Microsoft Surface 3: One Week In

So how is it one week into owning a Microsoft Surface 3 Tablet?

So far so good.

First off, the negatives. Some traditional apps do not respond well to touch, with small buttons, traditional scroll bars, and other not-for-touch elements. If you bought pure Android or iOS, you would be mostly guaranteed apps that work with touch. In a Windows world, the mouse rules, and you make due. Still, I can do reasonably well and it is a small annoyance with some applications. Touching on an app, holding, and dragging down should make it scroll, but in a Windows world the scroll bar rules and you are touching the edge of the screen.

I want a way to make any windowed app full screen, like Chrome's F11 full screen mode. I simply don't want a useless title bar or the start bar in some applications. Just give me my screen! The Mac does full screen mode very nicely with apps and I want this in Windows.

The neutrals? The touch keyboard is not as comfortable as I like, and it does bend a little. I can use it, but it is not as solid as I like. I can live with it, and I can also use a real keyboard, so not really a problem. The touch keyboard's trackpad is small, it does a good job, but I am looking for a small Bluetooth mouse to compensate. Make no mistake, the keyboard is a necessity because of how some programs work, where a mouse is an option.

Storage is good. I am not putting gigs and gigs of junk on here, just what I need to work and play.

CPU speed is good, I don't have a stuttering or slow load problem for web pages, and scrolling is snappy. I had some speed issues with my older Kindle Fire HD7 on some pages, and I had to switch to my now-dead Samsung Note 10.1 for web work.

Disk speed is slow, especially during updates. I don't notice this on application loads, just updating the device.

Battery life is excellent, there is little drain just letting it sit around. The screen is excellent, bright, clear, and high resolution. The speakers aren't as good as a Kindle Fire, but they are better than an iPad's with two-side stereo separation.

Amazon books? Nook books? Netflix movies? All there with native touch-enabled tablet apps, and they work well. It comes with a year of Office too, so you get a lot of productivity for free. An even better deal is putting the apps you already have on there and having them available on a tablet. All my games, my writing apps, and all my other comfortable programs are there alongside the more tablet-y apps. Using my little library of Steam games saves me money, and I don't need to invest in a second OS ecosystem for gaming. It doesn't run AAA games, but it runs what I like to play.

PDFs? They load and display beautifully with the included PDF app. They even have a VLC media player app for playing movie files. This tablet handles all types of media very well, and it is a first-class entertainment device. Yes, it could be lighter and thinner to be 'effortless', but what it does it does very well. The kick-stand is a goddess-send for movies, just flip it out and watch like a TV.

Windows 8.1? I actually like it better than the start menu. Call me crazy, but I like the tiles in tablet mode - they work well and I can put things where I want. I hope Windows 10 has a way to make things work like 8, because I like how things work now. Don't force me to go back to a bottom-corner start menu on a tablet please!

Not buying the Surface Pro 3? No regrets and a great idea since the rumors of the Surface Pro 4 are out, and it looks to be the one to get if you are going big. I like the smaller size of this one though, and it is handy and not a 12" commitment to carry around. The 10" iPad-size is nice, and I can see this thing travelling well. My Chromebook is still the queen of the road for me though, but this one is handy and I can see it growing on me.

Buyers regrets?

None. This is a fun tablet, an a full computer. There are a couple small issues with legacy desktop apps and touch, but nothing that held me up or couldn't be solved with the trackpad. Overall it is a worthy small-laptop replacement and a fun tablet.

Believe the hype on this one. Still a strong recommend.