- #MICROSOFT PRO 3 TABLET 1080P#
- #MICROSOFT PRO 3 TABLET BLUETOOTH#
- #MICROSOFT PRO 3 TABLET WINDOWS 8#
screen.Is the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 really the tablet that can replace your PC? That’s the fundamental proposition on which Microsoft is pinning its entire Surface tablet line. In other words, using desktop apps can be a crapshoot with the 12-in.
#MICROSOFT PRO 3 TABLET WINDOWS 8#
In addition, the SugarSync Windows 8 Store app lacked some of the most basic capabilities of the desktop app, so it wasn't a good alternative. True, I could always lower the desktop resolution to make it more readable, but when I did that, less space was available on screen for other apps. I found that the SugarSync desktop client, for example, was barely usable because of how small the type was. That's because, although Windows 8 Store apps (previously called Metro apps) can be zoomed in and out, not all desktop apps work with zoom. Zoom capabilities solved the problem, but not always. Text and images were at times too small to be read comfortably. That high resolution comes at a price, though.
But that wasn't the case at all - because of its 2160 x 1440 resolution, I was able to fit quite a bit on it. I had expected that it would feel cramped compared to my MacBook Air's 13.3-in. screen to be large enough to get whatever work I needed done, and the 3:2 aspect ratio was more comfortable than the 16:9 ratio of the Surface Pro 2. The Surface Pro 3 improves on that dramatically. And while its 16:9 aspect ratio was fine for watching movies and videos, it required far too much side-to-side scrolling to be suitable for work. At 10.6 in., there simply wasn't enough screen real estate for me to get real work done on spreadsheets or Word documents. One of the biggest problems I had with the previous-gen Surface Pro 2 as a laptop was its screen. And, of course, there's the Surface Pro Type Cover, which does double-duty as a cover and keyboard, and which costs an additional $130. There's also a $40 Ethernet adapter available. If you want to go whole hog, $1,949 buys you a Surface Pro 3 with an i7 processor, 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.Īccessories include a $200 docking station with a keyboard port, a DisplayPort, an audio input/output jack, an Ethernet port, one USB 3.0 port and three USB 2.0 ports. That gets you a device with an i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. It has been considerably improved - you are no longer limited to a few pre-set angles instead, you can set it to any angle between zero and 150 degrees, just as you can position the screen of a laptop.Īnd how much will all this cost? Even though it's a considerably better device than the Surface Pro 2, Microsoft has dropped the price of the Surface Pro 3 by $100, so it starts at $799. One especially useful feature is the kickstand, which comes standard as part of the Surface Pro 3. In the worst area in my home, where my iPhone gets no Wi-Fi and my MacBook Air gets it intermittently, the Surface always maintained its connection, albeit a slow one. Not only did it always connect well in public places such coffee shops, it even did well in what is often a dead zone in my house, an upstairs room fronting the street in which my home network connection is always iffy.
#MICROSOFT PRO 3 TABLET BLUETOOTH#
The device connects via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth I found that the Surface Pro 3's Wi-Fi connection is a very good one. And it comes with an interesting stylus more about that later.
#MICROSOFT PRO 3 TABLET 1080P#
There are front- and back-facing 5-megapixel cameras capable of 1080p video. There's the usual complement of ports, including a USB 3.0 port, microSD card reader and mini DisplayPort. Storage ranges from 64GB up to 512GB, and RAM from 4GB to 8GB. Depending on the model you choose, the device is powered by an Intel i3, i5 or i7 processor. That may not sound like much of a difference, but in use, it really matters (as I explain later in this review). deep and weighs 1.76 lb., compared to the Surface Pro 2's depth of 0.53 in. And it's quite spectacular, with 2160 x 1440 resolution and a 3:2 aspect ratio - more like a traditional computer's than the Surface Pro 2's aspect ratio of 16:9.ĭespite the larger screen, the Surface Pro 3 is thinner and lighter than the Surface Pro 2 - it's 0.36 in. display, 40% larger than the Surface Pro 2's 10.6-in. In this area, it certainly seems as if Microsoft got it right this time. But the Surface Pro 3 was generally up to the task, although with some drawbacks.īefore I go into details about my experience with the Surface Pro 3, let's take a look at its basic specs. I had previously tried to use its predecessor, the Surface Pro 2, as a primary laptop, and found it impossible to do.