Surface Pro 3: Should I?

[Cliron]

Laptop has been slowing to a glacial pace and is about a week from getting the 'smashed off the wall' treatment.


Very interested in the Surface Pro 3 as my replacement, but not sure if I'm being silly.

It seems a bit pricey, but I think I've been sold on its features/ functionality.

Can anyone vouch for em? I'm a bit apprehensive of window's tablet OS (been android only in the smart phone/tablet world).

Also, a bit torn on what model to get. I'm thinking of springing for the i5 model (999), but, dont think I can afford the 8gb ram model & 256 gb memory ( 1299).

Should I suck it up and find the money for the 8gb/256gb model or should I just save my money and get the 4gb/128gb?

I've been thinking of starting FF14 so being able to play that (casually) on the surface pro would be great.

Thanks!

[The Stig]

While i have no doubt an Surface Pro with an i5 chip (ala Surface Pro 2) with Intel HD 4000 can play FFXIV fine, when I loaded it up on my work laptop (With a SSD), after tweaking all the settings down the gameplay was not smooth. Playable, yes, but not the best experience. I was also unable to adjust the resolution so it stuck me at pretty much full screen, windowed (1366x768 - I have a 3rd gen i5, I don't remember exact CPU model for now though, will check tomorrow)

I need someone here with an Surface Pro 2 to comment. It could be my work laptop was just not too optimised (it's got layers and layers of encryption software and security, due to the governmental nature).

I highly recommend you suck it up though and get the i7 model, 256gb and 8gb ram if possible. Bearing in mind that this will probably be your main machine, and it is none upgradeable, so spending that little bit ("little bit" is a bit questionable) more money might save you in the long run.

Also, due to the Surface Pro 3's huge resolution, you'll be restricted to a tiny FFXIV window; I've noticed that the graphics will scale to resolution, i.e. I was unable to set a resolution of 1280x720 and stretch it on my 1440p screen to full screen, it automatically bumps everything up to 1440p (which pushes the GPU and drops FPS). Good if you have a massively good GPU, bad if this is just something to get by ... so I imagine on the Surface Pro 3 you'll need to do something similar. which would mean for a very very small game window (unless someone here can post and correct me otherwise, I'm unable to "fix" it myself, I've tried!)

EDIT: an i5, 4gb, 128gb model is fine if you planned to buy a desktop or another device sometime along the line
EDIT2: I don't think any of the surface pro 3s come with Intel's Isis GPU ... which is a massive disappointment considering the MacBook Airs/Pros sport it, though I've yet to see actual technical specs, I just googled some and the UK sites are basically clueless
EDIT3: Great, not only the sites that reviewed it don't seem to reveal the CPU model, not even the official page reveals the model, just that it's an i3, i5, or i7 lol and that it's 4th gen (we already knew!)
EDIT4: THANK YOUUUU ENGADGET: Microsoft Surface Pro 3 (1.9GHz Core i5-4300U, Intel HD 4400)

[Hellfury]

I use the Dell Venue Pro 11 as a work tablet, (Intel Core i5-4300Y Processor, the invoice just says GT2 graphics, need to check what that entails when I have the physical device infront of me later), and you can craft,do dailies etc. if you have a masochistic streak, but you're not going to do any raiding with it. How the Surface 3 Pro will perform, we'll see when it gets here, but skeptical

[SnickySnacks]

I've been having the same debate. Pretty disappointed that the i7s don't have a 5000 level intel graphics.

However, after using an SSD on my PC for a bit, I'd suggest going for a 256GB as anything smaller will have almost no room for games and stuff (since Win8 takes up a pretty good sized chunk) unless you're content to only having a small handful of games installed at once.

That being said, I hope the performance turns out to be good enough to warrant getting one as I can't really drag a laptop into work but they don't seem to care about tablets.

[orinthia]

Brother has a surface pro 2, and I got to play with it for a while. That while included derping around on ffxiv and skyrim while trying to burn it in and such.

When xiv is in windowed mode, stretching the window adjusts the resolution outright, so windowed set to 720p yet maximized will be at the maximized resolution, which makes it stutter like mad. Going true full screen at real 720p, or rather x768, makes it pretty playable with not too much slowdown (but obviously you need to turn things to low). You can also dumb down the screen's resolution so you can still play in a window, but obviously smaller desktop space to make up for it. If only it stretched instead of readjusted, but it's a compromise you'll have to make. When I tried it, the game didn't crash when adjusting the screen res down, so there's that (but didn't do this a lot).

Skyrim stock worked pretty nicely at 720p and low/medium settings. He likes playing the faction stuff in there a lot, so even with a lot of npcs around, it wasn't too choppy. But that's stock, no mods.

The pro2 at least does heat up quite a bit when taxed, so you may want to get a usb fan or a small desk fan or something if you plan to really push it. I think his had the i7 in it (edit: i5), so he was asking for it heh. Dock and cover-keyboard are pretty nice, but add a fair bit to the total cost of the machine. If you're ordering from microsoft, see if you can get a student discount. It's also a major pain in the ass to take apart, with dozens of tiny as fuck screws everywhere. Pray you never need to open it for anything lol.

Since the pro3 is essentially a pro2 with a higher res screen and different stylus, you can expect anything at full res will play worse than on a pro2, but you shouldn't be trying to game at 1440p/1080p on intel's integrated gfx. And iris pro won't be on this platform since it's really damn power hungry and hot.

Look around for other tablets, or small/thin laptops. While my brother wanted a fairly thin and light machine, he uses it almost exactly like a laptop with the keyboard cover. Try to narrow down what you're gonna use it for, since a tablet with an i7 is overkill for anything since getting the most out of it will need a power outlet and a desk. Still, my bro loves that machine since he does carry it with him everywhere and only games on it when he gets home, so he felt it was worth it.

[shepardG]

If it was a pro 2 , couldn't have been anything higher than an i5. I believe. I7's got introduced in the new pro 3's.

[orinthia]

Yeah, you're right. I just remembered that he put some upgrade into it from the base version when he ordered it; guess it was the hdd and not the cpu. It does get pretty hot when gaming on it though, so try not to leave it in your lap heh. I'd imagine the pro3 with an i7 is worse in that regard.

add: I will say though that with an xbox controller, it was a pretty nice setup.

[shepardG]

Yeah, I fucking love mine

[bluefan]

The SP3 has a fan now, but I can't imagine it'll help too much. Probably still a good idea to get a fan to help keep it cool if you're gaming on it.

Can't imagine them trying to throw an Iris in that chassis, even with a fan.

I'm on the fence for one as well, but seeing as how I don't need a replacement for my laptop for class during the summer, I may wait for a possible Broadwell version.

[The Stig]

I was under the impression that the Iris runs super cool/efficient, as it was shoved into an Mac Book Air, so going by that logic shouldn't it be good for this too? I've not read much about the Iris these days either (in the last 2-3 months).

[Cliron]

If you live near a windows store they have them out to demo.

In NYC there is a store at columbus circle (in that mall, on the 3rd floor); they are guarding the one SP3 like its the second coming.

I loved it. The size is great (although I think its a bit bulky for portrait mode personally. The stylus worked as well as a pen and paper (I've never experienced that before; it was like writing on a notepad). Very light and very thin, with the hinge thingy (tm) being very sturdy.

Read that there is only 90~GB left after the 128 gb model, so I'm probably going to have to spring for the 256gb one. Bit bummed as the Type cover is +129$. Looking at $1500.

Trying to justify it by having had my last laptop for nearly 5 years and that I'll go awhile without having to replace it.

RE Surface Pro 2 to those who have it: Has it stayed at generally the same performance levels since you got it? I hate when I spring for an expensive device and after a year it slows down remarkably.

[Cliron]

You can also preorder whatever combo of versions you want without having to put any money down. I didn't know if I wanted the i5 128 or the i5 256, and was able to preorder both.

[The Stig]

I hate when I spring for an expensive device and after a year it slows down remarkably.

Sounds like Windows in general lol

[bluefan]

I was under the impression that the Iris runs super cool/efficient, as it was shoved into an Mac Book Air, so going by that logic shouldn't it be good for this too? I've not read much about the Iris these days either (in the last 2-3 months).

Haswell version is around the 47W if I remember. Which is great for performance/power numbers...but the SP3 is a very small chassis.

[Obiron]

I've been having the same debate. Pretty disappointed that the i7s don't have a 5000 level intel graphics.

The official specs don't list which model of i7, but I think this is usually a pretty reliable site, so take this with a grain of salt.
Intel Core i7-4650U processor with with Intel HD Graphics 5000.
Full i7-4650U specs.

[SnickySnacks]

I've heard both Intel 4000 and 5000 on the i7s, but nothing confirmed.

If it's a 5000 it'll probably be a day 1 buy for me, since I don't have a laptop or tablet at the moment and that form factor/size fits what I need it for.

[The Stig]

If it's Intel 5000 then it represents a nice jump from 4000/4400: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7072/i...000-vs-hd-4400

So yeh, well worth it in this case. In fact, my sister whom is looking for a new laptop I might pursuade her to get the Pro 2 or the lower end Pro 3 ... it'll serve as a "proto/demo" type for me. She doesn't seem to use storage these days... says it's all in the cloud lol ...

[lolwut]

Ok, so I picked one of these up, but I'm hitting dead ends trying to get a PS4 controller synced to it. I don't recall it being nearly so much hassle getting a DS3 synced to my old laptop, anyone have experience pairing a PS$ controller with Windows 8.1?

[SnickySnacks]

So one of my friends got the Surface Pro 3 256 (with i7/HD5000) and I'm a bit underwhelmed.
Even running with no super-sampling it's noticeably laggy in Adoulin compared to my desktop, even running only 2160x1440 1x (Intel HD 5000) vs 1920x1080 2x (Radeon 6870). I didn't really have time to test actual gameplay, other than running around the city (due to it taking the better part of 8 hours to update -_-).

I'm well aware that there's a word of difference in the power of a surface pro 3 and my desktop computer, but I was actually taken aback at how laggy it was even at 1/4 the effective resolution.

I will do more testing and see if it runs better with a lowered desktop resolution (as lowering the game resolution just results in the game being very small on screen.

I've also come to the realization that Windows 8 blows goats.

[The Stig]

I will do more testing and see if it runs better with a lowered desktop resolution (as lowering the game resolution just results in the game being very small on screen.

I was really fearful of this. Thanks for the clarification.

If you turn your res down, I think everything will just look ugly in general, especially on a Surface which is 10 inches something at 1440p (ever go 1200x800 on a 1080p screen?)
but I suppose if it does what you need it to do, it could be overlooked.