Microsoft Surface 32gb with Black Touch Cover

Had my surface for a week now, and totally loving it. I went for the 32Gb version with touch cover which I'm using to write this on my lap at the moment. Perched on my desk I can type as fast as on a proper keyboard, on my lap it's a little slower because your hands fall in a slightly different place so need to get used to it. Still heaps faster than using an on-screen keyboard though.

If I had to sum up my experience so far, it would be that I've had to change the way I think about using a computer. Suddenly I miss not being able to swipe the screen when I'm using my desktop. It took a while to get used to but now I have, it feels really natural. I also had to rethink how I thought about my Surface. It's so easy to compare it with a laptop as it's so capable in it's own right and the touch cover reinforces that feeling. It's the wrong comparison to make though, as it isn't a laptop, it's a tablet and cant match the flexibility of a full laptop... If you do that, you'll be disappointed.

Compare it with a tablet though, which is the correct comparison to make, and you'll be blown away. It's like a tablet on steroids. It does all the stuff that any other tablet ( ios or android ) does, and then just keeps doing more. Full integration with my Xbox and desktop account, ability to work with all my documents that are saved to SkyDrive using MS office, map network drives on my desktop to stream media ( and will now play MKV files using in store media players instead of faffing around converting ). I could go on and on.

I never used to carry a laptop everywhere, but I have started using my surface that way. Apps for the trains, tube etc... all have live tile that show me at a glance how my commute home will be.

I'm not a Microsoft evangelist, but I have to give the credit where it's due. This is a nice product, well made, excellent design and concept with all the essentials and many other touches added such as the USB and HDMI connectivity...

I work in IT ( for too long now !!! ) and I think that with the right marketing by MS, this could replace the trophy Ipads that many of our senior execs asked for and then left in a drawer because they couldn't do as much with them as they thought. Make no mistake, this is a true productivity device for the office, as well as a great tool / toy for home use.

I was planning on waiting for the surface pro, but after some thinking realised that effectively, it's a laptop and I already have a nice one of those. This bridges the gap beautifully. Windows RT isn't as fully functional as full windows 8, but for a tablet, the "omissions" seem hard to find, and it's still way more functional than say, an Ipad.

As for the numbers of apps, it's a personal thing. I had an iPhone and installed about 10 apps on it. I now have a windows phone and have the same number of apps. I have found everything I could want or need on the app store for my surface so far. If you absolutely have to clog up your device with millions of apps, then at the moment you might have to wait. If you're like me, then you'll find all you need, and be comfortable with the fact you might have to wait a bit for something ( PayPal is an example... not on the app store at time of writing ).

My final comment... If you're an apple / android fanboy, then this probably wont be your thing, but to anyone else, I'd say try it, and be amazed. If MS start putting these into the shops, then every other tablet manufacturer better be afraid.

General

The feel of the device is that of a premium, quality product.
the focus is the screen - unlike other tablets, where the screen vs. bezel seem out of proportion, this is perfect.

Hardware

Screen is bright, colours are great. The touch responsiveness is excellent - image depth under the surface of the glass seems really narrow - which is great. Other tablets I've handled have a similar resolution, but the pixels are evident, plus the image is deep under the touch screen and seems almost disconnected with the finger
Kick stand - so useful and really tough - not a gimmick
Touch keyboard - It's been handled by my kids daily, passed around the office and their families - no sign of a split. easy to clean.
I've easily paired a Bluetooth mouse, if that's what you prefer - but regular keyboards/mice can work with the USB port
32GB - most tablets announce how much memory they have, not necessarily available - you c
USB support
Micro SD card support - expand it if you need more anyway
Earphone - socket, obviously
micro HDMI - socket for full HD external monitor TV
Click-In - (magnetic attaching of keyboards) is not a gimmick - really cool and we use a lot.
Camera's - front facing, rear facing. really nice images, couldn't fault them - they are web cam's though - Skype integrates well.

Software

Remember - It is Windows 8 baked down to a tablet NOT a phone beefed up to be a tablet. Bluetooth/home networking/VPN/Printing/screen handling and all the serious OS systems work as usual. So each member of the family can have a login - and they can have their own picture password. They can't mess the device up for others as the windows 8 apps are 'sandboxed' - only the first user ('Administrator') can do some of the more serious stuff.
Stability - It has never crashed on me, although once or twice I've needed to quit a program (just swipe down from the top to the bottom to 'close' a program)
Store - smooth, easy to navigate, growing fast
calendar/mail/people/messaging - OK. generally keeping up-to-date the people hub works well.
Xbox Music - great selection - tried with trial music pass and with the free streaming. Works OK, sometimes didn't seem responsive though
Xbox games - brilliant choice and the library is growing daily
Xbox video - same selection as on the xbox, haven't tried it with SmartGlass onto the Xbox yet
Office 2013 - full Office on a tablet - brilliant. works efficiently with SkyDrive (7GB free online storage)

Extra's
Xbox 360 integration - SmartGlass - signed straight in and showed me all my Halo 4 stats, controlled the xbox and looked around the xbox 360 store to play a video. opened the picture library and I easy sent the image to the xbox, flicked through the images on the tablet and show the next photo I chose - really cool.

Microsoft's Surface tablet was possibly the bravest thing the company has done in a good twenty years; it finally branched out into proper PC hardware manufacture, competing directly with its competitors, and quite frankly they've done a super job.

The Surface isn't a perfect device by any means - but then again, what is? However, it's done more than enough to earn my affection and I am anticipating much increased functionality when more apps come and current app developers start taking the Windows 8 platform more seriously, which they definitely will do.

My major gripe with the Surface would have to be the touch cover. It looks lovely, and yes it does its job well, but it's expensive and there are three issues with it. Firstly, some of them randomly mute the Surface's sound. Next, the connecting bit of the cover has been known to tear. Finally, there's an odd staticcy sound when pressing some of the middle keys on my cover. I've had to have a replacement because I paid £100 for it and wanted no faults.

Now to the hardware. The Surface is a fast and powerful beast of a tablet that feels amazing in your hand. It's a good aspect ratio for Windows 8 and watching films etc. The kickstand is excellent, and very useful I find. However, it's much easier to use he tablet at a table rather than on your lap, which is a shame.

The OS is superb, with many intuitive new features and Office 2013 bundled in. Can't recommend it enough. As I've said, the apps will come, just be patient.

5/5