Why do reviewers insist on including price of keyboard in review?

[InspectHerGadget]

The surface is a laptop with a detachable keyboard that can be used as a tablet. Handy. I doubt if it will ever be as good a tablet as Android or iPad. For starters Windows uses much more processing power and I just don't think works as well just for tablet use. I'd like to do a poll and find out how many Surface users do or don't use Android or iPad as their tablet.

They are quite right though to sell it without the keyboard. It should just be made clearer.

 

[GreyFox7]

The surface is a laptop with a detachable keyboard that can be used as a tablet. Handy. I doubt if it will ever be as good a tablet as Android or iPad. For starters Windows uses much more processing power and I just don't think works as well just for tablet use. I'd like to do a poll and find out how many Surface users do or don't use Android or iPad as their tablet.

They are quite right though to sell it without the keyboard. It should just be made clearer.

Well I think it's a better tablet than Android and much better than iPad which just has too many imposed limits but if you like limits than by all means use an iPad.

 

[Clintro]

I am an avid android user and so far the S3 has replaced my Galaxy Tab S completely. I would like to see more Windows apps, but the same could have been said about the android store a few years back.

I like the flexibility that full on windows gives me.

 

[hughlle]

The surface is a laptop with a detachable keyboard that can be used as a tablet. Handy. I doubt if it will ever be as good a tablet as Android or iPad. For starters Windows uses much more processing power and I just don't think works as well just for tablet use. I'd like to do a poll and find out how many Surface users do or don't use Android or iPad as their tablet.

They are quite right though to sell it without the keyboard. It should just be made clearer.

I just bought the s3 because my sp3 kicks the ass out of both my nexus tablets as well as the iPad air 2 when I had it. Sure they might have a better touch experience but that is it.

 

[jnjroach]

I've been a tablet user long before Android and iOS were on the scene, I used XP TabletPC Edition, Vista, Windows 7, Windows RT and 8.x and now Windows 10....I see no benefit in Android or iOS over Windows...

 

[jrioux]

I'd like to do a poll and find out how many Surface users do or don't use Android or iPad as their tablet.

I have a Nook HD+ (Android), an iPad 2, an RT and an SP3. I use all four as tablets, mostly for reading/writing emails, reading other documents, surfing the web, watching videos, listening to music and playing chess or solitaire. I also do most of these things on my Windows phone.

My Nook is the lightest of the four tablets, which is a real advantage. It also has an accessible file system, so I can download and transfer all kinds of files. The file system also makes it easier to watch videos and read documents on my Nook than on my iPad. The iPad is my oldest tablet and has aged amazingly well. Its battery is still going strong, while the Nook's battery tends to peter out far too soon.

Lately, I've been using my RT the most as my tablet. This is probably because it has a larger screen than my Nook or iPad, and its battery last long. I like the fact that the onscreen keyboard doesn't use as much of the screen as with the smaller tablets. Plus, the keyboard has cursor and control keys which make it easier to respond to emails. I can also use Word to edit short work documents while lounging at home.

I occasionally use my SP3 as a tablet, but it's overkill and my smaller machines work fine.

 

[jace88]

There are some existing cheaper keyboards that work well.
This one looks nice and allows portrait mode as bonus.

The Surface Type Cover has certain advantages over cheaper keyboards, but it is false to say the Surface 3 is not usable without the Microsoft proprietary $129 keyboard.

I would not be surprised if a few third party Surface 3 specific keyboard cases that would be nicer for travel than the K480 get released later this year.

I have the K480 and it's a great desktop keyboard particularly being able to switch devices/etc. That being said it has some limitations such as missing some keys (page up/down) and it's not exactly light (but it helps it maintain balance when you put a tablet in it). Also extremely noisy to type on which can annoy other people in my office when I get too excited

That being said, I bought the official MS keyboard type cover for my Surface to get the real experience

To those who are comparing it with the iPad Air which also lacks a keyboard- maybe I'm just new to Surface but the keyboard/interface is far more consistent on iOS than it is on Windows particularly when you are jumping back and forth between Modern/Metro and the traditional interface.