My son wanted a Surface Pro 3 to do some artwork on (Manga Studio/Photoshop/Mischief) as well as general MS office/Internet access but the prices are somewhat above his budget.
So instead we’ve been looking at the Surface 3 (i.e. not Pro). We wanted a minimum of 4Gb of RAM and a Type Cover as well as a Surface Pen. At the Microsoft Store this adds up to £653.98 (same at PC World) which is still blinking expensive.
Then I found a bundle at Ballicom which included the Atom X7 version of the Surface 3 with 4Gb RAM and 64 Gb Storage (eMMC rather than SSD), a Type Cover and a Surface Pen for £407 including delivery. This seemed too good to be true so I did some digging and found it’s an EDU bundle which is supposed to be for Education use only. The same bundle at Misco.co.uk is £584.20 (excluding delivery) so this is a decent saving. Includes free 7 day delivery.
I know this isn’t as powerful as a Surface Pro 3 but for its intended use it’s still very capable. Also this bundle only has 64 Gb of storage but it was more important to have 4Gb of RAM as that can’t be expanded and I’ll just add a 128 Gb Micro-SD card (£30 at Amazon).
And of course you can still get a free upgrade to Windows 10.
Review - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk2qZ8lirPg
Drawing/Sketching on the Surface 3 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO_wp4SRObc
Real world use - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Wo_bhslZ0
Here’s the blurb from the description if anyone’s interested -
A very thin and super-light Surface
The 622g Surface 3 is just the right size to slip under your arm or in your purse and take anywhere.
Power through your day
Surface 3 has up to 10 hours of battery life for video playback so you can work, browse, play, or watch all day long.
Work the way you want
With signature 3-position Kickstand, Surface 3 lets you binge watch your favourite shows hands-free.
Mighty powerful
Surface 3 has a Quad-Core Intel Atom x7 processor, so it's fast, responsive and won't slow you down when you're on the go.
Desktop software
Surface 3 runs all your Windows desktop software like Microsoft Office, iTunes, and Photoshop Essentials.
Full-size USB 3.0
It is easy to connect all of your accessories with a full-size USB 3.0.
Top comments
mbuckhurst
8 Feb 164#20
For anyone after a similar specification but a little more power, you can often get Dell Venue 11 Pros from the Dell outlet for this price or lower, I picked up Core M 5Y11 (similar performance to an i5 supposedly - I run Visual Studio, SQL Server, Photoshop with no lag), 256GB internal storage, 8GB RAM and 4G card slot on top of the standard 1080P IPS screen, all for less than £400.
It's heavier, not as desirable, but for the money is hard to beat, if, like me, the Surface devices are too far out of your league.
mike
phishwak to bigdarlodave
8 Feb 163#3
Yes normally it does but this is a special Education only bundle that Microsoft do for Schools and Colleges.
All comments (58)
bigdarlodave
8 Feb 161#1
I could be wrong but surface 3 64GB only has 2GB ram, i know as i had to get the 128GB as i wanted 4GB ram, unless they have been inside it and added more, however like i say... i could be wrong.
LiamSmith78 to bigdarlodave
8 Feb 16#2
yep, you are. my surface 3 is the 4gb/128GB model :smiley:
there are two different variants.
phishwak to bigdarlodave
8 Feb 163#3
Yes normally it does but this is a special Education only bundle that Microsoft do for Schools and Colleges.
CharlieBravo
8 Feb 16#4
I use illustrator cc on mine, 4GB 128GB version, it is really impressive for the same price as an iPad, which is comparatively pants!
stuellis to CharlieBravo
8 Feb 16#5
Agree, I have the Surface 3 128gb with keyboard and pen and its a brilliant device, in my opinion well worth its RRP. My wife still has an iPad mini and I had an iPad but the Surface makes them both look like a basic toy once you realise what you can do with it. Wouldn't be without mine now.
simplewanderer
8 Feb 16#6
removed - can't count. SW
solid
8 Feb 16#7
What's the difference between the surface 3 and the surface pro 3?
![Fresh Breakfast Meat Box (Using code) @ Campbells Meat [Haggis / Lorne Sausage / Bacon / Black Pudding & More]](/images/topics/208684_1.jpg)
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Opening post
So instead we’ve been looking at the Surface 3 (i.e. not Pro). We wanted a minimum of 4Gb of RAM and a Type Cover as well as a Surface Pen. At the Microsoft Store this adds up to £653.98 (same at PC World) which is still blinking expensive.
Then I found a bundle at Ballicom which included the Atom X7 version of the Surface 3 with 4Gb RAM and 64 Gb Storage (eMMC rather than SSD), a Type Cover and a Surface Pen for £407 including delivery. This seemed too good to be true so I did some digging and found it’s an EDU bundle which is supposed to be for Education use only. The same bundle at Misco.co.uk is £584.20 (excluding delivery) so this is a decent saving. Includes free 7 day delivery.
I know this isn’t as powerful as a Surface Pro 3 but for its intended use it’s still very capable. Also this bundle only has 64 Gb of storage but it was more important to have 4Gb of RAM as that can’t be expanded and I’ll just add a 128 Gb Micro-SD card (£30 at Amazon).
And of course you can still get a free upgrade to Windows 10.
Review - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk2qZ8lirPg
Drawing/Sketching on the Surface 3 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO_wp4SRObc
Real world use - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Wo_bhslZ0
Here’s the blurb from the description if anyone’s interested -
A very thin and super-light Surface
The 622g Surface 3 is just the right size to slip under your arm or in your purse and take anywhere.
Power through your day
Surface 3 has up to 10 hours of battery life for video playback so you can work, browse, play, or watch all day long.
Work the way you want
With signature 3-position Kickstand, Surface 3 lets you binge watch your favourite shows hands-free.
Mighty powerful
Surface 3 has a Quad-Core Intel Atom x7 processor, so it's fast, responsive and won't slow you down when you're on the go.
Desktop software
Surface 3 runs all your Windows desktop software like Microsoft Office, iTunes, and Photoshop Essentials.
Full-size USB 3.0
It is easy to connect all of your accessories with a full-size USB 3.0.
Top comments
It's heavier, not as desirable, but for the money is hard to beat, if, like me, the Surface devices are too far out of your league.
mike
All comments (58)
there are two different variants.
Cheers
https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/32s5n0/surface_3_vs_bay_trail_the_comparison_that/