Which Surface Pro 3 to Get?

• 

  ShamelessBargains on 26/11/2014 - 22:09

  +1

  Looking at your requirements, I would consider the 8gb/256gb/i5 option. Having the extra 4gb of ram will really help over time and looking at the games you are wanting to play, 128gb seems too small. Good for future proofing your device too.

  Surface Pros aren't really made for gaming with Intel HD4400 integrated graphics so this system would have trouble playing the aforementioned games unless you play on very low resolution settings.

  Cheapest price currently is the MS student store although Harvey Norman had a Surface Pro 3 sale recently with discounts greater than 10%. Would keep an eye on them over the christmas period / boxing day sale.

  Don't forget that you have to buy the Type Cover too for about $135 with the student discount.

• 

  rushjohn on 26/11/2014 - 22:46

  Okay, thanks for your input

  Yeah I was looking at that version too but then with the docking station and keyboard included, it comes to $1750ish which is pretty expensive, ill probably have to buy more accessories as well so it'll come to about $2k but for that ill get an all in one thing is pretty convenient

  But with that money I can just buy a new system and a laptop/notebook that'll both be better in performance than this right? that's what is putting me off from buying it

  Anyone else got any suggestions?

  • 

    mrmarkau67 on 26/11/2014 - 23:17

    But with that money I can just buy a new system and a laptop/notebook that'll both be better in performance than this right? that's what is putting me off from buying it

    For $2000 you could buy a new desktop. nice refurb laptop and PS4. And you'd still have your iPad.

    Or a desktop and low end Surface Pro 3.

    If you do go the Surface Pro option, be careful with the higher end processors. They can throttle down to i3 levels of performance once put under load.

• 

  scrimshaw on 27/11/2014 - 00:47

  Why not upgrade your existing desktop — if your interested in gaming you can build a budget AMD based system and have enough spare cash for a mid-range laptop (e.g a Latitude from Refurbished Dell Outlet)

  List of parts

  AMD FX 6300 processor $128
  Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 $80
  8GB Kingstom RAM $85
  Crucial MX500 240GB SSD $145
  Sapphire SA-R7260X-2GD5-OC $139
  Antec VSK with 500 watt power supply from this deal $64

  $641 dollars

  Notebook
  HP 248 - 14" with Core i5 4200U laptop $620 dollars
  Acer E1-570 15.6" laptop with Core i5 3337U $469 cashback

  Total spend $1000~1200 for both a notebook and desktop.

• 

  rushjohn on 27/11/2014 - 06:44

  The gaming option isn't a big deal, only from time to time

  Reason I want the surface pro 3 is so it can function as all 3 of the task where I was using my laptop as a tv, comp for work, ipad for browsing etc.

  My room tends to collect alot of dust because of the pc aswell and if the surface pro 3 can do the job of all 3 then ill be able to clear up alot of space in my room

  I also never had a good experience with the portability of notebooks and laptops because of their size and weight

  The ipad is being passed on to another family member

  • 

    ShamelessBargains on 27/11/2014 - 07:13

    +1

    I think the Surface Pro 3 will be able to replace those following devices with the help of an external display. $1750 is a big spend but I reckon its worthwhile as Surface's are quality products and are built to last. They also are good at retaining their value so its a relatively sound investment.

    The screen on the Surface is very impressive so you might find yourself consuming all your media on it. For work, would be a good idea to hook it up to an external monitor and your own keyboard and mouse.

    The only problem with the Surface is that it's top heavy and is a bit wobbly when placed on your lap when using the keyboard dock attached to it. This may seem like a minor inconvenience but if you do a lot of work on your lap, then it would become very annoying overtime.

    Since you are hoping to replace the aforementioned devices above, I would still suggest purchasing the next model up with 8gb ram. This will just ensure you have flawless performance for many years to come and a device that will run well and not stress under pressure. 128gb of storage is just too small unless you are very stringent with your storage management and the OS takes up at least 25gb giving you ~100gb out of the box.

    • 

      rushjohn on 27/11/2014 - 08:52

      That's an great answer, ill probably go with that model, would you suggest waiting til Christmas for a deal or better now as the deals will be close to the 10% off everything offered for students so there wouldn't be much if a value difference

      I don't do alot of work using it on my laptop, mostly browsing, so using it as a portable tablet is fine.

      The problem I have for portability of a laptop was that, whenever say I had to take it to uni to work, ill have to have a separate desktop bag for it which is quite heavy and carrying 2 bags is a big inconvenience whereas the surface pro with its charger can fit in 1 bag

      I understand that this is a quality device but since I'm using it for so many thing such as, connecting it to monitors and tv, would this detoriate it's parts such as overheating or battery life? And if so would these issues be covered by warranty?

      Thanks for your input, appreciate it

      • 

        ShamelessBargains on 27/11/2014 - 18:01

        -1

        I would hold out for a Christmas sale on Surface Pro 3's at Harvey Norman or Microsoft Store.

        Depends on your usage for detoriating parts. Overheating is pretty normal on tablet computers but you won't really feel it typing on the keyboard or on the touchscreen. If you are using it hooked up to an external display and plugged in to the charger, then you will be right.

        Best way to improve and keep the battery healthy is to regularly use it until the battery is dead. This lets it recover and restore to full charge which help over the duration of the batteries life. Microsoft will cover 2 years standard warranty so they should replace if your battery dies or your computer regularly overheats for no reason.

        With regular usage, I think this laptop should last at least 5 years with no problems. They are built to be a solid device with a clever kickstand that works really well and that pen is amazing.

        I'm personally waiting for the next iteration of the Surface Pro with the new Intel M processors. These will have no fans hopefully and be more energy efficient. Surface Pro 3 is still a fantastic device and if I had the money, would definitely purchase one this christmas.

      • 

        scrimshaw on 27/11/2014 - 18:38

        +1

        @ShamelessBargains:

        Deep discharges ruin lithium batteries. Never discharge a modern laptop cell until it is dead (especially not on a frequent basis) . This kills the battery.

        Keep the battery topped up wherever you can find a power point. Shallow discharges = better.

        http://www.howtogeek.com/169669/debunking-battery-life-myths…

      • 

        ShamelessBargains on 27/11/2014 - 19:58

        @scrimshaw: Thats good to know, thanks for the top tip!

        Good to kill the battery occasionally though and to always shut down the laptop after use. Leaving it on sleep mode is a bad idea over long periods of time.

• 

  ShamelessBargains on 27/11/2014 - 20:17

  Good time to buy the Surface Pro 3 from the Microsoft student store now. $100 Microsoft gift card to spend on your next purchase + student prices. You could use the $100 to pay for the type cover perhaps. This is better than the recent Harvey Norman specials on Surface Pros.

• 

  rushjohn on 27/11/2014 - 22:49

  +1

  bought it from JB hi fi today, they were able to match the student price and gave me a good discount for the assesories charging me $99 for the keyboard and $200 for the dock, abit more expensive than buying it from the site than the $100 deal however they said they gave me 2 years warranty rather than the 1 offered on Microsoft

  happy with the deal as it meant I could get it all right away, ive just bought the mini dp port with 3 connectors for avi, vga and hdmi to connect my screen aS well as the usb 3.0 to hdmi adaptor to fit my tv to it, purchased these on ebay

  also thiuking of buying a 64gb micro sd card but unsure which brand and prices are best.

  Really love the hybrid so far, especially with its split screen and speedy performance, able to slide through browse lecture notes quickly whilst splitting the screen at the same time

  Much better than using both the ipad and wooden pc, I also find the touch better than the ipad

  • 

    m2000 on 01/12/2014 - 09:56

    which JB? thinking of getting one as well

• 

  rushjohn on 01/12/2014 - 23:30

  Liverpool nsw

  • 

    m2000 on 02/12/2014 - 21:01

    Good thank , both Liverpool and Parra ones are the closest to me. I am not a student but will try to get best price…

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  123kings on 06/03/2015 - 00:36

  Surface pro 3 will be able to do all you want very well. Maybe except for gaming. What is your budget? I am planning to get one for trips because of the light weight.