Does anyone have any opinions as a Surface 3 as a tablet augmented with AmiDuos and a current version of Android? I'm not looking to replace my work horse, but want a good travel machine which can double duty as a tablet and a PC. My needs are word processing, email, uploading documents to a client portal etc. My wordprocessing duties are normally light, but I'm an attorney and an emergency motion with legal research on the device could occasionally be needed when s hits the fan.

Trying to determine why you'd do this? Even when running Android, it is still powering a high power CPU so the downsides of the Surface are still present, even when on Android.

The only upside (and one I'm guessing you are after) is usability - even with Windows 10, Surface still isn't that good a tablet. Have you considered doing it the other way around - a good high power Android tablet, and remote desktop into a Windows environment?

We ran trials at my firm and determined the Pro 3 can be used in lieu of a laptop (not everyone would want to - but if you want to the Pro 3 will suffice). The non-pro model did not suffice.

Before you go any further you need to ensure that AMI Duos will run on the Surface 3. It won't run on a lot of Atom devices because the Atom variant either doesn't support VT-x or it just isn't enabled in the BIOS.

It's also pretty memory hungry.

I found AMIDuos a rather painful experience on much more powerful (i7) hardware; I can't recommend it, and I haven't found any other Android-on-Windows solution that holds out much hope for a non-developer (the Chrome extension "Arc Welder" has some promise if you're willing to hack things up.) IOW: If you need native Android apps and can't find either a Windows Modern or desktop version of the application, you're better off getting an Android tablet.

As for the Surface 3, it's slow; the processor is slow but tolerable if you're the patient sort, but the eMMC they use instead of the SSD is potentially the real killer. The 2gb of memory is potentially a big issue if you multitask, although it's manageable for casual use.

If you run a limited set of applications, or are mainly browsing, then it's probably going to be OK (again, if you're patient); if you run anything disk-intensive or memory-intensive... uh, ouch.

I'd imagine the 4GB version would be a good bit better at multitasking and the extra memory might also help mask some of the disk performance (for that matter, the 128GB eMMC -- I think it's always 2gb/64gb or 4gb/128gb?) might perform just little better... but the one I had a chance to evaluate for an afternoon was the base 2GB version, so I can't say for sure.

My job is switching many of us over to the Surface Pro 3. It started in one department and has spread. Paired with a docking station at the desk and the MS keyboard while in the field - it works pretty well as an all-around machine.

The new(er) Surface, I am not so sure about.

The fact that the Surface 3 takes an age to charge made it a complete non-starter at my company.

My wife has an original Surface Pro and it runs AmiDOS fine, but you're correct that even though the Atoms are much faster than the old ones, at their heart they are still an Atom. I wasn't aware of the compromise on the harddrive. My concern is that the Surface Pro seems too big for a tablet and I want something that would fit in a man bag. I've looked at the Chinese hybrid devices and they don't seem to have it right.

Look at this video which gives it a pretty good review on a regular Surface:


Listen particularly at time stamp at timestamp 7:10 (Surface, not Pro) and 8:52 virtualization kicks on following a reboot but you get the original message that virtualization is a problem.

I like that the Surface 3 can be charged from an ordinary power bank which includes coach seats on many planes or cigarette lighters in many cars. Unlike many people, my draw to the Surface 3 is not money. I'm willing to pay i7 prices for the format of my choice.

Here is a good review of the device:


I've seen some discussions of the Cube i7 which I'm thinking about as well, but I also like the finish a ton. I'm a Mac guy and kind of disappointed with the iPad Pro which I had been waiting for.

I don't know of a reasonably capable 10-11", sub 1.5lb Windows tablet.

There are a number of 11" convertibles that reasonably compact, slightly more capable, and at least a bit cheaper (once you account for the cost of a keyboard on the Surface 3, but as they're flip-around models where you're stuck with the keyboard out of the way but still attached in tablet mode, you're dealing with a much thicker and heavier machine.

For my use -- primarily as a backup/travel notebook, only secondarily as a tablet, that would be fine (although my Dell is a dockable.) The problem with both my Dell (Venue 11 Pro) and the Cube i7 is that both are just as heavy as the Surface Pro 3. If cost is the issue, the Dell is great (Surface Pro 3 guts for $400 when I got it) but it's thicker than the SP3, and has a smaller screen without being much more compact in terms of the screen footprint.

I love my Surface Pro 3 - it's a real workhorse when I'm on the road. I do occasionally use it in Tablet mode. This is massively improved with Windows 10 but is still not entirely satisfactory as the sensitivity of the screen towards the edges is lacking (or perhaps my fingers are lacking) so I end up doing a lot of fruitless poking when I'm trying to change settings etc.

As a side note, my wife and I were returning on the train last night and we both wanted to watch some recorded stuff on iPlayer. She struggled to get her iPad into a decent position for viewing whereas my Surface Pro3 was perfect, operating in tablet mode with kickstand out.

The rumor mill has Microsoft announcing updates to the Surface line as early as next week, so you might want to hold off on any purchasing decisions until then.

Hence why there's a discount on (at least in Canada)

I'm watching and anticipating the Surface 4 Pro, but no one is predicting a Surface 4 right now. Predictions are a 12 inch model and a 14 inch model. I am wondering if there will be an LTE model announced.

I have had reasonably good luck with AMIDuOs on my Asus T100TAM (Atom Z3775, 2gb RAM) but the only thing I was really using it for was Pulse News Reader. I've thought about firing it back up since it's been updated to Lollipop to try using the Amazon Prime Video download support, but I haven't tried it yet.

Depending on how much actual productivity tasks you plan on doing, I'd possibly consider a device with a clamshell keyboard instead of the keyboard cover. This was actually why I moved away from the original Surface Pro and back to the less powerful T100TAM (after having upgraded to the Surface Pro from the original T100TA).

Based on my experience with the T100TAM I'd say either save a SIGNIFICANT amount of money and get one refurbished, or wait for the T100HA which will include the same internals as the Surface 3 in a clamshell form factor for ~$300. When the T100HA refurbs start trickling out in early-mid '16 I'll probably upgrade my T100TAM.

Google's new Pixel C is one sexy beast.