Surface Pro m3/4GB RAM - Opinions and/or alternatives

dulpit

Hi all,

Looking for some advice please. I currently do not own a laptop, and am seriously thinking about getting the m3 version of the surface. I can get it on amazon for under £700 with the keyboard. I've not found many reviews of that specific model, so I don't know whether to take the plunge.

I have a laptop for work (xps 13), but I find it still a little big for certain scenarios (working on planes/trains which I need to do). The convertible form factor would be very useful at home too. Most of what I'll need it for is basic stuff like Netflix, Spotify, steaming media to TV, browsing as well as working on word/excel documents. I would like to be able to play old games like portal, age of empires, command and conquer or football manager, but this is not a deal breaker in anyway.

Does anyone have any experience with this device? Or any advice for me? Is there a decent 2in1 alternative out there for a similar price?

Any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Bluefoam

I use a surface book, I'd say these machines are much more capable and future proof with the i7 chip.

Alanstrainor

I'd be more annoyed with the lack of RAM to be honest. It should perform fine even with the lower power processor for most of those tasks. Maybe some of the gaming would have to be on lower settings, but it should run.

It does make sense for what you want it to do. Small, good form factor. 4GB of RAM on a machine of that price is criminal though.

dulpit

Another option I came across is this: ASUS ZenBook Flip UX360CA-C4030T 13.3-Inch 360-Degree Touchscreen Notebook (Intel Core-M 6Y30 Processor, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, Bluetooth 4.0, Windows 10, Cortana Ready)-Grey https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01HIWOTJ0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_JM8KAbC5N5BBQ

More ram, slightly bigger, nearly £150 cheaper. Reviews are okay from what I've seen. Any comments?

Alanstrainor

dulpit wrote: »

Another option I came across is this: ASUS ZenBook Flip UX360CA-C4030T 13.3-Inch 360-Degree Touchscreen Notebook (Intel Core-M 6Y30 Processor, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, Bluetooth 4.0, Windows 10, Cortana Ready)-Grey https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01HIWOTJ0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_JM8KAbC5N5BBQ

More ram, slightly bigger, nearly £150 cheaper. Reviews are okay from what I've seen. Any comments?

Given you have a XPS13, is this not pretty identical? The Asus would be larger in fact.

I do think the surface is probably still a good option, even with my complaints. Windows manages RAM well these days, and given your intended use it should be fine tbh. I just have this hang up about relatively premium systems still only having 4GB RAM. But if it serves your needs, then what harm?

dulpit

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Given you have a XPS13, is this not pretty identical? The Asus would be larger in fact.

I do think the surface is probably still a good option, even with my complaints. Windows manages RAM well these days, and given your intended use it should be fine tbh. I just have this hang up about relatively premium systems still only having 4GB RAM. But if it serves your needs, then what harm?

The XPS isn't mine though, so I do want something that I can call my own. The reason I was looking at this one is that size-wise, it's comparable to the XPS, but it'll fold back which is where the difficulties lie when on plane/train... Plus, it's cheaper. I have £560 Amazon credit so if I could avoid spending cash that'd be great.

ED E

TBH I'd feel a little disgusted spending over €500 to get something weaker than a ULV tablet from 2013. Those Core-Ms are a big caveat.

Personally I think MS should drop any of the models below i3/8GB/256 from the line, watering down the Surface name to a serious degree.

Samuel T. Cogley

Personally loved my m3 twas grand and passively cooled.

dulpit

dulpit wrote: »

Another option I came across is this: ASUS ZenBook Flip UX360CA-C4030T 13.3-Inch 360-Degree Touchscreen Notebook (Intel Core-M 6Y30 Processor, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, Bluetooth 4.0, Windows 10, Cortana Ready)-Grey https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01HIWOTJ0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_JM8KAbC5N5BBQ

More ram, slightly bigger, nearly £150 cheaper. Reviews are okay from what I've seen. Any comments?

that's not a bad portable option for general use - ms office, browsing etc.
it would handle old games ok also like portal, portal 2 etc - at 720p resolution.
you'd be surprised what you could actually run. see this youtube video with that chip and 8gb ram running games.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3geGwfViY9g

the core-m3 6Y30 chip is from the end of 2015 and is on par with low-end i3 chips.
it has a passmark score of just over 3000 which should indicate that that it will be fine in general operation. (2500 is the bar for general smoothness minimum that I have seen)
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+m3-6Y30+%40+0.90GHz
e.g the i3 6006u is still being sold in a lot of laptops and it is only marginally better
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?id=2912


with 8gb ram it means that it will be ok with plenty of browser tabs and apps being open.
battery life seems ok also
it's not a bad option and very light.
the ssd means decent hard drive operation but it's small at 128gb but once you're not intent on storing lots of media on it that's ok

here's some reviews at its original higher price
http://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/asus-zenbook-flip-ux360ca
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3147088/laptop-computers/asus-zenbook-flip-ux360ca-dbm2t-review-a-sleek-affordable-2-in-1-for-everyday-tasks.html

dulpit

Ya, I decided to take the plunge with the Asus machine. Deciding factors - the extra RAM, the cheaper price and the decent reviews I read.

Waiting for it to be delivered now, will update once I receive it.

Thanks all!