Anyone know anything about the Surface 3 2-in-1? Only tablets that I've had are Android. I worry a bit about it being driven by a "Intel Atom X7-Z8700 1.6GHz" and running Windows 10 Pro.

I'm thinking about buying for $289.99 refurbished but just don't know if it is a really good deal. Please note that this is a10.8 inch Surface, not a Surface Pro. It includes the keyboard and pen.
https://www.tigerdirect.com//applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=629900

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I bought my wife a Surface Go 10" about 14 months ago, at the time i thought it was the latest (and largest) Surface available... it served her well during lockdown when she had to work from home in April/March last year.... her boss even offered to pay for the cost of it but we declined instead suggesting that all he needs to pay for is the peripherals needed to run it in a home environment (e.g USB hub to connect a monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc)... suffice that her company installed a VPN so she could connect to her work network and she was good to go.

Fast forward and her boss bought her another Surface anyway about 6 months later, i was surprised at the increased screen size but because it was supplied by her work i've not gone near it, i suspect it may be 10.8 inch and the Surface 3 you refer too... i'll ask her to pull up the specs tomorrow to see if it is.

If it is the same as you are talking about then i doubt you'll have anything to worry about, my wife loves her Surface's, both of them...

It'll likely only come down to how big a saving you'll be making and how good the warranty is... i haven't looked into the price of Surface 3's.

Fyi, the pen will likely not be used but the Surface keyboard is a must... don't get a third party one, they mostly never work as intended.

Thanks. The keyboard is Surface but the pen is generic.

The Surface has a 10.8 inch screen while the Surface Pro has a 12 inch screen.

Don't need a hub on the Surface 3 for keyboard, mouse or display. Already has the keyboard and there is no need for a port for a mouse as I'd just use one of the wireless I have laying around; it has a full sized USB 3 port to hold a mouse dongle. It has a Display Port for connecting to an external display and I would suspect that the Blue Tooth would allow casting the display.

Refurbished warranty is 1 year.

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The unit I'm looking at comes with a 128 GB SSD which, as storage goes, is small but a micro SD card can be added as a second drive for data or whatever. Supposedly it will take a micro SD of any size.

The reason I'm considering this purchase is that my current Android tablet is losing battery life. When I got it 7+ years ago I got about 4 hours on battery. Now I get about 1.5 hours. I figure it is on its way out. Surface 3's battery is reported to last through 10 hours of video. Didn't find an actual battery life under normal usage but 10 hours seems to be the consensus.

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You say that now but depending on what you want to do with it you might find you need one anyway.

Initially my wife thought working from home with any size of Surface wouldn't be an issue, but...

At first the small screen compared to what she normally works with was okay but the list of issues quickly spiralled... not wanting to come across as a know it all i was already planning how to make her life working from home more comfortable... it took some planning and research because it's not something i've ever needed for myself... bear in mind also that lockdown and working from home was new back then and not the norm it is now.

I started with looking at what we had at home to make her life easier in an eight hour day... some jumped out as givens... how do i connect a full screen monitor and keyboard, what if she also needs a printer or mouse connected to something that is port limited?

Those sound simple to most but for me this was new territory, not least when i'd never owned a Surface and had no interest in any tablet ever (other than for viewing media), let alone one that ran Win10... call me a dinosaur but i love a full sized PC.

The most obvious answers were, i have VGA monitors and any number of USB devices lying around that would help get her close to an office environment, not the latest tech she's used to but if the Surface Go holds up and can process the data then she should be much better off.

The Surface Go is pretty much limited to one option for what was needed and the devices i had available, a hub.
i.e. I shy away for wireless devices, preferring instead the reliablility of wired.

I got lucky with the second attempt of hub i bought, the first didn't have a power source so the Surface Go crashed when power got critical, which of course it did given it was trying to power USB devices, monitor, full sized keyboard etc, and the tablet itself.
Her boss subsequently paid for the cost of that hub and continues to pay for anything else required (e.g printer ink etc), as an aside i'm still kicking myself for not accepting his offer of paying for the Surface Go that i bought for my wife as a christmas present in 2019 but no need to be greedy, right? LOL

You may have better luck with a Surface 3, but don't be surprised if it isn't all plain sailing.

For the price, it's a good machine. It is the successor to the Surface RT and predecessor to the Surface Go. I had the original Surface RT and liked it, I have a Surface Pro 4 and Surface Pro 7, both of which are more powerful than the Surface 3, of course. As a low end tablet with pseudo laptop configuration with the keyboard, it's a great machine.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Just to add to what Steve said, don't get me wrong, my wife loves her Surface tablet... to the point that earlier this year she asked me to dismantle and dispose of her desktop PC... words that i never thought she would say to me!!

Thanks for the info, Doddie.
It has to be realized that, in no way, would this unit be for a work environment. Shoot, my current 10.1 inch Android gets used mostly for reading.

To be honest I have a 7 inch Android that is a little older than the 10.1 inch that is still totally fine as it has hardly been used. I just found a 7 inch screen too small for reading.

I find tablets in general to have too small of a screen for real production work. I don't think that I could work on a web site with a 10-11 inch screen. For my purpose the thing would be an e-reader and toy.

Thanks Steve.
I think I'm going to go ahead and get the thing. Do I need it? LOL! Of course not! I could get away with just an e-reader but they aren't that cheap either. Plus, running Windows 10, I can install apps that would do OK on a small screen which I can't on my Androids.

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I didn't think that was what you were inferring, my point was more about what these seemingly simple tablets are capable of, i'm amazed that my wife can do what she does on one.

She's a finance manager and if you'd told me she could be doing what she does on a Microsoft tablet even two years ago, i'd be laughing in your face with disbelief!!

I just went ahead and ordered along with a 256 GB micro SD card to use as a second drive. Should receive in 3-7 days doing free shipping.

I checked New Egg and Amazon and could not come close to the price on Tiger Direct. Couldn't even match the price if I dropped from a 128 GB SSD to a 64 GB SSD which I would not do anyway.

Ya, it's refurbished but, with a one year warranty, I'm not much concerned. I hope I have as much good luck as with my Asus laptop which I also got refurbished through Tiger Direct ~9 years ago.

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Phew! Just did something that I should have done before ordering. I use Nook (Barnes and Nobles) e-reader extensively with a library of well over 300 books. Just installed the Windows version of the app on my main system and logged in. Everything was there.

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Glad you dodged that bullet!

Time i turned on the TV for the Prada Cup final... a shame the US aren't in the Americas Cup anymore, like the last sacking of your Capitol building at least you can't blame it on us Brits any more!

I knew there was a Windows version of Nook but didn't know if my "library" info was kept on their servers or locally. At the worst I think I could have exported my library from my Android and imported. I should have known better as I have purchased books through my main system that were still available on my Android.

On my main system the Nook app looks quite a bit different than the Android version but that is likely due to my main system not being a touch screen which, of course, means that I needed to use the mouse to scroll through pages instead of "turning pages" with my finger. I expect that feature will return on the Surface 3 as it is a touch screen.

Actually, now that I think of it, this will be my first experience with Windows on a touch screen. Hmm, I guess I need to pick up some screen protectors. The ones for my Android will be a little too small.

I wonder why Apple takes such a firm stand against touch screens...

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Speaking of screen protectors...

With my Android I just used the disposable plastic sheets but then I only paid $90.00 for the Android including a case and keyboard. Would I do better, with the Surface 3, to use the more permanent tempered glass protectors?

Also, I always ended up with a few bubbles with the plastic sheets that were hard to remove. From what I've read about the tempered glass, bubbles are less likely. If known, is this true?

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I hate and don't use screen protectors. I tried to use one on my phone years back (tempered glass) and the bubbles drove me bonkers. My phone, after over a year, shows light scratches on the screen when I most commonly touch and drag, but that is better than bubbles to me. My Kindle Fire and my Surface PCs still look fine as I'm more prone to using the pen than my finger if I'm doing lots of dragging. Touching menu items hasn't caused any visible scratches.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Thanks Steve.

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I've never bothered with screen protectors on any of the tablets i've owned, i do however always buy a decent case for them to protect the screen when not in use.

The case i bought for the Surface Go was this one and my wife is very happy with it:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07JCBX6S4/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_BQTJ1EHHH3T568W0ZBZF?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Actually that was the second case i bought for the Surface Go, the first one was a Fintie case that had a magnet to keep the cover closed but the magnet put the tablet to sleep when the Type Cover was attached, the only way to get it out of sleep was to remove the Type Cover which kind of defeated the purpose, that case was returned to Amazon and the case above was purchased.

Fwiw, given the cost of mobile phones these days and that i always sell on my old phones i always use a case and cover to protect the screen and phone, the screen protector that i always try to buy above anything else is this one:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0711L9DH7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

It's the only screen protector that i know of that just seems to work without jumping through hoops to eliminate bubbles, add that if you make a mistake during installation you can remove it and start again.

Thanks Doddie.

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Yes to cases. I have a case with a cover for my Kindle Fire and the Surface tablets have the keyboard which acts as a screen cover.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Given the price of a Type Cover along with the cost of a Surface tablet i wanted something to protect them both, obviously a case won't protect them if dropped form a great height but it should protect both if dropped from a few feet, depends on how it hits the ground of course but i'd rather spend £15-20 on one that might, over spending a £100+ for a new Type Cover or even more to repair the Surface tablet.

For the Surface Go, I think you made a good choice. My Surface Pros generally sit on a desk -- I don't carry the around. When we are able to visit my wife's family again, I'll have the Surface Pro in my heavily padded laptop bag. It goes on the desk at the hotel and then back into the bag.

Having destroyed a phone screen by dropping it without a case, I always get a good sturdy case for my phones.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

As another aside, i always make sure my home contents insurance cover insures against theft or damage for devices like phones, tablets, laptops etc, whether at home or away from home... normally the excess before payout is circa £50-70 in the UK, another good reason to buy a good sturdy case that costs less than the insurance excess.

For the most part adding mobile devices doesn't impact on the cost of the insurance unless you get into silly money.

I've lost count of the number of times i've dropped my phone with that look of... OMG!... only to pick it up and sigh thank god i bought that case!

You know what's going to happen now... i'll drop the phone on the carpet tomorrow and my phone will be fubar'd!!

The phone I broke was only about 2 months old at the time, a Razer Phone 2. Both the front and back are glass, which is a bad design, in my opinion. The back glass shattered and the front glass had a few cracks, but it was still usable. I contacted Razer support and learned that I would need to send the phone to be evaluated and potentially repaired at a rather high cost -- I think to either Hong Kong or China. I ended up using packing tape to "repair" the back glass and then put it in a case before eventually replacing the phone when it became available at a significant discount. Never again will I have a phone without a case!
I never thought to check on my home insurance for electronic devices. I've always considered homeowner's insurance to be for major loss events. I would be wary of claims causing the annual premium to rise!

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Sigh, just got an email saying that the micro SD has shipped but not the tablet. Why can't it be the other way around. Now I'll sit around looking at the SD wishing I had something to use it with. LOL! Once I order something I'm REALLY bad about waiting for it to arrive.

Actually I'll probably format the SD to NTFS and move some stuff to it like some installs I want to do. At least I'll then be ready when the tablet gets here.

I really AM bad about waiting for arrival...

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I always buy a case for my phones and also my Kindle Fire but as they never leave the house I'm not so worried.

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Joan Archer
http://crossstitcher.webs.com

I suppose that the Surface keyboard does act sort of like a case when attached and closed and, like Steve, I have a well padded laptop case. It's not like the thing is going to leave my apartment often anyway.

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