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Announcing the Surface 3

blog.surface.com

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Re: Announcing the Surface 3

#261

Post by BinaryIdiot »

ehaughee wrote: post #247
BinaryIdiot wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried Windows 8.1 on a touch screen (especially a tablet)? I find Windows 8.1 awkward to use on a desktop or non-touchscreen computer but for a touchscreen? I absolutely LOVE the interface for launching applications. I'm actually kind of sad it's all going away in favor of something closer to the desktop in Windows 10; I would have liked the Windows 8.1 style to stay when in a touchscreen or tablet mode.

My understanding is that tablet devices will have some defaults to keep them closer to 8.1 than the desktop-friendly changes made for Win10. I am currently running Win10 and can confirm you are able to set the default behavior of the start menu to the 8.1 screen or Win7 menu behavior. Not sure if that addresses all of your concerns but it does seem like Microsoft understands at least some people enjoyed the start scr…

Ah that's good; I installed and tried out Windows 10 a few weeks ago on my tablet / convertible and I didn't see any way to bring a Windows 8.1 like menu back only the Windows 10 start menu. I'll have to look into it, thanks!

Re: Announcing the Surface 3

#262

Post by rbanffy »

Someone1234 wrote: post #30

I own a Surface Pro 3, and when I first got it I'd describe the experience as just mediocre. However Microsoft has been aggressively updating the software as has Intel, and as a result of those effects the SP3 has really stepped up and is now quite a good little tablet/ultrabook combo. I only have two remaining concerns with the SP3: My i5 version continues to get extremely hot near the middle of the device (e.g. whe…

> My i5 version continues to get extremely hot near the middle of the device

This non-pro is Atom-based. I like to say while the i3/5/7 are optimized for price/performance, the Atoms are optimized for low thermal dissipation (which can be painful if you spend your day in Eclipse).

But if the Pro is mediocre, that doesn't speak well of the plain 3...

Re: Announcing the Surface 3

#263

Post by nsxwolf »

hobarrera wrote: post #241
wlesieutre wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having a new "MacBook" that's thinner than the "MacBook Air" is admittedly a bit weird, but it's a transition period. Once the price on the new one goes down, they'll drop the Air from the lineup, and it'll just be MacBook vs MacBook Pro again.

I completely agree. The MacBook Pro Retina 13" is almost the same weight and size as a MacBook Air 13". It no longer makes sense to keep the Air around as a "lighter" alternative. IMHO, both the Air and the non-retina-Pro are going away. Keeping just the MacBook and the retina-Pro is what makes sense the most (the rest are just cheaper alternatives, and Apple doesn't generally do cheap).

The problem is the performance of the new MacBook has taken such a hit. The Airs had started converging on the territory of conventional high performance laptops, but now they're back to ultra low power low performance Intel skus to make the form factor possible again.

Re: Announcing the Surface 3

#264

Post by smcg »

quotedmycode wrote: post #243
sliverstorm wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worryingly hot in fact. It may not actually be a problem at all. CPUs can run safely up to ~70C or so, which is 160F. This means thin tablets are becoming constrained by what you can safely touch, rather than what is safe for the CPU. http://www.colorado.edu/engineering/MCEN/MCEN5166/supplement...

Once they get to that temperature, which can happen in a matter of minutes if you are doing something cpu intensive, they throttle the cpu, thus slowing everything down, which is counter productive if you are doing something cpu intensive. They can spread that heat over a larger area, thus heating up the whole device, or they can put in active cooling, or they can put in a cpu that doesn't get that hot. The Atom is a…

Chrome on Surface has always been a giant mess. Not that Google has an incentive to fix it.

Re: Announcing the Surface 3

#265

Post by ChicagoDave »

Someone1234 wrote: post #64
geerlingguy wrote: post #42

Actual product page: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/products/surface-3 And buy now page with tech specs: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/productI... Looks like $499 for 64GB storage and 2GB RAM, $599 for 128GB storage and 4GB of RAM (WiFi models; 4G LTE model pricing wasn't showing for me).

That 2 GB, 64 GB model just looks painful to use. I've seen a lot of Windows installs use up more than 64 GB, in particular as WinSXS grows as more updates are installed (thus more duplicate DLLs are stored). If anyone asked me, I'd describe 128 GB as the "minimum" storage needed for Windows. And even then you aren't storing much if any user data on it. 4 GB is the minimum I'd run anything newer than Windows XP on. T…

I would rate this as a simple-use tablet, not to be used for complex tasks like development with 20 apps open. So if you need it for office apps, email, web surfing, and then a few simple-use apps, you're going to be okay. And the SD slot allows you to add 64gb more space. It's pretty much a student machine. Not Pro.

If you're a Pro, then buy a Pro or get a MacBook Pro and VM Windows.

But as just a tablet, this is _close_ to a great deal (I think they can do better and probably will drop the price by the holidays).

Re: Announcing the Surface 3

#266

Post by wlesieutre »

nsxwolf wrote: post #263
hobarrera wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree. The MacBook Pro Retina 13" is almost the same weight and size as a MacBook Air 13". It no longer makes sense to keep the Air around as a "lighter" alternative. IMHO, both the Air and the non-retina-Pro are going away. Keeping just the MacBook and the retina-Pro is what makes sense the most (the rest are just cheaper alternatives, and Apple doesn't generally do cheap).

The problem is the performance of the new MacBook has taken such a hit. The Airs had started converging on the territory of conventional high performance laptops, but now they're back to ultra low power low performance Intel skus to make the form factor possible again.

Just like the recently announced Surface 3 (with an even slower Atom x7), it won't matter to most people. A 5 year old Air was fast enough to check email, watch YouTube, and write text documents, and the Core M versions will be the same. The thinner and lighter MBP turns into the computer for people who want a smallish performance laptop.

Re: Announcing the Surface 3

#267

Post by numo16 »

BinaryIdiot wrote: post #261
ehaughee wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My understanding is that tablet devices will have some defaults to keep them closer to 8.1 than the desktop-friendly changes made for Win10. I am currently running Win10 and can confirm you are able to set the default behavior of the start menu to the 8.1 screen or Win7 menu behavior. Not sure if that addresses all of your concerns but it does seem like Microsoft understands at least some people enjoyed the start scr…

Ah that's good; I installed and tried out Windows 10 a few weeks ago on my tablet / convertible and I didn't see any way to bring a Windows 8.1 like menu back only the Windows 10 start menu. I'll have to look into it, thanks!

If you swipe from the right side of the screen to bring up the notification center, you'll see a "Tablet Mode" button on the bottom that makes the OS more tablet friendly.

Re: Announcing the Surface 3

#268

Post by jonah »

emsy wrote: post #197
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Check out http://penny-arcade.com/news/post/2014/05/23/surface-pro-3 , they've fixed many of the problems gabe pointed out (helps that Lynwood is near Redmond). I suggest trying one at a store somewhere. The 10" with an Ntrig might be a better bet because if it is more portable. Otherwise, not many win tablets still have styluses (especially the Wacom resistive kinds).

Thanks! We already tried it and she liked it so far, but unfortunately, the tablet had only Paint installed. She doesn't do hardcore art, but the sketches she draws should have a certain quality (No jiggy edges, which I heard was a problem when drawing slowly). I think I'll ask for a demo with a sophisticated drawing app next time I'm in the store. But the linked article gives me hope that this might be perfect for h…

Check out some of the newer Adobe mobile apps.

http://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/catalog/mobile.html

Re: Announcing the Surface 3

#270

Post by WorldWideWayne »

tjoff wrote: post #236
WorldWideWayne wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Minimum for doing what? My home workstation has 32GB and I can remote into that anytime I want from every device that I own, so I tend to lean on that.

Surfing the web or doing any form of multitasking. But of course, the sad reality is that the only reason there is a 2 GB version is so that they can have a ridiculous premium for the 4 GB version yet still lure customers with the low starting price point. I wonder if, when the market has matured enough, that there will be honest companies making products that tries to make good mainstream products rather than trying…

I'm running Chrome, Excel and Outlook right now on my 2 Gb, Win8.1 Pro x86 Atom tablet and it's great. What kind of problems are you imagining?

I love having full control on a tablet that lasts 10 hours and fits in most of my pants and jacket pockets.

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