Surface Pro 3, or something else altogether?

Hi everyone,

I'm still in the market for a portable device that will let me be productive but also let me play some games. I posted earlier this year and got some great advice from all of you that the Surface Pro 3 may be the best match for me. In the past little while, my needs have changed slightly to include gaming and some basic poster design in Adobe, and I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything before jumping in with the Surface Pro 3.

Here is the info:

General Questions.

1. What is your budget?
$1500 or less. I was intending to buy the Surface Pro 3 i5 model with 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM as advised by the forum, which is around $1500. If I can get anything lower that would be awesome.

2. Would you consider purchasing used/refurbished?
Not keen on it.

3. Do you prefer a media/mobile tablet like the iPad, Windows tablet PC, or notebook convertible?
Full Windows 8 - this will be my only device for a while, so it will be my laptop, desktop and tablet for at least 1-3 years until I get a desktop if needed. I prefer lightweight and not too bulky so I can carry it in a messenger bag easily.

4. What size Tablet PC would you prefer?
•10 to 13-inches, but could go bigger too.

5. Which country do you intent to purchase from [where do you live]?
Canada

6. Do you have any preferences to brand loyalty or dislikes?
Not in particular.

7. How many hours battery life do you require?
7 and above would be great.

8. What will be the primary usage scenario of this tablet? (Email/Web Surfing/Drawing/Word Processing/Entertainment/Notetaking etc)
Once in a while hobbies:
- Comic strip drawing and inking in Adobe Illustrator CS6 and Manga Studio 5
- Comic stip colouring and drafting in Adobe Photoshop
- Making posters for community events in Adobe Illustrator CS6 and Adobe Photoshop - max size of posters is legal-sized paper.
- Playing PC games and emulator games from my retro systems with a game controller (e.g. GameCube, PSX, SNES, etc.)

Normal use:
Web surfing, video streaming, email, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel (very light spreadsheet stuff), Microsoft Powerpoint, OneNote, Annotate PDFs, read ePub books and comic books (.cbr, cbz)

9. Do you have an OS preference? For example, do you own an iPhone and a Mac, or are you a Windows fan? Do you own an Android device and use Google services frequently?
- Windows

10. What software and tasks do you intend to run? (Microsoft Office or other Word Processing Suite/Photoshop/3D Studio Max/Autocad etc)
- Adobe Illustrator CS6, Adobe Photoshop CS6, Manga Studio 5
- Web surfing, video streaming, email, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel (very light spreadsheet stuff), Microsoft Powerpoint, annotate PDFs, read ePub books and comic books (.cbr, cbz)

11. Do you intend on playing Games? If so please list.
Yes!
- Steam games
- PC Games (Sins of a Solar Empire, Starcraft 2, Tomb Raider, Mass Effect 1/2/3, Portal 2, Age of Empires, basically real-time strategy games, RPG games, and some first-person shooters like Halo, Unreal Tournament, Counterstrike, etc.). I would like to be able to run games that have been released in the past 5-ish years if possible. A console is my primary gaming platform but it would be nice to run some games on this although at a lesser level than a full-blown gaming laptop
- Emulator Games: GameCube (Dolphin), SNES, PSX

12. Would you like to stream content through your home theater system?
- Not necessary.

Screen Specifics

1. Any preference on screen resolution?
- Nope, once I can see icons well.

2. Will you be using the tablet outdoors? Do you need to be able to see it through glare from the sun?
- I will use it occasionally outdoors to draw

3. Do you require a pen? With or without pressure sensitivity? Do you prefer Wacom or N-trig?
- Yes, I require a pen. Don't mind Wacom or N-trig as long as it works well with the software I am using.

Component Specifics

1. What size Hard Drive and Memory do you require? Would you like expandable memory?
128GB minimum - either SSD or HDD
8 GB Ram minimum preferred

2. What sort of inputs do you require, if any? Would you like full-sized USB and SD card slots? Are microUSB and microSD ok? Do you require HDMI inputs?
- Full-sized USB 3.0, would be nice if it has more USB slots but I understand this is a limitation of portable tablet PCs.
- SD card slots (doesn't matter if it is full-sized)
- HDMI port
- Do I dare say CD/DVD drive? This is totally not necessary for a tablet, but someone suggests an ultrabook it would be a welcome addition.

Thanks everyone!

 

Try everything. Get something for 3weeks send back, get the other.
You might find that you like a large slab tablet better. Huion has the 610 pro to look at or Wacom has Intuos Large.

I'm trying the i3. I like it so much besides the pens size, I might not keep it and trade for the Huoin ips display, cause its large but its not large enough. As for a computer, Duknow, the samsung ativ or series 7 is selling cheaper now and is a robust little tablet still. Just needs a $7 folding stand.

 

Get something else, SP3 has too many problem, bad camera, heating issue, crap keyboard, one usb, N-trig etc

THe only redeeming quality imo is the screen, but then again, it's a overkill any way.

The thinkpad yoga.

 

My guess is you don't have the surface pro and have never tried it. Ask your expert advise us from reading ignorant tech blogs. Well I have the surface 3 i3 version and I don't seem to have any of those issues you mentioned. The back camera lacks auto focus but takes good pics.

 

How can a camera take good pics when it can not focus?!

i3 does not have heat issue, but nobody can live on 64gb (more like 15GB after installed OS and other essential programs).

 

When the surface have a 13.3 QHD Wacom screen, 13mp Camera with OIS, two USB ports. Than I might be interested. At the moment it's not for me for anyone who's serious about stylus accuracy.

 

Stylus is REEEEALY FREK"N Accurate. more so then the wacom tablets. 15 gigs is yeah SMALLLL if its your everyday comp.
But the stylus pin point is freaky. Yada yada other specs.

 

Another reason is that N-trig is not compatible with my Note II.

 

Not a deal breaker AT ALL.

Just because it may not be right for you, generalizing your problems isn't taking a third person very far...

I would say go for the i5/256 GB model, but you may also take a look at the new line ups from HP, Dell and Lenovo.

HP Pro x2 612
Dell Latitude 7000 2-in-1
Lenovo Helix '2'

They seem to be heavier (and more expensive), but come with Wacom technology...

 

Thanks for these suggestions - I'll look into them! I knew that Lenovo was coming out with the Helix 2 but haven't heard of the other 2. The HP one seems interesting. Thanks again!