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I need something portable for when I'm working away - been looking at tablets and could probably get away with an Android - would be willing to go for a Galaxy Tab S even after the previous fail.
However, I'm now leaning towards a hybrid and the MS looks good, if a little pricey.
Any feedback?
Don't use the pro, sorry, but have a surface rt and love it. The price is more sensible and it comes with office 2013 rather than having to buy that as well. The downside is that you won't be able to install your regular pc programs. The whole logging in on different machines/phones and having all your files available works very well
I have a surface pro 3 (the core i5 version with 128gb storage).
Its pretty awesome, does the tablet thing really well for those times when all you need to do is surf the web and read an email. But them when you need a real computer, you just switch to the desktop and do all your usual stuff. Battery life is good, performance is good, reliability is good. The only downside is the not inconsiderable cost of it , especially with the keyboard
I got fed up with android/apple tabs being ok for surfing the web and reading email , but rubbish at doing anything that you would normally use a PC for. The surface pro 3 is the answer.
I looked at one recently and thought it is far too expensive for what it is. The keyboard is not great IMO and is too expensive. I think something like a Macbook Air would be a better buy. Yes, the screen doesn't have the same high resolution, but it's a more usable device.
You do have the whole Appleness of it, but you soon get used to that and the supplied Word and Excel type software can save in Word and Excel formats. You could even run Windows on it if you want, using parallels.
i ended up buying a Macbook Pro Retina 13 inch, but that is probably beyond your budget. I also changed my requirements during my decision making.
I have one (the i5 256GB version) and have been very impressed. Considered a MacBook Air but I like the touchscreen and the pen. The keyboard is fine - backlit and easy enough to get up a decent speed if a bit clicky.
The screen is infinitely better than the MacBook equivalent and considering what you're getting it seems fair value for money. Compared to an iPad, sure, it's expensive - but it's not an iPad.
I have an original Surface Pro 128GB first generation. Bought it cheap 3 months ago and its now become my device of choice over iPad and Desktop PC.
The proper USB port, full desktop programs and a great screen make it a delight to use.
Only three areas I would change on my SP-one and these have been addressed on the SP3...namely: kickstand, battery life, trackpad on keyboard.
I will be getting a SP3 (or SP4 when it comes out!) at some point, the speed and usability is brill.
We have 5 now in our company (MS partner so plenty of fans, and users of the previous gens), my current customer are trialling them as a VIP option and I've met a few others with them. All very happy indeed. I'm trying to get the company to buy me one, and my wife is tempted to get one herself.
The screen is lovely, mostly thanks to the aspect ratio which is quite a bit taller than the typical widescreen laptops. Notetaking in Onenote with the pen is superb. Touch stuff in Windows is slowly getting there (I have a Venue 8 Pro which is surprisingly OK to use without a mouse or pen most of the time), although the store apps are still pretty sparse and there's still not a proper touch-aware version of Office.
Downsides - while the new kickstand and keyboards are much better for lap use, it's still not a great experience for that; not just the hinge but also the length needed (the bottom of the stand needs to be on your knees too). There's nowhere to store the pen so it's easily lost. There were a few glitchy problems around wifi, cursors disappearing, etc particularly when waking from sleep - although there was a big batch of updates a week or two that is supposed to fix a lot of that.
The WiFi is pretty fast when it works (though only to a max of about 200Mbps over AC, but can be really flaky after resuming from sleep. Particularly bad with open hotspots.
It's not a deal breaker but it is bloody annoying.
The WiFi is pretty fast when it works (though only to a max of about 200Mbps over AC, but can be really flaky after resuming from sleep. Particularly bad with open hotspots.
Seems fixed with the firmware update that was released on last Tuesday.
I ended up getting the 128gb i5 model - it's a great bit of kit. Works well as a tablet and a laptop - I actually like Windows 8.1 too!
I've a 3 Pro just replaced my work laptop with one, really pleased with it, low weight, lovely screen it's a really nice bit of tech.
I am just about to replace my Lenovo X220 with a SP3. I have looked at both the new MacBook Air and the Lenovo X240, but the SP3 comes out on top. Great screen size and resolution, works better in a Windows office environment than the MacBook, the form factor for note taking is better for business meetings, pen is a useful tool. Combines some of the iPad features into an Ultrabook for more usability. The iPad is great for consumption of information and the SP3 can also create.
They are great, I'm still very pleased with mine. Its the best of both worlds, a tablet when all you want to do is read web pages, watch films etc, or a fully blown filly featured powerful pc when you need one.