

(Opens in a new window) Read Our Acer Iconia Tab W510-1422 Review It's one of the faster ultrabook-class devices out there, it's much more portable than an ultrabook convertible, and it runs the Windows XP/Vista/7/8 programs your household or business needs to run. Then there are systems like the Surface Pro, which balance the price/performance/feature equation well. You can permanently attach the keyboard for convenience and make the screen do acrobatics, but then the system will be heavier and only let you use the screen as a tablet part of the time. You can get 10+ hours of battery life, but then you need to run a low-power processor that either runs a mobile OS (Windows RT, Android, iOS) or it runs Windows 8 slowly. Of the handful introduced lately, the Microsoft Surface Windows 8 Pro ($698.98 at Amazon) (Opens in a new window) is the one to beat.Įverything in the portable world is a tradeoff. But if you need compatibility with older x86 programs in a slate tablet form factor, then you need one running Windows 8. Tablets with mobile operating systems like Android, iOS, or Windows RT are perfectly adequate if your tasks center on the Internet.

