I'm typing this update on the new surface pro 3, thanks to a very kind colleague who lent me their machine.
Here are a few thoughts from setting it up.
Initially the surface refused to turn on, despite having been plugged in and charging it for a good length of time. I worked through the instructions here: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/surface-pro-wont-turn-on
Fortunately the very last step worked (essentially a hard reset). I was holding my breath for a while there! It took a long time holding down various buttons before I saw the screen come to life.
Windows 8 setups are usually pretty painless. I've been through several windows 8 installs now but got thrown with this one because I didn't have the stylus handy. As part of the setup you need to do a Bluetooth pairing with the stylus. It took me a while to find the stylus, unscrew it and check the battery was present (I removed the little paper tab that was inside with the battery). By the time I had it ready the surface had tried pairing three times and gave up. I continued with the install but it said it failed at the end, so I redid it with no problems second time around.
One think to be careful of is to make sure you select the correct keyboard type. In a previous setup I inadvertently selected UK (thinking I was selecting UK English), only to discover that I should have selected the US keyboard I had was typing different symbols when I hit certain keys (including the @ symbol which makes it tricky to email anyone!). It took a lot of fiddling to set the keyboard back to US.
As mentioned in other posts, the first thing to install is Classic Shell: http://classicshell.net/. It really does make a difference if you are used to previous windows versions. Unless you are an experienced windows 8 user, you'll be forever trying to find settings and apps that used to be "easy" to locate unless you install this little app which gives you back your start menu.
The display on the surface pro 3 is stunning. The extra size really makes a difference, as does the ability to position the kickstand exactly how you want (it means you can reduce reflective glare). When using the surface with the keyboard docked, the larger screen makes it feel much more like a laptop that a tablet (particularly when compared to the surface pro 2 which felt cramped). This is probably helped by the new 3 by 2 ratio (so it feels less like a widescreen machine). If you undock the keyboard you still feel like you have a tablet.
I like the new larger form factor and it doesn't come at the cost of extra weight or thickness (in fact it is thinner and feels lighter). It feels really nice in the hand, with a solid build.
The new keyboard is an improvement on the old on in just about every respect. There is a surprising amount of travel and while an external keyboard is always going to be nicer, this will do well for on the go. The backlit keys are a nice touch and the trackpad is a bit larger. I actually prefer the keyboard to the "Chiclet" ones that are becoming standard on many laptops. It seems easier to hit the right keys on the this keyboard. It is also very useable on a lap and MUCH more so that the surface 2 or 1 was. The new attachment mechanism which relies on attaching at two points with magnets gives a lot more stability. My only gripe with this attachment mechanism is that it gets in the way of swiping up from the bottom of the screen (which is sometime useful, particularly for charm apps).
The pen feels MUCH nicer than the stylus that came with the surface 2 or surface 1. It has a good heft to it and feels solid and more "pen like". It is also much more accurate and this is particularly noticeable in the corners of the screen (which used to be very problematic to work with on the surface 1, which made hitting the correct option on menus tricky sometimes). It is also nice to have somewhere to stash it on the keyboard (they included a little loop that adheres to the keyboard, so you can slide your pen in for safe storage when it isn't in use. Overall the pen experience is a big improvement and I can see why they switched from the previous stylus (which was a Wacom one) to the new N-trig version. I am slightly concerned that the new one requires batteries and this needs to be kept in mind (you'll want a spare AAAA battery and a couple of 319 button batteries on hand in case they die during something important). The other thing I noticed is that the screen seems to be more slippery than on my older surface (I suspect this may change with use and could just be because the new unit is still pristine and extremely clean)
The sound is surprisingly punchy and there is no problem relying on the speakers if you are watching YouTube videos and the like. In fact you may even be reaching for the volume down button.
Overall first impressions are extremely positive. Microsoft seem to have got a lot right with this iteration.
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