Microsoft Surface: One Tablet to Rule Them All?

When asked what I think of tablets, I’ve always said that a tablet doesn’t solve anything for me.

A smartphone is a great device for communication, playing games, quickly retrieving information, etc. and becomes a valuable part of your daily life because, thanks to its pocket-size, it can always be within arm’s reach. Even when others might wish that it wasn’t.

Despite these benefits, the phone lacks in the department of power, screen real estate, input methods, and multitasking. Where the phone lacks, my laptop, on the other hand, flourishes. It is much more powerful and because of its mouse, keyboard and large screen is much more efficient for getting real work done. Of course, the laptop, just like the phone, has its own faults. The main one being the fact that you have to utilize a man purse to transport it.

Android tablets and the iPad all came out with the hope of bridging the two devices and giving you the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, though, they never did. Tablets essentially became large phones, and while that solved the small screen real estate issue coming from a phone, that’s all it solved. Input wasn’t optimal, websites weren’t formatted correctly, highlighting text was cumbersome at best, and using word processors, spreadsheet apps, etc. are basically a joke.

Because of this I’ve never seen tablets as a solution to anything. They are just luxury items, not small enough to be on my persons at all times like a phone and not functional enough to replace my laptop. They are destined to sit on people’s coffee tables, to be used when one was laying on the couch and too lazy to sit up straight or, at best, replacing that stack of magazines in the bathroom.

That’s not to say that the concept of a tablet isn’t a good one, but I think it has been thought of from the wrong direction. Instead of starting with a phone, start with a laptop.

With the new overhaul of Windows 8 and the new Microsoft surface, Microsoft’s own attempt at selling the hardware bundled with their software, it seems that that is exactly what they did.

At first glance, it looks like most tablets. Large touch screen, cameras at the front and back, minimal buttons, etc. However, upon closer inspection, you’ll notice a little kickstand, a full blown USB slot, and a pretty prominent docking port at the bottom. All hinting at the fact, that there is a bit more to this tablet. And the latter feature hinting at an accessory that, in my opinion, is a mandatory add-on purchase.

The keyboard. Now this comes in two varieties. The touch cover, which I have here, and the type cover. Difference between the two is that the touch cover has no moving parts, it is a keyboard and a touchpad mouse that responds to the touch of your finger whereas the type cover is more like a traditional keyboard with spring loaded keys, etc.

Choosing between the two is simply a personal preference. The touch pad isn’t as accurate but is lighter, and the type pad is heavier but with a much more accurate typing experience.

Regardless of which you choose, the ability to type on a regular keyboard and use a mouse is one that greatly helps the usability of the device. Touch screens are superior for broad movements, things like zooming, swiping, scrolling, etc. while a mouse is much better for more precise movements. Think about trying to create an entire 30 slide powerpoint presentation or a three sheet formula-ridden excel spreadsheet for work on an iPad. Thinking that stabbing yourself in the face with a pencil might be a better use of your time? Couldn’t agree more.

Now, I know what you’re saying. There are other tablets that I can buy a keyboard and mouse for, so that’s a dumb reason to get this tablet over the other ones.

Ah, but it isn’t just the fact that it has a keyboard and mouse, it’s the fact that it has a keyboard and mouse AND an operating system that was meant to be used with a keyboard and mouse.

This isn’t some mobile operating system stretched from a phone to fit a larger screen. This is actual Windows. Cleverly hidden behind a new touch friendly user interface, yes, but still full-blown Windows for the most part.

Use your finger to swipe around on the UI and use the tablet-like apps as you please and then you can always open up the desktop, word, powerpoint, excel, websites, and anything else and use the mouse and keyboard seamlessly. Right-click on anything like you’re used to when using a computer, click on the plethora of options in these programs like you’re used to on a computer, highlight, copy, and paste like you’re used to on a computer… you get the idea.

Now, this may not seem like a big deal, but trust me, put your iPad next to your laptop and try and do the same work from both, guarantee you end up finishing 30 years earlier on the laptop.

Besides the keyboard and mouse advantage, there are a few other big advantages.

When using the internet browser on a traditional tablet, you end up generally seeing mobile versions of websites and even more than that, let’s be honest, lots of things on websites just don’t work properly. Drop down menus get stuck, formatting is off for no apparent reason, flash controls don’t work at all, there’s no hover action, etc. The Surface, on the other hand, has the full Internet Explorer 10 built in. Go to any website and you can get it to work, same as a laptop.

You can even start to open a webpage, then open more tabs and open other webpages without the original one having to reload when you go back to it. An issue most mobile devices have.

Which brings us to the next advantage, multitasking. Unlike most mobile devices, multitasking is actual multitasking for programs on the device. Programs can run in the background as separate windows and not have to pause and resume as they do on a mobile device. You can even spread them across your desktop like you normally would. Invaluable for a real-work situation.

Despite these advantages, the surface does have a few areas of contention.

First up, is the matter of the difference between Windows RT and Windows 8 Pro. For a detailed explanation,  check out the comparison chart below, but suffice it here to say that the key difference is RT can only load programs from the Windows App Store and Windows 8 Pro can load programs from anywhere like a regular PC. You’ll have to decide if there are programs that you need desperately on your tablet that aren’t already in the app store or aren’t available through a traditional web browser. If there are, you might be better off waiting for the Pro version.

The rest of my issues with the thing are pretty minute it would seem, the magnetic charger is about as magnetic as a table cloth. The metallic kickstand feels a bit like it could scratch even a diamond-encrusted table if set down improperly, but, really… that’s about all the complaints I can come up with.

With that being said, this is the first time I find myself not only able to recommend a tablet but going out and purchasing one for myself…