Surface pro 3 or something else?

So, the thing is I'm thinking of buying my mom something that can replace the old laptop and old tablet. The pricing is a bitt harsh on the surface, but it will be so much faster even in the i3 version. The SD card slot is it possible to run programs and use it as a normal drive? 

But with that in mind i3 64gb and so on, is there anything in the same price rang that is better and / or cheaper and can replace laptop and tablet?

Thanks for you help

Dell Venue 11 Pro - $570 bucks, The SSD, the Wifi-Card, and Cellular Card, and Battery are ALL replaceable. and has an Micro-SD card slot for Extra Expansion.

If you need it to be used as a Laptop

The Keyboard Dock is $130

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Venue-i5-4210Y-Windows-Professional/dp/B00KEAY56G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1416782268&sr=8-2&keywords=Dell+Venue+11+Pro

All this together is Cheaper than the Surface Pro 3.

a gaming rig is the obvious solution dude. I would suggest you use a 4770k and dual GTX 980's, but if you're feeling that's a bit much you could always go with an i5. make sure you get her razer gaming gear: pimped out. custom LEDs. water cooling. I mean the works. What are you talking about...surface pro 3... lol...

I own one and, haven't had a problem yet. To my knowledge.

You can do better:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PQ8ZrH

I guess I don't understand the point of tablets for the most Parr, besides for a Netflix streaming center, or an eBook reader. A Nexus 5 paired with a half decent desktop would be good enough for me if I could afford them.

i dont even

my post was a joke

Some people just can't tell when people are being sarcastic in text... sometimes helps to write /s in the end.

The venue pros wouldn't be a bad route either they are a little bit cheaper and have full cpus. They also have keyboard docks that look nicer than the surface keyboard.

Good always pick her up an old Lenovo ultra-portable and toss in a Nexus 7. I can't imagine how anyone can use Windows 8.1 touch oriented or not, app selection is still pitiful, and a tablet is only as good as its apps. 

+1

Surface experience or any other Windows-tablet for that matter, is really bad, even in Microsoft apps like MS-Office, even after enabling "touch-mode". It's nowhere near a usable experience.

Android and CrOS are where it's at right now in terms of touch comfort. If you want more liberty, you could go for a bleeding edge Gnome on Linux or KDE Plasma, both of which are really good, and most applications are touch-usable because of the really good scaling options in Linux, which is just the worst on Windows, and really doesn't work at all. OSX is anything but touch-optimized also, it doesn't even support touch features.

If you want a touch convertible/tablet that works well with Linux for a real touch experience (that is not to say that it will be the best ever, because most popular applications like LibreOffice don't have a specific touch interface yet either, but they kinda work with touch because of the interface scaling capabilities of Linux systems), take a look at the Lenovo Yoga series, or any of the B-brand Lenovo convertibles, which are the same on the inside, but have a bit of a cheaper finish (Medion being probably the most popular Lenovo B-brand, and they are usually pretty cheap and quite decent.)

I'm looking for something useful in a tablet format for myself this holiday, and am probably getting a Surface Pro 2. At todays prices you can get an i5 model with a decent sized SSD for about the same as tablets like the Dell Venue Pro. The latter might be lighter but has a much more plain level of performance. Although the type covers are an expensive addon, with a really good pen like the Surface Pro 2 has, one could have some much less expensive keyboard at home and just use the pen while on the go.

It'll be either that or a decent "toy" tablet, like the ASUS Vivo Tab Note 8, which seems to have have an at least pretty usable digitizer too.

The main advantage of the Surface Pro 3 is if you need the bigger screen. Otherwise it feels simply overpriced, especially considering the couple of things that it does less well than its predecessor. I'd expect a new model again next year.

My buddy loves his dell venue 8 pro. Says it's very quick for a tablet running full windows 8.1. If she has weak eyes maybe the 11 would be better. The HD version is still cheaper than an older Surface Pro. You won't get great processing speeds out of the atom proc, but if you are only using the standard OS features it will run just fine. Probably cooler as well. 

My wife as in the same boat as you mom and I got her a Lenovo Yoga 2. I went the economy route with the specs, but it runs really well and cost about 650. Def worth checking out. My wife loves hers.

The Toshiba Encore 2 I don't believe you can do any better than 1GB of ram, 32GB and 1280x800 resolution. Same with the HP version.

The Yoga 2 is a good idea, but that opens a new can with the 11" keyboard flip over thing, ultrabook. You get a mobile dual core instead of the atom quad. The resolution takes a hit too until you get to the $750 range it gets 1080p and an i5. The rest come standard with 4GB of ram, Intel HD 4200, and an SSD (in most).

Wow, thanks for all the respons, didn't get to answer all of you, but I landed on the surface. Bigger screen, resolution, pen, sdcard, simple and good keyboard. Those where the basic reasons for my choice. Did go with the smallest one and a 128gb sdcard, she loves the screen and pen, little bit weird going from an old Samsung tab.

I like the speed and looks of it, plus now I don't use 20 min to start it and fix it B-) got a good black Friday deal with almost 20% off average price, but only 7% off the keyboard. Did look at a yoga and some others, but didn't feel as solid and smooth, but guess that's what you pay for. 

 

Hehe, no worries when she needs a gaming rig she can borrow my rig anytime :-D my biggest gripe about the 8.1 is the Microsoft account tie in, but nothing worse than android or apple, so can live with it. 

 

Thanks again and a happy new year to you all :-D 

id wait for skywells and or broadwells release date before buying anything.

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I ended up getting a Surface Pro 2, i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD that are now selling at about half the launch price. It's very hard to beat as long as the tablet format is what you're looking for. Maybe the screen isn't as amazing as some other things out there now, but the pen is great. The touch matrix is also more precise than I had expected, allowing fairly quick use of desktop applications with a pen and finger combination.  It's my portable from now on, replacing a slow but neat 11" Lenovo traveler buddy.

It can also double as a little TV screen with its tablet-wise impressive audio, and as a second screen displaying the main map while playing Battlefield 4.

One downside is that there seems to be a real shortage of covers for it. I got one from Maroo (surprisingly quick shipment from US to EU) that is built with good quality material, but it's less precisely customised for the tablet design that I had led myself to believe. Just maybe I'll end up getting a touch cover on sale mainly as a cover and much less for the ability to type.