My girlfriend needs 'a device'

[Hiram King Of Tyre]

She knows but doesn't understand. Apple is just a name to her

[d000hg]

Don't tell me, it's apple crap?

Sorry.....

I should have said at the beginning, I don't do 'social conditioning'

Clearly you do, you're just the other side of Scooter's raging Apple-boner coin.

Comparing a MBP and a Surface is moronic. They're not even aimed at the same tasks. And a Surface doesn't cost less than an iPad so calling it cheap is stupid...

[Hiram King Of Tyre]

I see there is a surface 2 coming out too

[bobspud]

Am I supposed to know what that is?

Yes...

otherwise the only thing you should be buying is

http://www.imthatold.com/etch-a-sketch/

[Pondlife]

Go into the various gadget shops (inc apple) and have a fondle of the tablets. If you have a desktop in the house for anything serious, then a tablet may well be fit for purpose. I understand the needs a keybd, hence the suggestion to go and have a play about as they're not that bad really. Way better than a phone, if that was her frame of reference. YMMV

Mrs P has a Samsung Galaxy tablet which he preferred over the iPad. She hardly ever uses her laptop now except for loading pics.

[Hiram King Of Tyre]

Yes...

otherwise the only thing you should be buying is

Etch A Sketch - Toys 80s, 90s, art, artist

On what do you base that? If I have no interest in Apple or their products, why should I recognise one from a side on picture?

[Hiram King Of Tyre]

Go into the various gadget shops (inc apple) and have a fondle of the tablets. If you have a desktop in the house for anything serious, then a tablet may well be fit for purpose. I understand the needs a keybd, hence the suggestion to go and have a play about as they're not that bad really. Way better than a phone, if that was her frame of reference. YMMV

Mrs P has a Samsung Galaxy tablet which he preferred over the iPad. She hardly ever uses her laptop now except for loading pics.

She has played with her dad's ipad and says that she prefers a keyboard

[SueEllen]

She has played with her dad's ipad and says that she prefers a keyboard

Take her to PC World and get her to play with the laptops.

If she finds one she likes then say you can get a better one online - then go and find a better one whether it is on or off-line.

[minestrone]

I nearly got a surface for 230 last week, ideal as a tablet and it runs full office products on the desktop (but not much else on the desktop), plug a real keyboard if you want and HDMI out. Was going to get it for playing movies on hotel TV when on holiday.

I think they will be game changers over the course of the next year, drop your 7 inch surface into a docking station and it will run as a desktop with you 2560 * 1440 monitor, mouse and keyboard. I think people were too quick to mock the UI without realising that is the future.

[SueEllen]

I nearly got a surface for 230 last week, ideal as a tablet and it runs full office products on the desktop (but not much else on the desktop), plug a real keyboard if you want and HDMI out. Was going to get it for playing movies on hotel TV when on holiday.

I think they will be game changers over the course of the next year, drop your 7 inch surface into a docking station and it will run as a desktop with you 2560 * 1440 monitor, mouse and keyboard. I think people were too quick to mock the UI without realising that is the future.

Windows 8 = tulip