Surface 3 for photoshop
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You'd have to have some kind of external storage for any real amount of photos but other than that I'd imagine it would be fine. The screen isn't exactly big but if you're mobile then it doesn't matter and if you're at home you can always plug into a bigger screen.
The pen/stylus got pretty good reviews so seems to be decent! I'd have one if I had money to burn but I'm rarely away from my home PC so it doesn't make much sense to buy one
I have one of the original Surface RT tablets and it's handy on a few occasions that I'm away from home but obviously doesn't compare to a full Windows Pro Surface
The pen/stylus got pretty good reviews so seems to be decent! I'd have one if I had money to burn but I'm rarely away from my home PC so it doesn't make much sense to buy one
I have one of the original Surface RT tablets and it's handy on a few occasions that I'm away from home but obviously doesn't compare to a full Windows Pro Surface 
Soldato
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Dual core CPU too slow. Storage too small. Windows. I think a big screen + wacom tablet would be a better experience.
Personally I would get something like an imac (retina if budget allows) + time machine (as a minimum) for backup would be a way better solution.
Personally I would get something like an imac (retina if budget allows) + time machine (as a minimum) for backup would be a way better solution.
I guess it depends on whether you normally use the pen for editing photos, and whether you always use Photoshop too. I don't do such extensive editing and so stick with Lightroom for editing photos, and the iMac is perfect for this. For editing on the move I've just purchased a retina MacBook Pro - the screen quality gave the edge over the MacBook Air as an alternative.
Being able to use Lightroom on two machines is good, although I'm not sure if this also applies to Photoshop.
Being able to use Lightroom on two machines is good, although I'm not sure if this also applies to Photoshop.
Dual core? Guess it depends on the spec he chooses unless they've started doing dual core i7s? There's i3, i5 and i7 variants of the Surface 3 with up to 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB SSD for storage. Obviously it starts to get expensive for those specs but anything which is this powerful and portable won't be cheap anyway.
Windows? that's hardly a limiting factor now is it?
Screen size? Well if he's considering a hybrid tablet/ultrabook then I suspect he wants something smaller/portable. As I mentioned before, if you want/need a bigger screen you can always connect this or any other laptop to an external monitor when you're not out and about.
Soldato
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Yes dual core i7's, so it's really an i3.
Windows. First Vista, then 8/8.1. Yes it's a limiting factor as it's freaking awful and you have to pay to upgrade.
If he wants something portable, he should get something like a retina macbook pro and hook it up to an external monitor when at home.
Surface 3 isn't well suited for serious editing work. I'm also wondering if the Op is only considering Surface because it's a small package, rather than actually needing to be mobile.
Windows. First Vista, then 8/8.1. Yes it's a limiting factor as it's freaking awful and you have to pay to upgrade.
If he wants something portable, he should get something like a retina macbook pro and hook it up to an external monitor when at home.
Surface 3 isn't well suited for serious editing work. I'm also wondering if the Op is only considering Surface because it's a small package, rather than actually needing to be mobile.
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Well there you go, you learn something new every day
I guess the CPU isn't really something you can avoid if you want a mobile device to process with. The OS debate is more of a personal choice since I like Windows 8/8.1 and I'd rather get punched in the balls than have to use a Mac all the time
Guess Sid needs to decide whether he really needs something small and mobile or whether he'd be better off spending it on something with more power. I don't see the Surface 3 as being any worse than any other mobile device and the pen might be a plus if he uses that.
A Surface 3 runs Lightroom and Photoshop absolutely fine, I know this first hand as I use one at work everyday connected to 24" HP via MD for dual display, its simple, fast and works perfectly and I'm running the 64gb i3
Just because its dual core means nothing, the new intel cores are extremely efficient in what they do and can be used as daily work horses just fine.
Also not sure how you consider Windows a limiting factor due to having to pay to upgrade then recommend a Macbook Pro Retina which costs double what a Surafce 3 does, surely you understand how Microsoft & Apple differ in their revenue streams? Also the next upgrade to Windows 10 is free for all 8.1 users.
The 2 actual limiting factors of the Surface to consider are internal storage and battery life, I have the LR catalog on my internal SSD but the photo's stored on a NAS which works fine and the battery has done well if it lasts 3.5 hours.
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Soldato
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Good for MS not charging for windows 10 after the abomination of windows 8. It comes down to personal choice & preference.
I recommend the the rmbp because you practically get double the performance (desktop performance) and a nice display.
I've got one and it's pretty good for editing, although I still use a faster dedicated machine on a 27" screen. I'd still take a mb air over the surface 3 if it came down to budget although you lose the extra cores.
Also why bother with an underpowered tablet at all if it's just going to be plugged into a large monitor? Again something like an imac is a far better solution. It's not like the Op can get the cheap 64gb Surface model without using external storage (Some form of backup/redundancy is important if the pictures are important).
Those Intel dual cores aren't extremely efficient (if you mean performance wise). They are hardly any different than Nehalem. which why the i7 920 (if clocked) is still a very fast CPU even in modern terms.
Intel has mainly been shrinking die size (thus reducing power consumption) with every processes node shrink instead of increasing performance. Apart from some minor IPC tweaks very little has changed performance wise for a number of years.
For a relatively light workload where you are not editing/sorting through large images, or a large number of images, that Surface will be fine. Once you start with more demanding workflows (particularly in LR), those extra two cores come in very handy.
For instance with my workflow (large number of wedding pictures). After a wedding I set my 4.5ghz 3770k (quad core) rendering 36mp previews before I go to bed. I get up in the morning and it's nearly finished. A few cups of tea and I'm ready to start work sorting. If I had a dual core instead, I would literally lose the whole day waiting for it to finish rendering previews. If I didn't pre-render the previews, sorting would take me yonks as I would have to wait for each image to render when I zoomed in.
I recommend the the rmbp because you practically get double the performance (desktop performance) and a nice display.
I've got one and it's pretty good for editing, although I still use a faster dedicated machine on a 27" screen. I'd still take a mb air over the surface 3 if it came down to budget although you lose the extra cores.
Also why bother with an underpowered tablet at all if it's just going to be plugged into a large monitor? Again something like an imac is a far better solution. It's not like the Op can get the cheap 64gb Surface model without using external storage (Some form of backup/redundancy is important if the pictures are important).
Those Intel dual cores aren't extremely efficient (if you mean performance wise). They are hardly any different than Nehalem. which why the i7 920 (if clocked) is still a very fast CPU even in modern terms.
Intel has mainly been shrinking die size (thus reducing power consumption) with every processes node shrink instead of increasing performance. Apart from some minor IPC tweaks very little has changed performance wise for a number of years.
For a relatively light workload where you are not editing/sorting through large images, or a large number of images, that Surface will be fine. Once you start with more demanding workflows (particularly in LR), those extra two cores come in very handy.
For instance with my workflow (large number of wedding pictures). After a wedding I set my 4.5ghz 3770k (quad core) rendering 36mp previews before I go to bed. I get up in the morning and it's nearly finished. A few cups of tea and I'm ready to start work sorting. If I had a dual core instead, I would literally lose the whole day waiting for it to finish rendering previews. If I didn't pre-render the previews, sorting would take me yonks as I would have to wait for each image to render when I zoomed in.
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They're totally different machines...
If you want a small portable machine to use away from the desktop then the surface is a great machine for that. The pen input is great and it's light, small and powerful for the size it is.
If on the other hand you want to sit at a desk then a desktop* with a Wacom tablet is obviously going to be a better bet. The GF uses a Surface 3 which backs up to our Synology NAS so storage isn't an issue.
*Personally I'd go with a windows desktop. I use OS X on my macbook but it's just not as intuitive and productive as windows for photo editing IMO.
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Which is about as powerful as the 13" Air or Pro (not much difference between the two). The Surface 3 and two 13" Macbook all use dual core 4***U processors.
What your real issue appears to be is is runs Windows...
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Not really considering macs because I think OSX is crap so not really interested that line of thought.
I think people are getting hung up on specs which isn't too big a concern. I wont be using it exclusively for photoshop and even then..I'm sure it will be fine. I have run photoshop on core2s and was happy with the performance.
I am interested in people's thoughts about the pen as I have used tablets before and I have a galaxy note4 phone so was quite keen to have pen input on a proper windows system. How well does it compare to a proper graphics tablet?
I think people are getting hung up on specs which isn't too big a concern. I wont be using it exclusively for photoshop and even then..I'm sure it will be fine. I have run photoshop on core2s and was happy with the performance.
I am interested in people's thoughts about the pen as I have used tablets before and I have a galaxy note4 phone so was quite keen to have pen input on a proper windows system. How well does it compare to a proper graphics tablet?
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Then a better option is to get an imac and load windows...
Well as I said, from what I have read, the Surface 3 gets good reviews with regards to the pen/stylus but ultimate you'll be better off trying it for yourself to see whether you think it's responsive/accurate enough.
lol.. you don't give up do you?
Well yeah..I can read the reviews but you can't try photoshop in stores on these things so need first hand experience...I might ask on TP as I get told to buy an imac here
like that is in any way similar to a surface3.Well yeah..I can read the reviews but you can't try photoshop in stores on these things so need first hand experience...I might ask on TP as I get told to buy an imac here
Well you can test how accurate and sensitive the pen is in other software but you're indeed unlikely to be able to test Photoshop on one :/
Buy one and return it if you don't like it? lol
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Well yeah..I can read the reviews but you can't try photoshop in stores on these things so need first hand experience...I might ask on TP as I get told to buy an imac here
I have the i5 256gb model and I use Lightroom and PhotoShop frequently on it with raw files from my d800
The screen maybe small but it's excellent , I found I actually preferred editing with Lightroom on it rather than my old dell 2407, its great using the pen and touchscreen. PhotoShop is also pretty good.
Its powerful enough for general editing and the battery lasts a reasonable amount of time unless you hammer it with intensive tasks.
I put a 64gb micro sd in also just for some extra storage capacity but I tend to upload everything onto a nas drive once I've removed the chaff
I still use my desktop too but I really do like this surface pro3
The screen maybe small but it's excellent , I found I actually preferred editing with Lightroom on it rather than my old dell 2407, its great using the pen and touchscreen. PhotoShop is also pretty good.
Its powerful enough for general editing and the battery lasts a reasonable amount of time unless you hammer it with intensive tasks.
I put a 64gb micro sd in also just for some extra storage capacity but I tend to upload everything onto a nas drive once I've removed the chaff
I still use my desktop too but I really do like this surface pro3
No, it really isn't.
Thank you... that's what I was waiting for a useful response.
This might sound stupid..how do you hold the tablet when using the pen? Lay it flat on the table?