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Post #656432
2026-03-15 15:31 UTC
Thanks for your feedback! The model I’ve found is named Surface 3, and it looks like it’s very similar to Go, just the names are different. However, that particular item was sold, so I need to hunt another item. I decided to explore all three models, the one I was considering, yours, and the next one too (Go 2). I’m looking for a keyboard only option, however I realised I may not really need any. Having a decently built tablet with Gnome looks good enough for me! I don’t care about the camera, it’s still worse than my iPhone, and I’m not going to have any video calls, that’s for sure. I thought of reading some books, plus writing a blog. It’s really challenging to write, as when I’m with my computer, I do work. When I’m on a phone, it’s not really comfortable to write long texts, and do any serious work. A Surface tablet with Linux, looks very good.
Seriously, a couple of weeks ago, I wasn’t aware you can get a Linux tablet at all! Thanks to M$ for building such a shitty OS, most people selling this tablet as garbage. I thought of buying a used iPad Pro 12.9 (2015), I have a couple at home, and it’s fabulous (especially given the price, you can get one used for about $100). And iPad Pro is just miles ahead of this garbage. But! The real OS (Linux) makes it better than iOS. Windows is real OS too, but since it’s garbage, iOS is still a much better experience in most tablet scenarios.
As of today, I think I’d get a cheap used Chinese Windows tablet with a crappy keyboard, just to test waters. Assuming a Surface is a better device in every department (support, built quality, keyboard quality), and the Linux on the go is something I’d find useful, I’d surely go with monitoring local used market for a decent item.
So, yeah, thanks for drawing my attention towards this. I’m long dreaming of having a cheap and light Linux laptop with me. And a used Surface looks decent for that.
Did I ask you about the battery life and whether it sleeps well? Theoretically, I could turn it on when I need it, not a big deal. The portability is my main issue, otherwise it’d stay at home most times. But if it sleeps good and is usable in a real tablet mode (meaning you forget about a battery, it’s just always charged when you pick it up), it’s just an ideal iPad replacement for me.
Replies (1)
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No problem! What are you planning on using it for? I’ve had a look at the specs and it looks like the surface 3 is quite a lot weaker in single core performance, but multi-core seems about the same. It also only goes up to 4GB RAM, if you’re wanting to use Waydroid that probably won’t be enough as I struggle a little bit on 8GB (if I try to do split-screen in Waydroid it seems to run out of memory and one of the apps will crash). Despite that this one has enough power for what I use it for, although if I had paid for it I’d probably want a bit more power. It probably depends what price you can get one for.
Battery is hard for me to comment on, as well as the lack of Windows 11 support the other reason it was on the scrap pile at work is because they were complaining they got less than 30 minutes battery life out of it. I suspect a lot of that was because they used it outside so it got too cold. I’ve been getting about 2-2.5 hours out of it since I got it home which isn’t that great for a tablet, but good enough for me especially since it was free! I don’t know to what extent the battery has degraded so it may be possible to get a unit that lasts much longer. I think the one I have was originally purchased in 2018 so it’s fairly good for a 7 year old battery! The battery life is probably the biggest risk of buying a used one.
Having said that I’m not sure you’d ever get iPad levels of battery life from one, it’s more of a laptop that happens to be in a tablet form factor so even brand new its closer to a laptop in terms of battery life.
Sleep seems to work ok, although for some reason it takes 2 or 3 button presses to wake up as the screen immediately turns off again after the first press.
Open ##1132108