Review on Microsoft Surface Pro 3 512GB, Intel Core i7, Windows 8.1 - Windows 10 Upgrade Included by Eder Boesel

I'm writing this review from the perspective of an animation/visual effects student. When deciding which portable device would be best for me at school, I read countless reviews of various laptops and tablets before finally settling on the Surface Pro 3 i7. One of the issues I had when purchasing this device was that either the reviews for it were less than stellar but addressed issues unrelated to the product, or I couldn't find a good review from someone who wanted to what I wanted to do. with it (mostly animation/visual effects programs like Maya and Creative Cloud). First let me say that if you think the price of this device is too high and like most other "high end" tablets would be better at $400, then look elsewhere, because this hybrid device is not for you. Of course, cheaper is ALWAYS better for the wallet, but that doesn't mean it's the best device. The iPad and Galaxy Tabs are great devices, but neither can (at the moment) compete with what the Surface Pro 3 has to offer. It's a full Windows laptop in a tablet form factor. It can run pretty much anything your desktop PC can run with little to no sacrifice (except maybe games. More on that later). Now let's get to my actual review. To say I'm thrilled with this device is an understatement. It can run whatever I need to run. The screen is absolutely fantastic. It has great build quality and is very thin (even with what's packed inside). I see a downside in its weight if you're not expecting it. It's certainly heavier than other tablets and can be a challenge to use with one hand, but it's not the end of the world. The main reason I bought it was to run the software I need to study while traveling and also to watch a few movies on long flights across the country. SOFTWARE Maya works GREAT. Of course you can't render too much on it, but I use it for simulations and then bring it to my desktop for rendering. Works very smoothly and quickly. Much better than I expected to be honest. The only problem I see so far is that the screen resolution is so high that the text on the screen is very, very, VERY small. If you have enough experience with Maya I'm sure the text won't be too much of a problem as you can just shorten everything and just remember where certain keys are. I'm no expert, so I have a cheat sheet ready. You can also search the web for ways to increase the text size in Maya by editing the config files, which I also find somewhat helpful. I store all my data on a high end USB 3.0 flash drive (Corsair GTX). So I can easily transfer it from Surface Pro to my Mac Pro. Photoshop works great too. The included stylus is made by N-trig, not Wacom, but it seems to do the job well. Adobe hasn't released a Surface version yet (to my knowledge), but the full version seems to work fine with the keyboard. The same goes for After Effects. I don't use most of the other programs in CC. For any editing I use FCPX on my Mac. I'm sure Premier will be good for smaller projects. Office works great, no problems. I also use Move Magic Screenwriter to write every script I make and it works great. Since purchasing it, I tend to write more than before simply because I'm not tied to a desk with my desktop. This would apply to any laptop, but it's another plus. A screen with such a high resolution that movies just pop out and look amazing. I haven't found a file type that doesn't work with it yet. I can't say anything about the sound quality as I use headphones 99% of the time. The games are a mixed bag, but that really shouldn't be the main reason you're buying this. The version I received (i7 512SSD) has an integrated HD5000 GPU. It's fine for what it is, but I actually had either a new Nvidia GNU or at least a new Intel Iris chipset. With each of these, I feel like serious gaming can be a HUGE plus. Anyway, I've tried a few different games just to see how much I can squeeze on it. WoW runs reasonably well on medium settings, maybe 20 fps in more populated areas, 30+ in lower areas. I'm not sure if you want to do anything serious by the end of the game, but it's possible. Wildstar ran about the same as Wow (which is to be expected), but the frame rate was slightly lower. By turning it down a bit, you can get FPS at a reasonable level. The big first-person shooters (COD, Titanfall, Battlefield, etc.) aren't that great. They're playable, but the frames drop too low to be really competitive. Simple games like Child of Light work really well. If I like it then why 3 stars? OK, I'll tell you. I like to start all my reviews with 5 stars and then add or remove as I see fit. First, yes, it must be packaged with a keyboard. Microsoft is targeting a laptop customer base with this, so it should behave the same as a keyboard. Paying $2,000 and then paying another $130 is crazy. I'm sure you can buy a solid Bluetooth keyboard that works just as well but doesn't double as a screen protector when folded. Updates queued before adding anything else to the machine. It's no different. During the update, the table overheated and turned off TWICE. I kind of expected heat to be an issue somewhere, but not during upgrades. This immediately left a sour taste in my mouth. After several attempts the updates went through and then the firmware update came and installed without any problems. I wasn't overheated after this firmware update, but there were no new updates to install. Another big problem is the microSD slot. At first glance, it looks like an afterthought. It appears to be hidden behind the stand. Some people like the incognito slot for example, I don't. If you're using it in tablet form and want to replace the memory card for some reason, you'll have to pull out the kickstand to get to the slot. But first you should be lucky if you get a WORK SLOT. It was determined that my SD slot is defective. It doesn't read a card I put in (yes, cards work). With Microsoft on the phone we went through several troubleshooting options before they gave up and said it was dead. During the warranty period Microsoft said I could return it and they would replace it in about 5-10 days with no problems (5 stars for the Microsoft Customer service (I really felt like they were trying to help me over the phone). However, you (and I) thought the best solution would be to contact the seller, TigerDirect, first and try to get a prompt replacement. That was about a week ago and so far Tiger Direct (zero stars) hasn't responded to my attempts to replace this. I work in the electronics industry, I know devices can be shipped broken, but ignoring customers is not the best way to go about it. This is not a customer review. Just be careful who you buy it from. I had to deduct a few stars due to the fact that I paid for what I did and the device had a broken slot, weird overheating issues and no keyboard. I would give 3.5 if I could, but I can't. It really is a great device for any student or professional looking for something as powerful as a laptop combined with the portability of a tablet. Just know what you are buying. If you want to play AngryBirds on a tablet and surf the web a bit, that's overkill. If you're attempting to edit movies, although it may be possible, be aware that rendering content will likely cause heat issues, not to mention it takes 10x longer than just doing it on a real desktop -PC to export. Mac with more power. I will keep updating and improving it as I use it. Thanks for reading, I hope you find something useful in my review.