Microsoft Surface Pro: round-up of reviews As with the original Surface, the Pro is solidly built, with the same innovative metal kickstand that keeps it upright on a desk or table. It ran all the software I threw at it - both the new type and the old desktop type - speedily and well ... But the Pro has some significant downsides, especially as a tablet .... I like the original Surface and see it as a tablet with the extra benefit of some Microsoft Office programs. However, I am less enamoured with the Surface Pro. It's too hefty and costly and power-hungry to best the leading tablet, Apple's full-size iPad. It is also too difficult to use in your lap. It's something of a tweener - a compromised tablet and a compromised laptop. The Pro weighs 2 pounds, which is light for a laptop but anvil-like for a tablet. Walt Mossberg, Wall Street Journal Surface Pro packs punch, steep price We tested the Surface Pro's capabilities by running the largest-size files we could find. ... [it] opened them quickly and ran them just fine ... [One] problem that holds back the Surface Pro is its battery life. Many tablets are capable of achieving nine or 10 hours of battery life from one charge and most laptops can get as much as six hours. The best we could do with the Surface Pro was 3 hours and 35 minutes ... Its price is comparable to that of many laptops. The 64-GB model costs $899 and the 128-GB version goes for $999 - and that doesn't include the $120 and $130 keyboard covers Microsoft shows in its commercials for the Surface RT ... The Surface Pro is a great machine that wants to and can replace the tablet, laptop and desktop. But it'll cost a pretty penny. Salvador Rodriguez, LA Times Good, but holding out for more By some standards, the Microsoft Surface Pro is the best-ever hybrid of tablet and laptop, combining a full windows 8 OS with an Intel Core i5 CPU, and a best-in-class detachable keyboard cover. But, at over $1,100 if you include a 128GB SSD and the keyboard, it's also very expensive, especially if a slim Windows 8 touch-screen ultrabook, Atom-powered tablet, or something non-Windows-based would work for your needs. Those wanting to go all-in on the tablet experience won't regret buying the Surface Pro, but we're holding out for a future, more polished generation of the device. Dan Ackerman, CNET Surface Pro proves the PC is back Surface Pro is so good that it could drive Windows 8 adoption with enough force to make people reconsider Microsoft's odd new OS ... The Surface isn't supposed to be a tablet you drop on the coffee table and use when you want to look up something on IMDB. It's a powerful computer with enough speed and graphics chops to give any other manufacturer's laptop a run for its money ... I've been using the Pro as my primary laptop for the past week and even travelled with it. As a Mac snob this is a fairly unique turn of events. Usually I would test a laptop for a few days and revert back to my MacBook. As a laptop it is excellent. John Biggs, Techcrunch Good, but who is it for? I don't think of the Surface Pro [as a PC/tablet hybrid]. Nor do I expect many/any other users to evaluate it like this. Whatever Microsoft calls the Surface Pro, it is, for all intents and purposes, a PC/ultrabook. I keep scratching my head over who Microsoft expects to buy the Surface Pro. It's not as good of a tablet, in terms of weight/battery life, as the Surface RT is. But it's also not as good of a Windows 8 PC as other OEM-produced devices, coming in at lower price points with better battery life and other specs. Mary Jo Foley, ZDNet