Ordered this on Monday, got it on Tuesday. I got the i5 with 4G ram. I have a Pro 4 which I transfer from work>home and back. Wanted something to keep at home to surf and watch videos. The charger works Pro3<>Pro4. The non-Microsoft charger runs REALLY hot and I wonder how long it will last. I would not leave it plugged in unattended at work because I fear it will fail/melt/catch fire. No USB charging port on that charger. It may be a safety hazard. It has a note on it “Careful, may become hot”. Indeed. The light at the connection end lights up whether it is connected or not. I found that it can sit magnetically attached to the Surface with the light on and still not be charging because the connectors are not where they should be. The Microsoft version light comes on only when it is connected properly.
Have not tried the detachable keyboard. It says Microsoft on it so I assume it will work. But one never knows. The pen is non-Microsoft (NuVision) and only has buttons on the side. It connected to the Surface right away.
Played with the Pro 3 last night and it worked fine. I was debating 12.9" iPad ($1000) or other tablet for surfing/videos. This looked like an economical alternative. I was watching woodworking videos on youtube last night and was very satisfied with the performance. Others have noted a long start up time. It seemed to freeze a couple of times. I think it was trying to update and after a few hard restarts then just leaving it alone it updated and it booted fine and is fully functional. I hate Windows 10 as it is designed to collect data, so I spent a lot of time turning things off and customizing to how I use the tablet.
I think this is a good value and I will add a glass screen protector as that saved my Pro 4 after a drop. I am just wary of the charger.
Update: The charger tip that fits into the computer must have a short (or as my Benedictine Father Physics Professor used to say “infinite resistance”) I have to move it around till it lights up. I have connected it to my computer as mentioned above where it magnetically stuck to the computer, but the contacts were not properly seated. Guess what? It did not charge and the transformer/block did not get hot. Keyboard works fine as does the pen.
This is my third surface purchase in a year, bought my daughter a 13" surfacebook when she went back to university this fall. She is very fussy about tech and has turned away from apple and found the MS to be far superior. My wife was so intrigued I got her a surfacebook off of woot recently…she finds it superior to her macbook as well. I’m a joiner so I picked up this tablet for myself. It’s a pretty good little computer and I reach for it far more often than my big hp laptop.
the bad, I wish I’d seen this review sooner. this unit does not ship with a MS brand pen or charger. the advertisement doesn not make this clear…woot settled to my satisfaction.