Numerous bloggers have criticized Microsoft for not bundling the Type Cover with the Surface Pro 3, saying that the price of the SP3 with the Type Cover price added would not be competitive. Also others say that the Type Cover is essential to the operation of the SP3. Further, they typically complain that the Type Cover and SP3 design with its kickstand for support, makes typing on a person's lap unwieldy. I want to address each of these.
I argue that the retail price Microsoft has set for a SP3 without a Type Cover is fair in comparison to competitors like an iPad Air or a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. The SP3 can function as both a full-power laptop running IDEs and VMs. An iPad cannot and needs to rely on cloud services or remotely connecting to a computer that can. There's a place for this computing power delegation but the SP3 can do those as well as the iPad. In evaluating against MacBooks and ultrabooks, the keyboard can get out of the way entirely to become a tablet you can hold comfortably in one hand (especially with the SP3 kickstand fully open). The SP3 is lighter than any of these laptops. Regarding tablet-oriented apps, in general, currently the Windows Store for Windows 8 is stuffed full of horrid apps that are difficult to filter through. However, in case
touch-friendly apps are missing, this may be partially alleviated by running an Android emulator on the SP3. More in another post.
While the Type Cover is a good accessory for the SP3, it isn't ideal for everyone. For someone that loves using the keyboard over a mouse, these are some mobile keyboards I considered and their highlights/drawbacks.
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| For the Type Cover, I didn't like the half-sized up and down arrow keys as I often would hit the right Shift key rather than the up arrow key. The Enter key is also smaller than I prefer. It does wake the SP3 on opening and maintains a physical connection to the device so there aren't any lost Bluetooth connection issues. |
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| Logitech K810 keyboard I was interested in that has illuminated keys. |
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| Another Logitech keyboard which has a slot to stand a tablet in, which I'm not sure would fit the SP3. |
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| I missed the row of Function keys in the "Microsoft Universal Mobile Keyboard" and also its up/down arrow keys are too small. If I recall correctly, I could prop the SP3 into this keyboard. |
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| One problem with this keyboard that I purchased from Amazon is that the Ctrl key is not located in the most left-most position on
the bottom row. I forgot how my muscle memory uses my pinkie finger to
hit where the Ctrl key usually is. Not only are Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V
keyboard shortcuts hindered but also Ctrl + arrow key for quick
navigation. Also occasionally SP3 forgets its pairing with the keyboard which means at least 30 seconds before being able to use the keyboard. |
A good test for a mobile keyboard is to edit an Excel document or Google Sheet where you keep tabular data. Simply typing a blog post as many bloggers do, doesn't fully exercise the keyboard. When you edit an Excel doc, you have to use many non-alphanumeric keys and keyboard short-cuts to do it efficiently (F2, Esc, Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V, Shift + arrow key, arrow keys alone, etc.)
Regarding "lap-ability", the SP3 does suffer at this, but so do many other laptops. How so with laptops?!? The problem is that they can heat up and on a public transit commute in the spring/summer, this is unbearable for me. The second problem, shared with the SP3, is that the distance from the screen to my eyes is too far when a laptop is actually on my lap. Previous to the SP3, I was using a regular laptop and I found that I had to zoom into PDFs or web pages I was reading, to have a comfortable experience. So I agree that the lack of a clam-shell design means the kickstand must be supported and the SP3 is not "lap-able".
However, it is a decent "bag-top". Microsoft will never market it as such, but when the SP3 is resting on a bag, it brings the screen closer to the user and provides a "surface" for the SP3 to rest on. Whatever keyboard you're using can also rest on the bag. Currently experimenting with this and testing the ergonomics. While this usage might sound like a failure, most laptops probably are better used as bag-tops too.
