Windows Surface
© 2013 Microsoft Corp.
Microsoft's first venture in the laptop business is solid, at least from a hardware perspective. Our testers first reaction was clearly "cool." They especially liked the "real" magnetic qwerty keyboard for typing. Note, however that there are two models of keyboard -- Touch Cover (add $100) is a pressure-sensitive keyboard and cover that is thin and doubles as a cover. It has all the Windows shortcut keys, media controls, and a trackpad. Type Cover is a bit thicker that we preferred much more than the Touch Cover. Also cool -- the flip out kick stand for propping the unit on a table or shelf. Once you get over the unconventional menu, Surface is very useable, and it is easy to download and install apps or customize. The biggest drawback is the lack of content (apps) compared with the Apple or Android competitors, which cost either the same or -- in the case of Android -- a lot less. We also noticed some classic Microsoft Windows clumsiness, including a Wi-Fi help menu that gives you an error, saying it requires an online connection. There are two types of Surface: Surface with Windows RT and Surface with Windows 8 Pro (the latter starting at $800). For more details, see http://www.microsoft.com/Surface/en-US
$500, Windows
Teaches: A tablet