Surface 3 - New direction, higher prices and crappy i3

[CritAnime]

Well I would never have thought a i5 would be more expensive than a i3. Or that the performance wouldn't be the same. How I have had my head in the sand....

Also get the pricing right.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/20/technology/mobile/microsoft-surface-pro-3/

[CritAnime]

A few got excited that the Pro 3 is $100 cheaper than the Pro 2. They easily achieved this by swapping out the nice i5 processor for the crappy i3. Even the original Surface Pro that's almost 2 years old had an i5 so this is a step back.

You are getting far too hung up on the fact it has a i3 in it. Lots of laptops come with i3 in that, for day to day stuff, is perfectly fine. A business looking to replace a fleet of aging laptops will not go "oh the i5 is so much more powerful lets get that!" they will look at the cost and go for the cheapest option. Especially if they have no need for i5 speeds.
 
You are hardly likely to hand a i5 or i7 powered computer to someone that is only going to be running powerpoint or wordprocessing. It is pointless.
 
Also do your math. $799 from $999 is not $100. Try $200.

[CritAnime]

I assumed you'd want to correctly represent the device because of your keenness to keep us up to date with its ongoing failure. As opposed to other similar tablet releases that fail to get a mention here.

Don't be daft. It's Microsoft so everything is fair game. You don't need research. just bash away and it's all good.

[CritAnime]

When Surface Pro 2 failed to sell at $999 they reduced it to $899 and it has been that price for some time.
 
http://www.cnet.com/news/whats-new-with-the-microsoft-surface-pro-comparing-surface-pro-2-specs-vs-new-the-surface-pro-3/

fair enough, the articles I have seen have had the surface 2 at $999 and places are still selling them for $900+. So I appologise for that.
 

Surface Pro always had an i5 so playing processor games by switching it to an i3 and bragging that it's cheaper is a so Microsoft. Everyone one is different but I would never buy or want a machine with an i3. Apple offers no machines with an i3 for a reason.

And thats why it is your opinion. I could say I don't have a need to buy a iPad so why the hell should everyone else. As you say everyone is different. But they are not aiming this thing at a consumer level. Again why would a company that doens't need i5 power buy i5 equipment at $100 more. MS have brought a new price into it to be more competative in the business sector.

[CritAnime]

Um, I can buy an i3 laptop for $300, so I want this why?
 
Maybe with an AMD processor and a better integrated GPU...

You are looking this wrong. Lets put the surface thing to one side along with pricing. Sys was getting hung up on the fact it has a i3 and was saying it was crappy (implying it was not up to task.) For corporate use, which they are aiming at, it would be a perfectly fine CPU choice for day to day corporate stuff. Hell the i3 is a perfectly fine CPU for a lot of things. Maybe not gaming but....
 

After all, I may not want big cpu power, but what about decent gaming capability?

Again you are looking at this from a consumer perspective. they are aiming these things at the corporate sector. Gaming is not going to be their primary consern is it, unless they are in the gaming industry. Word processing, spreadsheets, power point all don't need masses of CPU power to work. You don't need massive GPU's as the Intel intergrated processor will work fine.

[CritAnime]

Funny, but I don't see those people using tablets, and this offers few advantages over a laptop.
So, do you really think engineers, doctors, and IT people WANT a device like this?
I know people in all three fields, and I think I'd have a hard time selling them this device (and having previously sold electronics, I'm pretty sure of this).

Actually several systems at the hospital I work at are getting the tablet treatment. So yes there will be doctors, nurses and support staff running around with tablets and mobile devices. Several execs already have tablets and a couple have a Surface. And I know lots of people in the IT industry myself and nearly all have a tablet that they use in conjuntion with a laptop. So yes, Microsoft (if marketed right) have potential to make strides into the Corporate sector with these things.
 
@sysadmin
 
I can play linkies too.
 
http://www.lifehacker.co.uk/2014/05/20/10-reasons-microsofts-surface-pro-3-can-replace-laptop

[CritAnime]

At one of our local area hospitals (the one my parents trained at to be specific) only the dietary staff use tablets.
I have friends in IT too, and few of them are embracing the devices (and using them with a laptop seems redundant).
And the market where tablets are most popular, with young people and novice users, seems pretty far removed from the enterprise market you envision.

This is reality however. Portability is become a major thing. We use COWs (Computers on Wheels) for a lot of stuff. These things are hefty, bulky and horrible things to move and use. Yet we need them because doctors and nursing staff use them when doing bedside reviews of patients. We can pull up everything we need about a patient and order services and procedures at the side of the bed. but they are not the most prcatical of devices.
 
hence why the trust is bringing in tablets that have similar fucntionality but are so much more portable and practical. Even against a laptop they are far more practical in this sort of environment.
 
I suppose with IT it depends on what they do. A lot of the people I know, including my brother-in-law who works for a analytics company, use the laptop tablet combo. they use the laptop for day to day business computing while using the tablet for sales and other stuff, where portablility is more key. A all in one solution, from this perspective, makes more sense especially as they might have to splash out on third party apps to get the same functionality on a tablet. Having a Windows OS based tablet would make more sense because they could still use their existing software. Saving money.
 

While the advantages of compact size and portability are obvious, I can't see this device doing more than displacing a small percentage of the other alternatives.

Trust me when you have used a COW you will wish for a tablet. I can see the apeal of a device such as the Surface compared to a laptop in a lot of situations.
 

Nothing wrong with that list, I'm sure a few Windows fans will replace their laptops with a Surface Pro 3. The problem with Surface Pro is it never sells in large numbers. A few Windows fans always buy them.

:rolleyes: sums it up for you really.

[CritAnime]

Don't forget the most important revolutionary feature in the new Surface Pro 3. It's as thin as the original 2010 iPad. Also, you don't need features like 4G(LTE) or even 3G, Surface Pro 3 does not have anything like that. Why would it need it when it has classic WiFi. Maybe in 2018 the Surface if it's around will be as thin as the 2014 iPad.

It's cute that you are continuing the debate in such a eloquent way. Why not just revert to "YO M$ SUCKS DONKEY WANG!!! I AIN'T GONNA LIKE ANY DAT CRAP!".

[CritAnime]

"BLAH BLAH BLAS M$ SUCKS. BLAH BLAH I HATES THEIR PRODUCTS!!" yes we get it.
 
Yes the iPad has lots of productivity software. But having used their software, and noting that a lot of the productivity apps either are paid or that stupid freemium, you know where you have to pay to unlock funtionality, it makes it a bit pointless. Especially as the Surface Pro 3 can run any currently available office suites, including Libra and open office, and then there is also Office 365 and a whole range of other producivity app that are far easier to get one Windows. And iWorks is still not as impressive today as it was when I paid into it when the iPad was released.

[CritAnime]

And people bitched about the Linux thread :rolleyes: