Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 – 13.5" Touch-Screen – Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - 128GB Solid State Drive (Latest Model) – Platinum with Alcantara

I am a university professor, and I really need to have a laptop that I can carry around with me apart from my everyday desktop computer. I was looking for something small but light with a touch screen. I had a Yoga 2-in-1 prior to buying a Surface 3 laptop, and experienced the benefits of using the touch screen for scrolling and selecting when it was impractical to carry a mouse. The Surface 3 laptop is definitely a premium product for productivity. I was considering it, a MacBook Air, or a MSFT Surface Laptop Go. I just happened to find the Surface Laptop 3 that was price competitive with all of these with better specifications and bought one. It was a difficult decision to make because there are so many portable, easy to use laptops to choose from. I don't regret my decision one bit.Here are the features that I really like about the Microsoft Surface Laptop 3. (1) The 13 inch model has just the right size screen for me to have two documents pulled up side by side. (2) Connecting to wifi is very fast and dropped connections have not happened in my months of use. (3) The screen is sensitive to touch. (4) The touchpad rivals Apple's and is quite responsive. (5) The keyboard is backlit, and the the screen's brightness is easy to adjust when plugged in or not. (6) The charging cable is magnetic in its attachment and easily lets go when there is tension so that your device isn't jostled. (7) The USB port options allow me to plug in my portable USB hub for many USBs if desired, as well as a LAN cable that bypasses wifi. [In other words, this device is backward compatible for cheapskates like me.] (8). The battery life is great. I can work all day on it before needing to charge it, which is dramatically better than my 2015 Yoga. (9) I can use this computer to code and run stats software as it has better specs than the Go and comparable or better than the Macbook Air. (10) Graphics are pretty decent for a laptop for productivity. (11) Speaker volume is fairly loud and clear. (12) Keyboard is flawless. Typing easy, fast, and without sticking at all. (12) Keyboard includes Home, End, Page up, and Page down keys. (13) Power on with simple keyboard keypress, and secure access via face recognition. (14) With a stylus, I can write on the screen, and I have used this when creating videos that require me to work through stats equations for students or that require that I make marks on lecture slides to point out key info.I suspect that when this laptop becomes obsolete, I will again consider a Microsoft Laptop if they are around. The device has a sturdy build, with an aluminum cover and base. It doesn't overheat, but you can hear the fan kick in with extended use for videos or computer games with graphics.

This is my second surface laptop after I lost my last one and I love it! It’s compact, lightweight, clean, sleek. Keyboard not the most functional, I make errors a lot, I feel like the placement makes typing naturally a little difficult. Build quality is good although I will say, Best Buy cannot fix these guys so I recommend an extended warranty. I had a surface-go before and the way the hardware is built, it cannot be opened up by third party to fix. I’m sure if it broke or something stopped working, they would just have to send you a new one but definitely why I’d recommend the warranty. So far it has been scratch resistant.

I needed a new laptop for school, but I wanted something that was a little more powerful than a Chromebook. I'm used to a MacBook Air, but this transition wasn't difficult. Super easy to set up from the beginning. I love the keyboard backlight and the way that it types. The screen is plenty bright and adjusts well. I can't say much about the speakers for music, but they've been perfect for listening to lectures. The touch screen is appropriately responsive and accurate. Great storage so far, great accessibility, runs quickly, and is perfect for endless zoom calls. I'm glad I got the Surface with the attached keyboard. I was really hesitant about the almost fabric-like texture around the keyboard, but it's been a really nice touch. Overall it's lightweight, does what it needs to do, and does it all well. I'm happy that I splurged a little bit for this one-big fan!

It is quite clear that is laptop is not a budget laptop. There are features here that are worth your money, and some that you can find done much better in other laptops for cheaper. The laptop I got had no issues upon arrival.What justifies the Surface Laptop 3's price:1. Windows Hello & one-finger-lift-to-open (super convenient and fast)2. Aluminum Body and/or Alcantara keyboard (feels premium and professional)3. Keyboard Switches (satisfying typing experience)4. Touchpad (insanely accurate and smooth -- the best I've ever used)5. Screen Resolution (2256 x 1504)6. Screen Brightness (348 nits, good for outdoor use)7. Screen Color Accuracy (98% sRGB, 74% AdobeRGB)8. Portability (2.75lbs or 1.249kg)9. Touchscreen (surface pen compatible)What DOESN'T justify the Surface Laptop 3's price:1. Needs more RAM storage (Windows 10 OS takes ~4GB RAM on idle)2. Needs more SSD storage (Windows 10 OS takes ~40GB from updated default apps)3. Needs a better camera (only 720p)4. Needs a faster CPU (AMD's Ryzen 4000 series is out and it's cheaper & faster than Intel's 10th gen. CPU)5. Needs a bigger battery (only got 8.33 hours of battery life with 40% brightness and light use)P.S. You can disable adaptive screen brightness in the settings.

I bought the Surface Laptop 3 for work as a software engineer and it's perfect. It the right size and with the dock (bought separately) I can easily go from a desktop experience to being on the go in just a couple of seconds. My only complaint is that 250gb just isn't enough storage space and other than an external ssd there really is no expansion capability. Hopefully Microsoft will fix that shortcoming in the future.