 The Microsoft Surface is an idea that I've always wanted to love. My conclusion about the original when I checked out the Surface RT was that I thought the potential was amazing, but it needed to be x86, it needed to be faster, and prices needed to come down. Well, with the first two addressed and the pricing a non-factor for me since I traded in my Lamborghini when my wife got pregnant with kid number two, let's see if the Surface Pro 3 is what I imagined this concept could become. With its power loss protection, affordability, and performance, the SP920 from ADATA makes upgrading to an SSD remarkably safe and simple. Let's start with the initial unboxing impressions. The AC adapter is compact and has a USB charging port, rock on. The device itself is much lighter feeling than I expected. The original Surface was well balanced but dense. This one reminds me of my first impressions of the iPhone 5. It's light but still feels premium and super sexy at the same time. And the satin metal finish on the back actually made me say out loud, how the hell did they do that? It's the best feeling Windows device I have ever held. But let's move on. I got a purple type cover and from reading initial impressions from press at the unveiling, I was expecting it to kind of suck. It totally doesn't. The integrated touchpad is okay. It's not precise enough, its palm rejection sucks, and two-handed operation is basically impossible, but at least it has a nice tactile click and the size is a good compromise. The keyboard on the other hand is an engineering miracle in my opinion. I swear they've got each key descending into a portal to another universe to get that much travel distance on such a thin keyboard. I actually really like it, except it's too bad it doesn't have a print screen button and I have to double click the back of the stylus to do that. Deal breaker. I'll be returning the Surface Pro 3, but let's press onward anyway, shall we? Speaking of the stylus, I guess if I was a student or an artist, maybe I would give a crap, but as it is, the best thing Microsoft could have done for me is give me somewhere to tuck it away so I can ignore it forever. Too bad there is no slot for it and the instructions, and seriously my eyes just about rolled out of my head, tell you to stick it to the magnetic charging port when you're not using it. What a joke. What if I need to charge my device, geniuses? Well, no problem, says the instructions. You bought a type cover, right? Here's the cheapest little chunk of fabric that we could find attached to a sticker. Put this on your type cover and put the pen through it. Are you f***ing kidding me? A stylus is either an integral part of the design or it's a stupid niche accessory that costs $50 every time I lose it. If it's the former, it goes inside, and if it's the latter, then don't bother talking about it. All right, but let's talk specs while I calm down. Microsoft gives potential customers lots of well-balanced CPU, RAM, and drive choices. I picked up the Core i5-4300U version with 8 gigs of RAM and a 256 gig solid-state drive. Beyond that, things are pretty standardized. So everyone gets a 12-inch 2160 by 1440 3 by 2 aspect ratio 10-point multitouch IPS display, a 9-hour battery, wireless AC, Bluetooth 4.0, etc. These are some damn impressive tech specs, given the size and weight of this sucker. Speaking of size and weight, let's move on to the physical overview. On the left, we find a volume rocker and a 3.5-millimeter jack. On the right is a mini display port port, a USB 3 port, and the magnetic locking reversible power button. On the top is a lock button and ventilation holes. And finally, on the bottom is the shockingly strong magnetic clip. Hmm, goes to show you when you try to demo something. Typical Microsoft, right? Is the shockingly strong magnetic clip for the type cover. The back has one of the two 5-megapixel cameras, simple clean surface branding, and the much improved kickstand. I mean, this thing is awesome. It's still flawlessly flush when closed. It still has that car door sound and feel of the old one, and it's much more flexible now. It works open a little bit in your lap or on your desk, open all the way properly, open all the way propped on a pillow, and everywhere in between. It is so well constructed. I mean, I already said the device is beautiful once, but I feel like I should say it again here, because I'm about to start beating on it pretty hard as we make our way to the front. The display would be perfect if it wasn't for some very noticeable backlight bleed on dark backgrounds. The windows button would be perfect if it wasn't exactly where I rest my thumb when I hold it in landscape mode. The front-facing speakers would be perfect if the ports for them were big enough to actually sound like they're front-facing, and the card reader slot under the kickstand would be perfect if it was a full-size SD slot instead of a micro SD. I mean, seriously, what's the excuse on something this big? I can adapt down, but not up. But so far, all this stuff you could have figured out from reading a spec sheet. What is this thing like to actually use? So to find out, I set everything up on the surface, took my XPS 12 out of my backpack, and left for a four-day business trip. I mean, that's what this thing is supposed to be for, right? Road Warriors. It fits in my Windows Vista bag like a boss, but then the first time I took it out, I ran into trouble. The kickstand system just doesn't give you the same ergonomic options that a normal hinge does. I was slouching in my chair and I realized I couldn't really get the screen to face me properly. Then shortly afterward, due to its top-end heaviness, it fell off of my lap. Fortunately, I caught it with my legs, but these are the kinds of problems with the surface's ergonomics that don't exist with a normal clamshell. Then I was on the plane and making some notes for this review. So I propped up the keyboard to a comfortable angle with the surprisingly robust little magnetic system here. Boop. Fired up Word, one of the many applications that doesn't have a Metro UI version, and realized two things. Number one is that the airplane tray wasn't long enough for the kickstand to rest on, so I actually had to prop the screen against the seat in front of me, relying on friction to keep the keyboard from sliding towards me. And number two is that with the keyboard angled up, I can't touch the taskbar with my fingers very well and switch between applications, something I've become very accustomed to with my Dell. Hurgh. There are positive points, though. Further into the trip, I was using it to offload footage from a camera's SD card using a USB 3 reader, and I was struck by the appeal of a full, proper Windows machine in such a tiny form factor and with such great battery life. I mean, it's true. Compared to a normal tablet, the Surface Pro 3 is just so versatile and so powerful, having proper access to the folder tree, having easy, flexible networking capabilities, having strong driver support for random crap like printers. I mean, even something as simple as having a proper full-size USB 3 port, these are all fantastic selling points. And those selling points, unfortunately, aren't going to help it overcome my objections to it. I mean, maybe part of the problem is I'm not the right customer. I own about half a dozen tablets, and I haven't touched any of them in months. For me, a flagship smartphone has a big, high-res enough screen for casual use, and if something is time-consuming or important enough to be worth getting off my butt to go get something better, I'm gonna go get my XPS 12, a device that has a real keyboard, a better touchpad, runs quieter, also happens to work as a notebook or as a tablet, and is available for the same price as a Surface Pro 3 with a type cover. And at this point, you might come to Microsoft's event saying, but Linus, the XPS 12 is a bit big and heavy for tablet use and doesn't come with a stylus, to which I would reply, you're right. But the Surface 3 Pro is a bit big and heavy for tablet use, too. And as for the stylus, I don't give a crap about drawing on my computer, and if I did, I'd buy a Wacom companion. It's also similarly priced and includes a much better stylus for folks who are serious about drawing on their tablets. Okay, Linus, gotcha. But in Microsoft's defense, they were never targeting tablets with the Surface Pro 3 anyway. Their marketing is aimed squarely at the MacBook Air, to which I would reply, good for them. I guess if that's how they want this review structured, then here's the tagline they can put on the product page. This device I would never buy is competitive with another device I would never buy, Five Stars. The MacBook Air doesn't have a touchscreen, so it was never in the running for me anyway. I wouldn't even begin to consider a notebook without a touchscreen at this point, and once you get one, you'll probably never go back either, trust me. Now, the screen resolution and the more square aspect ratio could have won me over from a productivity standpoint if Windows 8.1 didn't still handle text scaling with the poison brace of a giraffe on a pair of stilts and ice skates on the ends. Due to the pixel density of its screen, Surface Pro 3 needs text scaling, and it comes with icons and text enlarged out of the box, but it really takes away from the beauty of the display when so many things are blurry and crappy looking. I mean, third party developers are definitely a big part of the problem, but it feels a bit hypocritical for Microsoft to be upset about their lollygagging when within Windows there are still things that don't scale correctly. So that's it. Sorry, Microsoft, I can't recommend this product. And even worse, I no longer believe the Surface concept belongs in a world where two-in-ones exist. The Windows tablet experience is bad enough that I find myself only wanting to use it occasionally, and in the 2% of the time that happens, I'll settle for a bulkier, heavier tablet experience in exchange for a better Notebook one the other 98% of the time. There are going to be people for whom the Surface is perfect, but I'm just not one of them. C'est la vie. Thanks guys for watching. Like this video if you liked it, dislike it if you disliked it, leave a comment letting me know if you think I'm right about the Surface, if you think I'm completely wrong about the Surface, check out the support us link in the video description where you can buy a cool t-shirt like this one, you can give us a monthly contribution, you can also change your Amazon bookmark to one with our affiliate code so we get a small kickback whenever you buy stuff, and I think that is pretty much it. As always, don't forget to subscribe for more videos just like this one.