Surface 3 Announced
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I've never quite figured out the Surface. It is a tablet that you don't really want to hold and it is a laptop that you really can't put in your lap. It needs a hard surface but a flat one so I imagine it being pretty useless in an airplane or in a car. Any situation where it works well, so would a laptop. Any situation where it works poorly, so would a laptop. Other than being "convertible" between two poor situations, it doesn't seem to have a good use case. It's like the worst of all worlds. A bad tablet and a pathetic laptop. Better to have one of each that is good at what it does.
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@StrongBad said:
Other than being "convertible" between two poor situations, it doesn't seem to have a good use case.
I haven't used it, but I would say the killer application is the pen. The ability to write notes and draw diagrams easily and accurately is a massive selling point. I flirted with using my Ipad for note-taking in meetings, but it was hopeless. I've gone paperless in pretty much all aspects of my life other than note-taking. I'd love to be able to finally ditch the stationary.
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@Dashrender said:
@technobabble said:
@Dashrender got it...no hinge...that is weird to me!
This lack of a hinge is what kills the 'lapability' (I first heard this term from Paul Thurrott). Since you have to use the kickstand in laptop mode, you need a longer lap to support the kickstand..
If you're a desk/table/surface other than lap user.. you'll get along OK with this, actually in some respects, better. Paul pointed out in a review that because of the kickstand, the device does not vibrate the top of the screen like a laptop does if your in train or plane, but outside of this situation it really doesn't matter.
To me, the biggest advantage of the kickstand is that you don't need a cover to provide the same function, and assuming you buy the keyboard for it ($129+) you're device has a little bit of coverage from bumps, etc.
That longer distance for the kickstand also means that it doesn't fit on airplane trays or train trays which are very short.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
Do people use their laptops much on their laps then? I use mine on my lap for watching videos and stuff, where I wouldn't use a Surface keyboard anyway (normally when I'm slouching on the sofa or on the bed) , but for serious typing work I always find a table to put it on. Apart from anything, my old laptops used to get too hot to be comfortable with long periods of lapwork.
Lapabilitiness is not an issue for me.
If I'm in a situation where a laptop is not needed I almost always switch to my desktops. I can only think of minor fringe uses cases for me where the stand option would suffice.
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@Dashrender said:
I'd say 90% of my computer time at home is with my laptop on my lap. I did end up getting a lapdesk though because of the aforementioned heat problem.
Paul's take on the lapability is that of a journalist. I can definitely see those guys needing to be able to work from their laps often. But, the average Joe Schmoe or office worker or even IT pro, it's probably not a real issue. It's not like an IT pro is going to go to a meeting and keep the device on their lap.. they're going to put it on the table.
Assuming it is a large office table and not highly space constrained.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
@StrongBad said:
Other than being "convertible" between two poor situations, it doesn't seem to have a good use case.
I haven't used it, but I would say the killer application is the pen. The ability to write notes and draw diagrams easily and accurately is a massive selling point. I flirted with using my Ipad for note-taking in meetings, but it was hopeless. I've gone paperless in pretty much all aspects of my life other than note-taking. I'd love to be able to finally ditch the stationary.
Did you try a stylus with the iPad?
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Yes. I have a Wacom Bamboo stylus. It's like writing with a child's wax crayon.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
Yes. I have a Wacom Bamboo stylus. It's like writing with a child's wax crayon.
Lol. Crayola should make styli.
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The surface works fine on an airplane tray table if you do not use the attached keyboard (which detaches super easy) and the stylus is NOTHING like using the style that is for the Ipads. This is a hard plastic fine point pen and even has an eraser on the end.
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@Minion-Queen have you tried that stylus with an iPad?
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If you remove the keyboard in order to make it work, I think that the point can rest. Lol
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The stylus for the Surface doesn't work on the ipad or iPhone etc.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Minion-Queen have you tried that stylus with an iPad?
The Surface 1 and 2 styli are Wacom styli, they wouldn't work on the iPad.
Of course now MS has changed to a new digitizer, so that's not even backward compatible.
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@scottalanmiller said:
If you remove the keyboard in order to make it work, I think that the point can rest. Lol
Do I assume correctly that you're saying that it's just an iPad when you remove the keyboard?
Personally I want to ditch the two device (three if you count my phone) when traveling. unfortunately you're probably right that reading (hold the Surface Pro 3) won't work very well, it's too heavy.
I have a Lenovo Yoga Pro 2 13.3. I like it a lot, and have done some reading on it. It's definitely to heavy to hold while reading, so I have to rest it on my lap or a table, etc and this leads to neck strain after an hour or so... but do did reading hardback books. I did use it in tent mode on my last trip, it fit the airplane tray much better than normal laptop mode.
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@Minion-Queen said:
The stylus for the Surface doesn't work on the ipad or iPhone etc.
That's odd. I wined what the difference is.
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@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
If you remove the keyboard in order to make it work, I think that the point can rest. Lol
Do I assume correctly that you're saying that it's just an iPad when you remove the keyboard?
Personally I want to ditch the two device (three if you count my phone) when traveling. unfortunately you're probably right that reading (hold the Surface Pro 3) won't work very well, it's too heavy.
I have a Lenovo Yoga Pro 2 13.3. I like it a lot, and have done some reading on it. It's definitely to heavy to hold while reading, so I have to rest it on my lap or a table, etc and this leads to neck strain after an hour or so... but do did reading hardback books. I did use it in tent mode on my last trip, it fit the airplane tray much better than normal laptop mode.
Exactly. Instead if a great laptop and a great tablet I get a useless laptop that I know have to treat as a tablet but it sucks as a tablet.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Minion-Queen said:
The stylus for the Surface doesn't work on the ipad or iPhone etc.
That's odd. I wined what the difference is.
The ipad does not have Wacom, and the Surface 1 and 2 do. iPad uses capacitive touch, where the Wacom uses whatever it uses (non capactitive).
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Apple devices aren't designed to work with a stylus because Steve Jobs thought they were the devil's work. He thought we should all write with our finger. This despite the fact that the rest of the human race discovered that writing with an implement was better than a finger in around 4,000BC. He was a clever bloke generally, but on this he was a complete idiot.
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Jobs was mostly an idiot. But really good at marketing. To the point that he convinced a lot of people that he was smart.
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I've had the original Surface RT, Pro, Pro 2 and now I've pre-ordered the 3 (I sold or passed down the others). I am pretty excited about this one. To me, it made my Pro 2 seem clunky and outdated immediately. Even with the improvements, I still may feel like I may need a tablet for this or a laptop for that. But for the most part, I think the Surface Pro line has been excellent.
