I picked up the 128GB Surface Pro yesterday alongside a type cover. Yes, a little expensive but I'm loving the thing so far. I was looking to replace an aging laptop that I bought during the Vista days, which is struggling after many years of use. I really wanted a tablet but didn't want to give up the power and functionality of a laptop, so the Surface was an easy option to look into. The iPad/iOS system just doesn't suit me, as I feel it's too constrained and simplified. Android has never really tickled my fancy either, so Windows 8 is where I stayed.
The hardware is great, it's a little hefty. I don't find it difficult to hold although I do typically hold it with at least one arm supported on my knee or couch arm. I've read many reports stating it doesn't work well on your lap with a cover, but I've found it to be the opposite. With the kickstand out and my type cover on, I can put my legs together and get a solid base. It's obviously not the greatest but the type cover is rigid enough to make it work. I'm not sure how the touch cover would fair.
I did try the touch cover in-store before settling on the type cover. The touch cover worked better than I anticipated but I seemed to always miss a letter or two, randomly, every 5 or 6 words. At my best, I can average over 100wpm so I think I possibly try to go too fast and either I'm not hitting the letter hard enough or I'm going too quick with it. The type cover solves this problem and functions as an actual keyboard. It's not as spacious but it works fine for what it is. I could easily type out a couple pages of text, comfortably, if I needed to.
The Surface Pro itself is very speedy. It boots up from nothing very quickly and resumes from sleep fast enough to where I don't feel like I'm ever waiting on it. All programs run very fast, the i5 works great in the system. I haven't downloaded too many programs yet but have found nothing that bogs it down.
Touch works great, better than I expected. Even on the desktop where options and links can be tiny, I hit them true almost every single time. Even checkboxes are easily selected. I was very surprised with this and so far, have not found using the classic desktop with touch to be a chore at all. It's very usable.
I think Windows 8 really shines on touch. I find myself using the metro side of things more than the desktop side, just because it's more susceptible to touch. The store seemed well stocked and I've enjoyed looking through everything. I've used W8 on my regular computer for months now but have only been using the desktop. With the touch capability, I find that I like W8 more (not that I had a problem with it before, I liked it just fine).
The screen is pretty damn awesome, it's very sharp and looks great. Blacks are very good although I do get a very slight hint of backlight bleeding on a black screen. It's fairly uniform around all sides but it's so dim, I can't imagine it would be distracting while watching a dark movie. Any hint of light would contract your eyes enough to where you wouldn't be able to see it. I only notice it on boot.
Finally, the pen is a really nice touch. It works flawlessly and I was very impressed with it. I've never used a digitizer pen before and it works way better than I thought it would. I do hate having it attached to the side of the surface, it's just not a good option. It alters how you hold it because the pen is easy to knock off. You can completely forget picking it up from a table from that side if the pen is attached. Integrating the pen would be really nice but I guess that might have to wait for future revisions. Otherwise, it's not a deal breaker.
Overall, I'm really enjoying the purchase.
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