Review: Microsoft Surface Pro

What is a PC? When you're reviewing the Microsoft Surface Pro, asking yourself that question is practically obligatory. After all, when the device launched nearly five months ago, Windows 8 was still new, and the idea of a tablet that's every bit as productivity-oriented as a high-end laptop was still a novelty. But today, I don't think there's any question. Devices like the Surface Pro are not only the future of the Windows PC, they're already delivering some exciting possibilities in the present. Is this a cruise worth departing on now? Or is it better to give them a few years to better flesh themselves out? Let Gizmag lend a hand, as we review the Microsoft Surface Pro.

In case you need a quick primer, the Surface Pro is basically a tablet with the guts of a laptop. You can use it much like you'd use an iPad, or you can snap on one of Microsoft's companion keyboard covers to bring its inner laptop to the – ahem – surface. It's the kind of device Windows 8 was designed for: straddling the border and blurring the lines between desktop and mobile.

Be sure not to confuse it with the Surface RT, which runs a much more limited (mobile processor-based) version of Windows. The Surface Pro runs full Windows 8, so apps that you could run on Windows 7, Vista, or XP are all fair game. Surface RT doesn't give you that luxury.

Big and beautiful

When using the Surface Pro strictly as a tablet, it's probably one of the beefier slates you'll lay your hands on. At 907 g (2 lbs), it's 39 percent heavier than the iPad. It's also 44 percent thicker than Apple's tablet. The Surface Pro is many things, but a trim featherweight it is not.

The Surface Pro is now on sale in two versions, a somewhat lean 64GB version and a more usable 128GB variant.

After being on sale for a while in the US and Canada, this month sees the Surface Pro launch in the UK, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

• Get £80 off the 64GB and 128GB Surface Pro at the Microsoft Store

We've been waiting quite a while for a tablet like this - and not just since it was announced last year. If you ever saw a Windows tablet PC and wanted one that was done properly, you've been waiting years for Surface Pro with fullWindows 8.

But is it worth the wait? Is it a flying car, a toaster fridge, a compromise too far? Or is it the best of both worlds? What exactly is Surface Pro?