New User with a few questions

[john f fitzgerald]

Hi, I just received my new SP3 two days ago and love it but have many questions, I'll start with a few.

1. I bought the SP3 i5 4gb ram 128gb storage, Did I make a good choice. After buying it I was talking to one of the online store assistants and she told me that with only 4GB ram I will have problems when win 10 comes out? Do you think this is true? I could sent it back and upgrade but I really was trying to save some money and this version was $200 off. I don't run any heavy duty programs.

2. She also told me that you shouldn't use it with the power cord plugged in all the time. You should run on the battery and let it run down. This doesn't make sense to me but I'm asking anyway.

I thank you in advance for any help you may have.

John F

 

[leeshor]

Welcome to the forum John

4GB of RAM will not cause an issue with the upgrade. As for leaving your Surface plugged in there are 2 schools of thought on that but generally speaking I agree that you should use it on battery as frequently as possible, not full time plugged in. There are some devices that actually prompt you when fully charged and ask that you unplug it.

The reasoning is that every time the battery runs down enough it gets charged again and there is a limit to the number of charge cycles, even short ones, that the battery can tolerate.

 

[malberttoo]

Hi, I just received my new SP3 two days ago and love it but have many questions, I'll start with a few.

1. I bought the SP3 i5 4gb ram 128gb storage, Did I make a good choice. After buying it I was talking to one of the online store assistants and she told me that with only 4GB ram I will have problems when win 10 comes out? Do you think this is true? I could sent it back and upgrade but I really was trying to save some money and this version was $200 off. I don't run any heavy duty programs.

2. She also told me that you shouldn't use it with the power cord plugged in all the time. You should run on the battery and let it run down. This doesn't make sense to me but I'm asking anyway.

I thank you in advance for any help you may have.

John F

John,

Leeshor is correct, Windows 10 will do just fine on that machine.

The other school of thought is, use the thing and charge it as you see fit, and make sure you discharge the battery to below 10% once a month.

 

[hughlle]

You don't have a need to worry on either account.

I have the 4/128gb surface pro 3..windows 10 TP is running just great

 

[john f fitzgerald]

John,

Leeshor is correct, Windows 10 will do just fine on that machine.

The other school of thought is, use the thing and charge it as you see fit, and make sure you discharge the battery to below 10% once a month.

Thank you I appreciate the help.

Also do you know the life expectancy of the battery on the SP3. I'm just wondering.

 

[jnjroach]

Thank you I appreciate the help.

Also do you know the life expectancy of the battery on the SP3. I'm just wondering.

The battery is designed that under normal use it should have at least 80% of its original capacity after 3 years....

 

[bluegrass]

Hi, I just received my new SP3 two days ago and love it but have many questions, I'll start with a few.

1. I bought the SP3 i5 4gb ram 128gb storage, Did I make a good choice. After buying it I was talking to one of the online store assistants and she told me that with only 4GB ram I will have problems when win 10 comes out? Do you think this is true? I could sent it back and upgrade but I really was trying to save some money and this version was $200 off. I don't run any heavy duty programs.

2. She also told me that you shouldn't use it with the power cord plugged in all the time. You should run on the battery and let it run down. This doesn't make sense to me but I'm asking anyway.

I thank you in advance for any help you may have.

John F

So I take it that you're against users using it as a desktop using the docking station and only running off the battery when they go on the road or use it away from their desk?

 

[Russ]

. . . with only 4GB ram I will have problems when win 10 comes out? Do you think this is true?

John --

It's nonsense. I am running Win10 in a 4GB machine -- albeit a desktop, but 4 Gigs is 4 Gigs however it's housed. I cannot discern any difference between that machine and its 16GB cousin at the other end of the bench.

Regards,
Russ

 

[Russ]

. . . using it as a desktop using the docking station and only running off the battery when they go on the road or use it away from their desk?

Bluegrass --

My SP1 sits in the docking station whenever it's at home -- which is most of the time. Ladyfriend's SP3 is in a docking station whenever it's at her home or her office -- which is most of the time. I think the worries about continuous charging are overblown. In both cases, our SurfacePros will be upgraded and replaced long before the onset of any such calamities.

Regards,
Russ

 

[john f fitzgerald]

I plan on getting a docking station at some point and I to will probably leave in the dock for long periods of time. I think this is something MS should clarify as to whether. It's a good or bad idea, after all they are making the docking stations.

 

[Russ]

. . . this is something MS should clarify . . .

John --

I choose to believe that, if MS thought it was a problem, they would have said so by now to protect the integrity of the real product involved. Absent that, no matter what they said, a food fight would follow, and mountains of anecdotal evidence would be proffered on both sides of the issue. They got better things to do (like repair the stock after the Nokia debacle).

I have only two living examples, and have seen no problems with either, so will just go happily along -- blithely ignorant though I may be.

Regards,
Russ

 

[leeshor]

Over the last years I have seen the results of leaving devices, mostly laptops/notebooks on charge full time. If/when that person needed the battery it sank very quickly to 0%. I can only go by experience.

I have had the same issue with a laptop my wife used. We have had to replace the battery several times for that reason and I have a laptop that says it will last 5 hours when I boot up, then 15 minutes later I get a warning about low battery. I firmly believe it's because I always plug it in before I turn it on. Now when I need it on battery it won't work.