Is There a Surface Pro 3 Rival That Has SIM Slot?

radderfire · 18 Nov 2014 at 17:59

Hi Guys

I like the Surface Pro 3, but don't like the fact it has no SIM slot so can't get 4G directly.

Is there a rival to the Surface Pro 3 which does have a SIM slot?

Thanks :cool:

AMDPower · 18 Nov 2014 at 18:55

What do you mean rival?

same screen size and format, windows and speed? No, not that i am aware off.

The next closes thing is the new dell venue 11 pro 7000 and they are not released over here in europe yet, not sure of their release date either but should not be long. They use the new itel mobile chips and are fan less and roughly equivalent in speed to their older Y/U version mobile chips but considerably lower powered. Dell should offer 4G connectivity. You can also get the older dell venue 11 pro and I think you can configure it with a modem( but don't quote me on this)

There is also sony vaio tap 11 and could be configured with 4G model built in but they are quite rare to find now that sony stoped selling laptops.

But honestly why don't you jut tether your future device to your phone?

Saundie · 18 Nov 2014 at 20:21

AMDPower is correct about the Dell Venue 11 Pro being available with 4G connectivity. I took delivery of an i3 version today, and opened it up to see what could be upgraded; the slots for the SSD, WLAN and WWAN cards are easily accessible. I have a 4G card that I am going to test in it when I get time.

As to whether the Venue 11 Pro is a Surface Pro 3 rival is open to debate; it's a bit smaller, with a 10.8" display compared to the Surface Pro 3's 12" display. The new 7140 model has a higher resolution display than the outgoing 7130 (which was 1920 x 1080), but I seem to recall reading an article that said that the 7140 no longer has a removable back panel, so you lose the ability to upgrade it. It is, however, a fair bit cheaper than the Surface Pro 3.

AMDPower · 18 Nov 2014 at 20:41

are you sure they resolution is different, there is no difference in resolution for the 7140 model, it is still 1920 x 1080. If you are going to add the WWAN module make sure that you have the antena installed ( cant remember if they are pre installed already) but yeah it should be able to install it regardless.

The new dell pro 11 will have to be ordered with WWAN preconfigured because as Saundie said the back is not removable.

Saundie · 19 Nov 2014 at 18:11

AMDPower said:
are you sure they resolution is different, there is no difference in resolution for the 7140 model, it is still 1920 x 1080. If you are going to add the WWAN module make sure that you have the antena installed ( cant remember if they are pre installed already) but yeah it should be able to install it regardless.

The new dell pro 11 will have to be ordered with WWAN preconfigured because as Saundie said the back is not removable.

Indeed, you are correct and I am an in error; the screen is still 1920 x 1080. I thought I saw somewhere that it had been bumped to 2560 x 1440, but clearly that's incorrect.

I pulled the back off of my 7130 again today, and it looks like I have only one aerial for the WWAN card; I didn't have enough time to figure out if the second cable had slipped inside the case, but it seems possible.

We finally got some Surface Pro 3s at work; there was a two month delay in getting hold of them, which goes to show how popular they are. Putting the Venue 11 next to the Surface Pro 3 is quite interesting. The Surface is a better looking device by quite a large margin. It's not that the Venue 11 looks terrible, it's just that the Surface is so nicely machined, the Venue 11 cannot really compete. Of course, the Surface Pro costs a lot more than the Venue 11. Mine is a refurbished unit from a Dell reseller; I got it along with a docking station for £245, and a keyboard/battery dock for £40. The cheapest Surface Pro with the Type Cover is £750.