Now I know what you're thinking: "This guy's crazy, the Surface is rubbish and Windows 8 is horrible, especially the RT version" right? Technology websites have been almost uniformly scathing as if there's a bandwagon and everyone is on it. Conversations with users usually go something like this: "Windows 8 is awful, it's completely unusable and confusing. RT is completely hobbled, I hate it. "Have you actually used one? "Well, no, but all the reviews said it was terrible" This is not their fault, it's the job of tech websites to inform the public but for some reason their reaction to the Surface was almost completely incongruous to the actual user experience. After 5 minutes of showing them around the OS, how to use it effectively and pointing out the features they invariably go away impressed or at the very least thinking more positively about the device and Windows 8.1 RT in general. A recent conversation with an older relative brought home the confusion of the general public, explaining to them how their old desktop could be replaced with a Surface 2 was not an easy task. But the fact is that with a simple cable to connect the Surface 2 to your existing TV or monitor you can genuinely replace the desktop for some with a tablet device. There are caveats here in that it does not run x86 programs, but this is about your next tablet, not your next desktop. As the resident tech expert in the family I, and possibly you in yours, am always asked for advice on what the next purchase should be. The answers are different but the first question is always the same. "What is your use case?" Meaning what do you want to do with it and what do you expect to get out of it. If your answers are "a bit of browsing, games, Facebook, Twitter, looking at photos, catching up on email and watching some films" then the Surface or pretty much any decent tablet will do, iOS and Android are both more than capable of meeting those needs. But if you need a little bit more like writing an article or thesis, running spreadsheets and creating PowerPoint presentations then the Surface 2 will meet all those needs and more. Let's have a look at some of the reasons why you should get the most fun and productive tablet around.