Student i3 or i5?

[myrimbaud]

Hi guys

I already found a few threads about this, but most of them did not really answer my question. It is quite possible that I have just not looked thoroughly enough, in which case I would like to excuse myself.
I am a student from Switzerland, so please excuse any errors that you find in my text.
I study law and am a happy owner of the first generation of the Surface Pro. I really like the device, but it is quite heavy and the battery barely last through a whole day of university.
Since my main laptop is at the brink of dying, I’m thinking about getting the new Surface Pro 3. But now, I am not sure, which model to get. I’m on a student’s budget, so basically I would prefer to get the i3-model. The disk-space of approximately 36 GB should probably be fine for me, I listen to music via Spotify and do not have a lot of big files. (Mostly word documents, some pics, etc.) I have most of my documents already stored in several cloud-services.
But what about the speed of the i3-model? I will use my Surface mainly for OneNote, where I will write on .pdfs for university. Of course I will need Word and PowerPoint. Except for that I want to be able to surf the web, sometimes watch a movie or read an ebook. I would like to be able to use OneNote and still be able to simultaneously use the internet explorer or Spotify or something like that. I do not intend to game with it. So it will be mostly used for Microsoft Office programs, just the regular student stuff.
Will that be able with the i3?
I will not use the Surface Pro 3 for video editing or something similar. Maybe once a year I would like to do some photo-editing, but it is not something I really need.
In Switzerland all models will be released simultaneously.
In your opinion, is the i3 a machine that can fulfil my requirements? And does any one of you have some experience on writing long texts on the Surface Pro 3? I would like to be able to write 20+ Word-documents with it from time to time, how does the keyboard hold up to such a task?
I appreciate your help and thank you in advance!

 

[scottysize]

I'm the person that says spend the extra money on processor and RAM upgrades to begin with. I cannot recommend getting an i3. I just can't. However, in your case, I don't see how it would be that bad if you went that route. I just will never tell you to go that route.

 

[goodintentions]

I'm the person that says spend the extra money on processor and RAM upgrades to begin with. I cannot recommend getting an i3. I just can't. However, in your case, I don't see how it would be that bad if you went that route. I just will never tell you to go that route.

More power isn't always better. In his case, an i3 will do just fine. You're like a best buy salesman that points people to higher lined computers than they need. Tell me, if all this guy needs is to run word (no VS, adobe, autocad, etc.), why would he need anything more than an i3?

 

[scottysize]

More power isn't always better. In his case, an i3 will do just fine. You're like a best buy salesman that points people to higher lined computers than they need. Tell me, if all this guy needs is to run word (no VS, adobe, autocad, etc.), why would he need anything more than an i3?

Every one has his/her opinion. I will not buy a low end computer and will not recommend one. Inevitably there's always something that comes up and bites you later, but once again, that's just my opinion. I did tell him that the i3 should meet his needs, I just wouldn't recommend it. No, I'm not just like the idiots at BB that don't know a computer from a tablet. Thank you very much.

 

[wertzius]

"Low end" in case of the I3 means a PC with nearly twice the power a P8600 with 2.4Ghz had. That is enough for nearly everything! Not everyone is a photoshop pro. For office usage incl. OneNote and media consumption, Internet and minor media editing the I3 is more than enough. 4GB Ram is also enough for 90% of all Pc users.

 

[Odyssey]

Because you'll be typing a lot, finding a laptop with a good keyboard should be a priority. While the Type Cover is fine for taking notes in OneNote and writing emails, I wouldn't recommend it if you plan on doing a lot of word processing unless you intend on purchasing a USB or Bluetooth keyboard. I've written a few papers on the SP3, and while it wasn't difficult to use, I would prefer a keyboard with more travel and a bit more space between keys. If you can find it at a decent price in Switzerland, the Thinkpad Yoga would be a good choice for your needs, especially if you still want digitizer input. If you don't need digitizer input, then any Thinkpad would do.

However, since you've used a Surface Pro 1 before, you probably have experience with the Type Covers already. The additional magnet for the new Type Cover does help with comfort, but the keys make loud "clacking" noises when it's raised in this position since there isn't a solid base supporting the keyboard. That may or may not annoy you (hint: it kind of annoys me )