Could the Surface Pro 3 be the device I have been waiting for? (Guest Blog)
For those of us who work indoors, chained to a desk, the thought of breaking free and taking our work outside is a mere dream, yet for many with a laptop this dream is already a reality. Unfortunately digital artists like myself can rarely up sticks and sit in a coffee shop or out in the sun and continue to paint, sculpt or even tease polygons around a scene.
Yes there are more artist oriented tablets available, however for me flexibility is also important. I often have to juggle a few projects at once, so I need a device which is fully mobile and will allow me to pretty much mimic my desktop machine. This would involve not only writing documents and spreadsheets, sending emails and browsing the web but also switching to painting in Mischief or Photoshop, as well as tackling more hardware intensive work in applications like Maya and ZBrush.
There are also times when I have my camera so having the ability to quickly view and edit a series of photos on the go, would also be a bonus.
I do own a Surface Pro 2 and had hoped this would be the device to set me free, unfortunately it has its limitations so rather than feeling like an extension of my desktop, some tasks became more of a chore to complete.
Microsoft then announced the follow up device, the Surface Pro 3, which I had to get my hands on.
…maybe, just maybe this was the one.
I`ve been using the i7, 256GB model for around four weeks now and overall I am very impressed with it. It does everything I need and the new 12 inch display is much nicer to work on than the smaller 10.6 inches of its older brother. It feels more like working on an A4 pad now and I no longer need to squint at tiny fonts and icons just to fit everything on screen.
Writing is also a more comfortable process with the help of the fully adjustable kickstand and the improved Type Cover, meaning I truly can write anywhere, in any position. Sat on the sofa, lying in bed, legs up with the stand over my knees. You get the idea.
Most of the 3D applications I use on a regular basis, which do require the extra power of the i7, performed admirably. They are as smooth as on my desktop. Obviously this depends on the project I am working on, but up to now I have suffered few performance issues on moderately populated scenes.
This is all good news, but as a full artist’s tool the Surface Pro 3 does still fall short, in a similar way to how the Surface Pro 2 did. The lack of any configurable, physical buttons makes life difficult when using keyboard hungry applications like ZBrush or Maya. Anyone who works with a Cintiq will understand the need for even a few quickly accessible buttons for Alt, Shift, Control and Space while working in “tablet mode”.
There are third party options for on screen, touch keyboards which can work well, but quite often the multi-touch screen becomes confused. While you’re holding the Alt button for example, if your palm touches the screen elsewhere the button press is ignored. Something which can become frustrating over time and leave you yearning for your desktop.
All in all the Surface Pro 3 is still an amazing machine which serves all my needs, plus I enjoy using it.
If Microsoft could find its way to releasing its own, more robust touch keyboard application, along with opening up the pen to allow for more configuration options, both on a per app basis. It could go from a desirable device, to every artists must have accessory.
Find out more about Surface Pro 3 & the great deals that are currently available here.
Author Bio: Antony Ward has been provoking pixels since the early 1990`s. During that time he has worked for some of today’s top studios as well as writing three technical manuals and numerous articles and tutorials, both available online and in print.
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