Surface Pro 3: Review
In this post I will be reviewing the Microsoft Surface Pro 3. About a month ago, I got the core i5, 256G SSD, 8GB RAM version with type-cover. And I won’t make you read to the bottom to give you my overall conclusion: this device is freaking amazing! Let me tell you how came to that realization.
Why the Surface Pro 3?
For some time I’ve been looking for the ideal device to supplement my desktop PC. I wanted a device that I could read a book or the news on while I’m sitting on the couch, a device I could use as an office suite at e.g. the library or which I could program on while sitting in a coffeeshop. Normally, that would be two devices: one tablet for casual use and a laptop or powerbook for more serious applications. But I was being headstrong. Surely, I thought, in this day and age it should be so hard to have one device that does both?
So I looked at what was on offer. Something light and small enough to comfortably use in any circumstance, but with enough power to do serious work on. That naturally led to the MacBook. Which I seriously considered buying, were it not for two things. For one, I prefer freedom and customizability over usability and prettiness, which is why the last time I tried to use OSX we didn’t get along. And for another, I just don’t like the laptop/powerbook form-factor because it has an integrated keyboard. I know hardware keyboards are often useful, but when I don’t want to type I want to be able to get rid of it.
So, this being the year of the supersized tablets, I bought a Samsung Galaxy Note 12 and a bluetooth keyboard. Surely this device should be able to handle all of my needs? As it turned out, not so much. The hardware was up to it, I think, but not the OS.
So when the Surface Pro 3 came out with full-on Windows 8 rather than Windows RT, it was love at first sight. It’s light, it’s reasonably thin, it has a built-in kickstand, and it packs hardware comparable to what you’d find in a MacBook. It has a type-cover that you can attach and detach at will. And it comes with a pen as well. Not that I’m a serious digital artist (I merely dabble), but at this point it was just icing on the cake. The price was a bitter pill to swallow, I’ll admit. But I was looking for the best, and willing to pay for it.
So how did it work out?
It worked out great! I’ve had the device with me on a number of trips. I’ve used my Surface on trains, buses, in coffeeshops, from my couch and in bed. I’ve watched movies on it, written code on it, played a cool RPG on it, written blog posts on it. In short: it does everything I could want it to do, and it’s supremely comfortable to use.
The Windows Store was able to provide me with apps which fulfilled my basic needs. But the best part is that I’m not restricted to using only these apps. If I want to transfer some files, I can use Filezilla. If I want to work on my Rails application, I can start up Aptana. If I need to test something on Linux, I can use VMWare Player. Yes, you heard it right: I’m running VM’s on a slate device. If you don’t think that’s cool as hell, you may as well give up now because we will never see eye to eye on anything.
Once I was convinced that this was the device for me, I got myself some accessories: a small USB hub, an ethernet adapter, an adapter that offers displayport, DVI and HDMI. Then I took all of these with me to work. I hooked up the charger, an external monitor, a full-size keyboard and a USB mouse and I copied the VM holding the application I’d been working on for a client. And presto: I was doing my professional application development on a 1.76 pounds (800 g) tablet!
I’ve also gotten the base station at home and hooked it up to my monitor, a second mouse and a bluetooth keyboard. If I hadn’t recently bought a new desktop PC, I would be using my Surface as my main desktop system as well. For now I run Linux on my main desktop PC and use the Surface for Windows-only software like certain games.
But there you have it: it’s a big investment, but it will get you a single device to replace your desktop PC, your laptop and your tablet (and if you’re willing to use only Skype it could even replace your phone)! Remember those dreams we had of a SciFi-like future where every person could have a single personal device that could interface with anything and be used for anything? That day is here.
