Putting the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Through The Meatgrinder

You've seen the snappy commercials and the product comparisons. You've read the reviews.  Here’s one guys unpaid and admittedly unsolicited feedback on the Surface Pro 3.  I don’t pretend to be a Surface expert; as such there may be errors in what follows.  More likely, there will be features called out that aren't unique to the Pro 3.  Let this stand as my disclaimer that I’m reviewing an experience not necessarily just a product.  Please keep this in mind and be gentle dear reader. 

The Surface Pro 3 is billed as “the tablet that can replace your laptop”.  As a guy that loads up every day with a Lenovo laptop and an iPad and uses both regularly throughout the day, it was hard not to be intrigued by that bold statement.  With an i5 Processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of SSD space, it certainly seems feasible; the RAM was actually an increase over my Lenovo, and the SSD was obviously a big improvement over my traditional hard drive, even if I sacrificed 256GB in actual space in the process.  I considered the i7 but in the end decided that it wasn't worth the extra 300 bucks for what I was going to use it for. 

This isn’t a cheap device.  At $1299 USD out of the box, this is a pricy bit of technology; add in a keyboard, which is a must have if you’re really going to replace a laptop, and a mouse and you’re in for about 1500 bucks right out of the gate.  Interestingly, it feels like a quality device.  While long, slim, and light, the Surface Pro 3 also feels like it is well made.  The metal casing seems as though it will stand the test of time and the glass display feels tough and durable.  The kickstand feels as though it’s not going to loosen up on me over time either. 

The jury is still out on the keyboard.  The form factor is of course designed to complement the Surface Pro 3 and the result is a keyboard that feels like it is just an inch or two too short.  You do get used to this fairly quickly, but from time to time I do find myself wishing for just a little more room for my hands.  The keys are responsive and I am having some trouble getting used to them- I tend to mash them harder than they need to be pressed, which makes for some loud typing from time to time when I really get going, like I am right now.  I also find that I prefer to have the keyboard lay flat on a surface as opposed to at an angle- it just doesn't feel sturdy enough to withstand my key mashing when it is not fully supported.  I’m sure its fine, but there’s just a bounce in response to keystrokes that I’m not fond of when it is angled. 

When angled there’s a bounce to using the keyboard that I find off-putting

The Surface mouse is just really really cool.  With a flexible design, it contours really well to the palm of your hand and it’s just so lightweight and comfortable to use that I don’t know that I could ever go back to another mouse full time.  It then lays flat for storage- which is again for lack of a better adjective, cool.  Even if you don’t have a Surface, I strongly recommend this mouse for any road warrior laptop user. 

Just look at that contour!

Flattened out, the mouse is ready to get tossed in your laptop case and head home for the day

I haven’t used the pen very much as for right now I prefer using my keyboard for OneNote.  One truly baffling thing about the Surface Pro 3 is that the pen is attached to the keyboard.  OK, so let’s say that I want to go Tablet Mode for a meeting.  I detach the keyboard and guess what I’m also leaving behind?  Yep, the pen.  It’s just perplexing that they couldn't think of a better place to put it.

Why in the world would you attach the pen here?

Setting up the Surface Pro 3 is relatively simple.  There are the usual annoyances of getting Windows 8.1 to work the way you want it to work- booting to the desktop, for example, or the constant playing around with the tiles that seems to happen for the first couple of weeks.  Installing Office 2013, Visio and Project 2013 were simple exercises, which is of course as it should be.  The display is clear and bright- watching videos is actually better on the Surface Pro 3 than it is on my iPad with Retina display.  The speakers are clear and fairly loud; they’re free of distortion and I’m guessing music will sound pretty good on them as well. 

I haven’t been able to kill the Surface Pro 3 yet, even with multiple Excel workbooks and Project files open simultaneously.  The Surface is quick and responsive- the SSD is a marked improvement over my first experience with SSDs a couple of years ago.  The 8GB of RAM seems sufficient and the i5 holds its own.  The Surface Pro 3 does have a fan in it interestingly enough.  You’ll hear it kick in when you really get a few processes going at once or even install multiple updates.  The fan is rather loud and takes some getting used to although I will say I haven’t heard it kick in since the first couple of days that I was putting the Surface through its paces so either I’m used to it or its holding up better now that it has had a chance to break in a little bit. 

Split screen isn't a feature of the Surface of course, but I will say that I haven’t been able to use it quite like I can now.  Picture opening a Project plan in one pane and a PPT in another.  You need to see what is in the PPT and transcribe it to your Project file.  Because you’re viewing the PPT in one half of a 12” display, it’s a little tough to see what you’re doing.  No problem.  Simply do a finger swipe on the PPT screen and presto!  The text is enlarged on that side of the screen only.  I can’t tell you how handy this one feature is, and it isn't something I've been able to do with other devices. 

Notice how small the slide is?  Check this out:

Now I can see the task names and resources to plug in.  And my Project side stay the same size

I haven’t found a single thing after a month of use that I can’t do on the Surface Pro 3 that I could do on my laptop.  And I’m doing it with a significantly smaller form factor.  And I’m also doing it on a really cool looking device.  I can’t say the same thing when making the comparison with my iPad.  What’s interesting to me is that it is billed as a tablet.  In my opinion, it isn’t really a tablet at all, except for sometimes.  Want to rent a movie from iTunes, download it and watch it on a plane.  Sorry, you can’t.  Apple sees that Windows OS and decides that you’re on a computer.  Like Clash of the Clans or for those of you reading this in the future The-Latest-And-Greatest-Game-For-Mobile-Devices-Of-The-Month-That-You’re-Reading_This?  That’s great.  You can’t play on your Surface (Yes, yes, OK, I know that you can install an Android simulator and do it that way. But you can’t go to the Windows Store and install the App).  The reason is the same- those games aren't designed to run on a Windows OS.  This is an annoyance really and nothing more, but I do wish that it were different so I could get rid of the iPad. 

With that said, there are a ton of “apps” available via the store.   And some of them will make your Surface Pro 3 work like a tablet, even if you really wish that it wouldn't.  Take the Citrix Receiver app as an example.  Even if you download the proper files to run Citrix from a website, the second that you install the app everything routes through it and if you've used the Citrix Receiver app on an iPad you’ll understand that that just isn’t the ideal way to use Citrix.  What I don’t get is that there is a Facebook app, but not one for LinkedIn.  There’s one for ESPN Fantasy Football, but not for Yahoo Sports Fantasy Football.  It’s just hit or miss and like I said a little weird. 

I need to keep playing with it to see if I can make it replace my iPad entirely eventually.

In the end, after a month of steadily increasing use, I have replaced my Lenovo with the Surface Pro 3 for day to day work use.  My iPad does still make appearances from time to time, but mostly for the games.  The small form factor, performance, and Cool factor make the Surface Pro 3 worthy of your consideration.  The flexibility of using it as a tablet is an added bonus.  I recommend the Surface Pro 3 for professionals that carry their office with them wherever they go.  I’d be hard pressed to recommend it for personal use as there are other options out there that are cheaper that can do many of the same things, just not as well. 

Arbitrary rating system score:  The Surface Pro 3 gets 4 Footballs out of 5 on the Fowler scale.  


12042014:  Update:  I've created a second post with some additional SP3 thoughts,  Click here to read it.