Microsoft is continuing it's so far ill advised attempt at selling hardware with the release of the Surface Pro 3. The Pro version continues to run Win8.1 and so should not encounter the compatibility issues that the Surface RT presented but at an MSRP of $800 it is nowhere near as inexpensive either. The 800g tablet is powered by a Haswell Core i7 processor and the 12" 2160×1440 display sports a 3:2 aspect ratio which Microsoft points out offers 6% more viewable content. It is also fairly tough as it was dropped from about waist height in the demo without suffering any damage. The other nice feature is the optional docking station which allows you to plug in peripherals and use the Surface as a display, or use the docking port to output to a 4K display. Check out more about the Surface Pro 3 and it's "full-friction" multi-position hinge at The Tech Report.
"Microsoft has just spilled the beans on its Surface Pro 3 tablet, and the details are really quite interesting. The company has taken a fresh approach to the Surface Pro this time around, with a stated goal of "removing the conflict" between the tablet and laptop form factors."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- China says an emphatic 'no' to Windows 8 as it looks to Linux instead @ The Inquirer
- Intel primes market for silicon photonics to lift data centre interconnect speeds @ The Inquirer
- Microsoft outs Surface Pro 3 with 12in HD screen, Core i7 and Windows 8.1 @ The Inquirer
- IBM accidentally invents new class of polymers @ The Register
- AMD said to acquire SATA Express IP from ASMedia for next-generation platform @ DigiTimes
- 4 Excellent Alternative Graphical Linux File Managers @ Linux.com
- Hey, who wants a 40TB all-flash Pure box? I dunno, you got $160k? @ The Register
- Intel to achieve 80% of 2014 tablet AP shipment goal @ DigiTimes
- Free Software Foundation slams Mozilla's decision to adopt Adobe DRM @ The Inquirer
- Real, hovering SPEEDER BIKE can be YOURS for cheaper than a house @ The Inquirer
- Compro TN4230 Outdoor PoE IP Camera @ eTeknix
- Arc Attack Shows Off Tesla Backpack which is Certainly Not a Weapon @ Hack a Day
wait, im confused. I thought
wait, im confused. I thought the surface pro lineup was pretty popular, no? The artist at penny arcade really seemed to enjoy his surface pro and surface pro2.
No widescreen!
Thank you
No widescreen!
Thank you Microsoft, thank you!
All those 16:9 tablets need to burn.
16:10 is still widescreen
16:10 is still widescreen
What does that have to do
What does that have to do with anything? SP3 is 3:2.
wtf are you smoking
wtf are you smoking
nevermind i overlooked res
nevermind i overlooked res thought was 16:10
They need to to ditch the
They need to to ditch the locked down arm base surface and set the surface pro price to around 500
And while we are at it, I
And while we are at it, I want a pony.
It interesting that all of
It interesting that all of these SP3 articles mention the 800 dollar price tag in the same breath as the i7 processor.
In reality 800 bucks only gets you an i3, the i7 is around 1500.
Nice device though. Would be interested in how the i3 performs in video AND audio tests. Some of us want to use these things for music recording and playback of midi virtual instruments. Seems to be such a niche that no body ever bothers to test the audio side, ASIO latency etc. 🙂
I like all the improvements
I like all the improvements they’ve made, yet still have no need whatsoever for the resulting device.
Phenomenal comment — I was
Phenomenal comment — I was thinking exactly the same thing myself, about this product and many others.
There are 3 CPU options that
There are 3 CPU options that come with this, i3, i5, i7, want to guess which one comes with the $800.00 tablet.
Want to guess what processor they used for the presentation.
Maybe Nvidia should take their unnatural affinity for android, and dump it, and get the Tegra K1 running a full linux distro, and make a low cost Graphics Tablet for graphics! I wonder how the K1’s kepler graphics compares to the Surface Pro graphics on these SKUs? Maybe Apple should get a pro graphics tablet, but M$ may get some sales. At that base model cost for the S Pro, it is only going to sale to the High End($$$) market, and $800 for a core i3 device is a joke for consumers, but maybe for some large enterprises uses, the Bulk price for large orders will bring the costs down. Its M$ vs the Legal Pad, and I’ll stick with pen and paper, until someone gets a Full Linux based graphics tablet to market, Adobe can have their cloud also.
Also the i3 only comes with
Also the i3 only comes with 64gb with no large options unless you go up a processor.
From MS site:
i3 = 64GB has >36GB available disk space
i5 = 128GB has >96GB available disk space
i5/i7 = 256GB has >211GB available disk space
i7 = 512GB has >450GB available disk space
Why can’t I have an i3 with more storage? 64gb is a joke for a ‘real’ laptop replacement. My music collection alone is around 30gb and I have a small music collection by today’s standards. 🙂
Completely agree with you!
My
Completely agree with you!
My collection is 500GB and that’s not counting the original 100 CDs that is left to convert in a digital format. I still have tape cassettes, but won’t go there.
These prices are fairly in
These prices are fairly in line with tablet x86/x64 PC prices and are to be expected. In fact they may be even a little lower then expected. PC tablets that predated the original Surface Pro were in the ~$1100+ range from the likes of Samsung, Asus and so on. The first surface Pro had an entry level price of ~$899 (64GB version) to ~$999 (128GB) and fewer processor options.
One can still buy a first Surface pro (new) for about ~$580 USD (128GB version.
and so on,…..
This is just what these things cost.
Some older models of tablet PC like the Asus Eee slate EP121 are easy enough to upgrade with respect to mSATA SSD and WiFi + Bluetooth card. So you could buy a 256GB mSATA SSD and install it yourself. I’m not sure about the new Surface Pro 3 though. I did see the logic board but the attempted installation of such things would be ill advised.
3rd time charm?
I hope they
3rd time charm?
I hope they dropped price significantly that was the problem prior
The thing is that while
The thing is that while Microsoft may set the price for such products like the Surface Pro 3 they don’t set the prices for the components needed to build it. There is likely a markup on RAM and SSD storage when going up the scale but every manufacturer of such devices does this.
If you look for similar PC tablets (of the same generation and specs) from a different manufacturer its almost certainly going to cost a similar price.
Prices drop over time and when the product has been replaced with a successor.
If you are searching to
If you are searching to purchase a new relationship wall-mounted electric hearth then you’ve pick one out of your available options alone.