Sandbox:Microsoft Surface Pro 3 First Impressions
It’s Surface Pro 3 Launch Day in Canada! I was at the Microsoft Store bright and early to get my Surface Pro 3 – Core i7 with 8 Gigabytes of RAM and 512 Gigabyte SSD.
I already have a Surface Pro 2 with 8 Gigabytes of RAM and 256 Gigabyte SSD. I wanted to explore the outer limits of performance and capacity with the latest machine.
First Impressions The Surface Pro 3 is beautiful and fast and I immediately noticed that there’s about a 1/3 more vertical real-estate. This is going to make a huge difference in Visual Studio 2013 and Excel. In both cases there’s a lot to be said for being able to see more on the screen without scrolling. The keyboard feels great and the touch pad is bigger, smoother, and feels more responsive.
The unit is bigger around the outside perimeter than the Surface Pro and Surface Pro 2, but it’s thinner and lighter. The fully adjustable kickstand is a marvel of engineering. I will no longer need to carry around rubber bumper things to support the screen at the leisurely reclined angle that I prefer for writing.
Despite the difference in size the Surface Pro 3 fits in the same carrying case I have for the older Surface Pro 2. But there was a great deal on a bundle (Office 365, Keyboard, Surface Complete warranty, and a case). So I got the bundle.
It’s too bad that I had to wait until today to get the Surface Pro 3. I had a very intense week last week with all day lectures every day. That would have been a great real-world test of power and battery life. I did it with the Surface Pro 2, but I had to keep an eye on the battery meter and stay close to a power outlet. I’m looking forward to finding out what kind of real-world performance I’ll get with the Core i7 in the Surface Pro 3.
Battery Life
Hmmm, the battery meter on the task bar does not show estimated run-time like my other Windows machines. It does show percentage though. That probably makes sense because the machine could not possibly estimate the battery life with Connected Standby (aka InstantGo).
If you’re new to Surface check out this article: Surface Pro battery and power.