Gadgetory

the Microsoft Surface is an idea that I've always wanted to love my conclusion about the original when I checked out the surface RT was that I thought the potential was amazing but it needed to be acts 86 it needed to be faster and prices needed to come down well with the first two addressed and the pricing a non-factor for me since I traded in my Lamborghini when my wife got pregnant with kid number two let's see if the surface pro 3 is what I imagined this concept could become with its power loss protection affordability and performance the SP 924 may data makes upgrading to an SSD remarkably safe and simple let's start with the initial unboxing impressions the AC adapter is compact and has a USB charging port Broc on the device itself is much lighter feeling than I expected the original surface was well balanced but dense this one reminds me of my first impressions of the iPhone 5 it's light but still feels premium and super sexy at the same time and the satin metal finish on the back actually made me say out loud how the hell did they do that it's the best feeling windows device I have ever held but let's move on I got a purple type cover and from reading initial impressions from press at the unveiling I was expecting it to kind of suck it totally doesn't the integrated touchpad is ok it's not precise enough it's palm rejection sucks and two-handed operation is basically impossible but at least it has a nice tactile click and the size is a good compromise the keyboard on the other hand is an engineering miracle in my opinion I swear they've got each key descending into a portal to another universe to get that much travel distance on such a thin keyboard I actually really liked it except it's too bad it doesn't have a print screen button and I have to double-click the back of the stylus to do that deal-breaker I'll be returning the surface pro 3 but let's press onward anyway shall we speaking of the stylus I guess if I was a student or an artist maybe I would give a crap but as it is the best thing Microsoft could have done for me is give me some going to tuck it away so I can ignore it forever too bad there is no slot for it and the instructions and seriously my eye is just about rolled out of my head tell you to stick it to the magnetic charging port when you're not using it what a joke what if I need to charge my device geniuses well no problem says the instructions you bought a type cover right here's the cheapest little chunk of fabric that we could find attached to a sticker put this on your type cover and put the pen through it are you freaking kidding me a stylus is either an integral part of the design or it's a stupid niche accessory that cost $50 every time I lose it if it's the former it goes inside and if it's the latter then don't bother talking about it alright but let's talk specs while I calm down Microsoft gives potential customers lots of well balanced CPU RAM and drive choices I picked up the core i5 4300 u version with eight gigs of RAM and a 256 gig solid-state drive beyond that things are pretty standardized so everyone gets a 12 inch 2160 by 1440 3 by 2 aspect ratio 10-point multi-touch IPS display a nine hour battery wireless AC Bluetooth 4.0 etc these are some damn impressive tech specs given the size and weight of this sucker speaking of size and weight let's move on to the physical overview on the left we find a volume rocker and a three-and-a-half millimeter jack on the right is a mini DisplayPort port a USB 3 port and the magnetic locking reversible power button on the top is a lock button and ventilation holes and finally on the bottom is the shockingly strong magnetic clip hmm goes to show you when you try to demo something typical Microsoft right is the shockingly strong magnetic clip for the type cover the back has one of the two five megapixel cameras simple clean surface branding and the much improved kickstand I mean this thing is awesome it's still flawlessly flush when closed it still has that car door sound and feel of the old one and it's much more flexible now it works open a little bit in your lap or on your desk open all the way propped on a pillow and everywhere in between it is so well constructed I mean I already said the device is beautiful once but I feel like I should say it again here because I'm about to start beating on it pretty hard as we make our way the front the display would be perfect if it wasn't for some very noticeable backlight bleed on dark backgrounds the windows button would be perfect if it wasn't exactly where I rest my thumb when I hold it in landscape mode the front facing speakers would be perfect if the ports for them were big enough to actually sound like their front facing and the card reader slot under the kickstand would be perfect if it was a full sized SD slot instead of a micro SD I mean seriously what's the excuse on something this big I can adapt down but not up but so far all this stuff you could have figured out from reading a spec sheet what is this thing like to actually use so to find out I set everything up on the surface took my XPS 12 out of my backpack and left for a four day business trip I mean that's what this thing is supposed to be for right road warriors it fits in my windows just a bag like a boss but then the first time I took it out I ran into trouble the kickstand system just doesn't give you the same economic options that a normal hinge does I was starting in my chair and I realized I couldn't really get the screen to face me properly then shortly afterward due to its top-end heaviness it fell off of my lap fortunately I caught it with my legs but these are the kinds of problems with the surfaces organ omics that don't exist with a normal clamshell then I was on the plane and making some notes for this review so I propped up the keyboard to a comfortable angle with the surprisingly robust little magnetic system here OOP fired upward one of the many applications that doesn't have a metro UI version and realize two things number one is that the airplane tray wasn't long enough for the kickstand to rest hon so I actually had to prop the screen against the seat in front of me relying on friction to keep the keyboard from sliding towards me and number two is that what the keyboard angled up I can't touch the taskbar with my fingers very well and switch between applications something I've become very accustomed to with my Dell Harrigan there are positive points though further into the trip I was using it to offload footage from a camera's SD card using a USB 3 reader and I was struck by the appeal of a full proper Windows machine in such a tiny form-factor and with such great battery life I mean it's true compared to normal tablet the surface pro 3 is just so versatile and so powerful having proper access to the folder tree having easy flexible networking capabilities having strong driver support from random crap like printers I mean even something as simple as having a proper full-size USB 3 port these are all fantastic selling points and those selling points unfortunately aren't going to help it overcome my objections to it I mean maybe part of the problem is I'm not the right customer I own about half a dozen tablets and I haven't touched any of them in months for me a flagship smartphone has a big high-res enough screen for casual use and if something is time consuming or important enough to be worth getting off my butt to go get something better I'm going to go get my XPS 12 a device that has a real keyboard a better touchpad runs quieter also happens to work as a notebook or as a tablet and is available for the same price as a surface pro 3 with a type cover and at this point you might come to Microsoft students saying but - the XPS 12 is a bit big and heavy for tablet use and doesn't come with a stylus - which I would reply you're right but the surface 3 pro is a bit big and heavy for tablet use - and as for the stylus I don't give a crap about drawing on my computer if I did I'd buy a Wacom companion it's also similarly priced and includes a much better stylus for folks who are serious about drawing on the tablets ok Linus gotcha but in Microsoft's defense they were never targeting tablets with the surface pro 3 anyway their marketing is aimed squarely at the MacBook Air - which I would reply good for them I guess if that's how they want this review structured then here's the tagline they can put on the product page this device I would never buy is competitive with another device I would never buy 5 stars the MacBook Air doesn't have a touchscreen so it was never in the running for me anyway I wouldn't even begin to consider a notebook without a touchscreen at this point and once you get one you'll probably never go back either trust me now the screen resolution and the more square aspect ratio could have won me over from a Productivity standpoint if Windows 8.1 didn't still handle tech scaling with the poising brace of a giraffe on a pair of stilts and ice skates on the ends due to the pixel density of its screen surface pro 3 needs text scaling and comes with icons and text enlarged out of the box but it really takes away from the beauty of the display when so many things are blurry and crappy looking I mean third-party developers are definitely a big part of the problem but it feels a bit hypocritical for Microsoft to be upset about their lollygagging when within Windows there are still things that don't scale correctly so that's it sorry Microsoft I can't recommend this product and even worse I no longer believe the surface concept belongs in a world where - and ones exist the Windows tablet experience is bad enough that I find myself only wanting to use it occasionally and in the 2% of the time that happens I'll settle for a bulkier heavier tablet experience in exchange for a better notebook one the other 98% of the time there are going to be people for whom the surface is perfect but I'm just not one of them say Livi thanks guys for watching like this video if you liked it dislike it if you disliked it leave a comment letting me know if you think I'm right about the surface if you think I'm completely wrong about the surface check out the support us link in the video description where you can buy a cool t-shirt like this one you can give us a monthly contribution you can also change your amazon bookmark to one with our affiliate code so we get a smile kick back whenever you buy stuff and I think that is pretty much it as always don't forget to subscribe for more videos just like this one