This deal is back on again, pretty good price, go to the link for more info
http://www.harveynorman.com.au/microsoft-surface-pro-3-i5-12…
http://www.harveynorman.com.au/catalogues/current-catalogue/…
Go back to JB Hifi and they will refund the different, show them the website, cause I bought one from them a few days ago for the same price as your.
He paid 997 +50 cover .. No price different
Oh…..so we're all good then.
Exactly. I was saying I got a good deal from JB - the type cover is usually $149.95, I got it for $50 and they price matched the SP3.
he paid extra for the bonus warranty. the amount he spent in the end is basically the same
I always treat purchases that are discounted with warranty on the receipt with a degree of scepticism since it is basically a conditional discount (a lot of the time)
@peter05: you can always go back and refund the warranty in a certain amount of time (something like a month). Would have made that a great deal.
Hi
Can you please post your receipt for the $50 type cover.
I bought from JB for $1098 and $96 Type cover with warranty $95
Thanks
JB-hifi would not do $50 for keyboard, got it for $105.
Price matched HN for SP3 - $997
Can pls scan the receipt and post it here?
JB at Kawana refused to price match. Maroochydore JB have none in stock.
Their staff are trained to reject price matches, I've found. I guess they don't really advertise that they have the lowest prices, so it's alright
Maroochydore store is where I bought mine just before xmas.
anyone know if it s easy to replace the ssd for 256 gb one?
Nigh on impossible. You can't open the case without cracking the screen. iFixIt give it a repairability score of 1/10.
thanks ViciousPotato. I ll waiting for 256 gb discount as 128 gb is not enough for me.
Agreed! I really want the 8GB of RAM too.
It's worth it for the 8GB of RAM, but note that the battery life on the 256GB model is noticeably worse :(
I've done it on a SP 1…. wouldn't recommend it rofl. Lots of heat and alot more patience. Pay the premium for a bigger drive.
Surface price keep declining.
If it goes below 700 then I'll buy one.
My thoughts exact, though if you don't mind getting the last gen surface pro… i think they can be had for <$700.
Could be wrong though.
i don't really recommend getting the 2nd one as it's just too similar to the original one (not to mention the screen being too small). I'd personally wait for this one to drop a bit more.
Depends what you need.. i7 SP2 is probably better than the i7 SP3 performance wise (due to throttling issues on the SP3). SP3 is all about the bigger screen.
The bigger screen makes a difference depending on your usage case, its also thinner and lighter than the SP2 and the type cover for SP3 has some nice additions to it as well.
I wouldn't go back to the SP2 after the 3, that being said the interesting thing about these devices is everyones different use case. The SP2's still pack a punch and can be had cheap if you intend to use it mostly docked or attached to a monitor it may well be the better option if performance or price is a concern.
Again depending on usage case but if you won't primarily be using this docked then the revised kickstand is another solid reason for the SP3 over the 2.
@Osiris: Yeah the main reason I want to upgrade from my SP is the screen size. I'm most likely going to a yoga 2 pro next though since I actually have never used this as a "tablet" plus i could use the extra usb port. So the weight has never been an usse for me.
SP3 is too pricey and the non user serviceable aspect is a massive deal breaker for me.
Yeah that's fair enough as I said, really gotta consider your use cases which sounds like you've done that. In terms of serviceability though that's offset in part by 2 years MS warranty - I've found MS support to be pretty good. Had a new SP2 with the updated chip delivered to me in 3 days when my SP2 kept randomly rebooting.
It actually hasn't declined that much…..
Thats because people keep buying them .. supply > demand = lower price :)
Also check out :
http://bensbargains.net/thecheckout/guides/will-price-drop-m…
2nd one is better in terms of performance and pen, whereas 3rd one has better screen and weight. 2nd ones are on bargain if you want to get them, but for 3rd ones, you'd have to wait a tad bit longer (judging from Surface Pro 2 and 1 becoming cheaper as 3 and 2 came out.)
The N-Trig pen on the SP3 is much more accurate than the SP2, especially at the edges where Wacom models drop off.
The 256 vs 1024 pressure sensitivity doesn't actually mean anything at all as evidenced by the various artists using the SP3 (Penny Arcade, Brad Colbow and even the Microsoft Surface blog has a page about this). In addition, the lack of the Wacom digitizer means the pen nib ends up much closer to the pixels resulting in reduced paralax and the feeling that the ink is actually coming out of the pen instead of somewhere under it.
Apart from this, the bluetooth connection/one note button is absolutely gold in making quick jots/sketches even when the SP3 is locked.
Performance wise, the i7 of the SP3 (if you get that model) is much faster (both CPU & GPU) than the i5 of the SP2 but is hampered by thermal throttling which results in the i5 getting similar or only slightly better performance after being throttled. That being said, if you are in a cool area or have a fan blowing at the back of the SP3 it sustains the turbo and non-throttled performance almost indefinitely.
First of all, I should've made it clearer. I was referring to i5 version of Surface Pro 3, which this sales is all about, I apologise.
Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 2 i5 model uses same CPU (at least from 2013 onwards after they replaced the SP2's CPU with i5-4300u). Surface Pro 2 has smaller resolution, therefore Surface Pro 2 will better in terms of performance. (Not to mention the throttling issues that follows SP3)
Also about the wacom vs n-trig, I admit that I was rather quick to conclusion.
I simply felt that n-trig were awful compared to the Surface Pro 1 I have, but it might be my preference thing. It simply didn't feel responsive enough for me. Also, I hated how I have to press the pen. Also, it felt off (I can't remember whether it was jittery or unresponsive, I think it was both) when I was hovering the pen as well. Not to mention how you need to buy batteries for it. Also, I've heard people complaining about the durability of the nib, but I chose to stick with the SP1 so I cannot really comment on that.
Those were the reasons why I felt like wacom is a better pen. (that being said, I think the tradeoff between weight/kickstand and the pen was reasonable, it's just that if I look at pens alone, I liked wacom more than n-trig because of the said reasons)
I found this webpage that I think does decent comparisons. http://www.ticktakashi.com/2014/05/wacom-vs-n-trig-modern-co…
That being said, I personally think that n-trig is nicer on windows tab because of the issues with wacom pens when it comes to recognising further off centre (which windows tabs use as the room for the sidebar). It's just that for me, I felt like wacom is the better one out of two.
I simply felt that n-trig were awful compared to the Surface Pro 1 I have, but it might be my preference thing. It simply didn't feel responsive enough for me. Also, I hated how I have to press the pen. Also, it felt off (I can't remember whether it was jittery or unresponsive, I think it was both) when I was hovering the pen as well.
There were quite a lot of issues similar to the above when the SP3 launched, and I myself experienced them on the first boot of the SP3. I then proceeded to install all of the windows updates (there were more than 90) and now the pen input is rock solid. I think you should try the input again with a full updated SP3 which will probably change your opinion of it. Also keep in mind that the input gets progressively less accurate when the battery is about to die - the battery life is quoted at 6 months plus so this shouldn't be an issue often.
Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 2 i5 model uses same CPU (at least from 2013 onwards after they replaced the SP2's CPU with i5-4300u). Surface Pro 2 has smaller resolution, therefore Surface Pro 2 will better in terms of performance. (Not to mention the throttling issues that follows SP3)
All valid points, and I am also mistaken for jumped to the i7 model - it is the model that I own so I was comparing it against that.
Will start dropping in price once surface pro 4 officially announced and when release dates approach.
Had this been the 256gb model I'd have pounced but yes they're holding their price unfortunately for us
I lost my Pro 3 on the plane on Saturday so I need to get a new one. Perfect timing, thanks OP!
how do you lose a SP3 on a plane??
That's nothing - I saw a documentary once where they lost a child on a plane
thats nothing, i saw a news report where malaysian airlines lost a plane.
Turns out the kid really was never on the plane at all.
Basically I gave it to my wife to hold and she put it under the seat in front of her in a vertical position (unfortunately making it less visible). When it was time to leave, she didn't notice it because it was dark inside, the carpet was dark and the case was black. I'd also forgotten I'd given it to her and we'd both been flying for ~24 hours by that stage so we were exhausted. We got home and realised we didn't have it and I immediately contacted the airline (and even drove back to the airport at midnight) but they never found it. So either someone is enjoying an almost-new laptop or it's still under the seat, clocking up some serious miles!
Just think - you made one flight attendant very happy :)
I tried to make a flight attendant happy once
Got a slap in the face for my troubles
I wanted to give her my hard drive
Stories like this make me angry.
Snake ate it
note that the i5, i7 on the Surface Pro is not as powerful as the desktop variant.
they aren't meant to be a desktop, or even a laptop replacement. I guess more of an ipad competitor, or a travel laptop for wealthy people
Actually, I think MS main selling point is that these can pretty much replace your laptop…
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msaus/en_AU/pdp/Surface-…
But i do understand your point, these aren't meant to replace desktops…
I don't really think anyone has that misconception, but thanks for pointing it out :)
They aren't meant to be a desktop, or even a laptop replacement. I guess more of an ipad competitor, or a travel laptop for wealthy people
They are marketed as the "Tablet that can replace your Laptop" and it indeed has. It's aimed at replacing both the laptop and the tablet that many people carry and with the desktop dock, is powerful enough to replace most people's desktop PC (for work/productivity not gaming) as well.
All the primary workstations at my workplace are either MacBook Retina 13" or Macbook Air 13" docked to a 27" or dual 24" monitor setup; I've been using my SP3 for over a month to work from home as well as from the workstation (with dock) and it really has improved my workflow.
I almost got one to replace my laptop, as it is in a similar price bracket, plus it's naming convention of i3, i5 i7, I assumed that it would be as good as the desktop versions…
Lucky I did some research..
plugged into a monitor it would be fine for most tasks. but i can't imagine typing large documents on that tiny screen, ew. also, for $1200 you could get a much more powerful clevo. i know its not as compact, but its much more user replaceable
also, windows via touch - do you ever do that with yours?
Screen is 12" which isn't that far off the 13" of the Air or Retina. The production "experience" on it is pretty good, but you are right that working for long periods on the inbuilt screen alone would not be idea.
Like I said, it's designed at replacing both a laptop and a tablet and so in tablet form the "Modern" UI is much better for touch purposes. The apps (when you hit the start button) are designed for touch input so that experience is pretty good.
In the desktop environment, touch is still quite usable though because the UI elements are much smaller the pen or touchpad would be more accurate. Scrolling down long pages (web or otherwise) is still excellent however.
The GUI is the same, but on a laptop or desktop some of the design elements don't make sense (I always thought the start screen was dumb),
On a touch screen, they do. For example, hit the start button and look at that screen - it has been heavily optimised for touch input with large tiles and forward and backward arrows. In addition, to access the "charms" menu normally you will hit "Windows Key + C" on a touch screen you simply slide your finger in from the right bezel onto the screen.
Switching between apps is similarly accomplished by sliding in from the left bezel.
@fatal: 13" ?? Do you mean 10" ? :)
EDIT: nevermind - just realised you meant the Macbook no the iPad :-)
Depends on what work you do.
For my work, I need a strong CPU, so I am just pointing out that the Surface i7 isn't as powerful as the desktop i7, even though the naming convention is the same.
Cheers.
In response to congngo:
They never are as they have power/space/heat constraints to mitigate.
Same goes for laptop GPU's from Nvidia & ATI.
There are versions of the i7's (47xx) that can compare with the desktop versions with all four cores/8 threads but using a lower clock rate. These are available on the top end laptops (16-18") and very quick. The GPU's on average are a grade lower for the specific versions in output.
Link broken? Search shows now $1208?
Link is broken and price reverted back to $1208 now.. No more deal I guess.
Thanks for this. I just bought one at JB World Square. They price matched
I printed out the page from the Harvey Norman catalogue and they were cool with that. http://www.harveynorman.com.au/catalogues/current-catalogue/…
Nice, glad you got one, I've updated my post, with the printed catalogue, it should be much easier for people to price match with JBHifi.
Where can I buy Surface Pro 2 in OZ at a good price? Does anyone know?
i am unable to access the page :(.
See my update 2 details at the top of the page
looks like its back up again as of 4:45pm
scratches head
your opinion is worthless as you are tasmanian
dimwit.
I am not from Tasmania.
Hahahaha I'm only joking (as you would claim you were, if I were to be offended)
I am just offering my opinion on an advertisement meant to persuade people.
Problem is, you wrongly offered your opinion in the form of objective truth in a completely fan-boyish manner. That, combined with the fact that you just went ape-shit, would be the reasons for your downvotes. Now calm down and get over it.
You say there is no reasonable justification for negging you, yet you provide no reasonable justification to back up your opinion.
At least tell us why you think so instead of just going crazy like that…
I think both devices are great, and whilst I wasn't a big fan of the first two SP releases, the current one is looking good and if prices come down a bit (and come bundled with a keyboard) I'd seriously consider it. Never been much of a MacBook person but my friends who own them love them so Apple must be doing something right too.
I didn't down vote you, but how about saying something meaningful?
Is there anything in the ad not being true? or are you just a fanboi that thinks everything apple is better no matter what?
Wow. Get over yourself - this is a bargains forum not an educational forum. Not everything I say have to pass your "useful or not" meter. I am sorry that I wasted three seconds of your life because I said something your subjective mind thought was fan-boyish and was not useful. Oops. Silly me. I have to take everyone as academics looking out for useful information on a forum like OB and cannot say things that are remotely casual. Sorry BB. Sorry - my fault. Sorry - Ministry of Truth (if you are reading this) I need to get whipped now
I really apologise for wasting your time.
Stop avoiding the question, is there any false advertising in this ad?
Come on, I wanna know why the macbook air is better? This should help with my purchase decision ;)
Seriously this is a deal?
WWJVD?
Got rubbish service over the Online Harvey Norman Chat. Arrogant and smug doesn't win sales in my book.
I asked very nicely at my local JB Hi-Fi to please take the sale from them. They obliged and even did the Type Cover keyboard at $129. Very happy.
I got the same deal - Harvey Norman refused to budge on the keyboard price and I was purchasing 2 for my business. Guy at JB was great - all done in 10 minutes!
Really wish they made a more solid keyboard dock / attachment for these. It's one of the few things holding me back from buying. Given how flexibility is the core concept, I can't see why they shouldn't offer it as an alternative.
btw, thanks OP, just placed order online and hopefully the store will contact me tomorrow for collection.
I paid $1096 for this surface on 28/12/14 at HN (8 days ago) - do HN have policy of refunding the difference? (live chat not working atm)
"We will BEAT any genuine competitor’s advertised price on the date you purchase or within 7 days of purchase when your claim complies with the Harvey Norman Best Price Guarantee Terms outlined below."
http://www.harveynorman.com.au/customer-service/best-price-g…
Maybe
Maybe it is more like a lucky roll with HN. Wonder what excuse they will come up with.
"It's below our cost price…. oh wait… I mean…. we can't do it get out!" =P
You could always try the good ole 'buy a new one and then use the old receipt to get a refund on the new one'
Of course check return polices and stuff first otherwise you might end up with 2 :)
Not worth it. Broadwell is coming in a few short months and it will give you an extra 90min battery life at least plus a cooler device that doesn't throttle.
When will the next Surface announcement be? July or something for an August release? An extra 90mim batt life doesn't seem that impressive compared with the jump from Ivy to Haswell? Also just wondering how much does throttling issues affect most users. Can you throttle from running lots of Chrome tabs and few office programs?
No it won't throttle that easily. Mine has only ever throttled while gaming..
Waiting is fine for people that can wait, but some people need a device now and in that circumstance - the SP3 is the best fusion of hardware and software for a Windows 8 device.
Surface Pro 2 throttles less, worth considering for those playing games on it.
Guys check also lenovo yoga pro 2 13'inches.much better then SFpro3.its slightly expensive though
The Yoga 2 Pro is a nice device for sure. Prefer it to the Yoga 3 Pro, not a big fan of the watchband design. But in the end the Surface and Yoga lines cater for different people.
The Yoga doesn't have an active digitiser to use an accurate stylus. But it's keyboard is much more tactile and solid compared to the thin keyboard type cover. Whereas the trade off is the Surface is marginally more low profile.
In the end it's about what each consumer needs and prefers, choose what suits you or you like best :)
How about the Dell XPS 12 as another alternative?
I picked up one of these a few weeks back when they had the special. JB Price matched and threw in the type cover for $50
Total paid was $1047 + $90 odd for extra warranty.