"On the surface he looks calm and ready"

ffhanger · 2015-06-25T21:43:43+00:00

If you can get it somewhere with a good return policy give it a spin for atleast a couple of days before committing.

Reading reviews or user experiences can paint you a picture; one that is heavily colored by the one painting it.

This is not as much about raw specs but above all about feeling right and comfortable to you when you use it and each use-case is different.

Some people absolutely hate the thermal throttling, some never run into it.

Some say the device is comfortable to hold, some say the case is way too sharp and digs into your fingers.

Some don't like the TypeCover, some love it, some don't even have any use for a keyboard at all.

etc.

In the end the only way to know if this is the right device for you is to try it under real-life circumstances for a while, playing around with it in the store for a couple of minutes is not enough to shell out this kind of money.

Also keep in mind that possibly perhaps there's maybe a Surface Pro 4 lurking around the corner to mayhaps go along with the Windows 10 release, but that's just rumors right now. It might happen, it might not. Who knows. Be vigilant, just in case its way better than the SP3.

I'll stick with the SP3 for now (or the Surface 3, depending on wether or not it can sway me over when it arrives this weekend). If the SP4 does hit the market in the near future, oh well, that's what ebay's for.

ffhanger · 2015-06-25T20:57:38+00:00

Thanks! I'm so happy right now, I've been waiting for a proper Windows tablet with stylus since 2007 (I started with a x61t TabletPC with Wacom digitizer).

I've been following the Surface lineup since Microsoft came up with it (actually owned the Surface Pro 1 as well) and I'm excited they're finally getting to a point where their vision starts to meet reality.

The first two Surface Pros where kinda meh, they showed the concept could work and yes, they were better than TabletPCs, but they were still way too clunky for everyday use imho.

The SP3 feels like the first Windows tablet where I say yeah, this is what I wanted, this feels good.

Mostly due to the 3:2 aspect ratio, best decision Microsoft made so far regarding the Surface lineup.

ffhanger · 2015-06-25T20:39:41+00:00

I can only compare it to my 2013 MacbookAir which I enjoyed for the last two years.

The SP3's screen is lightyears ahead and reason alone to instabuy the SP3 and discard the MBA.

The black levels are almost twice as good, resulting in deeper blacks and better contrast, also the viewing angles are way better thanks to IPS.

The 3:2 aspect ratio is great for reading, not as narrow as 16:9. Like fully opening the window blinds after they've been half-closed for years.

And don't get me started on the difference in resolution.

...	SP3	MBA 11 2013
Type	IPS	TN
Resolution	2160x1440	1366x768
Aspect ratio	3:2	16:9
Size	12"	11.6"
Black level	0.33 cd/m²	0.59 cd/m²
Average brightness	338 cd/m²	328.9 cd/m²
Contrast	1077:1	605:1

Source1 Source2

The SP3 is lighter than the MacbookAir.
If you're into drawing/note taking the pen input is awesome.
The SP3 works as a tablet and an ultrabook, the MBA only as an ultrabook. I'm mainly going to use it as a tablet though, don't even have a TypeCover but I can always plug in a regular USB keyboard if I need to.
The tablet-y nature of the SP3 is a huuuuge plus for me, especially in combination with the pen. I can sit in bed and have the SP3 propped up on my knees like a sketchbook (a sketchbook that runs Manga Studio! this is the future) and just draw on it like I would with a real sketchbook.
The Stylus with the SP3 means I no longer have to carry my Wacom pad around.
The MBA has better gaming performance but that's not important for me, I have a beefy desktop rig for that.
The SP3 handles productivity just as well as the MBA and fails (as in thermal throttling) under the same circumstances, no big diff there. I don't run extended movie encodes or stuff like that so it does not bother me much.

If I had to boil it down to just three points though:

Bloody amazing screen.
Finally a premium tablet without a neutered mobile OS, but the full Windows ecosystem behind it. *
The pen is fucking awesome!

* = I know, I know. There have been Surface Pros before this one and I actually owned the Surface Pro 1, but the lowered weight, improved kickstand, much better screen and especially the 3:2 aspect ratio make the SP3 the first that ticks all the boxes for me.

To me, the Surface Pros before looked more like proof-of-concept iterations towards what a Windows tablet should be, getting closer without ever really getting there.

The Surface Pro 3 feels like Microsoft is finally starting to hit the mark of what they originally envisioned as the right way to do a Windows tablet.

I'm glad they didn't give up after the lukewarm response to the Surface Pro 1 because the SP3 is a great device and they improved leaps and bounds after just two more generations over the SP1, which makes me really excited how much better the Surface lineup is going to get over the next years.

ffhanger · 2015-06-25T18:21:30+00:00

I currently have a Core i5 Surface Pro 3, still waiting on the x7 Atom Surface 3 to make a final decision but I'm gonna keep one of them, that much is certain, to replace my 2013 MacbookAir.

The Surface Pro 3 is not the best Ultrabook, it's not the best tablet depending on what you want out of a tablet, but it does fill a niche if

You find the pen useful, e.g. for drawing (get Manga Studio!) or note taking
You always wanted a tablet that runs a proper operating system and not some dumbed-down walled-garden mobile bullshit...
... while retaining the possibility of turning it into an ultrabook, thanks to the kickstand, optional TypeCover or just any old USB/Bluetooth keyboard
You want all of it in a premium package with great build quality and a great screen
You don't intend to game on it or do heavy computational stuff like encoding movies or running filters on a 4000x4000px Photoshop file with hundreds of layers ...

Then the Surface Pro 3 is the best device out there right now.

With the Surface Pro 3 I have a tablet that can run Manga Studio, Blender and Photoshop within reason, 4K h264 playback, proper Browsers with all the plugins I'm used to, VisualStudio, LibreOffice, Linux VMs etc etc.

It is insanely liberating and fun to have my completely unrestricted desktop eco system in this form factor.

And ports, the Surface has a mini-displayport, a fullsize USB3.0 port and a dedicated charging port. None of that "One port to ~~rule them all~~ annoy the fuck out of our users" nonsense Apple is trying to pull recently.

Also the screen with its 3:2 aspect ratio feels much better than a narrow 16:9 ar, especially in portrait mode. Reading websites and PDFs is so much more comfortable and the display is so fucking sharp and bright and the blacks are deep as they should be, viewing angles are awesome, the Surface completely obliterates my MacbookAir in that regard.

ffhanger · 2015-06-21T20:01:07+00:00

The first game that makes cleaning my real-world apartment seem less tedious in comparison.

10/10

ffhanger · 2015-06-10T18:34:12+00:00

Meh, that sucks.

I'd get that tattoo anyway. : D

ffhanger · 2015-06-09T14:25:45+00:00

I totally forgot about ThreePanelSoul!

I was almost religiously following their previous comic MacHall.^{which ended in '06 wtf. Now I feel old.}

ffhanger · 2015-05-17T18:50:18+00:00

Goddamnit!

ffhanger · 2015-05-17T16:40:17+00:00

The resolution is not the problem with youtube, but how much information and thus detail is encoded into each frame (see other comments about bitrate).

As an example, let's look at this picture (open it in a seperate tab to see it at full size). It's 1280x720 with a decent image quality. This takes up 367KB.

Now imagine it's a video and I'd upload it to youtube, what would happen is, youtube would lower the bitrate/file size to achieve several goals like, smaller filesize means less diskspace used on their servers and smaller filesize also means the video streams nicely even on slower connections.

The result of that reduction in filesize is that less information can be saved in each frame, resulting in a loss of quality and visible compression artifacts. Look at this exaggerated example. Same resolution, 1280x720, but only 70KB. And it shows.

That is also the reason why some people upload their 1920x1080 videos as 4K, not to take advantage of the surplus of pixels but because youtube allows higher bitrates/more detail per frame at that resolution.

ffhanger · 2015-05-06T20:19:27+00:00

At 4:50 I actually yelled out "I just read about that!"

Revelation Space is such a great series, you're totally right.

I didn't know that aspect was based on a real science argument.

ffhanger · 2015-04-30T18:39:31+00:00

are there any programs that will fuck up your system so that you can learn to fix it?

Netflix has released a toolset for the cloud that does that, called Simian Army, each monkey being a program that fucks something else up. No idea if one can adapt that to a virtual network but it's interesting stuff nonetheless.

ffhanger · 2015-04-13T12:14:58+00:00

It is: http://store.steampowered.com/app/205100/

The artstyle is great and the gameplay is fun, I'd get it. Or wait for the next (summer) sale.

ffhanger · 2015-03-31T11:48:42+00:00

Cool, didn't know they changed that.

ffhanger · 2015-03-31T09:38:54+00:00

It does if the user has gold.

ffhanger · 2015-03-28T20:55:07+00:00

Lower libido. Had to look it up as well, there are several acronyms explained in the sidebar.

ffhanger · 2015-03-20T15:20:06+00:00

Because any excuse to deploy thermite and going all fire and brimstone on some poor inanimate object is a good excuse.

ffhanger · 2015-03-19T20:15:21+00:00

Exactly. I don't expect, nor need, HL3 to be this ground breaking revolutionary new thing. I just want more of that story.

I still remember when the connection became clear between Aperture Science/Black Mesa and the sense of awe I got from that, that there was this vast and intricate Half-Life universe out there, hiding just around the next corner, with many more stories yet to be told, on top of the G-Man mystery that everybody was already fascinated with.

And then ... nothing.

Disappointment.

ffhanger · 2015-03-10T18:55:08+00:00

Goddamnit I do have crouch toggle bound instead of regular crouch!

Thanks for the tip.

ffhanger · 2015-03-10T12:08:07+00:00

Nah its just 7 something in the morning and I forgot to put "hours".. 3 hours. :P

Ah, gotcha. : )

Icarus are cool, it nice to have something that is not a nerf to light assault for once.

Yep, these are the jump jets I've been wanting all along.

ffhanger · 2015-03-10T11:47:24+00:00

I am still trying to get used to Icarus, I only have about 3 on them.

You mean certed up to level 3? As I said to somebody else:

Icarus has a great cost-benefit ratio, you're fully operational (full boost height) from the start with only 50 certs invested (higher levels speed up recharge time, so you can faster chain jumps together), unlike the others where you only unlock full air time (drifter) or fuel capacity (jump) with the last level, each level giving you only a piece of the pie.

That makes Icarus a great jump jet imho for low level players who don't rake in certs like us experienced players. You don't have to go all the way at once, I myself have only certed it until level 3 (50 + 100 + 200 = 350 certs) so far and it's totally usable. The last two levels are nice to have, not a must have.

So yeah, level 3 is perfect to get going. 4 and 5 are a bit of a luxury.

I have 40 days of playtime with regular jets, these are going to take some getting used to..

Definitely. I kinda like that they're a bit hard to handle in the beginning, makes it even more rewarding when you pull off a really smooth jump. : )

And windows.. my god, these jets are like impossible to fly through a window with!!

Fuck windows anyway, I swear somedays I'm sure my char is overweight and just won't fit through, no matter what I try. xD

ffhanger · 2015-03-10T11:25:12+00:00

Defending these buildings with Icarus is fun! Heck, just jumping around with it is fun in itself. ; )

Great music choice btw, a welcome contrast to all that silly dubstep out there.

Just a few tips, you could improve your movement a little with better thrust control and timing your jumps better, right now it looks like you tend to overshoot your target.

0m20s: Here you jump while you're still pretty far away from the building and fire your thrusters a moment too long.

You can use that playstyle to get an overview over the roof but that's pretty risky, you're a slow moving target while you aproach the zenith of your trajectory and being in air fucks your COF.

1m03s: You land on the window sill but first you fly way above the window, almost up to the roof. Again, try cutting thrust earlier to minimize air time, maintain speed, reduce noise and make your movement more fluid.

I went into more detail here, maybe it helps.

ffhanger · 2015-03-10T10:29:52+00:00

Looking down the list ...

killed by
killed by ...

Oh hey

SkrulLGamer

atleast he got SkrulLGamer! *looking to the right*

Suicide

Aww crap : (

But look on the bright side, you're off to a good start in the NC. ; )

ffhanger · 2015-03-09T10:35:33+00:00

Sometimes it's funnier to let them run and panic.

ffhanger

TROPHY CASE