Good Morning America covered the launch of the Microsoft Surface tablets this morning. The product strikes me as being a more fashionable looking netbook, given the fold out physical keyboard.
My own 2¢ on the Microsoft Surface device: I've never felt the need to own a tablet. They're far too limited in what they do in terms of price to performance. This especially goes for the iPad, regardless of how ultra popular and fashionable it may be. I have no need for it. At least the "pro" version of the Surface will pretty much be a fully functional computer (as long as it has the necessary ports and what not to make it happen).
Portability is obviously one of the big factors. However, I think my full sized Dell XPS Core i7 quad core notebook is portable enough, not to mention far more powerful than any tablet. It's quite a bit lighter and thinner than my previous Dell notebook. I have no problem at all taking it along to various places outside the office or home if I need to do so.
On the tiny end of computing I have my Android phone. I just upgraded to the HTC EVO 4G LTE. It's a very nice phone, quite a bit better than my old EVO 4G. The screen is bigger and packs in more pixels (1280 x 720) yet the thinner profile makes it easier to fit in my pocket. Battery life is a LOT better, thanks to a built-in 2000 mAh battery.
To me, tablets like the iPad or Kindle Fire just seem like over-sized phones. If I want something that acts like a smart phone I'm just going to use a smart phone. If I want something the size of a small notebook computer I'm going to use a notebook computer.
