Pros/Cons of SP2 vs SP3 from My Perspective

[macmee]

These are just my thoughts, feel free to disagree with them and explain your own thoughts, or post your own list below:

Pros to an upgrade:

• higher resolution
• thinner machine
• slight spec bump due to newer i5 (I have an original sp2)
• slightly better battery

Cons:

• Apparently they're incredibly buggy (I don't want to be a beta tester like I was for the SP2)
• I have a power keyboard, would be awkward on a SP3, might not even be compatible
• They're much bigger than the SP2 (biggest downside for me)
• It would cost around $800 even after selling my 256GB SP2
• i5 to newer i5 is pretty horizontal, I need better specs for an upgrade

Overall decision:

• I don't know. I would wait for the i7 version to justify the upgrade (so that I'm going from i5 to i7 instead of i5 to slightly newer i5). The massive amounts of bugs with the SP3 scare me, I went through hell getting my SP2 to work properly, and it still even has its flaws. The price really annoys me, an expensive upgrade. But the screen resolution and lighter machine do appeal to me...

 

[Philtastic]

I mostly agree with the things you've listed except for the higher resolution. I'd say that it's actually a negative due to the non-standard aspect ratio (debatable since you get more vertical workspace but you'll have huge black bars for movies and video games) and you'll be watching movies and playing games at non-native screen resolution, thus introducing blur along with the black bars.

Some negatives that I'll add are:
1) No dedicated spot for the pen. Now you either clip it to the cover and ALWAYS take it off since it gets in the way or you put it aside somewhere and have to fish around for it when you need it which I find I do for more desktop-based applications.
2) Possibly more throttling due to heat, thus possibly lower performance than the SP2 for particularly straining software.
3) Pen is arguably worse. Some will argue that it's better due to the extra 2 buttons but I think the worst aspect of it is that now it only detects it ~1 cm from the screen instead of ~2 cm. This means that you have to lead with the pen tip rather than the side of your hand for stability. I found myself constantly touching the screen with my hand first rather than having the pen get detected first to block out any other touching.

To add some positives:
1) The kickstand is much improved with its many angles.
2) It feels significantly lighter such that I might be able to handle it with one hand

I'll be waiting for the SP4 and Intel's Broadwell chips before replacing my SP2. That should solve the heat and thinness/weight issues. Hopefully, Intel will have a better integrated graphics solution by then as well.

 

[mtalinm]

I had an sp3 for 10 days and will add some negatives.

Battery life definitely seems worse to me. It was maybe 5-6 hours whereas SP2 gets 7-8.

The pen loop is bad. Pen is always flopping around, and the pen loop ripped off in my bag. Looks stupid. At least with the SP2 I can put a pen loop on the device and then hook the magnet into the power connector, so it's solid and doesn't' flop around.

Glitch in general. Screen stopped responding several times. Keyboard went dead many times. Had to reboot frequently.

The worst: the fan. My SP2's fan only ever comes on when I'm driving two external monitors and then sometimes not. The SP3's fan comes on when I am doing simple Office work with no attached monitors. And it is LOUD, much more annoying than SP2 fan.

I will admit that I miss the larger screen - viable for working long hours, whereas the SP2 I really need to hook up to an external monitor. And the SP2 is just to brick-like to really work as a tablet (portrait mode), whereas the SP3 is just thin and light enough to. It's hard to believe that a quarter pound makes that much of a difference, but it's true.

My guess is that they will release an SP3.5 with a Broad-well chip that will take care of those negatives. Then I might jump.

 

[jrapdx]

I had an sp3 for 10 days and will add some negatives.

Battery life definitely seems worse to me. It was maybe 5-6 hours whereas SP2 gets 7-8.

The pen loop is bad. Pen is always flopping around, and the pen loop ripped off in my bag. Looks stupid. At least with the SP2 I can put a pen loop on the device and then hook the magnet into the power connector, so it's solid and doesn't' flop around.

Glitch in general. Screen stopped responding several times. Keyboard went dead many times. Had to reboot frequently.

The worst: the fan. My SP2's fan only ever comes on when I'm driving two external monitors and then sometimes not. The SP3's fan comes on when I am doing simple Office work with no attached monitors. And it is LOUD, much more annoying than SP2 fan.

I will admit that I miss the larger screen - viable for working long hours, whereas the SP2 I really need to hook up to an external monitor. And the SP2 is just to brick-like to really work as a tablet (portrait mode), whereas the SP3 is just thin and light enough to. It's hard to believe that a quarter pound makes that much of a difference, but it's true.

My guess is that they will release an SP3.5 with a Broad-well chip that will take care of those negatives. Then I might jump.

Ah, yes, awaiting the SP4+, then it will have the Broadwell chip, etc. But the SP1 had obvious bugs, so it begot the SP2, and it had really bad bugs, including MS firmware "fixes", that is , MS Malware. Now the new gen SP3 is reported to have a ton of bugs, not so hot performance, bugs in WiFi (unbelievable--that never happened before...), and other lovely such attributes.

So let's think, now what will be seen with the SP4, more and better bugs? What are the odds of that? Unprecedented! Well, maybe not...

Sorry about that, too many bug bites with the SP2 though maybe after 6 months it is finally settling down. I hope.

 

[GoodBytes]

With the bugs I am hearing about the SP3, I thinking that this model was supposed to be for Broadwell CPU, but rushed released for getting the student market.

It makes sense, because that is why they targeted the MacBook Air in their ads. The MacBook Air is hugely popular with student, (and so is the ipad), because students wants a computer for school, but their are already carrying big heavy books, and the last thing they want is a big clunky heavy laptop to carry around. At university, when I go at the library, it is a wall of MacBook Air, or iPads. Few Macbook Pros actually, and a few of PCs.

And Apple has pretty aggressive student specials on it as well. Expect bundle deal of the Surface Pro 3 before schools starts.

As for the pen, a user in another forum, says he does this, which works pretty well. I don't have the SP3 to make an opinion or test it, but maybe you can have a look:

 

[Nuspieds]

Although I believe the SP3 is a great device on its own, I saw no compelling reasons for me to upgrade from my SP2.

The biggest barrier for me was the CPU: I want my next SP to have moved beyond the Haswell chip, so I will continue to wait and be content with my SP2.

 

[Zkyevolved]

People ask me if they should buy the SP2, discounted, or the SP3. I tell them to get the Sp3 unless they need the smaller form-factor. But for the people that ALREADY have the SP2, I wouldn't recommend it. It's a lot of money to dish out just to change a little on the outside and almost nothing on the inside (depending on the model you get, of course). You could actually DOWNGRADE your device if you buy the i3! But the keyboard and kickstand look awesome!!! More space, better trackpad and angles! All good things

 

[Matt]

I agree. The SP3 should have been Broadwell backed. Also no i3 option, it should remain a premium device. I also doubt a tablet can take advantage of the core i7 CPU either. In most real world applications the i5's performance is very close to the i7 (unless you need to run programs which support hyper threading) at least thats the case with the Desktop equivalents.

Also for a device designed and marketed as a laptop replacement MS should really bundle the keyboard in for the price, especially as the the original Surface covers wont fit correctly.....

 

[samurai]

I have Pro 2. But I want to get Pro 3. I feel the screen is too cramped for any real work. Even reading a pdf article becomes a pain because of the small screen. I am always hooking it to external monitor whether at work or home. The only time I use it as tablet is when I am couch surfing. Even then I am not satisfied with the angle and always felt like if it could bend more. Pro 3 seems to address all my problems but bugs are frustrating.

 

[grumpy]

People ask me if they should buy the SP2, discounted, or the SP3. I tell them to get the Sp3 unless they need the smaller form-factor.

Hmmmmm... My advice is the opposite. Unless you need the larger screen there just does not seem to be a compelling reason to go with the SP3. The SP2 is relatively mature while the SP3 brings new and interesting bugs. Not to mention the throttling issues of the SP3. Given the SP2 price drop, it just seems like the better option - unless the larger screen is really a necessity.

 

[dougpaw57]

I sold my Pro 2 and got a Pro 3. Both had i5 and 128GB, but the Pro 3 is easier to be productive on. Plus, if I want small, I have a Dell Venue 8 Pro 64GB.

 

[Knuck]

Returned my SP3 today. Although it is a nice unit I can honestly say I am happier with my SP2. I find movies to be clearer and the smaller form factor easier to travel with and use on the road.