I recently had the opportunity to spend a few days with both the 12” Apple iPad Pro and the Microsoft Surface Book. I’m not going to breakdown the specs on these - far too many people already have. Rather, I’m going to cover usability and my observations and opinion for which worked best for me with the hopes that this real life review helps in your decision making process.

Microsoft may have just taken the first step to committing to the idea of a Surface Phone. The tech giant has recently announced the sale of its feature phone business assets, to Foxconn subsidiary FIH Mobile Ltd, for $350 million dollars

For the sake of argument, we could slap a Smart Keyboard under an iPad Air 2 and call it a laptop, as much as we could throw a jet engine on the roof of a Volvo station wagon, and call it a flying car. Will it fly? Yes. Will it fly straight? Probably not.

Not everyone is in the market for over-the-top, high-performance, ultra-high resolution laptop, especially when budget, nor need, justifies dropping a couple of grand on a high-end machine with all the bells and whistles. Fortunately, there are budget-friendly alternatives, under a thousand dollars, that still pack a punch, and aren’t too shabby to look at either.