So how about that Microsoft Surface?

[Madmya]

Ohhh my bad. I thought you were saying you needed a new laptop and were thinking of the surface, but the games just aren't as good as the iPad which is putting you off. Just seemed odd because if you were getting the Pro (which I assumed) it opens up steam and emulators.

As for the RT version, agreed, it'll never be as good as an iPad in terms of games. Carry on!

P.S. Will be preordering the i7 256gb. Come onnnnnn August 31!

[GeneraL CyberFunK]

Oh I'd be getting a Pro... but then again.. there aren't many PC games that interest me.. I dunno.. I just feel meh about gaming atm.

[General Chaos]

Well after visiting the Microsoft Store in Honolulu and deciding I couldn't wait another month. I popped out to Best Buy and got an i5 8GB/256GB SP3 wit exclusive navy type cover. Fucking America and their exclusive colorways!

Best Buy were kind enough to match the MS 10% edu discount and when I get home I will put in my salary sacrifice which I confirmed pre purchase would be ok.

First impressions are:

1. It is as thin as the old RT and not much heavier
2. The screen is very nice and a big improvement over the already good pro 2
3. The scratchpad on the typecover 3 is almost as good as a macbook pad and leapyears better than the tyepcover 2
4. The ntrig pen is far more accurate in the corners of the display and a big improvement over the old sp2 pen in terms of feel (not an artist so cant comment further)
5. I am liking the extra realestate and 3:2 format of the screen.

[jizzlobber]

My touch cover doesn't work any more, no dramas with the daughters type cover so it ain't the surface.

So I look at the priced for a new touch or type cover... fuck me are they expensive!?
Not sure what to so, I only have an original RT, not keen on buying a keyboard which is as expensive as the device itself

[General Chaos]

2 yr warranty might still cover it?

[Scullibundo]

Well after visiting the Microsoft Store in Honolulu and deciding I couldn't wait another month. I popped out to Best Buy and got an i5 8GB/256GB SP3 wit exclusive navy type cover. Fucking America and their exclusive colorways!

Best Buy were kind enough to match the MS 10% edu discount and when I get home I will put in my salary sacrifice which I confirmed pre purchase would be ok.

First impressions are:

1. It is as thin as the old RT and not much heavier
2. The screen is very nice and a big improvement over the already good pro 2
3. The scratchpad on the typecover 3 is almost as good as a macbook pad and leapyears better than the tyepcover 2
4. The ntrig pen is far more accurate in the corners of the display and a big improvement over the old sp2 pen in terms of feel (not an artist so cant comment further)
5. I am liking the extra realestate and 3:2 format of the screen.

I've been hearing that there's problems with the surface connecting to wifi. Impressions?

[GeneraL CyberFunK]

I'm still kicking around with my original RT. Its still zippy for web browsing and stuff. It only has issues when dealing with Excel and the like.

[General Chaos]

Well after visiting the Microsoft Store in Honolulu and deciding I couldn't wait another month. I popped out to Best Buy and got an i5 8GB/256GB SP3 wit exclusive navy type cover. Fucking America and their exclusive colorways!

Best Buy were kind enough to match the MS 10% edu discount and when I get home I will put in my salary sacrifice which I confirmed pre purchase would be ok.

First impressions are:

1. It is as thin as the old RT and not much heavier
2. The screen is very nice and a big improvement over the already good pro 2
3. The scratchpad on the typecover 3 is almost as good as a macbook pad and leapyears better than the tyepcover 2
4. The ntrig pen is far more accurate in the corners of the display and a big improvement over the old sp2 pen in terms of feel (not an artist so cant comment further)
5. I am liking the extra realestate and 3:2 format of the screen.

I've been hearing that there's problems with the surface connecting to wifi. Impressions?

Wifi seems good. Only really thrashed it at the hotel. Will get a better feel for it starting from today when I get home.

I heard the latest FW update fixed the wifi stability issues so I'm expecting no dramas.

My biggest worry will be if the have resolved the constant locking up resuming from standby that my SP2 suffered. Again I think that was resolved with later revisions of the device. My beat up SP2 is heading in for warranty before being either sold or passed on to my Wife to replace her trusty RT.

[General Chaos]

Edit: FIXED!! Disabled bluetooth and restarted, Wifi now cranking along. I now loose one note button (the horror) until a fix is released. Too bad if you want to use a BT KB/Mouse etc though.

Edit 2: I got another hardware update from win updates and turned BT back on for shits and giggles. All sorted now


Original Rant:
OK wifi is fucked! Stability is fine but it is slow as fuck. both on 2.4 and 5ghz


Will have a play in a bit and see if I can fix it but it is all over the place and not even remotely close to maxing my 25/5 nbn connection that my SP2 yawns at.

[Mavy]

How is the SP3 going. Been thinking about getting one but have heard about a few issues with WiFi and battery life. Also I keep reading about people who have managed to get jb to match the 10% student discount but so far I haven't had any luck. Any major reasons I should steer clear?

[Cletus]

Avoid if you hate Windows 8 or if you hate freedom.

[Mavy]

I actually like Windows 8 as a tablet interface and the limitations of iOS annoy me but I'm more interested in the hardware.

[General Chaos]

Oh missed this. I'm loving mine nothing but good things to say.

[Scullibundo]

I wish there were some reports on how it handles heavy video editing. I would jump on one right now if I knew it could handle heavy shit in Premiere.

[Mavy]

I caved and grabbed one tonight. The screen ratio is great. Who would have thought we would have stomped our feet for 16:9 for so long only to move away from it and be happy.

Only used it for about 15 min so far. So much has synced automatically from my main pc. Easy.

[Madmya]

I wish there were some reports on how it handles heavy video editing. I would jump on one right now if I knew it could handle heavy shit in Premiere.

Does this help? (i have no clue what you need)

http://blog.surface.com/2014/10/new-ado ... ive-cloud/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Scullibundo]

That's a concept video of what they hope to achieve in the future. It does get me hard though, but doesn't really answer my question heh.

[Rorschach]

I'm sold on the Surface now. I don't need a laptop for gaming and the programs I run (Photoshop/Lightroom/Perfect Photo) don't need monster specs but a high res screen and quick response. I didn't realise how close the top end Surface is to the MacBook Pro, it's just the size of the screen which is not a huge thing. I used to be a massive Apple supporter but they've priced themselves into neo-yuppie territory with un-upgradeable hardware. I'm hoping with Windows 10 out shortly and a Broadwell upgrade a Surface Pro 4 will be out at the end of year.

[Scullibundo]

We're hoping the same thing Rorsch.

I'm also hoping MS at least get a fucking clue and include the keyboard this time.

[Cletus]

They do and have from the start.

It's in the bottom right of your task bar.

[Rorschach]

Yeah, the keyboard cover is a bit of a rip at nearly an extra $100. I'd hope they'd include some more I/O ports too, at least two USB ports, HDMI and Mini Display. Just wait and see.

[Madmya]

So how about that Surface 3 announced overnight (not to be confused with the Surface Pro 3). Features the new Intel Atom x7 which importantly opens up the ability to use regular Windows as opposed to that Windows RT thing they had going. Pen support is in too. $699 is the price point in Australia I believe, I think this could actually be a hit. Although I have thought that before...

[GeneraL CyberFunK]

So.. What exactly are. The differences between the pro and this newly announced surface?

[lestat]

Finally MS has a surface I WANT!

I could never justify the expense of the pro since I have a decent desktop, the RT ones were too crippled. I was waiting for MS to finally release something Atom based, I currently use a transformer t100, it's a great device except I wish the screen was higher res, the baytrail processor was always fast and lag free for me.

This new updated cherrytrail surface hits all the right spots, I'm not in a huge rush but I'm keen.

[Scullibundo]

Can't believe that not only are they still not including the motherfucking keyboard, but now they have the gall to charge separately for the stylus. The two major marketing points of theirs aren't even included with the device lol. $699 almost sounds like a cheap option for a light-use portable hybrid pc, until you add the extra $230 to actually get what they're advertising. $930 for a gimped system that will struggle to run Photoshop is ridiculous.

Anyway, I'm hanging out for the Surface Pro 4. Absolutely can't wait for it. Hoping they'll have the SkyLake processor. Will likely launch alongside Windows 10 in August. Already got $500 worth of Westfield gift cards saved away to put towards it.