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1. 

   Joseph Soquiat on July 30, 2015 at 2:52 pm

   1,545 of 1,590 people found the following review helpful

   
   SURFACE PRO 3 A STUDENTS POINT OF VIEW, June 25, 2014

   By 

   Joseph Soquiat –

   This review is from: Microsoft Surface Pro 3 (256 GB, Intel Core i5) (Personal Computers)

   Microsoft seems to always advertise their Surface Pro products towards businesses, IT, artists, and engineers. They forget to mention the great benefit this Surface Pro 3 has for students! I’m going to give 6 reasons why the Surface 3 is great for students, such as myself.

   First, a quick about me. I am currently a biochemistry major in college and while taking 20 units last quarter, most days I would have to carry 5 notebooks, occasionally 1-2 textbooks, 1-2 lab notebooks, and my surface RT tablet. In short, my backpack was thick and heavy.

   Introduce, the Surface Pro 3, and the 6 reasons why it is absolutely great for students.

   1) It can replace your notebooks for note taking.
   With the new surface pen and larger screen, taking notes is a breeze. Writing on it feels great, though a little slippery, but great nonetheless. Now, I have no need for my 5 notebooks or the many colored pens that I would carry. With Onenote, all my notes are organized and will stay that way. And since it backs up to the cloud, accessing it from anywhere is a great convenience. Having my notes for me to study at any time on my phone ensures I can always have my access to my notes. In short, it organized my school life and made my bag lighter and thinner.

   2) It can replace your textbooks.
   Because of its 12 inch, high resolution, paper-like screen, reading e-book versions of textbooks, as well as PDF’s, feels “normal” if that makes sense. The 1.76 pound SP3 greatly reduces the weight of my Physics, O-chem, and Biology textbooks in my backpack. Also, having textbooks on my surface means I’ll never have the scenario where I accidentally leave my textbook at my home/dorm/apartment. Another bonus, the ability to use the Surface Pen to mark up PDF’s and textbooks allows for great in-text note taking and editing.

   3) It can replace your tablet.
   Looking at the SP3 as just a tablet, there is one obvious drawback, the lack of the overall amount of apps in the Windows App Store when compared to that of iOS and Android. Note however that you can install desktop applications on the SP3. More on that later. Although the Windows Market is small, it has most of the general apps that people use on tablets (Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Skype, etc.) For apps like Youtube and Instagram, you can find non-official apps that simulate the official one quite well. There are also a hand full of fun games you can find on the windows market. Many review say it’s a ghost town, but it you look around you can find some pretty good apps. All this tablet talk is important to me as a student because there are times, of course, when I don’t want to study or have free time. Simple apps can keep me occupied will during gaps between classes, or when I’m at home and want to play a quick game or use Netflix.

   4) It can replace your laptop.
   This is Microsoft’s main theme for this product. And in short, it can, given some compromises. It runs full Window’s 8.1 Professional so most (if not all) of the desktop applications that can be run on Windows is compatible. This is great if you have specific programs you need to run, or just want to install popular programs like Spotify or Steam. This makes the whole “lack of apps” problem not as significant. Speaking of programs, I like to run Steam for playing games. The SP3 is not a gaming machine by any standard, but on low settings it can run games at a playable frame rate. I have the i5 processer, 8 gigs of RAM, 256 ssd version and it runs smoothly and quickly when running everyday tasks, much like a laptop. Also, the Type Cover Keyboard is greatly improved from the previous generations. If you are going to be typing for long periods of time, it may not be the best for you. But for everything else it works great. The second magnetic strip that attaches to the bezel provides great support. The touchpad is a little small, but once you get used to it that doesn’t become a problem. I suggest trying one out for yourself because everyone is different. Lastly, the new kickstand allows for many angles in which you can position the surface. Again, I suggest testing a surface for yourself. In the end, it’s not exactly like a laptop, but it can do all the things an Ultrabook can.

   5) It can simulate a desktop.
   With a monitor/tv, and Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, this tablet can be connected to a screen and run a dual-screen interface. This is what I do and it makes a huge difference. A larger than 12 inch screen and full keyboard and mouse simulates a desktop feel. Being able to come back to my room and plug in my SP3, and just as easily disconnect the SP3 and leave, makes me ultra-portable and efficient.

   6) All of this, and its 1.76 lbs and 0.36 inch thin.
   Even if you don’t like the SP3, its undeniable that it is a great piece of hardware. Students are always on the move and having a light…

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2. 

   Joe on July 30, 2015 at 3:21 pm

   1,166 of 1,220 people found the following review helpful

   
   Awesome Hybrid Device, Just know what your looking to do with it., August 18, 2014

   By 

   Joe –

   Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: Microsoft Surface Pro 3 (512 GB, Intel Core i7) (Personal Computers)

   I’m writing this review from the perspective of an Animation/VFX student. While deciding what portable device would be best for me during school, I read a ton of reviews of different laptops and tablets before I finally decided on the Surface Pro 3 i7 model. One of the problems I had with buying this device, was that either the reviews for it were less than stellar but for non product related issues, or I couldn’t find a good review by someone who was looking to do what I wanted to do with it (Animation/VFX programs such as Maya and Creative cloud mainly).

   To start, let me say that if you think the price on this device is too high and would be better at a $400 price point like most other “high end” tablets, then look elsewhere because this Hybrid device is not for you. Of course cheaper is ALWAYS better on the wallet, but that does not mean its a better device. iPads and Galaxy Tabs a great devices, but neither of them can compete (currently) with what the Surface Pro 3 brings to the table. This is a full Windows laptop, in a tablet form factor. It can run practically anything your desktop pc can run with little to no sacrificing (except maybe in gaming…more on that later).

   Now onto my actual review. To say that I love this device is an understatement. It can run everything I need it to run. The screen is absolutely fantastic. It has a great build quality and is super thin (even considering whats packed inside this thing). I can see the fault with its weight, if your not expecting it. It is surely heavier than other tablets and could possibly be an issue for one handed operation but it isn’t the end of the world.

   The main reason I bought this was to run the software I need for my schooling while away on business trips, and to also watch a movie or two on those long plane trips across the country.

   -SOFTWARE-
   Maya runs GREAT. Obviously you can’t render on this too much, but I use it to model then bring it up on my desktop to do the rendering. It runs very smooth and fast. Much better than I expected it to run to be honest. The only issue I can see so far, is with the screen resolution so high, the text is very, very, VERY small on the screen. If your proficient enough in Maya, i’m sure the text won’t be too much of an issue as you can just short cut everything and just remember where certain keys are. I am no expert, so I keep a cheat sheet close by. Also you can search the internet for ways to increase the text size in maya by editing config files which I find to be somewhat useful as well. I save all of my data on a high end USB 3.0 Flash Drive (Corsair GTX). That way I can move it from Surface Pro, to my Mac Pro with no issues.

   Photoshop runs great as well. The stylus that comes with this is made by N-trig and not Wacom, but seems to do the job fairly well. Adobe hasn’t made a Surface friendly version yet (to my knowledge), but the full on version seems to be working just fine with the keyboard attachment. This is the same for After Effects. I don’t use much of the other programs in CC. For any editing I us FCPX on my mac. I’m sure Premier would run ok on this for smaller projects.

   Office works great, no issue there. I also use Move Magic Screenwriter for any script writing I do, That runs great as well. I found since buying this that I tend to write more than I used to just for the fact I’m not tied to a table with my desktop. This would be true of any laptop, but just another plus.

   The screen being such a high resolution, Movies just pop off and look stunning. I have yet to find a file type that won’t run on this. I can’t really comment on the sound quality as I use head phones for 99% of my time with it.

   Gaming is a mixed bag but really shouldn’t be the main reason you buy this. The version I got (i7 512SSD) has the HD5000 integrated gpu. It’s ok for what it is but I really with is had either the new Nvidia gnu or at least the new intel Iris chipset. With either of these, I feel serious gaming could be a GIANT plus for this. Anyway, I tried a few different games on it just to see how hard I could push it. WoW runs pretty decent a medium settings in higher populated zones I would get maybe 20FPS, in lower zones I could get 30+. I’m not sure you’d want to do any serious end game stuff on this, but it may be possible. Wildstar ran about the same as Wow (to be expected), but the frame rate was a bit lower. By turning it down some, you can get the FPS at a reasonable level. Big First person shooters (COD, Titanfall, Battlefield etc…) are not really all that great. They can be played but the frames drop too low to be actually competitive. Simpler games like Child of light run really good.

   So if I love it, then why on 3 stars? Well I’ll tell you. I like to start all my reviews at 5 stars, then take away or add as I see fit. The first thing is, yes…

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3. 

   DP21 on July 30, 2015 at 4:20 pm

   868 of 909 people found the following review helpful

   
   Massive improvement over its predecessor. Amazing computer., June 23, 2014

   By 

   DP21 (Miami, Florida) –
   
     

   This review is from: Microsoft Surface Pro 3 (128 GB, Intel Core i5) (Personal Computers)

   Pros-

   1. Big beautiful and responsive display.
   2. Very fast and fluid.
   3. Very thin and light design.
   4. Much improved keyboard.
   5. Kickstand is better than ever.

   Cons-

   1. Only a single USB port.
   2. Can get pretty hot with intense use.
   3. Price.
   4. The app store is still very limited.
   5. Battery life is still not optimal for tablet use.

   Last year I purchased the Surface Pro 2 as soon as it came out and I was a big fan of it. I put up with some of the limitations it came with because I liked the portability and flexibility that it provided. I am happy to say that the Surface Pro 3 has improved on a lot of those limitations. It is an overall better experience. In this review I intend to give you an idea of what it feels to use the Surface Pro 3 and at the same time compare it with the Surface Pro 2 in case you are deciding to purchase that one.

   Pros-

   1. As soon as you take a look at the new Surface Pro 3 the first thing you will notice is how much bigger it is in comparison to the Surface Pro 2. The display in the Surface Pro 3 has been increased to 12 inches and it makes a big difference in the user experience. Running the laptop in desktop mode is much more enjoyable now. The new 3:2 aspect ratio is much better optimized to use with the desktop applications for Windows. It makes for a more polished experience and comfortable experience. The Surface Pro 3 screen is also very responsive just like the Surface Pro 2 was. The resolution in the display was increased a little bit but I can’t really notice much of a difference. Both of the displays have very nice color accuracy and look gorgeous. The only flaw I see in the display is that now all of the videos in Netflix, YouTube and media players have black bars on the top and bottom just like you see in modern TVs. The Surface Pro 2 did not have those borders. It is a real shame that the Surface Pro 3 is not taking advantage of the increased size of the display when it comes to videos. This appears to be because of the 3:2 ratio i mentioned before.

   2. The experience on the Surface Pro 3 is very fast and fluid. It is much faster than any android tablet on the market or the Ipad for that matter. It is not a fair comparison though because the processor in the Surface Pro 3 is simply much faster than the one in the Ipad. The model I am using has a i5 processor that has been running wonderfully. Everything that I throw at it loads up in an instant. I have not experienced a single stutter in the last couple of weeks. I always have several applications running in the background such as Spotify and Utorrent. I also have a really bad habit of having 10-12 tabs opened in Google Chrome at all times. Not a problem with the Surface Pro 3. Honestly, it is not a problem for the Surface Pro 2 either. The boot times are pretty awesome too. You know how it takes your old computer a couple of minutes to boot up and have everything ready to use? If you buy a Surface Pro 3 your computer takes only about 15 seconds to have everything up and running and ready to use. The only thing I have not tested in this laptop has been gaming. I am fairly certain it can probably handle light games but will probably have a harder time handling heavy duty games since it doesn’t have a dedicated graphic card. Maybe the i7 model can but I can’t really say.

   3. Another hardware improvement in the Surface Pro 3 over the Surface Pro 2 has been weight reduction and a much thinner design. The Surface Pro 2 looks like a fat brick compared to the new Surface Pro 3. The overall weight reduction is not dramatic but noticeable, especially when you are using it as a tablet. The Surface Pro 3 feels less dense than the previous model. It is still not as comfortable to use as an Ipad when you have it in tablet mode but it has definitely being improved. Browsing the web and reading the news in tablet mode is better than on the smaller Ipad. I had a hard time going back to my old Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 when I stopped using the Pro 3. It just feels small in comparison. If you were turned off by the aesthetic of the Surface Pro 2 then you will probably appreciate the improvements that the Surface Pro 3 brings to the table.

   4. One of the weakest points that the Surface Pro 2 had last year was the keyboard. The Type Cover 2 from last year provided a nice typing experience but the trackpad was a complete disaster. It was very small and uncomfortable to use. There was no way around it. This year however the trackpad has received a big upgrade. The trackpad is much bigger and the left and right buttons are much more tactile. Every time I had to do a right click on the Surface Pro 2 I wanted to throw the laptop out the balcony. It was that bad. The Pro 3 doesn’t have that problem. Besides the extra size in the display this has been the biggest and most satisfying improvement that the…

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