I am a university professor, and I really need to have a laptop that I can carry around with me apart from my everyday desktop computer. I was looking for something small but light with a touch screen. I had a Yoga 2-in-1 prior to buying a Surface 3 laptop, and experienced the benefits of using the touch screen for scrolling and selecting when it was impractical to carry a mouse. The Surface 3 laptop is definitely a premium product for productivity. I was considering it, a MacBook Air, or a MSFT Surface Laptop Go. I just happened to find the Surface Laptop 3 that was price competitive with all of these with better specifications and bought one. It was a difficult decision to make because there are so many portable, easy to use laptops to choose from. I don't regret my decision one bit.
Here are the features that I really like about the Microsoft Surface Laptop 3. (1) The 13 inch model has just the right size screen for me to have two documents pulled up side by side. (2) Connecting to wifi is very fast and dropped connections have not happened in my months of use. (3) The screen is sensitive to touch. (4) The touchpad rivals Apple's and is quite responsive. (5) The keyboard is backlit, and the the screen's brightness is easy to adjust when plugged in or not. (6) The charging cable is magnetic in its attachment and easily lets go when there is tension so that your device isn't jostled. (7) The USB port options allow me to plug in my portable USB hub for many USBs if desired, as well as a LAN cable that bypasses wifi. [In other words, this device is backward compatible for cheapskates like me.] (8). The battery life is great. I can work all day on it before needing to charge it, which is dramatically better than my 2015 Yoga. (9) I can use this computer to code and run stats software as it has better specs than the Go and comparable or better than the Macbook Air. (10) Graphics are pretty decent for a laptop for productivity. (11) Speaker volume is fairly loud and clear. (12) Keyboard is flawless. Typing easy, fast, and without sticking at all. (12) Keyboard includes Home, End, Page up, and Page down keys. (13) Power on with simple keyboard keypress, and secure access via face recognition. (14) With a stylus, I can write on the screen, and I have used this when creating videos that require me to work through stats equations for students or that require that I make marks on lecture slides to point out key info.
I suspect that when this laptop becomes obsolete, I will again consider a Microsoft Laptop if they are around. The device has a sturdy build, with an aluminum cover and base. It doesn't overheat, but you can hear the fan kick in with extended use for videos or computer games with graphics.
| Standing screen display size | 13.5 Inches |
|---|---|
| Screen Resolution | 2256 x 1504 |
| Max Screen Resolution | 2256 x 1504 Pixels |
| Processor | 1.2 GHz core_i5 |
| RAM | 8 GB LPDDR4 |
| Hard Drive | 128 GB SSD |
| Graphics Coprocessor | Intel Iris Plus |
| Chipset Brand | Intel |
| Card Description | Integrated |
| Graphics Card Ram Size | 8 GB |
| Wireless Type | 802.11ax |
| Number of USB 3.0 Ports | 2 |
| Average Battery Life (in hours) | 11.5 Hours |
