Who Loves their SP3 - Positivity Thread

[supervelous]

Reading the topics list is a sea of negativity! Which makes sense, because in a way that's what online forums are for, those who have complaints many times go online to post about it, and those who are happy users just, well, use their device.

Who else, besides myself, are completely happy with their purchase? I was using a Samsung Ultrabook I got for about $300 last year when budget was tight equipped with an i3 and touchscreen, and an iPad Air, before purchasing my SP3 i7 256GB. The SP3 has pretty much replaced both! Going to get rid of the ultrabook and the iPad Air is currently relegated to the porcelain throne - so probably will be sold soon.

I got to say I LOVE it! Right now I'm studying for the GMAT exam, with my SP3 in the official docking station, GMAT Review book on my 27" 1440p screen, taking notes with pen on my SP3 screen, and IE on my 27" 1080p screen for when I need to lookup something, using the Arc Surface Edition mouse and a Logitech BT K810 keyboard when needed. Type Cover for when I'm on the move. My SP3 has no issues with overheating. I currently have tons of tabs open in both desktop and Metro IE, multiple excel spreadsheets, OneNote, Kindle app, Facebook app, playing music on Slacker, Adobe Photoshop & Outlook open on SP3 and 2 high res displays and everything is blazing fast. Seems pretty amazing to me for something with the footprint of the SP3.

Is it perfect? No. I have a slight yellow hazy line on left side of screen I can only see if I look for. It's still a little subpar as a dedicated tablet IMO as iPad Air is a good deal lighter and of course Metro apps aren't in the same league as ios tablet apps. That being said, for what I got it for, as a multi-function, productivity, highly mobile device for work, play, and school, it's met my expectations and then some! I LOVE my SP3! Others who also do chime in here!

 

[ctitanic]

One thing is for sure, it's better than my ex iPad!

Now, seriously, this is the best Tablet PC I have ever owned or tested.

 

[John Semberger]

I work for a technology company and we are a Microsoft partner, so I have used a lot of tablets and laptops in the past few years including a Surface 1 and 2, Lenovo helix, Dell Venue 11 Pro, HP Revolves (new one), Samsung Series 9 plus (new one), Lenovo Yoga, and several others.
I say that to say as a comparison my i7 SP3 is the first one I can use for business and pleasure both as a laptop and tablet. I am a screen snob and LOVE my screens bright but this one is the best I have seen at giving a great picture with lower screen brightness which is a huge plus for battery life (I still keep my screen at 75 percent though).

I only have two real complaints and one is the battery life. Again being in the business I understand the technology tradeoffs but where I think MS is missing the mark for us business users, is to give us an option to buy a powered keyboard for the times I need to extra travel time and would not mind the weight. If they would give us that, I think this is as close to perfection as we will see for a while.

I run Photoshop fine on here, as well as VPN's and remote server access which I do a lot of. SharePoint development is no problem and it is wonderful to browse the internet at night as a tablet which is causing my iPad to collect dust.

My only other complain would be in holding as a tablet in portrait mode the back edges can cause some discomfort after a while. I don't mind the size or weight and think that is close to perfect but I would like to see the back edges a bit more rounded.

Otherwise.... very pleased with this device which I find especially unusual considering Microsoft scooped Dell, Lenovo, and HP on a device while only being in the hardware business for a few years. Makes me can't wait until I see what they can do with the SP4....

 

[mitchellvii]

Except for the very faint yellow smudgey line down the left side of the screen (which I never even noticed until I read a thread about it), I'm ecstatic. I owned the SP1 and the entire time I owned that THIS was the computer I wanted. I'd exchange my SP3 for a one without the smudge but from what I've read it is so commonplace I might actually get one that is worse. At the moment I've just decided to place my taskbar over the smudge so I can no longer see it. Out of sight out of mind.

Originally bought the i3 which was excellent but for $200 extra I figured what the hell and upgraded to the i5. Glad I did. This is faster in a lot of small ways.

I'm almost done resizing my database forms to fit the new size. Kind of a giant hassle actually but worth it. I'd give it a 9.5 out of 10, taking off .5 for the smudge. If there weren't a way to cover it up as I've done, would take off more for that.

** I'd get the docking station except that at 64 degrees, the angle is too steep for me since I', 6'5" and sit tall in the chair. Looking down an a screen gives me a headache.

 

[kundas1]

kool I'll play,

I LOVE my SP3 and had a Toshiba laptop with the A8 processor and 16GB of ram and 512 dedicated video card and 256GB SSD drive, but I sold it in a heart beat to buy the SP3 and I haven't regretted to this day!
the SP3 is fast, light, thin and the screen size and picture is damn sexy! it's great for when I'm tired and don't want to sit in front of my desktop and I can lay in bed and game or surf the net or skype with my GF or listen to music while I surf or watch a movie! this is my one in all device that does everything for me! I am more on my SP3 than I am on my desktop sometimes and when I have to go out and drive my mother to do her banking and groceries and other stuff I have everything I could want at my finger tips from the SP3! Also I never get the fan or overheating when gaming or doing anything intensive like others are getting and my SP3 has been perfect *knock on wood* running condition! never even get drops in my wifi! its just been super great to use! I have absolutely no qualms with my SP3

 

[mahdi75]

I bought SP3 i5/256 a few weeks ago, and it's great! I had an aging desktop before this, and now the Surface is my tablet, laptop and desktop. I connect it to a 29" ultra wide monitor and a powered USB hub (with mouse and keyboard connected to the hub).
I can run virtual machines, do my programming stuff and light gaming on this machine without any problems.
And I had throttling issue only once in a real world task: editing Surface's unboxing video on itself lol. It just took more time to render due to lower CPU clock.
I'm going to university next month, and I'll see how this will do there, especially the pen

 

[dleuen]

I'll chime in too because I absolutely love my Surface Pro 3. I previously had a SP1 but didn't really use it that much. For whatever reason I always grabbed my iPad instead of the SP1. I was hesitant to buy the SP3 because I thought it would be too big. But wow, they really nailed on the design with the larger screen, thinner build and lighter weight without going plastic. I use this device for almost everything from tablet mode surfing on the couch to running Cubase and Bitwig Studio for music recording, to software development and note taking while at work.

 

[strollin]

I love my SP3 and have zero complaints about it. I was using a Dell Venue 8 Pro before getting the SP3 and don't miss it at all.

 

[annabanana]

I love my SP3 and have no complaints about it. It's definitely increased my work productivity and organization. When I'm going out to meet with clients I save screen clippings to One Note of what I'm going to be discussing. During the meeting I can make changes and notes. When I get back to my office it's synced with One Drive and all the info is there that I need for doing my reports. It beats the heck out of carrying around a heavy slow company laptop. I love it for lots of other reasons too, love the form factor, the light weight, the speed, battery life. I liked my SP1 but the SP3 is much better.

 

[raqball]

The key for me is to ask would I buy it again and the answer is yes.

I am very happy with mine.

 

[Kif]

It's been a very long time since I've been excited about a Windows PC. It's an excellent piece of technology.

 

[onefish2]

I really like the hardware. Its a great concept. I like the type cover, kickstand and the display is awesome.

Now for the OS... Its not a Windows 8 thing per se. My comments have nothing to do with the Metro interface or apps. I just thinks Windows does not work well period. There are way too may problems. Simple things like the windows not remembering their placement after rebooting. Power problems. Scaling problems when connected to an external monitor, WiFi problems etc.
I was hoping that I see would see the tight integration between the OS and hardware now that Microsoft was making both. But still I do not see this at this time.

On a positive note I am hoping that some updates in the near future will fix the gremlins that we talk about on here.