battery life alone could be an issue to some users.(memory might become an issue wih OS updates etc) The problem with this statement is that Surface Pro users are normally power users, so they are likely to upgrade and I expect the next two upgrades to offer dramatically improved performance and features, that combined with declining prices. Still if you take the starting price and divide it buy years it will be used I think it might end up a little short. It really depends on the firm, users and task though...(and if you cna find a secondary user which would like the device etc)
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I don't think that it's reasonable to assume tons of new capability, performance AND dramatic price declines. The Surface Pro 3 looks to be a beast in terms of the engineering and design effort. There's nothing in the x86 world that looks comparable. Starting at $800 for the base model seems to be very reasonable.
 
I was pretty much dead set on getting one until I saw the Ntrig pen.The Wacom pressure sensitive pen was the thing that set the Surface Pro above the alternatives for me. Hopefully it's not horrible because it looks like everything else came together pretty nicely.
 
Bomber18 said:
I was pretty much dead set on getting one until I saw the Ntrig pen.The Wacom pressure sensitive pen was the thing that set the Surface Pro above the alternatives for me. Hopefully it's not horrible because it looks like everything else came together pretty nicely.
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Wha?! They went away from Wacom? That's just stupid.
 
Parja said:
Wha?! They went away from Wacom? That's just stupid.
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Yyyyyeah...I'm....uh. Wow. What a stupid thing to do?

Well, maybe the 'killer feature' of the Surface 3 Pro, for me, will be the resulting price drops on the Surface 2 Pro (apparently the last one of them I'll be getting...)
 
Parja said:
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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Not to get to far off topic but whats wrong with the Venue 11 were looking to buy for a similar use.
 
Parja said:
How the heck do you play Skyrim on a train on a tablet?
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No. Good old KB+M, and you can do so easily since there's outlet by the seat. German trains are awesome like that.

I don't know if I should be happy or not about N-trig, since digitizer market really need competition. If N-trig can get their acts together, then there's no reason to insist on Wacom, which is great. On the other hand, N-trig support has never been forthcoming. Hell, the lack of N-trig support turned me away from the Vaio duo 13.
 
DF-1 said:
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.
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This is pretty much what Microsoft is going for with their tablets. People that buy cost effective laptops aren't looking for the approval of others when they purchase hardware. They just want it to do something. That's not Microsoft's target market. If it was, they'd have a more practical keyboard and would have focused on something other than the snapping of the keyboard to the tablet in their first advertising run. What Microsoft wants is for people who want to be looked at and noticed for the things they own to get interested in and purchase the Surface. It's sorta like buying a MBP for checking e-mail. There's no practical use for it and the cost is unjustified, but the buyer gets to feel like they're impressing others around them and that's what Microsoft meant when it recently said it wants to emulate Apple. It's got nothing to do with technical stuff or software and everything to do with appealing to perceptions of self worth through purchasing power.
 
Reimu said:
No. Good old KB+M, and you can do so easily since there's outlet by the seat. German trains are awesome like that.

I don't know if I should be happy or not about N-trig, since digitizer market really need competition. If N-trig can get their acts together, then there's no reason to insist on Wacom, which is great. On the other hand, N-trig support has never been forthcoming. Hell, the lack of N-trig support turned me away from the Vaio duo 13.
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Well, Penny Arcade's Gabe has been a pretty big advocate of the Surface Pro product line for digital art use - I imagine he'll post thoughts on the Surface Pro 3 pen when he gets his hands on the device (usually considerably before they are available in the market).

I suppose I'll reserve judgement on them until some artist types start providing feedback...it's certainly possible that someone could try to compete with Wacom in this space, it's just...I dunno, N-trig really hasn't been doing that YET, so...
 
After reading about the reveal today, I retract my previous objections on the surface pro line. With the re-design of the kickstand (which I still don't like, but accept more), it makes the surface more versatile. The re-works on the keyboard mounting are a nice touch too. I don't really care about note-taking, but I understand why those interested in the surface line would care.

With as little as I'm using my desktop for anything demanding these days, I'm thinking of replacing its daily use with a surface pro. Would be nice to get the 3 with the redesign of the kickstand, but given that there's no real change in CPUs, the (hopefully) price drops of SP2 might be a nice catalyst. Then again, I like how the SP3 is turning out to be.
 
thedocta45 said:
Not to get to far off topic but whats wrong with the Venue 11 were looking to buy for a similar use.
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Start here...
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/mobile-devices/f/4586/t/19535987.aspx?pi239031352=1

Keyboard stops responding
Random short spurts of freezing
Excessive standby battery drain
"Ghost touch"
Docking and undocking results in messed up video settings
Touchscreen just randomly stops working and needs to be rebooted to fix
The stylus just plain sucks and burns through batteries
 
evilsofa said:
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!
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Except they didn't increase any prices... and just introduced an even cheaper tier.

We read the same article, right? :confused:
 
I've been an ipad user for a couple of years but the SP3 looks very interesting. Would like a larger screen than my ipad air and I'm tired of constant usability decreases in iTunes.
 
dderidex said:
Well, Penny Arcade's Gabe has been a pretty big advocate of the Surface Pro product line for digital art use - I imagine he'll post thoughts on the Surface Pro 3 pen when he gets his hands on the device (usually considerably before they are available in the market).

I suppose I'll reserve judgement on them until some artist types start providing feedback...it's certainly possible that someone could try to compete with Wacom in this space, it's just...I dunno, N-trig really hasn't been doing that YET, so...
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Its N-Trig instead of Wacom? Ouch. I thought this was supposed to be a no compromises flagship device. They should've at least gone Wacom in the more expensive models.
 
Unknown-One said:
Except they didn't increase any prices... and just introduced an even cheaper tier.

We read the same article, right? :confused:
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Yeah, I'm not understanding the pricing outrage. For the same specs, the price is the same as the SP2.
 
DPI said:
Its N-Trig instead of Wacom? Ouch. I thought this was supposed to be a no compromises flagship device. They should've at least gone Wacom in the more expensive models.
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N-trig digitizers have historically not been as good as Wacoms, however this is new hardware and it's very possible that it could be on level with Wacom digitizers. Adobe has a new version of Photoshop coming optimized for touch and this digitizer. I think the reason why Microsoft when with N-trig is because Wacom digitizers require a layer under the screen, increasing thickness of the device.

Every device has compromises. A 50 lbs. desktop has compromises because it's not mobile. The SP3 isn't the fastest device ever made but one of the thinnest and lightest Core i Series devices to ever come along.
 
KENNYB said:
What's the difference between the wacom and other whatchamacallit?
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Wacom technology employs a layer under the screen with a passive electromagnetic resonance pen. N-Trig digitizers are built into the screen and use an active electromagnetic resonance pen which results in a lower costs and thinner devices. Wacom has been around since the 80s and their pen technology is considered the standard bearer but N-trig as been improving. We'll see how it works in the SP3 but from the early chatter the results look to be good.
 
I hate 16:9 in a tablet. 3:2 is interesting. The price jump to 512GB SSD is too large for me though. I'll need to feel it in hand before making a decision.
 
Anyone been able to identify the specific processors being used? Everything I've come across is vague for the lineup, aside from one specifically ID'd i5, which from what I can see is the same i5 as in the Surface Pro 2.
 
teh_chem said:
Anyone been able to identify the specific processors being used? Everything I've come across is vague for the lineup, aside from one specifically ID'd i5, which from what I can see is the same i5 as in the Surface Pro 2.
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Should be from the Haswell refresh. It better be.
 
DPI said:
Its N-Trig instead of Wacom? Ouch. I thought this was supposed to be a no compromises flagship device. They should've at least gone Wacom in the more expensive models.
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The change was required in order to reduce the thickness of the device.
 
okashira said:
I'm sorry - but Micro SD port? Is that a joke? It's not a cell phone.
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But most mobile devices that use expandable storage do so via micro-SD makes sense because of greater interchangeability. Granted, standard SD cards are used more in cameras. In that case I'd say buy a micro-to-standard adapter, and use micro-SD cards.
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
There's no practical use for it and the cost is unjustified, but the buyer gets to feel like they're impressing others around them and that's what Microsoft meant when it recently said it wants to emulate Apple. It's got nothing to do with technical stuff or software and everything to do with appealing to perceptions of self worth through purchasing power.
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What are you talking about? The SP3 has tons of practical uses.
 
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