Microsoft Surface 3

And the winner is...

Microsoft Surface 3 Tablet

I was surprised myself, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. To me, this was a decision of practicality over flash and tech-specs. When my Samsung Note 10.1 broke down, I was in the market for a tablet and I wanted something different. I was considering another Samsung, the Fire 8.9, and even an iPad at one point. I felt each had compromises, but I wanted something truly different. So I chose something very different.

The fact that different was Microsoft kinda surprised me, but I am glad I made the right choice here. This is why competition is good, the iPad is solid, the Kindle Fire and it's entertainment are excellent, Samsung's tablets are nice, but I wanted something else than another iPad clone.

This? This is different. And different is good.

First off the negatives, because I know they are on your mind.  Windows 8.1? Actually not that bad. It took me 15 minutes to get familiar to how things work, and I was off and running without problems. Yes, things are in different places, but for a tablet, these places make sense. Windows 8.1 is actually a huge improvement over 8, and if I hate it after a week, I'm getting a free Windows 10 upgrade in a month anyways.

And if I can't find something? Search takes care of it.

The second negative? The Atom processor. I don't notice this, and I am not using this to play heavy-duty 3d games on, so this is a non-issue to me. The 8 hours of battery life is what you get in return, and things felt reasonably snappy and fast. The SSD hard-disk is a bit on the slow side, so installs are a bit pokey. Once you get things installed you don't notice it though, but that is a trade-off again, possibly for the lower price.

I got the 128GB and 4GB version because I hate  swapping and I wanted some more room. I also added a 128GB SD card in the slot under the kickstand for movie and music space. I also got the keyboard cover thing, which is a great addition that gives you a real keyboard (but a dinky trackpad - use the screen or a mouse). This gives me 256GB of space (closer to 96 + 119 really), which is more than most other tablets out there. The downside is price, the keyboard is pricey, and you are clocking in around $700 once you kit out, which is comparable to a high-end iPad.

This gives you a lot more than a high-end iPad though. You now have a full Windows computer in a tablet form. My writing programs? All on there. Chrome? On there. All my comfort apps? On there. Office? On there. Anything on my desktop? On there if I wish.

The kickstand is neat, and useful. I like it and love not having to fumble with kickstand cases.

One of the neat things this can do is install Steam and play the lower-end games directly on the tablet - so I keep my game library. Not having to search through an Android store and reuse all my Windows games is a good thing. I can also stream games from a high-end tower using Steam onto the tablet, so I have all those games too anywhere in the house and using the graphics and CPU horsepower of my workstation. Neat. At a full HD 1920x1080 resolution, there are no image compromises, and the screen is drop-dead gorgeous. This kinda negates the Atom processor issue in my mind, if I want to play something that intensive - just stream it when at home. I can even remote in to any computer I desire, so this is also another cool benefit.

Unlike the pro version of the surface, there is no cooling fan, which makes this thing super quiet. The pro version has i5 and i7 processors, and I didn't need them or the 1000-1500 price tag and larger size, so I skipped those. As a tablet, this isn't that thin, it is more like the original iPad in form factor, and the keyboard add-on gives it some heft. I like the cheaper price, and I like the no-fan design. For a writer this is perfect.

If I were doing a complete desktop replacement? I'd probably get the i7. But, I have a great desktop, so this came down to function and money, which is where this tablet wins. In a couple years and the next-gen hardware? Yes, I'm probably jumping in with the pro as a laptop replacement. This a is good enough and cheap enough to introduce me to this world without making a huge commitment, and later on down the road I can decide if the next-gen hardware is the "all in" option for me.

I am using the keyboard as the device's cover. Would I still want a cover? Possibly, if it didn't get in the way of either using the stand or the keyboard.

Another plus is the split-screen mode. I can drag two apps and place them side-by-side, and adjust the width of each for comfort. This is a cool function for a tablet, and doing this is easy and super cool if you need to do some quick research. I can then close and rapidly switch between running apps with a quick left-flick, and I am back to where I want to be in a snap. There are some things that Windows 8+ were built for, and tablet productivity stuff is where this OS shines.

Regrets? The slow-ish hard drive speed. The small trackpad on the keyboard. The weight is a bit heavier than one of the new super thin tablets. I kinda regret not getting the i7, but I kind of don't since I feel the pro version "to get" will be the next generation of processors, and I'm hoping for a no-fan design - we will see. This, for now, is great for a writer, and I love it.

Will I be giving up my Chromebook? Not a chance, I still love that machine as my "on the go" writing powerhouse. It is a laptop form-factor, so it can go anywhere and bounce around on my lap without a balancing act. It is cheap and secure, so I won't cry if I lose it, drop it, or it gets dinged up. This is my sub-200 dedicated word processor, so it still has a place in my arsenal of writing tools.

The Surface 3 more replaces my tablet collection of Android devices, and unifies me on Windows and Mac as the platforms I support in my life (less is better). Chrome is really a platform on both and itself, so it crosses the bridge on all devices and is really a non-platform that doesn't need support (which is why I like Chrome and still recommend Chromebooks).

For the Microsoft Surface 3 Tablet? Strong recommend, as long as you understand the trade-offs and what you get. For a full Windows OS on a tablet? That's very nice, and it is a choice that lets me use all my desktop apps on my tablet, which is a huge win for me. This was a battle where convenience won over flash, form factor, and tech-specs and I am now a happy user of a device that is decidedly different.