Customer Ratings & Reviews

Don't waste your time buying this tablet. The iPad in every aspect blows it out of the water. The display is jumbled, the user interface is rough and the apps are sub par.

I do not like this computer. I wanted to take it back but since we were not given a gift certificate were not able to return. will not buy from Best Buy in the future.

I followed news about the Surface for months. I finally broke down and bought one about a week and a half ago. Overall, I am pleased with it. Here are a few things I have learned: I rely on Remote Desktop and typically access it via the browser. I tested this on a Surface device at a MS store over Thanksgiving, so I knew it worked. However, when I got my own tablet for the life of me I could not figure out how to enable it in the browser that you run from the Windows 8 interface. My tech guy #I am a lawyer, and we have a guy we rely on for support of our small network# finally figured out that it will only work when you run the browser from the "desktop" and not when you run it from the Windows 8 interface--the "tiles." So the device *seems* to come with two browsers. Go figure. The ability to input via handwriting is a plus. Note that this is the RT version, not the pro version, so it didn't come with the enhanced pen features #whatever they are#. Still, I think I will be able to use the handwriting input during client consultations to enter numbers into an Excel form that I use. I showed this to a guy I know who is a general contractor, and he thought it could be useful for doing spreadsheets used to generate "take offs" in the construction business. For business uses, the presence of Excel is great. So far, I have not figured out how to get the resolution on the "desktop" #i.e., the non-Windows 8 desktop# to display things like Control Panel data entry dialogs large enough. My fingers are small enough that I can get by, but even for me the display text is a bit small. I started tinkering with resolution settings and have not yet been satisfied with the results. Why the heck do we need both the "desktop" and the Win8 interface? The photo password is cool. Pick any photo and you can log in with three handstrokes. Quicker than entering a text password. XBox music appears to charge a monthly access fee. That sucks. So I am trying out Google Music. Fortunately, there is an app for that. I have the keyboard that clicks--not the touch keyboard. So far, It works well enough. I work in an office that has two wireless connect points. I have both set up in the Surface. However, I find that it struggles when switching between them #i.e., moving between buildings#. That is a pain. I have resorted to rebooting #hold power button four seconds# to force recognition of the network I've moved to. Big need for improvement here. For some reason, I cannot figure out how to set the screen timeout to more than five minutes. It has other options, but they are grayed out. Not sure why. I have no problems synching with Outlook or my Calendar via Exchange on a Small Business Server 2011. Also, the people app synchs with Facebook. I think the combination of software really provides a pretty complete support package for business. I am using Word, Excel, OneNote, Remote Desktop #via the desktop browser#, and SkyDrive along with the calendar and mail apps. I am pleased. The sound actually seems very good to me.

Not for someone who would use it all the time. Very poor battery life. Only goood thing is the multi task abilities and the quick transfer files from computer to unit.

The Surface is a solid tablet that in my opinion offers image quality better than any Android 10 inch tablet I have seen and as good as any iPad but those with retina which is clearly the best in the business.. Battery life is excellent on the Surface RT and the build quality is among the best tablets out there at any price. As far as Windows RT goes it works quite smoothly and executes the most common tasks with aplomb. For Email, Reading, Web browsing and Office Productivity the experience is second to none. Sure it does not have the sheer volume of apps that iOS and Android do in their markets but an app can be found for most anything the common user would need and the numbers are growing by the day. Simply put if you are looking for a tablet and prefer the Microsoft touch to Apple or Google then the surface RT is a winner. On the other hand if you are looking for the full Microsoft Windows experience then you need to go with the Surface Pro or one of the many Windows 8 tablet/ hybrid devices available. I write this as someone who has owned 4 Android tablets over the years and an iPad all of which I like in their own right, yet I can say the Surface RT is now my go to device as I find myself using the others less and less by the day. Don't believe all the negative information you hear across the web the Surface is a winner and despite it slow sales in it's first year it came into a highly saturated and highly competitive market where Apple and Google have been at it for a few years. With all things considered the Surface RT is an amazing offering for a first year product and will only get better by the day as the software is upgraded continually.

I brought my surface home and was in love with it day one. Had a blast pairing it with my Xbox 360 and loved that it included Office 2013 (No subscription needed!). This product REALLY wants to be on a desk. With a one position only kickstand, it screams "BUY THE COVER WITH ME", and you really do need to if you want the full experience. The type and touch covers are both great, but I would strongly recommend the type cover if you use the surface more heavily. The tablet is really light, and feels solid while maintaining a low profile when you don't need it. Standby time is outstanding. I left it alone for a week in standby while I was incredibly busy with work, and it booted up with only a small portion of the battery gone. The app selection is disappointing, to say the least. The speakers are junk, I would strongly recommend headphones or external speakers. Without legacy support, this thing kind of feels like a joke. The storage capacity advertised is deceptive. The box SAYS 32GB, but it's really just over half of that, after OS install and proprietary software. I would strongly recommend going with the 64GB version if you need a decent amount of space, though SkyDrive helps with the lackluster space issues. This tablet has a lot of untapped potential, and I look forward to what is in store in its future.

After going back and forth in deciding if I was going to purchase another laptop for school (my current laptop is too big and bulky to carry back and forth along with my books) I had decided to get a tablet. When I went to Best Buy to look at the tablets they had the Surface set up on the end isle and it was love at first sight. It's perfect for what i need it to do. I use it both in school and at work and my family will grab it and use it before they use their laptops. I bought the bundled package because they were running a sale, and the touch keyboard was a little odd to get used to at first, but I love it, the graphics are great, it is incredibly fast, it comes with the full version of Microsoft word which is what I need in order to get my papers done. The USB plug is a big plus too and I was able to add a 64 GB memory card on it. Now for the cons, had the salesperson at best buy told me that it was a closed system and I can only run programs and apps that I have to get from the windows store I probably would not have bought it, I can not use my Kodak wireless printer because i need to install the software for my printer which I can not do because, it is a closed system (however a school mate has one as well and he has no problem hooking it up to his HP printer and printing from it). The speakers also could be a little louder than they are. I don't understand why we need the start screen with all those tiles (i finally figured out how to delete most of them and turn them off), overall I am happy with my purchase. The best part was when I showed it to my parents who were using their Ipad at the time, needless to say, my dad asked me to accompany him to Best Buy and he bought a Surface as well. I would really recommend this to a college student, You really get your money's worth and it is a lot easier to carry around campus then a big bulky laptop.

Waiting to exchange when there is more available due to product malfunction. Very disappointed because it is a gift for my daughter to use in class.

2 trips to store & an hour on phone with cell phone provider, still not connected. I could not even connect to free wifi for more than 5 minutes.

I wish I could return it and get my money back not what I thought it would be .cant do anything for my work and that's what I got it for

No documentation on how to use this product makes fhis product difficult to use. Also, the keyboard is stiff and difficult to type with.

I purchased this on Black Friday for the $199 price and that's the only reason why I purchased it. Since it didn't include the physical keyboard, I used the on screen keyboard to do things for a week and then I decided the physical keyboard would help a lot. I purchased the Black Type Cover 2 (with backlighting) and it has made the Surface experience much better! I now use it to do pretty much everything (both personal and business stuff). I'm glad Microsoft Office 2013 is included - I use Excel daily and, since the Windows 8.1 RT update included Microsoft Outlook 2013, I now use Outlook daily on the Surface (I use it on my main computer too). One huge con is being forced to use Internet Explorer because it's way too slow, stops responding constantly (I can't even watch a simple Youtube video since the second I click on a video the browser freezes for 10-15 seconds) and is the worst browser possible. Another con is not being able to install ANY .exe programs on it. My favorite thing about the Surface is the 12 hour battery life! I use both my Mifi 500 (grandfathered into Sprint 4G Wimax plan which now allows unlimited 4G LTE!) and Microsoft Surface all day long and don't have to worry about plugging everything in! Great buy - but I'd say there is a 90% chance that you will want the physical keyboard.

I've had the surface now for just about 2 months and I have been very pleased with the device. I use it both for business and leisure and find it suits both roles pretty well. For business, OneNote 2013 has become my primary note taking application which is easily synced to SkyDrive. This allows my work notes to be synched to my work laptop and my personal notes to be synched with my home computer. Using the HDMI out, I can quickly connect to projectors to present PowerPoint presentations -- and storing this all in SkyDrive makes editing and presenting pretty seamless between multiple devices. I have installed Skype and I was very pleased with the experience of chatting with my family over Christmas via the built in cameras on the device. I also use the device for email and news, and the bing news app is pretty nice start to my day. The calendar is synched with my google calendar that both my wife and I use to keep our personal appointments in sync and I had no problems setting it up. We laugh when the reminder for events go off on her Android phone, my windows phone and the surface. The email app is a little clunky and took a little getting used to, but it works well allowing me to combine my inboxes from multiple email accounts. One of the features I love about my windows phone is the ability to link my inboxes so email all appears in one inbox -- this is oddly missing from the surface email app. The biggest complaints I have about the surface is that almost 16GB of storage is consumed by the operating system. However, I was able to find a work around that allows me to insert a micro sd card and map it to the surface. It works pretty well, but would be nice if the micro sd, when inserted, could just simply be used as an extension of the available memory. The other complaint is the built in camera. It works for video conferencing, but don't expect home movies or photos to be good quality. Thankfully, there is a USB plug that can allow me to use a better quality camera if I desired. This is a great device -- and I would recommend it to anyone that wants a fresh perspective on what a tablet should be.

I returned it. It was a cool little tablet, but I returned it and bought the HP split x2. I wanted more.

I normally dont write reviews over products but wanted to let people know about my experience with the surface tablet. I have been an apple user since 2009 with the iphone 3gs. Loved it so then Ipurchased an ipad 2 about 2 years ago and quite frankly realized it was really nothing more than a big iphone. Very nice but really not much you could do other than look at pics , browse the web and watch a video. I still had to use my laptop for any real work and wanted something in between. When i saw the surface tablet i couldnt wait to give it a try. I stood on line on day one in Times Square to be one of the first. I have been using the Surface tablet ever since and I absolutely love this device. It;s crafted so beautifully and you can tell its a premium device, unlike the plastic looking tablets out there. Its has hdmi out, micro sd slot for more storage space and an integrated kickstand which perfect for watching movies. The magnetic keyboard does as advertised and snaps in place everytime with little effort. The best feature for me is the true multi tasking you can do because you can have 2 windows up at the same time. I can be watching a movie get an email alert and open email right next to video and browse and answer emails. I can also use my xbox wireless controller to play games on the tablet. Moving through open apps is a breeze because you just swipe them in from the side. Its an amazing piece of equipment. I've had no problems with this product at all and use almost everyday since i picked it up.

The apps suck I Was not able to even read my e-mails I returned this tablet after 1 day .

I'm a MIS student and I work full time, I commute 70 miles round trip every day so sometimes I have to do home work on the go. I have had to use an ipad to write a paper or do a discussion board post but Pages is really lacking and Numbers is a joke..The surface is great for word, excel and internet browsing, my Logitech mouse with unifying dongle works and blackboard works without a hitch, another area that the Ipad lacks. There is defiantly a need for more apps like Spotify but its up to Spotify to come up with a new app. Olive tree bible reader is ok but NLT bible isnt compatible with windows RT yet. If I could run eclipse or VS on this thing, I could probably ditch my laptop all together. The form factor is just right The OS is very stable compare to android It's more productive than my IPad The price is excellent at 350 + 119 for the touch keyboard The screen is excellent it has a mouse cursor (yay) Updates are regular It doesn't run legacy Apps so keep that in mind when shopping. Maybe I see a surface pro in the future to replace my MacBook Air/ iPad combo

Had an Ipad for years. Good product. But, my Surface offers things that I can' get else where. The office apps in the desktop and the ability to be a work horse whenever I need it. It also gives me the light weight ARM app side via Start, which opens up fun and entertainment, with the ease of sharing info and a nice touch interface. The battery life, keyboard, and kickstand opens up options of how I use this; With my Ipad I always needed stuff like a case and a bluetooth keyboard #if I wanted to do some light work, and I mean light#. Windows 8 is new and has some things that could be better. Even still I would not want to go back to Win 7 even though I think the touch screen is good enough for it. The way Win 8 opens up searching via services #apps# is really cool. Overall this is a great product that provides crazy versatility! I recommend this product to friends.

I own 2 ipads (gen 1 and gen 2), but when it came time to buy another tablet, I decided to take a serious look at the Windows RT because this past year I bought a Windows 8 phone and fell in love with it. I figured if I already have a Windows phone, Xbox 360 and Windows 8 on my PC, I might as well give the Surface a shot. I'm so glad I did, as the Surface has met all of my tablet needs and more. The great thing is that I can sync all my files and settings across all my devices, not to mention Xbox Music which shares all my playlists and music. I also love that I can actually view flash sites on my Surface and it's also great that the keyboard cover lets me type long emails, and that Surface will actually even let me do FTP via Windows Explorer, which is something I have to do fairly often. I thought about the Surface Pro as well, but I'm glad I went with the RT since there are enough apps in the Windows Store now for everything I need to do, and also because I'd rather have the long battery life on my tablet. If I wanted all of the power available with the Surface Pro I'd probably just buy a Windows 8 laptop. Anyway, in summary, ever since I bought the Surface I have not touched either of my Ipads. The Ipads really just feel like oversized ipods to me, while Surface feels like a real tablet that I can do more than just play games with.

I couldnt download any games. It so hard to understand how to operate it.