That Surface Pro looks very nice, but I don’t fancy spending yet more of my life configuring the win8 firewall to block the 12345 different Micro$oft services which go on the internet whenever you connect with the satellite phone 
rendering the connection completely useless.
I know the solution to that (block the lot, except one private wx site – that is basically what all the Iridium based products do) but I also like stuff like email and www.
If these operating systems were smart they would block all background online activity except when you are on wifi… except that all modern satphone solutions do connect via… wifi 
Showing a PDF of a Jepp approach plate
Brac airport, VOR approach
I have the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 which is an engineering masterpiece. Never thought Microsoft would still be capable of producing something like that. The top end variant costs 2000€ though but it’s simply great.
Just a little note:
I have in the past written that the T2 will shut down if exposed to direct sunlight. The Ipad for example does that very reliably…
In more tests, it doesn’t shut down if used in its bare form as shown in the photos above. It will shut down if used with the carrying case, apparently due to the back of it having the extra insulating layer.
Out of the case, I could not make it shut down even at FL150.
The Ipad2, however, shuts down at sea level and without any case.
I am still using this device, after 2 years…
Some pics of the T2 in sunlight...
The visibility of the actual device is a lot better than the photos show.
Running Oziexplorer:
Showing a PDF of a Jepp approach plate:
All completely workable. I did use a matt screen filter though; the Ipad needs it to the same extent.
Battery life, on max brightness, is probably about 5 hours so about the same as the Ipad. But I found that one doesn't need max brightness, and in any case one doesn't need it running the whole time unless using it for constant reference in VFR flight.
I ran it from a bluetooth NMEA GPS and have not yet tested the internal GPS in the TB20 cockpit which in any case uses a special API which most apps won't support. Ozi supports it but e.g. Memory Map doesn't. I don't like the internal GPS because, like on the Ipad's, you can't see the satellite constellation so have little idea of the "quality" of the reception.
I am also very impressed with the Asus Vivotab Smart
it is comparable with the Lenovo but much cheaper.
If I had not bougt the Microsoft Surface Pro as a replacement of my laptop, that is probably what I would go for. Actually the whole Asus line up is now incredibly impressive and superpriced. Our customers are all switching from the traditional HP or Dell to Asus (followed by Lenovo and Samsung).
Windows 8 runs absolutely fine, allthough I did bring back the startbutton with Classicshell. It is so nice to see that it actually boots really quick. Full startup is a maximum of 12 seconds, hot start a lot faster.
The only drawback is that iexplorer 10 is not always the right choice. Hit f12 and switch to ie9 or 8 usually solves the problem. Office365 licensing models are perfect so you can have everything anywhere.
It is really amazing and awsum to see Ipad size tablets run full Windows and thus all applications you are used to on your desktop on a simple Atom processor and still be fast. This development also means that Windows 8 RT is completely unnecessary.
Much as I hate to say it, but I've now had the Tablet 2 for a week and think it is brilliant, despite having Windoze 8.
It actually does everything...
WWW
FlightPlanPro
Remote stuff (RDP, VPN, etc) works straight off
Oziexplorer runs straight off, even with the internal (crippled-Ipad-like-API) GPS, so you can fill your boots with maps
Memory Map should run, with no restrictions on the use of own QCT maps if you use v5.x, but I have no use for it right now since almost everything under MM has been moved to Ozi
AFPEX should also run (not tried it yet but will as a 2nd flight plan filing method is necessary)
Dial up networking (for a cheap £300 Thuraya satphone for tafs/metars etc) just works
For masochists, you can run winXP under VirtualBox and it all works too, and enables the use of old apps or drivers
Back up the whole lot in one simple operation, to a wifi attached machine, with Trueimage
MicroSD card slot (32GB max, 64GB possibly?)
Ethernet with a £15 USB adapter
Works with a normal bluetooth NMEA GPS (unlike the IOS devices)
Compared to the Ipad2, it's like a breath of fresh air. Size/weight-wise it is like an Ipad but more "landscape". There is a stylus so apps with decent functionality / rich user interfaces can be run easily.
Issues:
The on-screen keyboard does not always pop up automatically, especially with non touch screen apps. One has to activate it off the taskbar and it sometimes covers up the box you are entering text into, so something needs to be moved.
WIFI does not work with ad-hoc networks, so no tethering to a phone with Joikuspot, though bluetooth works at ~ 3mbits/sec and probably draws far less power. There are impractical solutions involving a fixed IP for the wifi.
No POP3 email - need to install some email app. Micro$oft do one but it is buggy.
When used while being powered, it does need the full-power USB power unit - 5V 2.1A. Just connecting it to a normal (500mA capable) USB port won't maintain the battery it while it is on, whereas an Ipad2 does just about hang in there, I think.
In fact if the touch screen needs the pen (does it?) that is a bonus, compared to the Ipad which is easy to accidentally screw up by touching it.
I'd be really surprised if it needed the pen. That's not the intentions for Windows 8 which is supposed to based on "touch". I imagine the pen is intened to be like Samsung's S Pen; useful for taking notes (where more precision is required than can be gotten from a finger) and drawing, but everything else works with your finger.
Looks good but my major problem is the Windows 8 bit. I am a happy member of the M$ camp (Microsoft) and have held a number of their technical qualifications over the years, but Windows 8 is more dumbed down than something from Toy's R Us aimed at 2 year olds. I have a copy on one of my laptops and I cant force myself to begin to like it in any way. I would resent downgrading (well actually, upgrading) to Windows 7 and paying for another Windows 7 license. I have played around with Ubuntu a bit (sneaking out of the M$ camp for a brief moment), and unless M$ come out with something much better after Windows 8 (like they did with their other mistake - Windows Vista) I might make the switch. Sorry, slight thread drift, but this is the IT section after all :-)
Besides the occasional sunlight issue (and once having my polarised spare sunglasses once and thinking the iPad was dead), the iPad has all the flying apps I need, the power, durability and reliability I need for my kind of flying, and I hope I can still say that in a few years time as well.
I am sure win8 is a POS, and I am sure the touch screen operation is too, but that would not concern me for what I want to do with this, which is the very specific thing i.e. a replacement for the LS800, which is hopefully cooler, thinner, lighter, and has a meaningful battery life.
I had to mod the LS800 with a little fan on the back of it, for high altitude operation (the thin air doesn't get the heat out) which doesn't help the thickness.
In fact if the touch screen needs the pen (does it?) that is a bonus, compared to the Ipad which is easy to accidentally screw up by touching it.
