tech

I was lucky enough to view this entire event from behind the scenes, as I was involved in the official Malaysian launch of the Surface 3 on the 5th of May 2015. There were 4 guest presenters/speakers/influencers which were part of the event that day – 2 for Home and 2 for Office. I was part of the Office group, together with Careen, my partner.

The event started off quite early for us, I was there at 7:30 am for an 8 am rehearsal led by Rukmani where we ran through everything. Good thing breakfast (and most importantly coffee) was provided. Denise actually ran out and got me an iced latte – thanks for that!

I got wired up for sound before the dry run. I’ll be talking about how the Surface 3 has helped me in my life, and do a quick run-through of the things I actually do on it. I was quite proud of that fact that I was actually doing things I would actually do during the entire event, nothing was scripted.

I was even replying Facebook comments at one point! I had my Surface 3 hooked up to the docking station, which allowed me to use a wireless full sized keyboard and mouse, as well as the HDMI output to Extend or Mirror the contents of my Surface 3 to the large monitor on my table.

The Surface 3 Docking Station is capable of DVI/VGA/HDMI so it’s all covered there. I was a little worried that my personal account would be in full view on the large monitor they had setup for me on my table, but we were still alone at the time and the blinds were up.

It had been decided in the previous meeting that the Home and Office sections will be flanking the stage and there will be full blinds/curtains to contain the scenes behind from prying eyes. We were slated to slip into the space and be in place at 1:50 pm latest.

The actual Microsoft Surface 3 Launch started at 2 pm. Thus, after lunch, we went behind the curtains and waited for our cue.

Careen was slated to talk first and then I’ll go on about the flexibility of the Surface 3 – in particular how the Surface Pen allows you to write naturally while resting your wrist/palm on the screen (a very nifty feature I love) and the 4 USB and Gigabit Ethernet ports on the docking station (useful to turn your Surface 3 into a PC).

I also liked how there’s a natural place to the left of the Surface 3 docking station for your Surface Pen! It’s a magnetic side which allows you to store your stylus without losing it, a very important feature when you’re transitioning from tablet/laptop mode to full PC mode.

I love little design features like this that helps make your life easier.

The Surface 3 launch even had a place where you can get customized mugs made with your name on it!

I had mine done in “sixthseal.com” and “Huai Bin” in two different cups. I asked the nice people there to do the second one only if there were leftovers and they were kind enough to oblige.

I only have photos of me that I asked my friends to take while I was on-stage (or beside the stage, rather) and it was a great experience to talk about something which I genuinely like, for I have indeed fallen in love with the Surface 3 during my time with it.

It’s so useful for work and play that I miss it when I returned the Surface 3. It’s so portable, it works like a laptop (can even run Heroes of the Storm on it), and it’s silent since the quad core Intel Atom x7 can run fan-less.

You can check out the Surface 3 at any large electronics store (saw it at Harvey Norman during the weekend) and see if you like it as much as I do. The Malaysian launch of the Surface 3 reveals the pricing to be RM 1,989 for the 64GB/2GB RAM version and RM 2,389 for the 128GB/4GB RAM version.

It’s out now, so you all have the chance to see what I’ve been so enamored with for the past few weeks.

I was at a closed door media preview recently when I asked a rather embarrassing question.

It was for the Microsoft Surface 3 and the Q&A was going on when I asked when the Surface Pro 3 was going to be released. There was a short moment of silence from the panel of speakers before two simultaneously told me – “It has already been released at the end of last year” – with a look that vaguely suggested that I was reaching new heights (or lows) of stupidity.

The Surface Pro 3 is the more powerful and expensive brother to the Surface 3 and packs a beast of an i3/i5/i7 processor inside. I’ve been thinking which one to get and hadn’t decided yet at the time.

It got me thinking though…

The truth of the matter is, people don’t actually follow gadget releases with religious fervour. Unless you’re a hardcore tech nerd, you probably wouldn’t be able to recite the latest hardware specifications. Most people only search for and read up on the latest news, releases and reviews when they’re about to make a purchase.

This is where I come in. I’ve had hands-on experience with the Microsoft Surface 3 and I’ve been very impressed so far. I’ll be picking up a loan unit tomorrow for review but let me just tell you about the Surface 3 and what it’s all about first.

The Microsoft Surface 3 is a laptop replacement tablet that’s going to be released in the market soon. It’s a more affordable and mainstream offering compared to the Surface Pro 3 (which is more for power users) and it looks like it’s set to appeal to a wide range of users.

There are a couple of new features in the latest Surface – the Surface 3 is the thinnest and lightest Surface ever! It just weighs a mere 622 grams. I was surprised when I picked it up, this is definitely lighter than I thought a tablet that works like a laptop would be.

Most importantly, it has a full-size USB 3.0! This allows you to connect a wide range of accessories and it’s what (for me) makes a tablet transcend into laptop functionality. You can plug in stuff like external hard disk drives for increased storage, your smartphone to transfer files (if you’re not using your own WiFi to sync), or even something as essential as a mouse!

(although I would highly recommend using a Bluetooth mouse instead of taking up the USB 3.0 slot, unless you plan on getting the docking station or a USB extender)

Also, Surface 3 runs all your Windows desktop software so you can use it just like a PC or notebook! That means you can use Microsoft Office, Photoshop, and all other desktop programs instead of relying on apps alone. That’s the beauty of the Surface 3 – you can run the app versions when you’re using it as a tablet, but for some essential software, you have the capability to install and execute it like you would on a normal computer.

The stylus is a thing of magic too – you can click it once to wake the tablet from sleep and double click it to automatically screencap what’s running and open it in OneNote (a feature I’ve found immensely useful in blogging and writing reviews).

There’s also an 8 MP 1080p rear-facing camera with auto-focus and a 3.5 MP 1080p front-facing camera.

Here are the specs for the Surface 3:

This is one tablet-laptop hybrid that looks poised to take the world by storm.

It’s the first Surface to have an Intel processor so you can run all Windows software, it’s the first to forgo the proprietary charging system in favor for a widely compatible micro-USB port so you can use it with your existing car and portable chargers, and it comes with an optional docking station to complete the PC experience.

Head over to the Microsoft Surface 3 microsite to pre-order your Surface 3 now! If you’re looking for a new tablet that has the functionality of a laptop, look no further – you know you want it. I’m really excited about this – the Microsoft Surface 3 has been hailed as a revolutionary change and it really lives up to the hype.