Which Microsoft Surface Pro 4 To Get?

Doggiie on 26/05/2016 - 10:47

Hey guys

I'm wondering what Surface Pro 4 I should get for university.

I'm going to do Software Engineering and I'm wondering if a the M3 version or the i5 version would be better. The price difference is $150 though.

I will be doing coding and compiling. For my first semester it is going to be C, but will move into other languages in the future. Would compiling a program be difficult for an M3 processor?

The twos have in mind is:

M3, 4GB, 128GB, $1500
i5, 4GB, 128GB, $1750

I would get the 8GB if I was rich, but university life.

Computing Microsoft Tablet

Comments

  • frondono on 26/05/2016 - 11:19
    -3

    There's the new dell lattitude 2 in 1 7000 models, and there's heaps of them for sale at the dell outlet.

    I'd probably wait and get a refurbished xps 15 when one pops up, there's none available

    http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/product…

    http://www.dell.com/learn/au/en/audhs1/campaigns/dell-outlet…

    • MountainGoat on 26/05/2016 - 12:14

      What's the general price range of refurbished xps 15's?

      • frondono on 26/05/2016 - 12:24

        I'd say it would be in your price range $15-1700 if one did pop up, but it would be a refurbished model.

      • cDNA on 26/05/2016 - 14:38

        $1900 - $2499

  • ProspectiveDarkness on 26/05/2016 - 12:31

    Where are you getting those prices from? Are you factoring in the Type Cover as well?
    Don't forget about 10% off for students. Brings the models down to $1214 and $1349 on the MS website.

    • Doggiie on 26/05/2016 - 17:37

      Prices are including the type cover as well.

      I will take into consideration of the student discount you have mentioned. Thanks!

  • lupiter on 26/05/2016 - 12:38

    I wouldn't personally jump up to the i5 just for the compile time decrease. Modern C compilers (intel or gcc) are pretty fast and at the project size you'll be dealing with at uni it won't really be an issue. You're more likely to notice performance in your editor (or IDE) than in the compiler.

    If you can, check what the lab computers are like. Are they all Linux? Windows with Visual Studio? Solaris (yes, it happens)? You may end up having to ssh into your uni's lab system anyway if they want you to use a specific compiler or library (possibly an ancient one… sigh).

  • KBZ on 30/05/2016 - 01:00

    Go buy Another laptop/ultra book..

    I'm currently overseas for work and my surface pro 4 just died after a week and half of use. Bloody thing is just sitting there as a paperweight till I can get back in 6 weeks to get it refunded for something else. I'm really disappointed since I googled and saw a few users having the same issue.
    Definitely would not recommend for long term use. Especially since you're on a budget and as a student you want something reliable.

  • WhoMeYou on 30/05/2016 - 06:03

    Been using the surface pro 3 to study in uni and been doing computing and stuff on it aswell

    Pros:
    Compact, about the size as an A4 book
    i5 one that i have is pretty good no lag from extensive googling and watching and stuff

    Cons:
    Overheats pretty easily
    Sometimes the cover keyboard is really buggy sometimes you gotta disconnect and reconnect the keyboard to connect it
    when trying to code when your sitting down without a table is really awkward and not really stable

    Should really look at the XPS 13 which is small like the surface and looks pretty good.

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