Microsoft Surface 3 "best tablet/laptop"

haven

Expedition Leader
ZDNet columnist James Kendrick purchased a Microsoft Surface 3 recently. After a couple of weeks of use, he's calling it the best two-in-one (tablet and laptop) computing device. That's just what an overland traveler might need.

Kendrick bought a top of the line version, with Intel Atom x7-Z8700, 4 GB RAM, 128GB storage memory, plus the detachable keyboard and stylus, for $780. A 4G LTE cellular modem is available for an additional $100.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/surface-3-my-best-purchase-of-2015-hands-on/

In a world with decent $200 tablets and $350 laptops, $780 seems like a lot to spend. You do get a full-on Windows 10 device, compatible with any Windows application.

There is no directly comparable Surface Pro 3, but you'll pay $300 to $500 more for similar models. Kendrick says the Surface 3 is fast enough for his purposes, which are primarily writing, composing blog posts, and web browsing. I guess if you were designing nuclear warheads, you'd want the Surface Pro.

Speaking of the Surface Pro, there are plenty of rumors that say Microsoft will introduce a Surface Pro 4 this Fall, with faster and cooler-running Intel processors.
 

DaveNay

Adventurer
I have a Surface 3....typing this reply on it!

I agree that the price is a little high for overlanding use. Plus there is one huge downside: only the LTE versions have GPS.
 

AFBronco235

Crew Chief
You can connect a Bluetooth gps dongle quite easily I suspect. That's what I use on my Surface 2 with MapsPro. No real complaints about it. And I'm thinking the LTE versions use cell tower triangulation instead of actual GPS signals anyways, so its not as useful with the chip as you'd think. Plus the fees from using the chip tend to be ridiculously high.
 

AdventureHare

Outfitting for Adv
I have a coworker who uses a USB-based GPS module for Time/Speed/Distance rallies, but the Surface 3 has too many delays for real-time positioning. He uses a second microprocessor for location vs. time data/display, but uses the S3 for control. For overlanding, it would work fine. But by the same token, my Nexus 7 would work as well as the S3 without having to buy an external gps dongle (although, without an external antennae there could be dropouts.) You can buy a USB GPS with antennae from SparkFun for very little, if you're adventurous.

All that said, it really depends on the available software. That's what you're going to praise or curse. Not the device.
 

piedes

New member
Hi,

Have a Surface Pro 2 and I'm totally satisfied. The screen size is smallest as S3 and it's more simple to put it on the Jeep Dashboard ;)
 

kojackJKU

Autism Family Travellers!
The surface 3 is awesome. I like the size better than the Surface pro 3. there is enough horsepower under the hood as well. My wife and I are getting two, with a docking station, touchscreen 27" monitor in our office.
 

kojackJKU

Autism Family Travellers!
I finally ordered our two new surface 3s. I bought 2 64gb versions, one red touch cover and pen, one blue touch cover and pen, and the dock for home. We are selling our notebook and all in one desktop and replace it with our surface tablets with a touch monitor. That way in the dock we still have all touch properties intact. Plus better sound, storage and periferals!

Then, when we go on our trips, we have our main computers with us in carry form. The surface computers are the best all in one devices on the market. Its simply one computer for every purpose, besides gaming but who does that on their computers. I have xbox for that purpose.
 

kojackJKU

Autism Family Travellers!
Got the surface 3 today. FRIGGIN AWESOME. WE love them. They are smooth, fast, built like a tank. The pen and keyboard are great accessories. Makes the system complete. The software available via the app store will get you through anything you need and the system as a whole is much more powerful than anything available from both android based systems and IOS/OSX systems as well.
 

kojackJKU

Autism Family Travellers!
I am going to try maps pro on the surface 3 using my Bluetooth dongle. Maybe it will be perfect for my intended purposes.
 

kojackJKU

Autism Family Travellers!
Got my desktop setup.....setup. I have a dock with Logitech keyboard and mouse setup on our desk. My wife and I can dock our surfaces and use the 23in HP monitor now. Its great, we have our same setup on our surface on our desktop. I have an acer home network server that I need to install to get all our photos in etc. Now, we can sell our all in one and run this setup. best of both world.
 

brentbba

Explorer
Just picked up two Surface 3's, one for me to replace an aging HP laptop that's dying and one for the wife to use when traveling on business so she doesn't have to take her business laptop (life!) with her. We got the 4gb ram, 128gb HD versions w/o the LTE. As a poster said above, 'GPS' uses cell service. It doesn't have an independent GPS chip like the ipad.

What's everyone using for vehicle power. Microsoft itself does not make a car charger for the Surface 3, just the Pro models. Looks like an inexpensive cig lighter version will be plenty to power the Surface 3.

First impressions are good. Liking Windows 10 so far. We did a little intro at the Microsoft store when we got them. Now to begin transferring programs, files, music files etc. from the old laptop. Fortunately, it's all backed up on a 1TB external hard drive that'll make the transfers easier, but nonetheless a PITA.

Seems like most of the popular external GPS and nav software will also run on the Surface that are being used on the ipads.
 

fike

Adventurer
Drop that external hard drive and get yourself some micro SD cards. It makes things much more compact.

I also liked the ridiculously overpriced incipio back for the Surface 3. It protects the back while maintaining the kick stand usability.

I have found the Surface 3 to be very finicky about power, so make sure to get one of the more powerful usb chargers cig lighter versions. They recommend over 13 watts through the usb charging port.
 

kojackJKU

Autism Family Travellers!
I use SD in my surface....but I have a usb 1tb drive for storage of photos/music etc. I do need a powered USB hub however.
 

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