As always, AnandTech has the only review of the new Surface 3 that really matters.
So with those caveats aside, we can finally get to the conclusion that you have likely guessed already. The Surface 3 is a great device. The build quality is really at the top level of any OEM out there. The form factor is finally the right one after two previous generations that got it slightly wrong. The weight is lighter than any previous Surface, and just as balanced. Performance of the x7 Atom CPU is great for light tasks, and if you need more than light tasks then this is not the device for you. As a tablet, it is great to use in either orientation, with the portrait mode being especially good now for browsing the web. The kickstand is improved, they keyboard is improved, the base tier steps up to 64 GB of storage, making it actually useful without immediately adding micro SD to the mix.
When I was weighing the pros and cons of the retina MacBook Pro vs. the Surface, I eventually ended up not going with the Surface because of the keyboard and trackpad. As nice as the Surface hardware is, its detachable keyboard and trackpad (whether it’s the Pro or the regular) are several orders of magnitude worse than those on the MacBook Pro, which are best-in-class (well, the trackpad at least). Those are the primary input methods for my kind of use, so the MBP won out in the end.
The point: Microsoft should just make a Surface laptop. Keep the detachable model as well if you want, but also offer a proper Surface laptop that can compete with actual laptops.
What would be wrong with attacking the tablet to a docking keyboard/track pad.
Basically create a laptop base with no CPU and the mounting hardware to attach the tablet to. For the most part this would like like a normal laptop.
This would also let you to place a battery in the base to charge/extend the life of the tablet’s battery.
Asus is already doing this with their Transformer line of Android tablets. Although, last time I tried it (couple of years ago), Android with the keyboard attached was a miserable experience.
I think Google doesn’t really care about that anymore. Their focus is on getting more Android apps working on Chrome OS, especially with touchscreen Chromebooks.
The weight balance is miserable though. There are always compromises, but Microsoft is determined not to less this all-in-one dream go.
I absolutely hate AnandTech reviews because they focus on the wrong things, and this one is not different.
So there are pages up and down with irrelevant graphs (a “it’s not good for high-end games” would basically do), but only a paragraph claiming the trackpad and keyboard is good enough. It really isn’t. The trackpad is not only way too small, it tends to stop working for seconds at a time when the system is slightly under load. And don’t get me started on the keyboard… the layout is just wrong and the travel doesn’t cut it.
So I get five Cinebench graphs that is irrelevant for the typical customer, but only a paragraph about the input devices you’ll use hours per day?
Read a useful review instead.
I suspect that after Anand sold out his site became for hire. Quite frankly the site is practically worthless to me. I miss the days of ars, acehardware, hardocp, Tom’s, etc. Online reviews aren’t really fun any more like they used to be.
“The point: Microsoft should just make a Surface laptop.”
Try the Dell XPS 13 with the QHD+ screen. As of BIOS A03, the linux issues are pretty much ironed out (And Dell offers a Developer edition running Ubuntu now).
Edited 2015-05-06 22:26 UTC
Comparing the Surface Pro to a Macbook is not logical. There really is no comparison from Surface Pro to an Apple Product. Apple doesn’t have a Tablet that supports adding a keyboard, and also runs OSX. The proper comparison to a Macbook Pro would be a high-end Windows laptop.
So, the point is not proven and I win a potato!
Potato’s aside that’s a good point.
And vis-a-vis the point made the other day regarding Microsoft and Apple not being TRUE competitors (any more) – this is probably quite well illustrated here.
Consumers platform choices, even just between Windows and Mac for simplicity sake would probably be best served in terms of hardware/software integration at least – if there were as Thom would like a Microsoft Surface laptop -plus- as you mention, an iPad (Pro?) that not only worked with/came with a mouse and keyboard but gave real computer workers the ability to break out of the child’s play box and run full os x Applications (and not just Mac App Store curated OS X apps either); but we are offered neither of these.
Similar charges could directed toward Google too – While there are a FEW android tablets around – there aren’t any really good offerings with Lollipop, and freedom to sideload apps, write to USB/SD freely etc. And I don’t feel this is accidental
Consumers aren’t offered the full range of possible possibilities because there is at least a cynical amount of artificial market segmentation going on (all the time), if not outright collusion in this.
“When I was weighing the pros and cons of the retina MacBook Pro vs. the Surface”
Why do you add Pro to the MacBook but not to the Surface? It becomes especially confusing when the article is about the Surface and not about the Surface Pro.
If you were looking for a MacBook Pro alternative…there are plenty out there. Dell XPS 13/15 come to mind immediately
I hope review sites start paying attention to features/ports/design/weight/size/keyboard/touchpad/touchscreen/stylus /usability much more than “2% extra frames in benchmark 7, but 4% slower writes on 8K continues…”. Of course running benchmarks is relatively easy and more objective but “does it come with a hardware mute button” is at least as important