Is the Surface Pro 3 still worth it?

[icanisbeme]

Hi all,
I apologize if I am posting this in the wrong place; I discovered this site just today.

Anyway, my question regarding the Surface Pro 3 is: Is it still a worthwhile purchase?
I am a college student looking for essentially a note taking machine. The most stressful work I might impose on the device would be a game or two of Heathstone/Elder Scrolls legends type card game, as I have a gaming laptop for everything else; or I might be running some coding projects of my own in various environments as I am a Computer Science student, could it handle that if I get the i5 version?
I have been researching my options and have found refurbished Surface 3 Pros for ~$400, the i5 and 128gb models, which seems like quite a good value and I am tempted to purchase.
Is this the right product for me, or do you have any other products I should be looking at? (Price is a big point for me btw, which is why I am tempted for the pro 3 rather than anything newer)
Thanks!

TL,DR: Is the Surface Pro 3 still a relevant device worth buying today?

 

[MickeyLittle]

Yes the SP3 is still very relevant today although for this price I imagine this to be with 4gb ram and not 8. But still it should do what you are talking about just fine as it was/is a workhorse!

 

[icanisbeme]

Yes the SP3 is still very relevant today although for this price I imagine this to be with 4gb ram and not 8. But still it should do what you are talking about just fine as it was/is a workhorse!

Yes, it is the 4 gb, but I don't see myself doing a whole lot of multitasking on it...Maybe OneNote, 3-5 Chrome tabs, and a terminal or something tops, which should be enough for that I would imagine.

Thanks for your input!

 

[MickeyLittle]

No problem. Also if you can upgrade to Windows 10 it will run better than the 8.1 that it will probably come with and then I suggest using/getting used to Microsoft Edge instead of Chrome for battery life. Just my 2 cents.

Hey don't be a stranger. Please post back letting us know what you decided to do, and how it's going. Also there are a lot of experts here who own SP3s who can probably help you to get the most out of your purchase if you decide to go that route!

 

[icanisbeme]

No problem. Also if you can upgrade to Windows 10 it will run better than the 8.1 that it will probably come with and then I suggest using/getting used to Microsoft Edge instead of Chrome for battery life. Just my 2 cents.

Hey don't be a stranger. Please post back letting us know what you decided to do, and how it's going. Also there are a lot of experts here who own SP3s who can probably help you to get the most out of your purchase if you decide to go that route!

I will probably update to 10, as that is what my laptop runs and I don't mind it. Chrome though is probably going to stay...I'm a big Google guy and use their music service as well as chromecast, so I'll most likely balk on edge.

And certainly! I haven't quite made my decision yet, but I will probably within the week, and thanks for the warm welcome to the site!

 

[MickeyLittle]

I hear you with Google. Hey have you tried the add on called Leoh? It's pretty sweet for eye candy and I just got to make more use of it as far as figuring out how to customize it.

 

[icanisbeme]

I hear you with Google. Hey have you tried the add on called Leoh? It's pretty sweet for eye candy and I just got to make more use of it as far as figuring out how to customize it.

View attachment 8549

I use something similar called Momentum! Gives that nice looking dashboard esque new tab screen.

Also I took a chance and bought the Surface Pro 3! I found an offer on eBay, where someone was selling theirs with the pen, and the surface 4 version keyboard cover, along with a second charger; and the Surface was the i5, 4gb, 128gb version that I had been looking at, all for less than $400!

 

[MickeyLittle]

Congrats on your purchase. I think you'll be happy with it. Please post back as to how it's going and when you get a few extra bucks you may want to get a stylus for the SP4 as it is a big improvement over the one for the SP3.

But then again the new one coming with the new SP model in June maybe better yet if it works with the SP3.

 

[GreyFox7]

The big bad wolf looks at SP3 and says: My what long teeth you have.

 

[MickeyLittle]

The big bad wolf looks at SP3 and says: My what long teeth you have.

That ain't even right No the SP3 is probably just as solid as several of the SP wanna-bees flooding the market today.

 

[icanisbeme]

Congrats on your purchase. I think you'll be happy with it. Please post back as to how it's going and when you get a few extra bucks you may want to get a stylus for the SP4 as it is a big improvement over the one for the SP3.

But then again the new one coming with the new SP model in June maybe better yet if it works with the SP3.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I'll have to see how the one it comes with performs first though, I only plan on taking notes with it, not really detailed drawings or anything so I don't need the best if it costs a premium; we will see though!

 

[MickeyLittle]

Amazon has them for $45 and that includes the extra tips. I like it because you just flip it over like a pencil and erase so you don't have to tap on eraser and then tap back on ink to start writing again. Really cool.