alternatives to surface pro 3

Status
Not open for further replies.

wuubb

Honorable
Dec 28, 2013
3
0
10,510
Hello all,
I have been looking for a good tablet/laptop hybrid that I could both use for school and also be able to run Sibelius and Pro Tools if I need to when I travel. I checked out the Surface Pro 3, and it seemed great, stylus, one-note, full windows, had the processing power I needed, etc.

However, after about 2 weeks, the cons are starting to show and Im wondering whether I made the right choice ( I can return it 30 days from the sale date so Its not like im screwed or anything).

While I really do like the surface, there are some things that even I as a tech person am starting to get annoyed at, such as:
-battery life. I know that its not going to be as good as an iPad, but I was able to get my Samsung ultrabook that I owned before to around 10-12 hours when I tweaked the power settings, and I was able to run Sibelius and Pro Tools without any significant drop in power levels. On the surface, you cant customize the power settings unless you enable hyper-v, which then f***s up the wifi, and even then, I can change things such as the processor min/max percentage.
-battery indicator is faulty. I'll working along at "50%" battery and then it'll just shut down in the middle of something cause the battery indicator doesnt accurately drop sometimes

So I've been looking at several other solutions, each with their own problems:
-Asus transformer book series: from what I've read, stylus support isnt as good as Surface, and the design is stupid cause you need to use the usb port on the dock to charge it (it doesnt connect and receive power like the surface keyboard does)
-surface 2. also doesnt support a pen and runs windows rt If I read it correctly
-surface pro 2- kind of the same as the pro 3, except its smaller, has a different pen. Cant find out what the processor is so I dont know if they are as power-efficient as the ones in the pro 3
-lenovo yoga-seems good, but the screen only folds back, not detaches. also, no pen
-dell venue-just a tablet as far as i know, and still no pen

Are there other things out there that are better? Im interested in the new transformer book chi, but who knows when thats going to come out and I need something for school in september. If anyone can help, im primarily looking for (I guess sort of in this order):
1-pen capabilities/one note/keyboard
2-good battery life
3-power (im willing to sacrifice this since Im probably going to get a desktop soon for Pro Tools and SIbelius, eliminating the need for a powerful mobile device.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears! Should I get something different or stay with my Surface pro 3?
Thanks,
Wuubb
 
Status
Not open for further replies.