nkedel

At the low end of the market, a lot of tablets simply aren't offered with 3G or LTE; other the iPad Air and Nexus 7, I can't think of a 7 inch or 8 inch offered unlocked, and most carriers offer at most one or two options in that range.

I really, really want a Tab Pro 8.4 unlocked LTE, and it's not available in the US; the Note 8 is only available as a locked model from AT&T.

wco81

The $2000 SKU probably isn't high volume.

nkedel

I'm fairly sure the volume (edited) will drop off very quickly with cost, although in practice people who want to do serious work with it will probably aim for the $1299 model (i5, 8gb RAM, 128gb storage.)

Interestingly, the prices showing on the Microsoft Store pre-order page are $50 higher than previously announced, and only the i5 models will be available Day 1 (June 20th) with the i7 and i3 models coming at the end of August.

I wonder if that means they expect the $999 base i5 model to be the volume one, and the i3 to be more of a lower-volume teaser price.

wco81

Maybe those will be Broadwells coming in August.

Would be late in the life of Haswell to be shipping then.

nkedel

Haswell refresh is only just starting to ship, and Broadwell is late. No Broadwells will be out in August or in time for back to school. They're promising Broadwell in Q4, "in time for the holidays" but even there it wouldn't surprise me if it's just selected models at first, and at least for Haswell the very low power tablet processors were one of the last sets to arrive.

Microwave

Do any FlyerTalkers out there actually have a Surface Pro 3 and are using it regularly? I'm keen to order one when I'm next in the USA, but really want to hear what regular travellers think of it. While reviews can be quite helpful, the frame of reference isn't always useful to me; in other words, I don't care how much better it is than the Surface Pro 2, or even whether it's good against a MacBook Air. I do care what a regular traveller thinks of it, as that fits my demographic better.

In case it matters, my intended use pattern is to have two docks, one at work and one at home, and the unit will spend roughly 75% of its life in one of those docks. When not, I'll be going to/from client meetings, where portability is very useful and most of what I'm doing is delivering presentations or taking notes. At the moment I go on all work trips with my MacBook Pro and iPad Air, and my goal with the Surface Pro 3 would be to be able to do all my MacBook stuff on it (MS Office content creation, email, web browsing, note taking, light games like Civ 5 and Sim City) and do all my iPad stuff on it (Media consumption with VLC or Plex both online and offline, time waster touch games like sudoku or Mahjong solitaire, email, web browsing).

nkedel

Have they actually started delivering ones ordered via the Microsoft store?

One of my coworkers is a huge Microsoft Fanboi (yes, just like the Apple ones, they exist) and ordered one from the Microsoft store as soon as they were available for order. I would have expected him to bring it in to work to show off when he got it, and I haven't seen it yet.

Internaut

Some business customers I think (couple of case studies knocking about). Reviews so far have been promising. Now that Apple have ceased development of Aperture, I'm considering a move back to Windows, and Surface 3 is utmost tempting (and I've been impressed with Windows 8.1, on my Asus T100).

Mrtrash757

Im kinda :S about it. Personally, a Air is cheaper for me and has more battery life. Either way though I cant get either right now :P

Windows 8.1 is nice, and I am sure it runs better on the Pro than my low spec "laptop". I just don't like how the keyboard is extra, and it has shorter battery life than the Air.

Microwave

In my case, I'm less concerned about spend than I am about being able to replace two pieces of equipment that I invariably carry around with me anyway (laptop and tablet) with one. Since my laptop is only rarely used outside of a dock, its ability to function as a proper laptop is really secondary to its portability and utility as an entertainment consumption device and tablet. Since the original iPad with case wasn't too big for me, I'm hoping the Surface Pro 3 will also not be too big and serve both purposes. In my case any merging of the two units would have to take on the tablet form factor.

Need

While the Surface Pro 3 could replace your laptop; it really could not replace your iPad Air. Windows tablet is no where near as good as Android tablet or iPads. It is not just the amount of apps, but the quality of the apps also. Take Kindle app for example. Say you have an ebook you want to send wirelessly to a device. You can send it to a Anrdoid device. You can send it to any Kinidle device. You can send it to any iOS device. You CANNOT send it to a Windows 8.1 device.

I have a Win 8.1 tablet which I only use as a travel laptop replacement. But if I want to replace the iPad, I would rather use my 5.5" Galaxy Note II. Maybe in 2 years.. the Windows apps could catch up to Google and Apple...

wco81

I think the tablet is still heavier and thicker and there's a fan.

Probably very difficult to use in bed ...

klevin99

I've been using a surface pro 3 since it came out. I preordered. It is a nice machine and I use it all the time, mostly in tablet mode. Fits nicely in my lap and the weight is great. 8.1 took a bit of getting used to but not too much. I use tablet and windows mode equally.

IsleOfMan

I'm not sure about the "can't use it in bed" argument. I've had iPad 1st gen, 3 Android tablets, an Asus T100, and now an original Surface... I could/can use all of them equally well in bed. I also use my original Surface more as a tablet (usually in bed) than I do as a laptop, though when I travel it is used 50/50 and makes an excellent single-device for travel. Now, my usage of the Surface Pro is probably 75% browser, 15% Outlook 2013, and 10% Metro Apps... my iPad/Android usage was probably closer to 50% browser and 50% apps. When traveling, the Outlook/Office usage probably jumps to 40% while the browser usage drops to 50% and the app usage stays right around 10%.

So far my only real complaint in terms of missing Windows Metro apps is Pulse News Reader, but News Bento has been an adequate substitute... and I got my Asus T100 about 1-week after LinkedIn acquired Pulse and pulled the Pulse app, otherwise that wouldn't even be a complaint for me.

wco81

If you're lying on your back and you hold the tablet above your head, how long can you do it with the Surface Pro?

If you can do it for more than a minute or two, you must have Popeye strength.