Microsoft Surface (none Pro) 3? Anyone
 

Well I'm surprised this hasn't made a wave or two in Travel Tech:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03...ce_fondleslab/

First thoughts? I think I like it! Well, notwithstanding the quality of some universal apps* and absence of others, I think this could be Microsoft's breakout consumer*** tablet.

* I'm looking at you, Kindle and Evernote.

** BBC iPlayer, where are you (and no, the web based facility is rubbish on my Asus T100).

*** Not to mention a potentially ideal tablet *and* spare laptop, for the professional who has to lug a corporate Dell around.

That's really good value for money. Though the Surface Pro 3 i3 at $799 wasn't a bad deal either. It only got ludicrous once you opted for the faster configurations.

Only possible issue is with the screen and touchpad sizes. Will have to try it out in real life to say for sure, but they seem a tad small for a laptop. I hated the 10.6 inch netbooks but found the 11.6 inch Macbook Air pretty tolerable.

The Atom x7 in this is really making a mockery out of the Core M processors that cost triple the price but don't really give much of a tangible boost in speed!

As for me getting one though... my partner who works at a fruit company that shall not be named would give me a rough time. So maybe I'll pass and stick to the iOS kyriarchy for now ;)

Isn't it just an Atom version of Surface Pro 2?

I probably would have bought this 2 months ago when I was ready to replace my original Surface Pro... and definitely would have bought it a year and a half ago when I saw what the Atom z3xxx-powered tablets (like the original T100TA) could do in that form factor.

That said, having gone from a T100TA to a Surface Pro and back to a T100TAM (metal back version with newer processor), I probably would have still been unhappy with the kickstand form factor given its lack of versatility on airline tray tables.

The T100 delivered fantastic capability for the money, and I still use mine. I have two longstanding reservations thougn:

• Out of necessity, the keyboard is a heavy
• Local storage and main memory.

The Surface addresses both of these complaints. When I did a dummy preorder, today, I found that Microsoft will supply a 128Gb model, with 4Gb of main memory. From what I've read of the new Atoms, this would allow me to run Oracle Virtualbox + my Linux engineering (and hacking/tinkering and learning) VMs with ease.

Have you tried using OneNote instead of Evernote? The skydrive integration is pretty good and the surface pen works really well with that app.

You should be able to install the desktop version of BBC iplayer on this surface, as it runs regular windows.

In regards to the keyboard, the weight is something I've not taken issue with because it's eliminated the problem of some tray tables not allowing enough depth for both the kickstand AND comfortable typing on the Surface Pro. It happened enough, especially in F/exit-row/bulkhead when a sliding or armrest tray-table didn't allow you to prop the screen up on the seat in front of you.

As for local storage, I do pretty decent with the 64gb model, but did strongly consider the 32gb + 500gb (in the keyboard) model. I decided against it because I'd done just fine with 64gb on the Surface Pro and MicroSD expansion is fine for media (I don't install much past Office and a few Modern UI apps). For what it sounds like you're doing, though, I can definitely see the appeal of the 128gb SSD + 4gb RAM option.

Windows just STILL doesn't perform as well as a real tablet like an iPad or Android device.

When they still can't get basic things like the keyboard popping up, or scaling right, they are not ready to conquer the market. On my Surface Pro, I still have plenty of things I try to do that make me grab my "real" laptop.

Nope.

Built-in LTE
Charges via micro-USB
3:2 screen (like Surface Pro 3) instead of 16:9
Lighter and thinner
Active stylus support

The built-in LTE is the big thing to me.
The Surface 3 is basically an iPad competitor, while the Surface Pro is a MacBook competitor.

They basically took the best parts of the Surface (light weight, battery life) and added the best parts of the Surface Pro (standard Windows 8.1, active pen), then added the best parts of the IPad (charge from a USB port, LTE).

I don't know what you mean.
My Surface Pro 3 is my only work computer. I do everything on it, either mobile or at my desktop with an external keyboard and mouse and a 27in monitor.

I think it's important to be crisp about which model of the Surface Pro we're referring to, because in my mind there's a huge canyon of usability between the Surface Pro 1/Surface Pro 2, and the updated Surface Pro 3.

The Surface RT was ARM-based and ran a very limited subset of Windows apps. It had no pen support and a limited kickstand.

The "Surface 2", a sequel to the Surface RT, was also ARM-based and shared most of the same limitations.

The Surface Pro 1 and Surface Pro 2 had Intel CPUs and ran full Windows apps. But they were far too thick, had awkwardly shaped screens, and had kickstands with limited range of motion.

The Surface Pro 3 - in dramatic contrast with everything else - was in my mind a real winner. It shipped with a drastically thinner chassis, a beautiful high-res screen with a better aspect ratio, and - most importantly for me - a much-improved kickstand and type cover. With the docking station, it's the only computer I'm running my startup with, including full Adobe Creative Suite and Visual Studio duties.

The new Surface 3 is exciting because the design appears to be a hybrid: it's sized and priced like the Windows RT "Surface 2", but it loses many of its limitations and incorporates many elements of the Surface Pro 3 design.

I think all I'm trying to say is that if you had a bad experience with the Pro 1 or Pro 2, you should swing by a Microsoft store and check out the Pro 3 before lumping them together - they learned a LOT from the first two revisions. I think the old adage that Microsoft needs three versions to get anything right is definitely true in this case.