Surface Pro 3

Overheal · 30-08-2014 4:21pm

Dedestroyer wrote: »

what be better an mac book pro 13" or pro surface 3 for multimedia, was looking at both and cant decide, i like the surface for the fact its smaller and you can draw on it. but i like mac as it is faster and has better graphics, y cant surface come with iris 5100 lol

Well thats going to all depend on your usage. Movies, a laptop will work well, and a macbook is decent among those. For reading, writing, a surface would win out. battery will probably be better on a mac, as for typing I wont comment, havent typed on the pro 3, just the pro 1 and 2 and those keyboards are smaller yet usable

Dedestroyer · 30-08-2014 5:44pm

Id use it mainly for multimedia design and college so coding and adobe products mainly be wats it used for aswell as notes, i know macs are best for design but iv always preferred windows and surface looks good especially due to portability and able to use for drawing.

Overheal · 31-08-2014 4:49am

Dedestroyer wrote: »

Id use it mainly for multimedia design and college so coding and adobe products mainly be wats it used for aswell as notes, i know macs are best for design but iv always preferred windows and surface looks good especially due to portability and able to use for drawing.

theres really not much difference in hardware in those respects, though mac's kernel is a bit more efficient in some ways from what I've gathered.

If you're going to use it for any sort of note taking, I'd really go with the SPro, and for design work the 128gb might seem small. I have the first gen 64gb and its great for most tasks but I really don't have the free space (or the screen space) to do anything serious in Adobe CC, but most of what I've done over the summer is website building via Muse. But the Pro 3 is a worthy bit bigger and more powerful so you wouldnt have much trouble.

KenH · 15-09-2014 1:18am

bidiots wrote: »

If they threw in the keyboard and pen for free rather than the outrageous cost, then this would bring windows 8 to the masses..... it would be a no brainer.

It comes with the pen. I think they'll eventually throw in the keyboard. However, the price isn't prohibitive if you combine the cost of a laptop and tablet.

TBi · 19-09-2014 12:58am

Got myself a surface pro 3 while in the U.S. Bought a touchcover in UK so have normal keyboard.

Getting used to it now. First annoying thing so far is Remote Desktop doesn't scale up. So when I remote into my desktop the font is tiny. Bloody annoying since MS supports scaling on Retina MacBook's. I'd rather blurry than unreadable small.

If anyone has any questions about it let me know. Still getting used to windows 8.1!

KenH · 19-09-2014 1:29am

TBi wrote: »

Got myself a surface pro 3 while in the U.S. Bought a touchcover in UK so have normal keyboard.

Getting used to it now. First annoying thing so far is Remote Desktop doesn't scale up. So when I remote into my desktop the font is tiny. Bloody annoying since MS supports scaling on Retina MacBook's. I'd rather blurry than unreadable small.

If anyone has any questions about it let me know. Still getting used to windows 8.1!

If you use the charms search for "Change size of apps". Tap the top result. Down the bottom of the new screen is an option to increase size of app text.

TBi · 19-09-2014 9:28am

KenH wrote: »

If you use the charms search for "Change size of apps". Tap the top result. Down the bottom of the new screen is an option to increase size of app text.

That will change the size of the apps in Windows running on another machine in remote desktop?

Uncle_moe · 19-09-2014 2:48pm

just got a surface pro 3 in the us and was wondering do i need a voltage converter. I'm guessing I don't seeing s the charging unit says its 100 - 240 V but just wanted to be sure. Thanks. Lad on the phone from microsoft just said he didn't know, not much confidence in the customer service if something serious goes wrong.

ablelocks · 19-09-2014 2:58pm

TBi wrote: »

Got myself a surface pro 3 while in the U.S. Bought a touchcover in UK so have normal keyboard.

yikes, was just about to start ordering from the us site - hadn't thought about the US vs UK keyboard. Where in the UK did you order the UK version....

Zimmerframe · 19-09-2014 3:13pm

Uncle_moe wrote: »

just got a surface pro 3 in the us and was wondering do i need a voltage converter. I'm guessing I don't seeing s the charging unit says its 100 - 240 V but just wanted to be sure. Thanks. Lad on the phone from microsoft just said he didn't know, not much confidence in the customer service if something serious goes wrong.

It will be fine m8.

One of these cheap adapters will do:

MJohnston · 19-09-2014 4:23pm

Yep, I have a US SP3 and am using it just fine over here in Ireland with an adapter. In fact, you can even just buy a UK/Ireland Figure of 8 plug like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Power-Cord-Plug-Figure-Cable/dp/B003OSTV00 and swap it for the American Figure of 8 plug that connects to the power brick (which in turn connects to your SP3).

TBi · 19-09-2014 5:17pm

ablelocks wrote: »

yikes, was just about to start ordering from the us site - hadn't thought about the US vs UK keyboard. Where in the UK did you order the UK version....

I just bought it in Dixons. You can get it anywhere which stocks surface pro's.

KenH · 19-09-2014 7:22pm

TBi wrote: »

That will change the size of the apps in Windows running on another machine in remote desktop?

OK. After a little "Binging"....perhaps this would solve it:

http://superuser.com/questions/577045/set-display-scaling-when-using-remote-desktop-from-surface-pro

TBi · 19-09-2014 7:40pm

KenH wrote: »

OK. After a little "Binging"....perhaps this would solve it:

http://superuser.com/questions/577045/set-display-scaling-when-using-remote-desktop-from-surface-pro

Found that already. It needs an older version of .Net to work which i'd prefer not to have to install. Very old program too, it's strange that the newer versions they support don't work the same way.

KenH · 19-09-2014 8:17pm

OK. Last try

....this is an older thread, but maybe it might still work? I read somewhere that MS is working on an official fix.

http://llemarie.wordpress.com/2007/11/01/tip-scaling-your-remote-desktop-session/

TBi · 19-09-2014 8:21pm

KenH wrote: »

OK. Last try ....this is an older thread, but maybe it might still work? I read somewhere that MS is working on an official fix.

http://llemarie.wordpress.com/2007/11/01/tip-scaling-your-remote-desktop-session/

Only works if you want to see a higher resolution remote session on a lower res local monitor. Bloody infuriating that MS supports a Mac better than their own hardware.

KenH · 20-09-2014 12:41pm

TBi wrote: »

Only works if you want to see a higher resolution remote session on a lower res local monitor. Bloody infuriating that MS supports a Mac better than their own hardware.

I take it you've tried dialling down the resolution on the SP3 display to match that of the remote machine. Does that not fix it?

Or what about the "ease of access" options. I think there's a text size option there.

Of course these are workarounds. I agree it should just work.

TBi · 20-09-2014 12:49pm

KenH wrote: »

I take it you've tried dialling down the resolution on the SP3 display to match that of the remote machine. Does that not fix it?

Or what about the "ease of access" options. I think there's a text size option there.

Of course these are workarounds. I agree it should just work.

That would work. But I switch between my remote and local desktop and applications frequently. On a mac it's just a three finger swipe left and right, much easier than on windows 8. Although that's a mac thing.

madmoe · 20-09-2014 4:07pm

MJohnston wrote: »

Yep, I have a US SP3 and am using it just fine over here in Ireland with an adapter. In fact, you can even just buy a UK/Ireland Figure of 8 plug like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Power-Cord-Plug-Figure-Cable/dp/B003OSTV00 and swap it for the American Figure of 8 plug that connects to the power brick (which in turn connects to your SP3).

I done something similar for the one I bought in Canada!!

TBi · 22-09-2014 11:07pm

Starting to get used to the Surface Pro 3 and Windows 8. Getting into a nice flow swiping from left to switch between apps, swiping down from top for tabs/switching remote desktops, using keyboard and trackpad in conjunction with touchscreen to select and type. All feels a bit natural after a while. Windows 8 works great with a touchscreen. Pen support is great for taking notes and lastly it's great to take off the keyboard and have a giant iPad!

It's starting to win me over... Now if only they'd fix the stupid RDP scaling issue. I can't afford to upgrade my old PC to windows 8 after buying this yoke...

ablelocks · 23-09-2014 11:23am

are there any 3rd party or simpler alternatives to the docking station - can't justify the cost of it at the moment

oceanclub · 23-09-2014 11:42am

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

It's showing up on the website with the €100 cashback for me.

http://www.pcworld.ie/Product/microsoft-surface-pro-3-12-tablet-256-gb/324266/2.9

They increased the price of the 128GB model a bit too, kinda pricey now. Whoever sells one of them will probably get the week off.

http://www.pcworld.ie/Product/106-touchscreen-surface-pro-3-i5-128gb-microsoft/324263/2.9

This cashbask is still eligible til tomorrow. Do people recommend buying thru PC World/Curry's? That their talkback forum here was closed down isn't a good sign....

P.

MJohnston · 23-09-2014 4:52pm

oceanclub wrote: »

This cashbask is still eligible til tomorrow. Do people recommend buying thru PC World/Curry's? That their talkback forum here was closed down isn't a good sign....

P.

Doesn't matter where you buy it from, you'll still get warranty from Microsoft, and they fully replaced my Surface Pro 1 for a minor fault even though I'd had it more than 12 months. Wouldn't worry about getting PCW/Currys to do the fixing.

TBi · 23-09-2014 5:23pm

I prefer not to buy from PCWorld/Curry's. I bought my touchcover in Dixon's Heathrow and the guy there tried to convince me that my worldwide warranty (which the MS store in the US told me was worldwide) wasn't actually worldwide. As far as i know they are all the one company.

If it wasn't cheaper i would have just bought it at home/online. I've had nothing but bad dealings with them over warranty issues (unfortunately it was something i couldn't send directly back to the manufacturer).

MJohnston · 24-09-2014 11:41am

You don't have to deal with them at all with a Surface though, that's my point. The purchasing is literally the only interaction you'd need to have.

TBi · 24-09-2014 12:12pm

MJohnston wrote: »

You don't have to deal with them at all with a Surface though, that's my point. The purchasing is literally the only interaction you'd need to have.

I know but why give them your money at all when you have alternatives?

oceanclub · 24-09-2014 12:31pm

TBi wrote: »

I know but why give them your money at all when you have alternatives?

Well, in this case for the €100 off.

P.

TBi · 24-09-2014 12:37pm

oceanclub wrote: »

Well, in this case for the €100 off.

P.

Now that is a good argument

ablelocks · 26-09-2014 12:49pm

is a screen protector required? if so, any recommendations?

Zagg only do the standard quality protector for the surface, which isn't great to be honest - i had one for a surface rt and ended uptaking it off. (in comparison, the Zagg HD quality protector for ipad is far superior - you'd barely notice it on the screen)

TBi · 26-09-2014 12:51pm

I never use a screen protector. Ruins the feel of the screen. Darned thing has gorilla glass so should withstand almost anything and will be covered most of the time by the type cover.

Surface Pro 3

Comments