I'd recommend anyone thinking of buying one of these to try it out first.
We have one for our tech dept, and its a running joke to pawn it off on each other. Granted, ours is the Windows RT version, not the actual Windows 8 version. Still, Windows 8 in and of itself is very polarizing.
Maybe throw Windows 7 on it.
It maybe polarizing, because the Surface line coupled with Windows 8/RT pretty much throws "laptop" paradigms
almost out the window, but does not throw it out the window.
My shift in using the device, made me to be able to do things more compactly versus a laptop. Desktop usage along with a wireless trackball helps with some software I have, but I have no problems in navigating by touch on the desktop (my Surface Pro is at 125% desktop scaling, Modern areas are at "smaller" settings).
I also tend to have the cover and tablet PC flat on my legs. Viewing angles are more than fine for me and I am typing in this manner right now on a couch. Not any more different than writing things on a paper notebook that is on a clipboard on your lap, but you are typing instead (though, the pen makes the analogy the same).
Don't expect to one hand the device for long, unless you work your wrists out. I usually two hand the device when I am standing, occasionally one handing it. But that is not my dominant model. For pen writing standing, I cradle the device on my forearm as the length of the Surface Pro chassis meets my elbow and hands. Then I pen things like a clipboard way of doing things.
And of course, desktop operations with the trackpad on the covers (and pointing devices on the USB port) is just as normal as it is on Windows 7, with additional options of touch at times.
In short, I like the flexibility gained from this form. I think your crew doesn't see the same light.
But even so, Modern IE is my preferred browser (Opera close by). By that standard, it works very well. I cannot express the sole workings of Modern apps (I do not have many). But usually, I just use IE for facebook, and going to the actual websites for shopping and browsing versus a "portal" app. The app that gets usage after that would be the "News" and "Weather" one.
Where am I going with this? I will agree into trying one out. However, it should not just be with the ones in the store (their environment in the store would not even come close to your every day scenario). You can bite the bullet and take use of the 15 day return as Best Buy offers to try it out, at your leisure and work with your own living and environment variables (around the house, out and about, at work - maybe).
Definitely not something that can be fully appreciated with a quick glance or two.
And for those that say that the laptop is cheaper and more functional as a desktop environment, I would counter to saying that it is more "bulkier" to quickly pull out and use. To those that say a pure tablet (Apple or Android) is good, I would counter with the software capability, speed, capacity, and power that I feel I am missing if I used a tablet.
A hybrid indeed, and at this price, it is very very good (considering that the Wacom digitizer in the stand-alone Cintiq monitors (the small ones) are upwards of $1000. The pen can provide a wide variety of stroke thicknesses and looks more like writing and drawing.
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