Microsoft Surface 3 With 4G LTE Coming Soon, Priority On Business Customers

[Guest]

Microsoft plans to roll out an 4G LTE variant of the Surface 3 tablet first to business customers in European countries. After that, it will be available for the rest of the public in the U.S., UK, Germany and France.

Microsoft Surface 3 With 4G LTE Coming Soon, Priority On Business Customers : Read more

 

[2Be_or_Not2Be]

I was hoping to see an announcement that the Surface Pro 3 will get integrated 4G LTE, or even a Surface Pro 4 with integrated LTE.

After all, isn't the Pro series meant more for business use than the regular Surface?

 

[bwohl]

I have to agree with 2be, MS is too late with this. I bought the Surface 2 because it had 4G. I want to upgrade to the 3 with 4G. MS Store ran a promo to upgrade, but the voucher is expiring before this device comes out - how stupid id that? I turn in a 4G Surface 2 for $150 towards the Surface 3 - and the voucher expired BEFORE the new tablet is out? WTF MS.
So I went and bought 100 iPad Air 2 with Apple SIMS for my company.
Too late MS.

 

[jasonelmore]

I have to agree with 2be, MS is too late with this. I bought the Surface 2 because it had 4G. I want to upgrade to the 3 with 4G. MS Store ran a promo to upgrade, but the voucher is expiring before this device comes out - how stupid id that? I turn in a 4G Surface 2 for $150 towards the Surface 3 - and the voucher expired BEFORE the new tablet is out? WTF MS.
So I went and bought 100 iPad Air 2 with Apple SIMS for my company.
Too late MS.

those air 2's cant even compare to a full windows machine.. i expect those ipads wont last but about 3-4 years. pretty bad decision to go apple for business imo. Windows 10 is about to revolutionize business and intergrated computing across all platforms.

 

[Arabian Knight]

I never understood why people need 4G built in their notebooks/Tablets.

Just buy a Mifi device and leave it in the notebook/Tablet bag ... it is smaller than the power adapter !!! and has a 10 hours built in battery , and will save the battery life on the notebook/Tablet. and finally can be used as a router for any device you have , being Mobile phone , or a friend next to you.

 

[falchard]

Now if they can just give a 6" version with a 41 MP camera and phone service.

 

[codo]

I was hoping to see an announcement that the Surface Pro 3 will get integrated 4G LTE, or even a Surface Pro 4 with integrated LTE.

After all, isn't the Pro series meant more for business use than the regular Surface?

not necessarily. I opted for it because I'm a power user

 

[2Be_or_Not2Be]

I never understood why people need 4G built in their notebooks/Tablets.

Just buy a Mifi device and leave it in the notebook/Tablet bag ... it is smaller than the power adapter !!! and has a 10 hours built in battery , and will save the battery life on the notebook/Tablet. and finally can be used as a router for any device you have , being Mobile phone , or a friend next to you.

One reason why it's not as easy as built-in LTE is that it's "yet another device" that the end-user has to carry around. Sure, a small Wi-Fi hotspot is small & easily portable, but when it comes to supporting & carrying such items as a business traveler, less is always better than more. Some of the same items that you mention as positives can just as easily be a negative.

1) You have to make sure your VPN works through it as it usually is a NAT router & some VPN clients have issues with multiple NATs
2) You have to make sure it's charged, and then you have to turn it on & off as needed, especially when traveling for business over many days, otherwise risking not having it charged when needed
3) You have to make sure you bring it with you, and you have to make sure you don't lose it or get stolen
4) It doesn't really save power as you have to keep Wi-Fi going on your Surface to connect to it; integrated LTE can sip as little power as Wi-Fi does

I'm sure we could nitpick the items above, but I can tell you myself that when I travel for business, it is a relief not to carry another device.

 

[Arabian Knight]

I never understood why people need 4G built in their notebooks/Tablets.

Just buy a Mifi device and leave it in the notebook/Tablet bag ... it is smaller than the power adapter !!! and has a 10 hours built in battery , and will save the battery life on the notebook/Tablet. and finally can be used as a router for any device you have , being Mobile phone , or a friend next to you.

One reason why it's not as easy as built-in LTE is that it's "yet another device" that the end-user has to carry around. Sure, a small Wi-Fi hotspot is small & easily portable, but when it comes to supporting & carrying such items as a business traveler, less is always better than more. Some of the same items that you mention as positives can just as easily be a negative.

1) You have to make sure your VPN works through it as it usually is a NAT router & some VPN clients have issues with multiple NATs
2) You have to make sure it's charged, and then you have to turn it on & off as needed, especially when traveling for business over many days, otherwise risking not having it charged when needed
3) You have to make sure you bring it with you, and you have to make sure you don't lose it or get stolen
4) It doesn't really save power as you have to keep Wi-Fi going on your Surface to connect to it; integrated LTE can sip as little power as Wi-Fi does

I'm sure we could nitpick the items above, but I can tell you myself that when I travel for business, it is a relief not to carry another device.

1-I agree with the VPN part , but it is not a big deal if the IT department supports the MIFI.
2- If you forget to charge them , they work on USB normally as any USB LTE Modem or built in Modem.
3- If it gets stolen , well then the whole things can be stolen as well , I never remove it from the Bag.
4- as for Wifi vs LTE batery , I need to see tests . but I agree not a big deal.

5- we never carry Notebooks without bags , and as I said the power Adapter with the cables are Larger than the MIFI , and there is always a Place for Mifi in any bag if it has the place for a power adapter and a mouse.

6- it reduces costs alot , if you make sure every Notebook or Tablet you buy comes with LTE thats a $200 upgrade , you pay that price each time you buy a new device. if you buy a MIFI ? you pay it just once !

7- Give it a try 😉 , but make sure you pick a good MIFI , with USB connection option in case it is not charged or if wifi is not allowed in some places.

 

[2Be_or_Not2Be]

@Arabian:

With all that you said, you didn't address the main point - it's yet another device to carry. No matter how small the MiFi might be, it's not smaller than NOT having to carry it at all. From that viewpoint, integrated LTE beats having to carry an additional device every time. In this situation, less complicated is better than more complicated.

 

[Brian Blair]

That is just a beautiful GPU! But I am happy with my 970 SC, These ultra high end cards are very nice, But since most gamers replace their GPU in 2-3 years anyway, It never makes any sense to buy cards like the 980 Ti and Fury X. I know some will argue about 4K, But lets be honest, Even the 980 Ti and Fury X are not very good at 4K yet. 4K still has a long way to go down in price, And GPU's still need to catch up in performence. Hell most 1080p monitors are still too pricey! The cheapest 1080p monitor is around $150, And even though some may think that is cheap! $150 is a bit pricey for just a monitor! You can buy a good mid-range GPU for $150! The price of monitors is really the only thing hurting the PC gaming market. But a 4K should only cost around $150, a 1440p should only cost around $115, And a 1080p should only cost around $80. Hell it only cost corporations like Asus and Acer about $30 dollars labor and all to build a 4K monitor.