Who has Surface Pro 3 - Thoughts?

Considering the Surface Pro 3. I do use LR 4 and occasionally will do some very light PS. The i5, 256g, w/ 8g ram should be fine right?

That is also what I'm looking at and from online reviews, its good for it.

Just be warned that its not a laptop replacement.

I travel a lot and carrying two laptops makes no sense for me. With the SP3, this replaces my tablet for movies on the plane and personal stuff at the hotel like lightroom since I can't install this stuff on my work laptop. This is perfect for me. I would also go with the 8GB RAM as well.

I just happened to buy this same model last night! The I7 would be nice I'm sure, but an extra $400 where I am...

Obviously I haven't got much set up as yet but I intend to run Lightroom CC and OnOne Perfect Photo Suite for on-the-go editing and general tablety / laptoppy stuff.

I would love to get one myself, everything about it looks just about perfect. I've had the first gen Surface Pro since they were selling them at a steep discount back in February and really like it.

I'd go for the i5 with 8GB RAM & 256GB SSD, the i7s are rather spendy and overkill for my needs on a mobile device.

I figure by the time I get around to doing something we'll be on Surface Pro 4s running Skylake chips and Windows 9.

RHChan84 wrote in post #17177861
That is also what I'm looking at and from online reviews, its good for it.

Just be warned that its not a laptop replacement.

I travel a lot and carrying two laptops makes no sense for me. With the SP3, this replaces my tablet for movies on the plane and personal stuff at the hotel like lightroom since I can't install this stuff on my work laptop. This is perfect for me. I would also go with the 8GB RAM as well.

How is the Surface PRO not a laptop replacement unless you need more I/O than it has? It IS a laptop in tablet form factor.

I've replaced my laptop/desktop with a surface pro 2, and I do all my photo editing on it docked at home with my 27" monitor and usb hard drive dock.

It's great for studio tethering and quickly showing clients images during or after a shoot.

my wife has a surface pro3, the i7 one but it keeps over heating and shutting down.

I've had the i5 / 8GB / 256GB Surface Pro 3 since day one so I'm 3 months in now. It most definitely *IS* a laptop replacement for me. My company-supplied laptop is a Lenovo X1 Carbon Touch, which is actually a pretty awesome laptop, but I don't even use it anymore. The SP3 is my tablet, my personal laptop, and also my work laptop. I take it with me everywhere, whether its a business trip or personal trip. I have LR and PS CC on it and I usually travel with my Intuos as well and do some editing with it too.

I recently picked up the docking station and am very pleased with it. I'm only currently using it for power, Ethernet, and an external USB drive but it's a really nice solution and keeps my desk a lot cleaner than having cables all over it.

I love sitting next to someone on a plane and seeing them play some games and watch a movie on their iPad, then put it away, pull our their laptop, do some work on their laptop, then put it away and grab their iPad again to play a game before we land. Meanwhile I'm on my SP3 the whole time doing everything that they're switching devices to do.

mike_d wrote in post #17178150
How is the Surface PRO not a laptop replacement unless you need more I/O than it has? It IS a laptop in tablet form factor.

Its the position of it. It has a kick stand to hold up the tablet and the keyboard alone cannot hold up the tablet. Use a laptop and pretend there's a kick stand on the back that holds up the tablet, you need a bit more space.

RHChan84 wrote in post #17178779
Its the position of it. It has a kick stand to hold up the tablet and the keyboard alone cannot hold up the tablet. Use a laptop and pretend there's a kick stand on the back that holds up the tablet, you need a bit more space.

While that's technically correct, I feel the only time this becomes an issue is when using the device on your lap. So this is an individual matter that one needs to decide for themselves based on your own use case. My friend is in the media and types on his lap a ton in various events that he attends, and even though he loves the SP3, it's not a laptop replacement for him based on his use case. On the other hand my wife has an SP1 and never types on her lap so for her it's absolutely a laptop replacement.

That said, I'm 6'4" and I find the SP3 to be perfectly acceptable on my lap. So again...whether it can be a laptop replacement is highly individual cannot be stated as a broad statement.

I know the SP3 will struggle on a plane due to the kickstand and keyboard from what I have seen in from passengers next to me. They have their SP3 leaning on the seat in front of them and the keyboard on the desk/fold down table unit.

With that said, I have been traveling for over 9 years and it's rare that I need a keyboard since I mainly just watch movies and that doesn't require a keyboard. I never do work until I get to a hotel or sitting down at a Airline club.

I am looking at the Surface because I need the power and Full windows but yet very thin even with the keyboard. I believe its thinner then any ultra book out there with the keyboard attached.

RHChan84 wrote in post #17178822
I am looking at the Surface because I need the power and Full windows but yet very thin even with the keyboard. I believe its thinner then any ultra book out there with the keyboard attached.

Yup. I have an iPad with a Belkin bluetooth keyboard case, and the SP3 w/ keyboard is thinner than the iPad w/ keyboard.

Great info - thanks. I'd really like to just have 1 tool to use.

rwong2k wrote in post #17178188
I've replaced my laptop/desktop with a surface pro 2, and I do all my photo editing on it docked at home with my 27" monitor and usb hard drive dock.

It's great for studio tethering and quickly showing clients images during or after a shoot.

my wife has a surface pro3, the i7 one but it keeps over heating and shutting down.

This is not good. Thanks for the info. Did you try to replace it ?

Oh nope. According to all the research I did, it's a common issue with the i7 one. I still love it though except for the unexpected shutdowns

That is also what I have read as well with the i7. Sounds like the heat sink is a tad but to small.