Microsoft Surface Book 3 is a fantastic machine.
The company entered an entirely new realm with their Surface Book back in 2016 and since then the machines have been doing great!
Their recent Surface Book 3 is not exactly a new.
The machine can handle big demands. It’s a laptop and a tablet, and when combined together becomes the most powerful Surface machine. It’s got the speed, the graphics, and the immersive gaming tech all in one.
Let’s take a closer look under the hood.
Surface Book 3 – Design
If you liked the design of the original Surface Book or even the 2018 follow-up, you can expect a similar look to the Surface Book 3. Not much has changed on its design. Many of the upgrades are internal, so you’ll get a similar 13.5” touch screen and detachable keyboard and trackpad that comes in silver slightly lighter than a MacBook Pro.
The hinge on the keyboard itself looks slightly like an accordion and allows it to fold open up to 130 degrees. It’s a simple design that Microsoft has kept practically the same for about 5 years now since the original Surface Book came out in 2015, but using similar designs for each new Surface Book isn’t a bad thing, especially since we see Apple do this for many of their computers each year.
2 for 1 Functionality
What makes this different from any other machine is the fact it’s a laptop and tablet in one device. With a simple click of a button on the keyboard, you can safely detach the touch screen and can use it like any other tablet.
It’s great for use in a creative setting where when paired with a Surface Pen you can sketch and paint digitally right on the Surface Book 3.
The battery of the machine is in the tablet and the keyboard both. So remember the tablet screen may be a tablet, but its heavy!
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Hardware
When looking at the 15” model the screen has a 3,240 x 2,160 display resolution. The 3:2 ratio is great for working but when watching videos on the device you will have to deal with some black bars since many videos are a 16:9 aspect ratio. Colors really pop on the display as well.
The Surface Book 3 utilises 100% of the sRGB color gamut, and at the average screen brightness of 402 nits, everything looks brilliant.
Unfortunately, the sound leaves a little to be desired. The speakers are built into the tablet portion of the device, so they aren’t very powerful. There are much better speakers found on other laptops and even most smartphones, however, they’ll get the job done if you want to watch a few videos here and there on the Surface Book 3.
Performance
The Surface Book 3 is equipped with an i7 processor which is great for most users to get tasks done without any hiccups. It comes equipped with a gaming ready GPU such as the model with the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, so handling gaming on a Surface Book 3 is very possible.
The Surface Book 3 has 32 GB of RAM which is definitely overkill for many users, but the creative types who like to utilise every byte of that RAM will take a liking to that on top of the graphics card.
It certainly has high capabilities and utilises some of the best specs for a laptop/tablet hybrid.
The machine is available in 13.5″ as well as 15″ models. The 15″ model is only offering Core i7 whereas the 13.5″ model gives you the option to pick i5 or i7.
The 13.5″ model offers 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB of RAM, whereas the 15″ model boasts 16GB or 32GB.
Surface Book 3 13.5” model is embedded with solid-state drive (SSD) options of 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB PCIe SSD whereas the 15” version also offers 2TB.
Where to Buy
The straightforward option to buying the Microsoft Surface Book 3 would be to go directly to the Microsoft Store and purchase it there, however, you’re sure to find it elsewhere for better prices.
If you live in the United States or Canada, Best Buy is a great place to go for your technological needs. Best Buy is always having sales on their computers, so if you watch for a little bit for a sale on the Surface Book 3, you could save a few hundred dollars on your new laptop.
For readers living in the UK, you could try to find it for a better price at John Lewis & Partners, or Currys PC World. Of course, if you want to look for one used, there is always eBay, which is international.
Final Thoughts
The Microsoft Surface Book 3 is a great laptop and tablet. It has the power to get everything you need to get done, done while providing hours of entertainment. Another nice addition is it has Windows 10 on it, and Windows 10 alone just like if you built a computer yourself and decided to install Windows. If you want to get a laptop/tablet and have the extra money, this is a great option to purchase.