Tablet Choices; Why Microsoft Surface Could Win You Over

BetaNews’s Mihaita Bamburic says that people can’t stop talking about Microsoft Surface, although it’s a hot and disputed topic.

Bamburic maintains that for him and many others like him, Surface is the only tablet that can be used for more than light duty tasks. In contrast to the iPad’s many compromises and limitations, Surface supports Windows, which the powerful sort of platform most professionals need for work, noting that even the base Surface model with Windows RT brings something that no Android or iPad offers: Office 15, and contends that having Office preinstalled is reason enough for many to choose this tablet over any competing product, but additionally having a keyboard does wonders for productivity and a USB port gives users a tablet that really can replace a computer.

He finds the full Windows version even more appealing, noting that he studies civil engineering and the programs he needs only work on Windows, as do many productivity programs.

That leaves the conundrum of price, with Microsoft only vaguely affirming that the RT version will be competitive with iPad and the Pro with ultrabooks.

Whatever, Bamburic concludes that there are two choices: Get a Surface tablet and do real work, or get another tablet – Android or iPad – and do your work on a PC (or Mac). From that perspective he finds the Surface a no-brainer, with Microsoft having designed it for users who have work to do, who need to be productive, and not for those who sit around and play.

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Loves Microsoft’s Vaporware Tablet

The Register’s Alistair Dabbs says he doesn’t really want to suggest that Microsoft Surface is vaporware, but notes that it is a bit suspicious to be announcing a product that no one’s going to be able to buy for half a year.

Dabbs says he’s amused by how marketing spiel is written for products that don’t exist, leaving writers no choice other than to make a big deal of nothing in particular, to wit: “The addition of the Micro SD card slot means you can bring your entire movie and music collection with you on vacation.”

“What, it plays VHS videos and C90 cassettes?,” queries the droll Dabbs.

Kidding aside, Dabbs says he’s warm to the promise of Microsoft Surface, which could be the tablet computer he’s always wanted, although he fears that it could turn out to be prohibitively expensive: parsing “About the same as an Ultrabook,” to mean a starting price of about $1000, for which he could get a MacBook Air with proper memory spec, full-size keyboard and trackpad and that will run just about any operating system he wants.