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Surface Pro 3 Review

anandtech.com

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Re: Surface Pro 3 Review

#31

Post by WorldWideWayne »

homerowilson wrote: post #16

I was jhust on an airplane trip and watced with some amusement my aisle-mate fumbling with a new surface pro. When first using it on his lap, the screen kept flopping around as the kickstand slid off his legs--he eventually used the back of the seat in front of him to prop it up a bit. Then when the tray came down, he clearly could not get a comfortable typing angle. At some point, he dispensed with the keyboad and u…

I was using a laptop on a plane one time and the person in front of me put their seat back without even turning around to see what was going on. It cracked the screen hinge, but luckily everything still worked.

So now I'll never bring anything but a tablet on the plane.

Re: Surface Pro 3 Review

#32

Post by Pxtl »

fumar wrote: post #9
withdavidli wrote: post #7

Just got mine yesterday (typing on it for this post). There are some problems on it I wasn't expecting. - Drawing apps like Fresh Paint don't work sometimes when on split screen. By doesn't work, I mean it won't recognize the pen on start up. I would have to full screen the app, use the pen, then I can use the pen on split screen. - Apps aren't adjusted to split screens correctly. The resizing of the apps gets rid of…

I am experiencing many of these issues. I think they will continue to roll out firmware updates. But, the software needed a little bit more work. For Chrome I would disable scaling. 1. Right click Chrome shortcut icon and choose "Properties." (if you do this on an icon in you startbar, then you'll need to right click again on the third one up that says "Google Chrome.") 2. Click Compatibility tab. 3. Check box for "D…

In general Chrome has terrible DPI support. I've noticed this across-the-board, not just in Win8/Surface.

Re: Surface Pro 3 Review

#33

Post by [deleted] »

skrebbel wrote: post #30
withdavidli wrote: post #7

Just got mine yesterday (typing on it for this post). There are some problems on it I wasn't expecting. - Drawing apps like Fresh Paint don't work sometimes when on split screen. By doesn't work, I mean it won't recognize the pen on start up. I would have to full screen the app, use the pen, then I can use the pen on split screen. - Apps aren't adjusted to split screens correctly. The resizing of the apps gets rid of…

Genuinely wondering, why Chrome? IE11 has a really awesome touch UX, in the metro version, IMO. Did you try it and dismiss it, or not even consider it given IE's track record?

[deleted]

Re: Surface Pro 3 Review

#34

Post by DiThi »

withdavidli wrote: post #7

Just got mine yesterday (typing on it for this post). There are some problems on it I wasn't expecting. - Drawing apps like Fresh Paint don't work sometimes when on split screen. By doesn't work, I mean it won't recognize the pen on start up. I would have to full screen the app, use the pen, then I can use the pen on split screen. - Apps aren't adjusted to split screens correctly. The resizing of the apps gets rid of…

Try Firefox. I'm surprised almost no Surface Pro user recommends it, but I've found it very friendly with HiDPI and touch screen. Except for zoom, stepped reflow instead of continuous scale; although I like it like that).

Re: Surface Pro 3 Review

#35

Post by swdunlop »

WorldWideWayne wrote: post #29
fit2rule wrote: post #27

I'd love to get one of these, but I simply cannot fathom investing in hardware on which Linux will not run. I suppose it would work in a VM, but .. really .. what a pity that its so locked down and unworkable to change ones OS in this day and age. Register this one protest non-buy, fwiw ..

Apparently it's really easy to install Ubuntu [1] on a Surface Pro 3. "...you’ll find that most things work out of the box. WiFi works, but only 2.4GHz networks can be detected. The touchpad on the Type Cover works, but the keyboard does not. You’ll need to activate the virtual keyboard in the accessibility setting to get much of anything done, and Ubuntu’s virtual keyboard is lacking in desirable features. There are…

That's a big improvement, then. The original Surface Pro was awful, with serious problems [1] in the mwifiex driver. I also found its wireless support was unstable when bluetooth was also in use, even in Windows 8, which was the final deal breaker for me.

I would recommend waiting on adopting any Surface devices until there is general acclaim that they got the hardware right, beyond a reviewer who just used it for a few days then rushed to press.

[1] https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=69661

Re: Surface Pro 3 Review

#36

Post by DiThi »

fit2rule wrote: post #27

I'd love to get one of these, but I simply cannot fathom investing in hardware on which Linux will not run. I suppose it would work in a VM, but .. really .. what a pity that its so locked down and unworkable to change ones OS in this day and age. Register this one protest non-buy, fwiw ..

I bet the type cover 3 works with the same patch for the covers 2. The only big issue I have with Linux in my Pro 2 is WiFi. I compile from time to time a wireless-testing branch of the kernel to find the most stable build. Also I have a very small WiFi dongle for when the internal one stops working. I hope the Pro 3 WiFi is not as problematic.

Also I'm working in my spare time in a bunch of scripts to imporove the surface experience (touch gestures, palm rejection, sound feedback for touch cover, etc). I'll upload them to github soon.

Re: Surface Pro 3 Review

#37

Post by gcb0 »

The review was sounding good until it mentions the high speed camera for measuring pen performance... And do not include videos, not which models were tested in the table selling the 3 as faster.

Was it the i5? i7?

Re: Surface Pro 3 Review

#38

Post by techwizrd »

[deleted] wrote: post #33
skrebbel wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Genuinely wondering, why Chrome? IE11 has a really awesome touch UX, in the metro version, IMO. Did you try it and dismiss it, or not even consider it given IE's track record?

[deleted]

Firefox supports 1Password, MightyText, Adblock, Disconnect, Privacy Badger, Zotero, and a variety of other plugins including multiple HTTP clients and a top notch dev console.

Re: Surface Pro 3 Review

#39

Post by gcb0 »

withdavidli wrote: post #7

Just got mine yesterday (typing on it for this post). There are some problems on it I wasn't expecting. - Drawing apps like Fresh Paint don't work sometimes when on split screen. By doesn't work, I mean it won't recognize the pen on start up. I would have to full screen the app, use the pen, then I can use the pen on split screen. - Apps aren't adjusted to split screens correctly. The resizing of the apps gets rid of…

If you don't have impaired vision, change dpi sizing thing to 100% instead of the zoomed in default it ships.

Instant brand new tablet. You're welcome.

Re: Surface Pro 3 Review

#40

Post by hatty »

techwizrd wrote: post #38
[deleted] wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

Firefox supports 1Password, MightyText, Adblock, Disconnect, Privacy Badger, Zotero, and a variety of other plugins including multiple HTTP clients and a top notch dev console.

So, I deleted the comment where I applaud IE yet describe the extensions you just rewrote in almost parody (edit: misread Firefox on my mobile device as IE. Good point! I love Firefox too for these reasons!). But, my point is that the metro IE doesn't have extensions. Chrome does (the metro edition) because last time I checked it's just a frozen implementation of the desktop browser but full screen. Lack of extensions is the weak point for me for any browser. And, the metro IE and better scaling overall are the only compelling benefits I see to IE. So, I usually opt for Chrome (edit: or even firefox! :) )
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