Microsoft Surface Pro: one fatal flaw

Honestly I love to hate Microsoft but sometimes they come up with good stuff. And when you take Windows 8 aside the Surface Pro is an amazing piece of hardware. The Surface Pro which is not available in Egypt as of the time of writing this blog post manages to put a full ultrabook class notebook ( Core I5, 4 Gigs of ram, 64 or 128Gig SSD, USB 3 and more ) into a tablet that weights just 200 grams over the latest ipad. And the magnesium alloy body is a treat especially given the 900USD starting price of the Surface Pro.

But there is one huge issue in my mind. To use windows 8 as a desktop you need a keyboard and a mouse. The keyboard they solved with the touch and type covers they sell for it. The mouse problem has two solutions, the touch screen works with both fingers and a stylus the give you with the Surface Pro. The touch does not work well with desktop apps, and so the stylus helps you with any application that needs accurate mouse control. The real problem is that the stylus does not dock inside the Surface Pro like other tablets with styluses ( like the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 ), it just attaches itself via a magnet to the Surface Pro. This makes it liable to be bumped, and fall unnoticed.

I mean seriously, I understand that things are cramped inside the device but was it impossible for the Wizards at Microsoft to make an external holder that is more reliable than a magnet? A clip on or something?

Well it is not a serious issue for us here in Egypt since the device is not sold here at all. But honestly I do crave for a tablet that has the power of a full computer at a weight of 800gm 🙂