Surface 3: anyone interested

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#170991 1-Apr-2015 13:38

Today Microsoft announced the smaller Surface 3, running full Windows on an Intel Atom processor.

Now that we could all agree Windows RT is dead... Are you interested on this smaller Surface?

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#1275269 1-Apr-2015 13:41

Judging by how many emails and phone calls I've had this morning, id say Surface Pro 3s little brother Surface 3 is also going to be pretty popular and shows people that productivity 2n1 detachable tablets can also be beautiful.

mattwnz

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#1275275 1-Apr-2015 13:44

Wouldn't people be better to get a full surface with an i3 processor, when they are discounted, as they should perform a lot better than an atom processor. I can't really see the market unless the price is under the $500 market to take on the cheap laptops.

macuser

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#1275280 1-Apr-2015 13:48

Atom in tablets is really compelling, I think this is the right route and will be a great companion for kids at school I think, though there should be an Edu offer for Tablet+Keyboard+Pen for price of iPad Air 2

mattwnz

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#1275291 1-Apr-2015 13:56

macuser: Atom in tablets is really compelling, I think this is the right route and will be a great companion for kids at school I think, though there should be an Edu offer for Tablet+Keyboard+Pen for price of iPad Air 2

You can get an ipad air first gen refurbed for $500, so I think it needs to be in this pricing level. The ipad is still the goto device for schools, and because the surface is missing any google apps, such as youtube, maps, and can't cast to chromecast etc, it makes it less attractive. Sure you can do it via a desktop and chrome, but that isn't really using it in tablet mode.

gzt

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#1275295 1-Apr-2015 13:59

Summary at The Register. Pricepoint appears good for the functionality.

khull

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#1275298 1-Apr-2015 14:01

Last time I bought a surface I couldn't get rid of it - the price point was fair and I was not even intending to break even.

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#1275308 1-Apr-2015 14:08

khull: Last time I bought a surface I couldn't get rid of it - the price point was fair and I was not even intending to break even.

RT?

nathan

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#1275322 1-Apr-2015 14:18

mattwnz: Wouldn't people be better to get a full surface with an i3 processor, when they are discounted, as they should perform a lot better than an atom processor. I can't really see the market unless the price is under the $500 market to take on the cheap laptops.

you would be surprised how fast the Atom X7 8700 is

its within 80-90% perf of the i3

nathan

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#1275326 1-Apr-2015 14:20

macuser: Atom in tablets is really compelling, I think this is the right route and will be a great companion for kids at school I think, though there should be an Edu offer for Tablet+Keyboard+Pen for price of iPad Air 2

we are doing a special bundle for EDU of tablet+keyboard+pen

I can't quite comment on the price of that bundle yet.

nathan

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#1275340 1-Apr-2015 14:26

mattwnz:
macuser: Atom in tablets is really compelling, I think this is the right route and will be a great companion for kids at school I think, though there should be an Edu offer for Tablet+Keyboard+Pen for price of iPad Air 2

You can get an ipad air first gen refurbed for $500, so I think it needs to be in this pricing level. The ipad is still the goto device for schools, and because the surface is missing any google apps, such as youtube, maps, and can't cast to chromecast etc, it makes it less attractive. Sure you can do it via a desktop and chrome, but that isn't really using it in tablet mode.

no it doesn't need to be a $500 device :)

There are many many other Windows tablets that are available at that price or even cheaper (how about less than $300 for a 10" Windows 8.1 touch 2n1 detachable tablet with keyboard)

Surface is a premium product and it leaves loads of room for other Windows OEMs to sell their product.

Sure a refurb iPad Air is that price. and you can get refurb Surface Pro for less than $500 too.

Personally I think there is nothing wrong with having a tablet that works with touch, mouse, keyboard and pen. Most of the iPads I see being used have a Bluetooth keyboard attached.

It is well proven that pen lets you do things touch can't, around science, maths, engineering, graphs. Also pen helps people retain information more. You give a student a device with a keyboard in a lecture, and they just end up transcribing the professors words, not actually converting it into something they know and understand.

Then pen really is mightier than the keyboard.

Andib

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#1275355 1-Apr-2015 14:35

mattwnz:
You can get an ipad air first gen refurbed for $500, so I think it needs to be in this pricing level. The ipad is still the goto device for schools, and because the surface is missing any google apps, such as youtube, maps, and can't cast to chromecast etc, it makes it less attractive. Sure you can do it via a desktop and chrome, but that isn't really using it in tablet mode.

You do realise that the surface runs full 64bit Windows right? so all of those are avalible from the browser...

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#1275356 1-Apr-2015 14:37

In real world terms I wonder how close the 128GB version's performance will to an i3 SP3? I'm hoping it might be relatively close but with the benefits of an atom's frugal power usage?

Will be interesting to see what the other manufacturers do with these new processors also

lxsw20

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#1275358 1-Apr-2015 14:39

They look like they will be a good secondary device for the guys at work that commute a bit and refuse to take their laptops due to the weight.

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#1275373 1-Apr-2015 14:43

I still think the pen should have been included with Surface 3. Specs wise though for the price point, it's great.

Do whatever you want to do man.

nathan

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#1275410 1-Apr-2015 15:11

Wade: In real world terms I wonder how close the 128GB version's performance will to an i3 SP3? I'm hoping it might be relatively close but with the benefits of an atom's frugal power usage?

Will be interesting to see what the other manufacturers do with these new processors also

See my previous reply on performance.

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