Surface Pro 3 review

Quick question on USB hubs. Is there a USB hub exisitng that can be powed via a USB chargerport? I ask only as the SP3 power unit has a port for charging and could help with connecting 2 devices...

Or better still could I power the USB3 HDD with a Y type cable connected to the power port of the power supply (with an extension cable)?

Not to my knowledge. Your splitting the power output from one USB to three so it won't do much. But I am able to power up a USB3 external HD so give that a try first.

But if you search Amazon, you can find the y-type cable. I believe I searched "Y USB cable" and found it. Just didn't buy it because in picking up a dock instead.

Neilyb wrote in post #17309191
Interesting read. I am currently thinking over a Macbook Air and he only lightweight windows alternate is the SP3... ..

Lenova Yoga Pro 3 is lighter than the Macbook Air FYI.
The Pro2 is now available for under $900.00 with the 3 out.

I haven't tried the Lenova with a USB hub, but it has 3 USB ports (I think maybe 4?) at least three. which have worked fine with external USB powered HD and card readers. It has SD built in of course.

OK guys. I will order the Ycable and an extension to reach the socket should it be on the floor or something. Was not sure if that might supply too much powers to just a HDD enclosure or HDD.

Looked at the Yoga Jake but the specs where underwhelming. Win 8.1 on a 32GB system with 2GB RAM? The surface is a great performer just that damn single USB port.

Tried a USB HDD with and without a y-cable and it works using the power port on the supply, through a hub. So I have ordered the USB3 y-cable.

saw this tip setup for adobe for the surface if you need to view tools at a larger scale.

https://photographylif​e.com …erface-scaling#more-98593

Neilyb wrote in post #17335393
Looked at the Yoga Jake but the specs where underwhelming. Win 8.1 on a 32GB system with 2GB RAM? The surface is a great performer just that damn single USB port.

Er?
Either 256GB or 512GB SSD, and 8GB System ram, just like the Surface Pro 3.
I got the 256 model as I am happy plugging in externals for capacity/images.
The Pro 2 had an i7 but the Pro3 with it's intel M has longer (7 hours) battery life.

I didn't realize I'm late here, as you got the Surface, but I think you were looking at something else.


LINK <-----

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #17342036
Er?
Either 256GB or 512GB SSD, and 8GB System ram, just like the Surface Pro 3.
I got the 256 model as I am happy plugging in externals for capacity/images.
The Pro 2 had an i7 but the Pro3 with it's intel M has longer (7 hours) battery life.

I didn't realize I'm late here, as you got the Surface, but I think you were looking at something else.

LINK <-----

Thanks for the link. All the Yoga's I had looked at were the underpowered models, I was not totally sold on them and would still not have bought one due to the weight. 800g for an i5 tablet is light and what I really wanted was lightweight. Keyboard can travel in luggage if I really need it.

Now I just did a quick test with the USB 3 y-cable. Copied 800x CF card to a My Passport HDD at upto 101MBs but copied to a Samsung SSD in Anker housing at 93MBs....

Ive been using Macs for 15 years. I had iPads but was never really impressed. i wanted a tablet that you can run full versions of lightroom and photoshop and use the pen on the actual screen to edit with. Surface pro 3 had me sold. Made the switch a couple of days ago. Went with i5 8 gig version. I have no idea how to use windows but I'm slowly figuring it out. Bought a TB external HDD with it so no problems with space. I really like this Surface, lightweight, pretty powerful for what I do. The battery life could be better. I feel like my battery is even draining when its asleep. I get maybe 5-6 hours between full charges. And thats with everyday life use like checking email, maybe watching a couple youtube videos, some netflix, editing photos in LR and or PS. Playing music, ETC...

In a nutshell totally happy with my surface pro 3. I truly recommend getting one. Even if your a Mac guy.

MrDurden1978 wrote in post #17428460
Ive been using Macs for 15 years. I had iPads but was never really impressed. i wanted a tablet that you can run full versions of lightroom and photoshop and use the pen on the actual screen to edit with. Surface pro 3 had me sold. Made the switch a couple of days ago. Went with i5 8 gig version. I have no idea how to use windows but I'm slowly figuring it out. Bought a TB external HDD with it so no problems with space. I really like this Surface, lightweight, pretty powerful for what I do. The battery life could be better. I feel like my battery is even draining when its asleep. I get maybe 5-6 hours between full charges. And thats with everyday life use like checking email, maybe watching a couple youtube videos, some netflix, editing photos in LR and or PS. Playing music, ETC...

In a nutshell totally happy with my surface pro 3. I truly recommend getting one. Even if your a Mac guy.

For watching movies on the plane, I get about 6-7 hours easily with 40% brightness and using VLC player. The only thing I do wish for in the SP3 is a full size SD card reader since they make them up to 256GB for more storage.

SP4 is coming out and its rumored to run the Intel-M processor which should improve battery by up to 25% but the tradeoff is a M processor which is made for battery life and not as much on performance. M pro essor is plenty but photo editing is questionable for me so I jumped on the SP3 when they had a sale.

Thanks for this info Jake on the Lenova vs Surface. You changed my mind. Well you convinced me to go investigate further anyway. I am ordering mine tomorrow (Yoga 3 /14). I definitely want the card reader and the i7 processor without the fear of over heating. I need to be able to transfer photos from card to usb in the field without hiccups.

Plus I have an awesome Bluetooth keyboard now for my IPAD 3 that I never use because ... well... where did I put it the last time I got pissed off that it fell off? Ya ...that's another good reason. Keyboard should be attached, lighted and not weigh a ton.

I did want a nice pen system though...I am not sure Surface Pro has that fixed yet even. Have you found anything that works with the Lenova in this regards or is that just something I am not going to get?

I usually always have the screen brightness around 30-40%. It would be nice to have a built in SD card reader for sure.. i never really minded having a USB card reader though. Plus I already had one.

MrDurden1978 wrote in post #17430528
I usually always have the screen brightness around 30-40%. It would be nice to have a built in SD card reader for sure.. i never really minded having a USB card reader though. Plus I already had one.

SD card reader is nice to expand the storage. 256 GB SD card is much cheaper then a 128 MicroSD and more reliable which is the biggest concern for me.

Overall I am happy with my SP3.

Confused.....
Say a Surface Pro 3 i5 256gb lands in my lap tomorrow.
I have LR5 but cant find the disk even if I ever had one.
How do I load LR5 onto it?
Thoughts/clues appreciated.