So, if I go with the Surface Pro 3, which one?

[brocharlieb]

When I bought my Surface RT 64, I knew that it was the one I wanted. I was right, it's met all my needs. I'm trying to decide now that it's about time to upgrade whether I want to go with a Surface 2, or a Pro 3.

Since the RT meets all my needs I'm inclined to go with the Surface 2.

If I were going to go with the Surface Pro 3, given that I'm not a gamer and that mostly my surface is a word processor and device for accessing the internet, which one of the five options would I need to look at?

 

[hughlle]

Not much point in an sp3 for that usage if you ask me. Might as well save a pile of money.

 

[wynand32]

Lots of threads discussing that already, but my quick answer would be as it is with most such decisions: buy the most machine that you can afford. For what you describe, the low-end machine would work fine (assuming the 64GB is sufficient built-in storage). But, over the long-term, it might feel more cramped than, say, the i5/8GB/256GB version (which was my choice).

 

[wynand32]

Not much point in an sp3 for that usage if you ask me. Might as well save a pile of money.

Not sure if I agree. The 12.5" screen and 3:2 ratio is good for word processing, IMHO.

 

[hughlle]

Not sure if I agree. The 12.5" screen and 3:2 ratio is good for word processing, IMHO.

While i agree in a small way (it never really effected me) he states it already meets his needs, so it could in a way be seen like a saying buy the bmw its faster than the vw, even if the vw is as fast as the driver wants.

 

[wynand32]

While i agree in a small way (it never really effected me) he states it already meets his needs, so it could in a way be seen like a saying buy the bmw its faster than the vw, even if the vw is as fast as the driver wants.

As a writer, I hate 16:9. It's way too short in landscape, and too thin in portrait. 3:2 is the closest to a printed page, and so the best for straight document production (what you see is closer to what you get). To me, since word processing is most important here, that's a bigger factor in the SP3's favor over the SP2 than anything else.

 

[hughlle]

But this is sp3 vs s2, not sp2. Thats a LOT of money for a change of aspect ratio, and again, brocharlieb seems to have no issue at present with 16:9

 

[GreyFox7]

If your happy with the RT and it does everything you need either get the Surface 2 which in light of the apparent W10 approach may only get a pissoff upgrade but should be usable for a few years. Otherwise Id suggest you look at a Dell or other more economical system than the SPs if you wanted a bit more capabilities which you don't appear to need.

 

[compnovo]

I went from the original RT to the Surface 2 to my current SP3 (ebaying them as I went along). The Surface 2 was a big improvement over the RT in many ways but still, I regret taking the intermediate step. If I had it to do over again I would have jumped straight to the SP3 and saved some money.

With the usage you describe you could save a bucket of money by going with the i3 model and still see huge improvements in performance, resolution, application compatibility, etc. Just add an SD card for more storage and you're set. The reason I went up to the next model was simply because my budget would allow that level of overspending (since the i3 was really the one I could truly afford).

Edit: I didn't think to ask --- do you already own a copy of MS Office? I doesn't come bundled with the SP3 and is an additional cost to factor in (along with a new keyboard).

 

[ptrkhh]

If you don't have a specific need for i5 or i7, I would recommend i3/64 model. There are some space saving tips, and combined with expandable storage (microSD), the i3 should be sufficient for 99% of the people.
Check out the link in my sig about the guide for the i3 SP3.

 

[Buddn]

When I was researching which SP3 to buy, I was leaning towards the i3 version but then after some thought, I ended up spending a bit more on the i5 with 8GB RAM. The reason behind this was mainly future proofing my purchase (I plan to use this all through college) and I was afraid of the small amount of storage (64GB compared to 256 GB). Like every other device out there, you aren't actually getting the full memory amount for the OS takes up room and other stuff. That's my personal opinion and I'm happy with my choice even though it cost a bit more.

 

[ptrkhh]

The reason behind this was mainly future proofing my purchase (I plan to use this all through college)

IMO theres no point to future-proof with the one that's almost double the price.
With the same budget, if you bought the i3, it wouldn't even have to last the entire college since you would still have plenty of money left to get the i3 SP6 or whatever entry-level tablet in the middle of the college, which is likely to have 8GB RAM