Microsoft Surface Book 3

Great machine with a few quirks – I have to admit it, I'm a surface fan. The Surface Book 3 is my second surface having moved up from an aging Surface Pro 3 that had dropped one time too many. The SP3 was great, small, light, and powerful enough in its day. But now I wanted more of everything, like a 15" screen and a graphics card. The Good: Once of my favorite things about the SB3 is the high resolution screen (3240x2160). My office setup is twin 25" HD monitors - this things blows them away for clarity, brightness and eye feel. Even when just doing 'office' work, text is sharp and clear, and it is a joy to come back after lower res monitors.

The battery life is amazing when on its base. Especially doing office work or watching movies. Start paying games (and running that GTX1660ti) and as you'd expect it drops a lot, but is still good. The tablet alone has OK battery life - it is not amazing and I wish it were better. But it will get you through a movie - just don't do anything else.

The keyboard. I admit it I do like low profile keys. Coming from the slimline SP3 cover keyboard, these keys have more bounce and weight to them. It is nice to type on, very nice. I do NOT like the reduced layout prefer a TKL or full design - there would be room for a keypad but alas no. It is definitely better than standard 'desktop office' keyboards. I would have said my low profile mechanical clicky gaming keyboard was superior but I've found myself gaming direct on the SB3 base a lot more than expected.

It is super quiet. Using it for office work it is silent - there is no fan noise at all, either as a laptop or a tablet. Get into gaming and running that GTX1660ti (under the keyboard) and yes it does give fan hum - this is obvious but not loud. I've never noticed it getting hot either - sometimes the base and back of lid will get warm but never hot.

The Party trick. Its trick (removable tablet screen) is so fun. It becomes a 15" tablet. Great for movies, great for ebooks (especially things like garden manuals or cook books that would be larger as paper). As a tablet with the Surface pen it is great for scribling, notetaking, and doodling. I am no Picasso so can't really comment on its creation credentials. The screen also mounts backwards. This means it will sit flat over the keyboard giving you access to port and large battery while notetaking etc. It also works as a close screen with keyboard BEHIND (and a gaming keyboard in front). And it will work upside down in tent mode. This is another good viewing or pen doodling option.

The Bad: The Party Trick. Sadly this is also its greatest flaw. It can lose the graphics card when detached (and reattached). This means either a restart, detach reattach detach reattach...., or remove and reinstall the drivers as a fix. I HATE this bug and so do many others. If you don't care about the graphics card then there is no problem. If you do need it for image processing *cough* playing games - be ready to restart more often than you expected. I also have a sticky latch that doesn't like letting go very much - also annoying.

The trackpad. I do like the trackpad, mostly, its the right click that is annoying - it seems to be ONLY the extreme lower right corner and is easy to get wrong. It annoys me.

No expansion. I have to admit against everything I'd decided I only have the 256GB version of the SB3. Getting a larger SSD is stupidly more expensive adding and extra 25+% to the price. My compromise was a 512GB memory card in an invisible holder in the base - it holds all my games which I only play with the base (and graphics card) attached. I know I will run out of room someday in the main SSD but hopefully not before the SB4 lands

Summary: GREAT machine, lovely screen, solid construction, annoying loss of graphics card. Would I buy it again? Yes, maybe. I'd probably look for a better graphics card in a laptop if buying one today. But really a 15" high res tablet that can play modern games is pretty darn nice.

Lemon and no backup service – I bought this for my daughter to use at university ($3332). Within 4 months the screen kept flicking from light to dark, and the casing of the screen overheated and microcracks appeared on the screen and they became full screen cracks and the computer kept freezing and bluescreening. Microsoft were contacted and won't do a thing about the computer and said that the crack shows that it must have been dropped or opened incorrectly. This is not the case, it overheats and it is a lemon. I can't believe they don't want to know why they have a faulty product. Apple replaces anything that is faulty. Microsoft is the worst company to deal with. DO NOT BUY MICROSOFT, they do not look after the customer.