Hot on the tail of the introduction of a new MacBook, Microsoft released the next generation of the Surface tablet. It's both late, compared to the discontinuation of the Surface 2 and the introduction of the Surface Pro 3, but also early among devices with the newest Atom branding. The Surface 3 is in an interesting spot, because it's in a weight class above the old Surface RT and Surface 2. It's similar to the Asus T100 and X205TA plus the HP Stream series, but still more premium than those devices. It's a lower performance device than the MacBook or the Dell XPS 13, however.
The executive summary of the Surface 3 is that it has a 10.8-inch 1920x1280 display, a 1.6GHz (2.4GHz turbo) quad-core Atom x7-Z8700 processor, and is available for $499 with 2 gigabytes of memory and a 64 gigabyte solid state storage device. A 4/128 configuration is available for $100 more. A new Type Keyboard is available for it, and (excitingly) the Surface Pen is also available. A well-equipped 4/128 Surface 3 with the pen and keyboard is available for a little bit less than a Surface Pro 3 without the keyboard.
Since its introduction back in January, I have been looking at all of the reviews of the Dell XPS 13, thinking about how ideal it would be for my needs as a writing computer, mainly due to its class-leading (and also industry-leading) battery life, as well as its real keyboard and relatively high amount of working space, with a 1920x1080 display. However, the Surface 3 has a form factor that's still usable, the pen, and "enough" battery life, at ten hours.
Some aspects of the Surface 3 were surprising when I saw it:
- The new 3:2 form factor and 1920x1280 display
- Micro USB charging
I was essentially expecting a Surface 2, but with an Atom or Core M CPU.
The Micro USB charging port is very interesting and full of potential. If it works as an OTG port, this makes the first Surface product with two USB ports. Even if it doesn't work as a USB OTG port, the possibility to use third party chargers and outboard battery packs with it makes it particularly interesting. The earlier Surfaces (and the Surface Pro 3) all use proprietary chargers, and only Microsoft builds chargers that work for those devices. The Dell XPS 13 has an outboard battery pack available, but the Surface 3 benefits from a very large variety of USB batteries and charging devices.
The fact that it's an x86 computer, too, means that it can run regular Windows applications, such as PuTTY, Notepad++, and Paint.Net, which are probably the three biggest applications that have been missing from the Surface and Yoga RT.
The timing is relevant because I've been experiencing just how bad the nVidia Tegra 3 CPU on the Surface and Yoga RT is for viewing modern, Javascript-heavy web pages. They're each technically faster than, say, the third generation iPad, but they're nearly unbearable compared to other desktop computers, where you expect multiple big, complicated web pages to load quickly. These systems are still relevant for their installations of Office 2013, but without either the ability to quickly render web pages, or run other applications, their usefulness is reduced.
One of the questions I've had about the Surface RT since I got it has been about the expected lifespan or the lifecycle of such a device. The original iPad "lasted" two years, but my third generation iPad is still getting software updates, and the new features and form factor of the latest iPads don't specifically add anything that I want that my iPad can't do. On the other hand, if I were going to replace the iPad, it has been a bit over two years since I got it and the newest models are appreciably and materially faster. Even though I don't yet want to use this functionality, I do appreciate the new form factor, the better camera, and the 128 gigabytes of storage, all for about what I paid for my iPad back when I got it.
As always, the Surface RT straddled the line between a "tablet" (where its performance would likely still be considered sufficient) and a desktop computer (where its performance is suitable for Office, but not for the web.) My hope had been that it would last longer. My guess is that the Surface 2 will really last longer.
It will be interesting to see what the performance of the new chips is like. At 1.6GHz with a 2.4GHz turbo frequency, there's almost no chance that the Surface 3 isn't faster overall than my existing laptop. The question is whether or not it's worth buying one (instead of, just continuing to use my Surface or Yoga on the go, or getting something from a higher product tier) to use as the replacement to both the Surface and my ThinkPad.
The biggest problem the Surface lineup has, I think, is that there are a lot of expectations on it, related to the pent-up demand for Microsoft branded computers. I think before the Surface family was introduced, there was interest in Microsoft-branded computers. After, the interest rose exponentially. It's clear Microsoft would like to be more like Apple, and that will inevitably need to involve either exerting more control over the OEMs, or themselves manufacturing more computers. One way Microsoft exerts this control is to become a retailer, and add itself at another part of the PC value chain. It adds its own software image to third party PCs before selling them in its stores and online from its web site. In this manner, the Dell XPS 13, an HP Envy, or the Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga becomes almost as much a Microsoft laptop as any laptop Microsoft would have built.
The other problem with the Surface family is that while they are great on desks and great as stand-up or pure tablets, there are several "laptop" situations that the Surface form factor just doesn't lend itself to, which is a shame because it looks so far like Windows 10 may be a less suitable tablet system than Windows 8.1 Update 1 was.
The other bummer about the Surface 3 is that it moves to a more "traditional" method of licensing Microsoft Office. Instead of including a single perpetual license to, say, Office 2013 Home and Student or some Surface specific product, it includes a one-year license to Office 365 Personal. To me, the big selling point of the plain "Surface" line had always been the perpetual license to Office Home and Student, which was later upgraded to include the desktop edition of Outlook. This was important both because Microsoft hadn't released the "modern" or "universal" versions of Office yet (as of this writing, they are still previews available only for Windows 10) and because it was another selling point for the Surface RT compared to other Windows computers about that price, as well as for the Surface RT compared to other tablets in that price range. Microsoft is either planning on the Office Web Apps (which should perform well on that hardware) or the new universal edition of Office to count for that checkbox. That puts the Surface 3 on about an even playing field with anything else you could buy.
I suppose Microsoft's game here is selling more Office 365 licenses and extensions, and for $199 plus the cost of a retail copy of Office, somebody can buy an Asus X205TA or HP Stream 11 if they need Office forever without the use of Office 365.
The Surface and Surface 2, along with other Windows RT devices are quickly going to become relics of a specific time. They're not getting upgrades to Windows 10, nor are they likely to get Office 2016, so although they'll have some manner of support through 2022 or so, they will always look like they did in late 2013 when they got the upgrade to Windows 8.1. This isn't necessarily bad, but it does create a situation where these devices will be more and more isolated as time goes on, as web sites become even more difficult to load, or simply stop working properly with Internet Explorer 11, and as Windows and Office evolve over time. It's a pretty interesting position to be in, both just knowing about and observing the device, and owning and using it.
The Surface 3 on the other hand promises to adapt with the times, with both Windows 10 and its receipt of new updates and upgrades over time, and as the poster child for Office 365 purchases, syncing documents to the cloud and getting upgrades to Office over time. This makes it a lot more like contemporary desktops and tablets, which makes Windows RT devices further stand alone in the industry.
I have no doubt that the Surface 3 will do well. With the PC industry, technology journalists, and customers all cooling off to convertible tablets just a little bit, it will be interesting to see how it does. I think the possibilities are that it'll do poorly due to the reduced interest in tablets and convertibles, or that the pent up demand for anything from Microsoft means that it'll do very well, whether or not it "deserves" to do well.
For me, personally, it's about whether or not the Dell XPS 13 can tempt me away from what otherwise promises to be the first computer that might truly be able to replace my paper steno notebooks, play some games and run my photo management software with its ports, performance, keyboard, and battery life.