Aside from a mouse and keyboard or XBOX 360 console game this is the first Microsoft product I have purchased in around 6 years. I switched to Apple products after spending over $2500 on a high-end Intel Xeon powered quad core HP workstation which was running Windows Vista and having it burn up on me after two weeks of use. Not only that but the windows Vista transition from XP was painful and the constant dialogs that would pop up destroyed my workflow. Based on the learning curve alone and the quality of even high-end hardware I sent back the HP machine and purchased a Mac Pro Desktop instead. I have been an Apple fan ever sense.
Apple products usually “just work” out of the box. Sure there was an initial learning curve and there weren’t a ton of games. For some reason OS X is seen as as a second tier by game vendors still, mainly for how it chose to support graphics. This article isn’t about Apple products though it’s about the new Microsoft Surface Pro 3 and it’s only fair to let you know where I’m coming from. The Surface Pro 3 I am using was purchased from Costco as a package with the click keyboard and stylus. It’s a mid tier model with the following Specs:
- Core i5 4300U CPU
- Intel HD4400 Graphics
- 4 GB RAM
- 128 GB Internal Flash
- Click Keyboard
- Stylus
- Windows 8.1 Pro
- MicroSD, USB 3.0 and MicroDisplay ports
- Docking/Charging port
