Buy Surface Pro 3 now or wait for 4

[malberttoo]

Hi all! I have followed this thread with deep interest.

Due to the nature of work I do, I travel a lot and so am really wanting a fast machine with 4G LTE. The SP2 just does not have the juice. So, in your opinion, would Microsoft be launching SP3 with 4G LTE or even SP4 with 4G LTE?

Thanks,

Microsoft already stated (in an AMA I believe) that they will not be bringing LTE to the current Surface, as it was shown to not be economical for them to do so, with tethering being so prevalent. I doubt that will change for the next few models either.

I myself have no issue tethering.

 

[Dblkk]

Two things, I myself prefer tethering. Save the battery life hit for my phone with replaceable yet still all day battery (note 4). Also, save my Verizon account from adding yet another data line to pay for.

As for wifi, I have maybe 1 occasion a week with WIFI problems. Other than if my SP3 is in sleep and connected standbye, then moving from one wifi access to another, when the new wifi access requires a hotspot login. Then I have problems every time. But simple fix, before leaving work/home, I shut down my SP3, then when I get to school or mall then turn on surface. But other than that, no wifi problems at least major ones, for last month or so.

 

[tuchas]

If you use this logic, you'll never buy anything. I learned that a long time ago.

Recently I had to sell my SP3 because I was out of work for months and had no choice but to unload some precious technology (the person who bought it off of me on eBay paid me more than a new one, which was incredible). Now that I'm back at work, my first order of business is to buy another SP3. I started to think about waiting until the SP4. But instead, I'm going to upgrade from an i5/256 to an i7/512 SP3. I love the SP3 - best device I've ever owned. Hope that gives you some perspective...

 

[SamBB]

the crazy wifi problems here have been a major part of keeping me away from the SP3, despite how i could use it. macbook air until then i think. With the MBA, i just open the lid and wifi works immediately. Too bad MS office for mac stinks compared to PC version. But connectivity is mission critical for me

 

[Liam2349]

After doing some research it seems like it's better to just get the Surface Pro 3 instead of waiting for the Surface Pro 4.

I came to this conclusion based on two things:

1) It doesn't seem like the dimensions will change in the Surface Pro 4: http://www.winbeta.org/news/surface-pro-4-will-come-same-physical-dimensions-surface-pro-3

2) The new fanless Intel Core M processors are a downgrade for performance in laptops: http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/intel-core-m-5y70-broadwell-tested-benchmarked/

Therefore if the dimensions will stay the same and the performance will suffer then might as well buy the Surface Pro 3. My only question is how much of a savings will we get for Black Friday?

When they make the SP4, it will more likely have the high-end Broadwell CPUs.

I can't see them using these low-end CPUs.

 

[riggi]

The problem with adding mobile data capability is that this is a full blown Windows machine and many programs will use a lot more data than their mobile variants.
For example, if you are browsing in the full IE or chrome browser, you will use a lot more data than browsing on the mobile browsers apps on your phone or tablet.
Same with things like Onedrive, Goodle Drive, Dropbox etc. They are setup to sync everything all the time.
The mobile variants are set up to just sync on demand.

Same with things with specific mobile apps like Facebook, Youtube etc. They usually use less data than if you were to browse the full version on your desktop.

If you have unlimited mobile data, it won't be a problem, but if people expect the data use to be similar to their mobile phone, they may be in for a shock.

I tether my phone when I need to urgently do something, but always make sure that I haven't just recently saved/moved a large file that is waiting for a wifi connection to sync or it may eat up a large portion of my mobile data quota.

 

[stevenrossvanduyn]

I think 99% people are not having problems with WiFi. I think every computer company has the same problem and this shouldn't sway you if to buy now or wait until the surface pro 4 comes ( probably same time as windows 10 ) along way off.
I see that the surface pro 4 having 2 usb ports and maybe 2 hours extra battery.
The processor speed maybe 20% faster also.
The size will be the same.
Personally i would buy the pro 3 as its such a great machine to use

 

[Kris]

I think 99% people are not having problems with WiFi. I think every computer company has the same problem and this shouldn't sway you if to buy now or wait until the surface pro 4 comes ( probably same time as windows 10 ) along way off.
I see that the surface pro 4 having 2 usb ports and maybe 2 hours extra battery.
The processor speed maybe 20% faster also.
The size will be the same.
Personally i would buy the pro 3 as its such a great machine to use

I'm not trying to be rude but I busted out laughing when I read that you think 99% people are not have WiFi issues... There is a poll going on right now and if you go by it at least 50% of people that voted are having problems with WiFi. If you google Surface Pro 3 WiFi issues, you will have days worth of articles and forums to read about it. I agree waiting gets you no where and fast but let's be honest when recommending this product to people. It s an awesome device but has it's flaws.

 

[Billy64]

Wifi problems were before October update , I think the wifi problem is now under the "normal" rate (there are always unlucky people ;-) . Personally I have absolutely no Wifi issue since to update, and I use my SP3 all day long for work in various wifi networks..

 

[Genghis Khan]

The wait for SP4 is pointless. There's a thread in Surface 2 whether a wait for SP3 would be considered delayed gratification. Comes SP4 and the same query if waiting for SP5 would be justifiable and it goes on and on.

Already paid for but I have to get my hands on my SP3 this December yet. Someone who bought it for me is travelling and hopefully will return next month. I won't mind if by then SP4 is up for grabs.

 

[GreyFox7]

I'm not trying to be rude but I busted out laughing when I read that you think 99% people are not have WiFi issues... There is a poll going on right now and if you go by it at least 50% of people that voted are having problems with WiFi. If you google Surface Pro 3 WiFi issues, you will have days worth of articles and forums to read about it. I agree waiting gets you no where and fast but let's be honest when recommending this product to people. It s an awesome device but has it's flaws.

Poll? are you kidding me, a poll? Really a poll? Ha ha ha. Next you'll be checking crystal gazers and psychics I imagine. . An online poll for that is pretty unscientific read that worthless.

 

[malberttoo]

the crazy wifi problems here have been a major part of keeping me away from the SP3, despite how i could use it. macbook air until then i think. With the MBA, i just open the lid and wifi works immediately. Too bad MS office for mac stinks compared to PC version. But connectivity is mission critical for me

I'm not trying to be rude but I busted out laughing when I read that you think 99% people are not have WiFi issues... There is a poll going on right now and if you go by it at least 50% of people that voted are having problems with WiFi. If you google Surface Pro 3 WiFi issues, you will have days worth of articles and forums to read about it. I agree waiting gets you no where and fast but let's be honest when recommending this product to people. It s an awesome device but has it's flaws.

I definitely wouldn't characterize the SP3 as having "crazy WiFi problems", nor would I say that it is without issue.

You have to remember on a forum like this, you are seeing people come together who are generally, power users, and enthusiasts of the SP3. So yes, you could look at the forum and see "page after page" of problems or discussions about a certain issue, but those issues are definitely going to be a hyper-concentrated number of what's actually going on across ALL SP3's.

And then you have to take it one step further, where blog or tech reporting is concerned. If there are 5 million SP3's out there, and 70,000 of them are having WiFi issues, that's a high number, but it's still less than 2% of all SP3's (I have no idea of the actual production SP3 numbers, just throwing them out there). So, here on the forum we have a large number, say 200 people, all complaining of the same issue. Now some tech blogger comes along to the forum, sees all the complaining and then BAM, next thing you know its all over the Internet- "Sp3 having major WiFi problems, users all declare that Microsoft sucks". That gets eyeballs on headlines. However, with a little research, if that blogger instead went with this headline- "1.5% of SP3 users having WiFi issues", no one would even read it.

Just trying to keep things in perspective a bit.